Stranger

He pulled his long blond hair back and put it in a ponytail. Looking around the bar, he spotted them; both smiling nervously, so obvious in their hunger. He smiled back, and then continued to scan the prospects.

His eyes went back to them. Her brown hair was long, straight, parted in the middle. His hair was cut in the current 'shag' fashion and looked severely blow-dried. His mustache was a bit curious, almost nothing but a pencil thin line. He made eye contact with the girl and she subconsciously thrust her medium breasts out. He smiled and they both smiled back. The couple put their heads together and whispered something to each other then nodded in agreement.

"Buy you a drink?" the guy asked and he almost laughed aloud at the obvious pick up line.

"That would be great," he smiled, then looked at the girl. She sat, watching the two men with great interest.

"Mark," the guy said and held out his hand.

"Glen, but you can call me 'Slim,'" the blond man said and the two men shook hands.

Glen noticed how wet the man's hand was; a sure sign of nervousness.

"My wife and I are sitting right over here," Mark was saying.

Glen nodded his head and took the fresh gin and tonic and followed Mark toward the now fidgeting woman.

"And this is my wife, Patti," Mark was saying.

"Glen, but you can call me 'Slim,': he said and took her small hand.

"So, Slim," Mark said, obviously the talker of the two of them; Patti didn't say anything.

"How long have you two been into swinging?" Slim asked, cutting Mark off.

"Um, well, um, this is our first time," Mark admitted.

"Don't do it," Slim said and sipped his drink. "It's not worth it."

"Um, what?" Patti asked, surprised.

He looked at her. She was wearing a very tight pink sweater, emphasizing her medium sized breasts, and a pair of very snug polyester slacks. She was nearly bone-thin, looked nearly emaciated. Her eyes were her best feature, even in the painfully thin face; they were large and brown. By the standards of 1977, she was pretty.

Mark was a little heavier, a fact that the snug polyester slacks displayed, not to his advantage. The snug polyester shirt made Mark look pudgy, out of shape. The platform shoes did give Mark a little height, but not nearly enough.

"Listen, my wife and I were into swinging," Slim warmed to the topic. "Linda and I got married as soon as I got out of the Marines, bought a little house, and tried to settle down."

He took out a pack of cigarettes and offered both Patti and Mark one before taking one for himself and lighting it.

"See, the problem was, while I was in fucking 'Nam, getting my ass shot off, Linda was back here, waiting for me. But she wasn't waiting all by herself, you dig?" Slim went on and blew out a series of smoke rings.

"No, she had herself a couple of roommates," he said and sipped his drink. "Todd and Jack. I was cool with that, 'cause Todd and Jack were fucking each other."

He stubbed out his cigarette and looked at his empty glass. Mark got the hint and went to the bar to get Slim another gin and tonic. Patti, whether consciously or subconsciously, had slid a little closer to Slim; the jukebox was warbling out a disco tune at an uncomfortable volume, making it hard to hear Slim.

She jerked slightly; Slim had put his hand on her bony thigh.

"See, Mama? You isn't ready for swinging," he smiled sadly at her, but did not remove his hand either.

Mark brought back fresh drinks for everyone and looked when Patti caught his eye. A dark flush crossed his face, and then he forced a smile to his lips and shrugged his shoulders. Slim squeezed Patti's thigh, then took his hand away.

"But, see, I didn't know that Todd and Jack were also into pussy," Slim said and took a sip of his drink. "Had I known that, I would have said 'no fucking way' when Linda said she was going to share an apartment with them."

The Eagles' song 'Hotel California' came on the jukebox and Slim paused for a moment and listened to the song. Patti jumped slightly when he he put his hand on her thigh again. Mark put his own hand on her other thigh and she leaned toward Mark.

"So, there I am, in a rice field, wondering if I'm ever going to see my baby again, and she's getting decked every day, twice on Sundays," Slim went on. "But that's all shit now, you know? I mean, it don't mean shit no more, it's all dead and gone."

"Um, how long were you two married?" Patti asked.

Slim's fingers were tracing light patterns on her thigh, nearing her pussy. Mark started to do the same thing and she spread her legs a little for them.

"August of sixty seven," Slim said in a faraway voice. "Yeah, would have been ten years, Sixty seven."

"What happened?" Mark asked.

"Anyway, I get home, Linda don't tell me shit about the two cock suckers also dipping their dicks in her too, and we up and marry," Slim continued. "I buy us a little house in the suburbs, and we tried. I got to give Linda that; she did try."

Slim lighted another cigarette and lightly stroked up and down Patti's crotch before removing his hand to sip his drink.

"Finally, the shit comes out; she isn't happy, she's used to getting cock all day long and she's going cock hungry," Slim said and blew a stream of cigarette smoke out. "She brings me this fucking newspaper, you know? 'The Swingers Weekly,' and we..."

"Um, yeah, that's where we found out about this place," Mark said and waved his hand around, indicating the bar.

"I mean, at first, it seemed like a good idea, you know?" Slim went on. "She'd get her some dick, I'd get me some poon, what's the worry?"

Patti sighed; his fingers traced up and down her crotch, making her wet with anticipation.

"But that isn't the way Linda wanted it," Slim said and playfully pinched Patti's upper thigh. "See, when Todd was drilling her twat, Jack would be jamming Todd. That's the way Linda wanted it."

He stubbed out his cigarette and looked directly at Mark.

"So, I learned how to suck cock, and how to do a guy in the ass," he continued. "Survived fucking Vietnam, get spit on at San Francisco airport just because I got on my Marine uniform, Get shot at by a bunch of fucking bikers 'cause they wanted my bike, see I had this bitching Triumph, a nineteen fifty five model, seven hundred CCs, you dig?"

Mark jumped slightly when Slim cupped his small balls gently. Patti's hand joined Slim's and the three of them smiled knowingly.

"But you know, I just couldn't deal with it," Slim said and finished his drink.

Patti looked around nervously; Slim's fingers were inside of her bikini panties, lightly tickling her moist slit. No one seemed to notice, though. There were other threesomes and foursomes gathered around; some talking quietly, some erupting every now nod then in loud raucous laughter.

"No, no, you see, every fucking time I'd come home from the fucking tire store, yeah, I wound up selling fucking tires. Believe that shit? Fucking Goodyear," Slim laughed and wiggled his finger inside of Patti's pussy. "If she wasn't home, I just knew she was out fucking around, you know? Ten minutes late, she just knows I'm down at Pete's Bookstore, sucking some guy's cock, you know?"

Patti stiffened, ready to burst. She sucked in her breath and slapped the table top in frustration. Slim licked his finger clean of her juices and smiled at her. Mark's head lolled back; Slim was slowly jacking his cock through the taut fabric of his slacks.

"What's your story?" he asked Patti. "How long you two been married?"

"Coming up on three years," Mark said, disappointed. He was so close to blowing his load, but Slim stopped. Patti had stopped stroking him a few minutes earlier, when Slim was busily finger banging her.

"And y'all are already looking for some excitement?" Slim asked and lighted another cigarette.

"Yeah, well, see, my boss, I work at Mince's Furniture, he's into this, and he's always inviting Patti and me out, you know, to..." Mark said.

"Look, why don't we take this back to our house?" Patti suggested, taking charge for once.

"You sure?" Slim asked and brought his lips to Patti's.

Again, Mark flushed and angry red for a moment. He jerked back slightly when Slim kissed him and licked his lips lightly, then returned Slim's kiss.

"It could be dangerous, you know," Slim continued and kissed Patti again.

"I thick we can handle it," Patti smiled and grabbed her purse.

"Y'all got room?" Slim asked when he saw Mark open the door of their Pinto.

"Yeah, the back seat's actually kind of big," Patti said and flipped the lever for the seat.

At first, the conversation was stilted, until Slim asked Patti where she worked.

"Oh, I'm a student at UNO, you know? Out at the Lakefront," she said.

"Oh, yeah?" Slim asked. "What's your major?"

"Business Administration," she enthused and began a long monologue of women's positions in a male dominant society and workforce.

Mark pulled up to a small brick home and shut off the engine. The trio sat for a long moment, then Mark opened his door. Patties opened her door and clambered out, then flipped the seat forward for Slim to get out.

Slim wasn't listening as Mark rambled on about their landlord and how much rent they had to pay for the dingy two bedroom, one bathroom house. Once inside, he gently kissed Patti, and then slapped her playfully on her buttocks.

"Why don't you go into the bedroom and get ready?" he suggested. "I'll get Mark good and ready out here, and then we'll join you."

"Okay," she agreed and was pulling the sweater off as she walked rapidly toward the bedroom.

"Um, what you want to do?" Mark nervously asked as Slim approached him.

"Oh, I thought I'd show you how I like to get my men good and ready," Slim said as he unzipped Mark's fly. He fondled Mark's cock for a moment then smiled at Mark.

"I told you, it could be dangerous," he smiled as he slit Mark's throat.

He stripped off his clothes and made sure that there was no blood on him before he made his way to the bedroom. Patties lay in the middle of a large waterbed, nude and ready. She smiled nervously at Slim and peered around him for her husband.

"Mark had to take a leak," Slim said and approached the bed.

They kissed and fondled each other for a few moments, and then Patti pulled away and called out for her husband to hurry up.

"No, no!" she cried as Slim pulled her underneath him and prepared to enter her. "No, Slim! Wait for Mark!"

The heavy brass lamp silenced her and he thrust into her wetness. He had to laugh; the waterbed made it seem as if her lifeless body was participating. She sloshed and rolled underneath him as he thrust into her repeatedly, until he finally came into her. He struck her with the lamp several more times, until her blood drenched the two pillows. Then he dumped her purse out and took the three hundred dollars cash. Her small bottle of Valium tablets he clung to as well, but all the other clutter was left on the bed, worthless to him.

Mark's lifeless body would not move easily, so Slim used his knife to slice the tight slacks away. Mark's wallet contained five hundred and twelve dollars and Slim remembered Mark saying that rent was due in three days. He smiled.

"Well, I don't think you'll be needing rent now, huh, mother fucker?" He said.

He dressed slowly, having all the time in the world. The small house was given a thorough going over; he also pocketed a small bag of marijuana and a few old silver coins Patti had tucked away in a dresser drawer. He tried on Mark's leather jacket and smiled as it fit him nicely. Patti's keys were in the pile of clutter on the bed and he took them with him.

He pulled the blond wig off and stuffed it in an inside pocket of the jacket. His short brown hair stood up stiffly and he gave it a very vigorous rubbing before stepping outside. He locked the door of the small house and got into the Pinto and drove away.

^^^

The police were alerted three days later; the neighbors smelled a horrible stench coming from the house. The heater in the waterbed had sped Patti's decomposition by several days, making it hard to tell how long she'd been dead. The coroner judged that Mark had been dead for at least seventy two to eighty two hours, though so they used that measurement for both victims. The couple's Pinto was found, keys still in it, three blocks away from Rose's Tavern, a well-known 'Swinger's haven.'

Although nervous, most of the couples participated in the investigation; very few of them remembered seeing the couple at the bar on Saturday night, though. The few that did remember them didn't see whom they'd left with, if they'd left with anyone.

Be careful of strangers.