The Long Wait

"Yeah, I figured as much. And I go by Mac now. Terry was a different person. What's your name? You must be from around here if you recognize me."

Emily looked at Mac and said, "Oh, come on Terry, uh I mean Mac. You don't recognize me? We went to school together. I was two years behind you but we rode the same bus. I'm Emily Thomas."

When she told him who she was the years melted away and he felt a fool. He remembered Emily now. She had been a cute, precocious pest. Her family had operated The Mustang ever since it had been built. She grew up in the little Burger Joint. He remembered her working bussing tables and giving the customers grief as she did it. Mac got a little smile on his face as he tripped down memory lane.

"I guess I just didn't think Em. Should have known it was you. Heck, you were always here when I came in. How're your folks?"

Emily got a sad look on her face and said, "They're both gone now too Mac. They died the year after you left. Cancer got Mom and Dad died the winter after. He got Pneumonia and didn't go to the doctor until it was too late. He said with Moms bills we couldn't afford for him to be spending money at a doctor when he didn't need to be there for a little chest cold. I had just graduated high school and had been helping him here full time. When he died too I just took over here. We didn't have the money for me to go to college anyway so I just kept on running this old place. I put the bar in when I became 21 trying to keep things going. I make enough to get by but that's all I do.

"Well, I better get back and finish cleaning the kitchen. Will you holler if ya need anything else? I have to get things set up for later when the drunks start coming in. Running the place alone keeps me hopping but I don't make enough to hire help. Catch ya later." Emily smiled and placed Mac's bill on the table before she walked off.

Mac finished his meal and thought about having another beer. He shook his head and drained his water before he left. He had too much to do to sit here drinking beer and he for sure didn't need to spend the money on it. He had little enough of that as it was. He looked at the bill and smiled. It came to $7.50 before tax. In town the same meal would have been $11.00 or more. He stood and walked to the cash register. He wrapped a $10.00 bill around the sales slip and pushed it in the crack of the register drawer before he left. He yelled, "See ya Emily" as he left.

Emily rushed from the kitchen drying her hands on a towel. She looked at the table and didn't see money. She felt her stomach lurch. Surely Mac hadn't turned into an asshole that would just dine and dash had he? She trotted over to the cash register and finally saw the money and bill stuffed into the crack between the drawer and the frame of the machine. Emily felt a little shaft of remorse for thinking the worst of Mac. She should have known he wouldn't do that to her but hell, people change don't they? She occasionally had some of the younger crowd do the 'dine and dash'. It had gotten so bad she usually made them pay before they received their order. Many resented it and she suspected it cost her some business but that was better than losing the money she paid for whatever she served the deadbeats.

At her young age Emily had seen too much selfishness, too much dishonesty. She had formed the opinion men especially were assholes. They wanted what they wanted and they did everything they could do to get it as cheaply as possible. She had not found one who she felt she could trust unreservedly. Of course she didn't meet the cream of the crop running a country beer bar. She met the cowboys or wannabe's, the drunks and womanizers. She saw drunks hook up and knew some of them—men and women alike—were married to someone else. It disgusted her but she needed their business badly so she looked the other way.

Emily stood in the window as she was cleaning Mac's table. She watched his truck turn into the driveway of his place and stop halfway to the house. She knew he could drive no farther. There was a tree that had died and fallen into the driveway blocking it completely at that point.

She stood remembering her problems with men and feeling guilt for placing Mac in that category as she watched him sit for a moment then get out of his truck. She had dated one of his best friends the year after his class had graduated. Steve had been so nice to her, telling her how beautiful she was and how he loved her. They had talked marriage when she got out of school. The first weekend after she graduated high school he had taken her to the river for a party. She had turned 18 only a month before. That was the night she had her first two beers. That had been enough to make her tipsy, unable to cogitate well. Like all young people who think they were in love she and Steve had been kissing and fondling. She was getting so hot. She felt the wetness of her pussy. She could feel his erection in his pants and it gave her pride she could do that to him. He was thrusting it against her in a frenzy.

Emily had been so horny. She remembered her hips thrusting and rubbing her crotch on Steve's thigh as he kissed her and played with her breasts. She felt him shift and both his legs were between hers. She felt him rise slightly and his hand was rubbing her pussy. He fumbled and moved the crotch of her suit to the side. She felt his finger in her wet pussy.

Emily continued staring out the window but she wasn't seeing anything. Her mind was reliving her time of shame. She felt the tears running down her cheeks as she remembered Steve pushing his finger inside her. She could still almost feel the pain and tearing as he rammed his dry calloused finger through her maiden head.

She remembered Steve's grin as she felt his finger withdraw. He still held her swimsuit crotch to the side then she felt something larger, hard, yet soft probing at her crotch. She tried to close her legs but Steve held them apart. He thrust and slid up. He said "Shit" and she felt his hand pull his cock to the side and hold it. He thrust once more and she felt the head nudge into her pussy.

"No. Steve don't. Please," she had said.

"Awww come on honey. You know you want it. Hell, you're wet as the river. We've waited long enough."

Steve pulled back slightly and she thought he was pulling out. He reversed direction and slammed into her. In two thrusts he was balls deep. He bent and tried to kiss her. She turned her head and he became angry. He had snarled, "You stuck up little cunt. Ya want it and you know it. Now stop playing yer damn games."

Steve began withdrawing almost all the way out then slamming back into her. He was hitting her so hard she had a bruise the next morning. Some of the other kids heard her screaming and came to watch. One of Steve and Mac's friends yelled, "Hey ya all. Stevie's finally gettin' some of Em's pretty little pussy. Come on. Ya gotta see this!"

To her horror Emily felt her body betray her. She HAD been so horny but she didn't want this. She wanted Steve to get her off with his fingers as he had been doing for the last four months. She had first allowed him to touch her secret places on Valentine's Day when she had decided he might be the one. Had he continued fondling and diddling her as she normally allowed she would have jerked him off too like always.

Finally Steve yelled out, 'Oh SHIIIIIIT" and slammed into her once more. He strained and held himself tightly to her as she felt his cock throbbing. She felt the tears running down her cheeks as he pumped his seed into her no longer virgin pussy. She became terrified he had made her pregnant.

Steve immediately pulled from her and stood. She looked at his still hard cock as he stood over her. He bent down and rummaged through their pile of clothes until he found her panties. He used them to wipe himself off before he drew his cock back into his swim suit. Emily slowly closed her legs and felt her swimsuit slide to cover her pussy. She felt so wet and messy down there and it hurt. She thought sex was supposed to be fun but the orgasm she had wasn't worth the pain of her deflowering. She looked up and saw many of their friends standing looking down at her. Some of the girls were glaring at her and most of the boys were grinning. All the boys she could see had a hard on showing in their pants. Troy had knelt between her thighs and pulled himself out. He reached out and touched her crotch and said, "How about giving me a little too Em? I sure could use it and since you're giving it away..."

Somehow Emily had found the strength to kick out at him. She had hit him in the chest and knocked him back. "NO! I'm NOT giving it away. I didn't want to do it at all."

Steve was still standing over her. He said, "The hell you didn't. You were wet as I've ever seen a woman. Hell, ya came when we was doin' it. You wanted it and you know it. I got witnesses. Aint that right guys?"

Almost all the boys there had said Steve was right. About that time one of Emily's friends had come up and helped her to her feet. She stood glaring at the others standing around and said, "You bunch of assholes. He raped her and you know it. Now get out of the way. I'm taking her home."

Andy said, "No, he didn't rape her and YOU know it. Hell we all been watching him and her all day. She had been all over him. You know it and so does everyone else. Now just get yer asses on home and cry awhile. Shit."

The two girls got into the car and drove back toward town. They had stopped at the stream at the city limits. Emily went into the small swimming hole just down from the bridge and waded out neck deep. She pulled her bottoms down and cleaned herself as well as she could. She walked back out and she and Dottie sat in the little park holding each other. Emily cried while they discussed what had happened trying to decide what to do. Finally Emily decided not to report Steve. No one had seen him force himself on her and she admitted to Dottie that she had not fought him. She had only said no once then she had laid there while he took her. She knew if she filed rape charges against Steve she would suffer severe emotional trauma during the investigation and trial. No, it was better to just forget it and hope she was not pregnant.

Five days later Steve, Troy and Andy came into The Mustang. When they saw her they all smirked. She walked up to their table to take their order. Being arrogant young men they smirked more and Steve said, "Hey baby I need a furburger and an order of thighs and some hair pie for desert. Ya all can have some hot dog if ya wantta little somthin with me."

Emily turned and started to walk off. Her face was red and she was shaking. Steve reached out and grabbed her hand. He said, "Hey baby. It's Friday night. I'll pick ya up at the usual time."

"NO. We're done. I don't ever want to see you again. I thought you loved me."

The boys laughed and Steve said, "I do love you baby. I love your little pussy and those nice tits. Hell, I even need you. Come on. We'll go back to the river and swim again."

Emily jerked her hand away from Steve's grip and walked off. She heard the laughter in the background. To her horror at 7:30 that evening Steve showed up for their "date". He knocked on her door as usual. Her mother who was already showing the ravages of her cancer greeted him pleasantly and let him into the room.

Steve stood looking at Emily and said, "Why aren't you ready yet? Come on, ya gotta hurry. We got a lot to do tonight baby."

"I told you I wasn't going out with you anymore. Now get out. We're through."

Steve reached for her hand and began pulling her toward the door. Emily once again said, "NO. She pulled back and then kicked at Steve. Her kick had been aimed at his shin but he dodged it.

Mrs. Thomas looked at Emily strangely and said, "Emily what's wrong honey? Why don't you want to go with Steve tonight?"

"Nothing Momma. I just don't like him anymore and I don't want to see him ever again."

"Bullshit," said Steve. "We just had a little misunderstanding the other day Mrs. T. She'll get over it. Now come on baby. We got things to do."

"NO. Now get out," said Emily. She kicked at Steve again and this time her kick hit his thigh and slid upward hitting his cock and balls a glancing but strong blow.

"You little Bitch," he moaned as he bent forward and held his crotch. "Well FUCK YOU. There's other pussy in town and most of its better than yours by a long shot."

Steve staggered out the door and Mrs. Thomas turned to look at Emily. "Emily Honey. What did he mean by that? You and he haven't been doing something you shouldn't have you?"

Emily was crying and just stood there. All she could do was shake her head 'NO'. Mrs. Thomas walked to her and wrapped her in her arms. "There now Honey. He's gone now. Shhhh."

Slowly Emily stopped crying. She went to bed early that evening but she lay awake for a long time.

The next day Steve came into the café with Carmen Rodriguez. They sat in the same booth and he had his hands all over her. When Emily came to take their order he smirked at her. "Give us both a burger and coke. I gotta good woman here Em. She knows how to take care of a real man."

Carmen blushed and giggled.

For the rest of the summer and most of the winter Emily had to fight off the advances of the boys. The word was out that she was easy. Late that summer the word even got back to her parents. After the café had closed for the evening one Saturday they sat her down and asked about the rumors. She had tearfully told them what had happened. Of course both her parents were furious. They were angry at her for not telling them and reporting Steve but they were angrier at Steve. Her father wanted to go use a ball bat on him. Finally her mother and Emily talked him out of that.

That Thanksgiving weekend the little town of Prineville had been awakened at three in the morning on Saturday. An ambulance roared into town and stopped beside the pool hall. Steve had been found badly beaten in the rest room of the pool hall after the owner closed and began cleaning. The next week Carmen Rodriguez's two brothers were arrested for the beating. Apparently Steve had taken Carmen as he had Emily and this time someone stood up for one of his dates. Steve was never seen in town again. The word was out that the local Hispanic population believed he would be better off elsewhere and he agreed. Carmen's brothers were ultimately not prosecuted because there were no witnesses to the beating.

Finally Emily gave herself a mental shake and resumed her work. As she worked she remembered all the other local men who had treated her and other women as a piece of meat. She thought of all the men who spent their evenings and part of their days in her little beer hall while their women were home with the children or working. She cringed sometimes at their callous, suggestive comments. None of them cared one whit for her feelings. They were all out for themselves only.

At nearly the same time as Emily was remembering her past troubles Mac was thinking of her. He wondered where the fun loving sparkling eyed young lady had gone. Surely her attitude and demeanor weren't all caused by her tough economic life? He shook his head and began walking down the driveway to his home. He could already see he had a lot of work ahead of him before the place was in anywhere near the shape it had been when he was young.

Mac went to the house first. It was an old style two story farmhouse. It had a wrap around covered porch. There was a kitchen, dining, living room, the farm office and a fairly large master suite on the ground floor. There were two bedrooms and a small den or play area with a bathroom upstairs. He and his sister had occupied the upstairs and used the sitting area to study while they were home.

There were several boards rotten and the rails were broken on much of the porch. Two windows were broken out and he could see where someone had been going in and out them. He walked through the house, downstairs first. The carpets were filthy and someone had kicked holes in some of the walls. It smelled like they had urinated in some of the corners but that could have been animals. There was evidence raccoons and opossums had been in the house a lot. There was a lot of mouse and rat sign too. For some reason the upstairs was almost untouched. It was obvious people had been there but the damage was light. Mostly it was just stains, beer cans and cigarette butts. Mac also saw several used condoms on the floor beside the beds. Of course the mattresses were filthy and would have to be thrown away. It was a wonder the house hadn't burned down. He could see both upstairs and down where the cigarettes had scorched the floors before going out after they were dropped.

Next Mac went to the large shop. To his surprise it was still locked and the windows, while broken, had not been used for entrance. His father had placed mesh over them in a welded frame and no one had been able to force entry. Mac opened all the doors and stood surveying the shop. Most of the tools were still there and so were the two tractors, hay baler and no till grain drill. There was even still air and acetylene in the cutting torch. It would take almost no effort to be able to work out of the shop. He decided on the spot to advertise his services immediately to see if he could begin to generate income. He would begin cleaning and repairing the downstairs at the house tomorrow. As soon as he got the power turned on he would set up his office and print out flyers to advertise his business. He would paint a large sign and place it at the end of the driveway too.

Mac went to his trailer and got out his chain saw. He cut the log across the driveway into two sections and used his truck to pull it out of the way. He then pulled his trailer down beside the house and unhooked it. It was still early so he began cleaning. He carried all the trash from the house to the old burn pile. He had no water to wash with so could only carry out trash and sweep. Just doing that made the place look better. By the time he got that done it was almost eight in the evening. He grabbed his soap and a towel and wandered down to the stream for a bath before he went to town for his supper.

Mac put on clean clothes and drove back to The Mustang. This time there were a half dozen cars in the lot and music was coming from the bar side of the building. When Mac walked into the building he saw a man and woman in the café with two small children. Everyone else was in the bar. He saw some of the bar patrons eating so he went in there also. A harried looking Emily rushed up to his table. "Hi Mac. Whatcha need?"

"Same as lunch I guess Em. Burger, rings and a Busch."

"Ya got it Stud," she said and rushed off. Like before she went into the kitchen first to start his meal then brought his beer and a glass of water. This time she placed it on the table correctly and smiled before rushing back to the kitchen. While he was drinking his first swallow of beer the man at the next table turned to him and said, "Haven't seen ya in here before. You passing through or what?"

"No, I live here now. Grew up in town and now I've moved back into the old home place. They call me Mac. I'm going to open a welding service, implement and engine repair shop. I do diesel and gasoline engine work and don't mind working on cars, trucks or tractors. If you know anyone who needs something like that done I'd appreciate it if you let them know."

"How long had ya been gone? I've lived here five years now and I don't remember seeing ya."

Mac and the man talked for several minutes as he ate his supper. Finally the man had a couple of friends come in and he turned his attention to them. Mac saw Emily talking to some of the men at the far end of the room and they turned to look at him. They stared for a moment then they all got up and approached his table smiling. They were all people he had known from school. One of them had been in his class and the others had been younger. They pulled up chairs and they spent the next two hours visiting and reconnecting. Finally they decided they needed to leave and get home so they would be rested for work the next day.