Ugly Things

"Of..." Mattie asked, pointing across the street at the Ford Dealership.

"Of..." Robin smiled.

"So Mr. Prentiss was your daddy?" she asked.

"Yep, but really? He was just the donor got my mom pregnant," Robin admitted.

For the next week, Robin, Mattie, and occasionally, Bobby, the head mechanic were the sales force at Prentiss Chevrolet. Many that applied for the job of salesperson simply did not have the skills, the aptitude to be a salesperson.

"If you cannot even sell yourself enough for me to hire you, how in the world do you expect to sell someone a thirty thousand dollar car?" he asked more than one applicant.

But finally, he had a sales force of seven bright, energetic, young salespeople.

General Motors completed their investigation and agreed that Robin Boudreaux could continue managing their franchise. Either they never made the connection of Robin Boudreaux and Boudreaux Ford, or they simply did not care.

But with two dealerships to run, Robin was running himself ragged. He would leave his home at six in the morning, and would not arrive home until ten thirty, eleven o'clock at night. On the one or two occasions that he did get horny, his hand was his only source of sexual gratification.

Mattie, and Bonita, his two salespeople at Prentiss Chevrolet did let Robin know they'd be delighted to take care of any needs he might have. Across the street, at Boudreaux ford, Simone and Clara made similar claims. Julia, however, let Robin know, she was available to take care of Simone or Clara.

"That's fine," Robin said. "Can I watch?"

"Might learn something," Julia smiled.

Chapter 6

Arriving home one night, Robin discovered that his milk was sour; there were actually clumps floating in it. The cheese was turning an unhealthy color, and the bread could be used as a blunt object.

"Shit," Robin said.

Arriving at Burns & Burns Grocery Store in Elgee, Robin saw that very few people shopped at eleven forty one at night.

"Hi, welcome to Burns and Burns," an attractive young cashier smiled.

"Hi, thank you," Robin smiled.

The girl watched the handsome young man in the expensive looking suit as he pulled a cart out of the rack and walked away.

Then Sage Smith cleaned her optical reading screen, again. She then cleaned her conveyor belt, again.

Dolly, the only other cashier there just leaned heavily against her cash register, bored. Dolly had not even bothered to return those extra items customers had decided they didn't need.

Sage smiled sweetly at the two young men as they approached her register. They had two six packs of St. Elizabeth Lager, a fifth of cheap bourbon and a bag of corn chips and a jar of salsa.

"Party!" she smiled as they placed their items on the belt.

"Aw yeah, you know it girl," the young African-American smiled, revealing a gold tooth.

His white friend just nodded his head to an unheard melody.

"ID?" Sage asked.

"I uh, aw shit, left it in the car, know what I mean?" the young African-American smiled.

"Run out and go get it," Sage said. "You. ID?"

"Lost it," the young white boy said.

"Shame; not ringing this up 'til I see ID," Sage said.

"Told y'all, don't be coming here no more," Dolly called out.

"Fucking bitch," both young men snarled at Sage.

"Both of y'all, out, don't come back, hear?" Junior, the night time manager snapped.

"Aw, fuck you," the African-American youth started to say, until he saw just how large Junior was.

"Yeah? Think you can?" Junior smiled, leaning over to get right in the no longer arrogant young man's face.

"I'll put this up," Junior smiled at Sage.

"Thank you," she said, not smiling.

Junior was six feet, eight inches. He had played football and basketball in high school and college. Then Nine Eleven had happened and he saw it as his patriotic duty to join the US Marines. Junior walked, thanks to his prosthetic leg, but he had no left arm now.

The giant was not bitter, though. He saw it as his duty, and the loss of a leg and an arm was just his price to pay for American freedom.

"Got friends paid the ultimate price," he would say to anyone who asked.

The four foot ten inch Sage Smith knew that Junior had a bit of a crush on her. She liked him well enough, but he was thirty five years old, almost twice as old as she. Besides, the thought of being touched by someone missing a limb did make her more than just a little uncomfortable.

"How's it going, sir?" Sage heard Junior ask the handsome young man in the suit.

"Going great; you?" Robin asked the large man.

"Going any better, I'd swear I was dreaming," Junior said, smiling widely.

"Going any better, I'd swear I was dreaming," Robin muttered to himself. "Going any better..."

Junior returned to the front of the store and grabbed the loose odds and ends from Dolly's register and walked around, talking to the few customers as he put the items back on the shelves. Sage resisted the urge to look at her watch; she knew it wasn't even midnight yet.

The eighteen year old girl looked around her station, but there really was nothing else to do. There was nothing to kill the boredom until someone brought their items to her register.

She'd been working at Burns & Burns Grocery Store for just over a month, right after turning eighteen years old. Her mother, and her step-father both mocked and ridiculed Sage, pointing out that they weren't working and they were making nearly seventeen hundred a month. More if you counted the free housing.

"God damn, more to life than just sitting around, getting knocked up," Sage had said.

"Oh, I forgot," Amy, her mother sneered. "You white."

"Yeah I'm white, look in in a mirror, Mom, you white too," Sage had snapped.

Sage Smith was Amy's oldest, and Amy's only white child. While she was pregnant with Sage, Amy met Duane Jones. For the four foot seven inch Amy, it was lust at first sight when she saw the six foot three inch ebony skinned Duane Jones.

Sage came out, hair a flaming red, skin as pale and white as a sheet of paper.

"Sah jay?" the maternity nurse asked Amy. "How you spell that?"

"S. A. G. E," Amy patiently explained. "See, Smith? That's like everybody out there named Smith, know what I'm saying? But my baby going have her her own name, know what I'm saying?"

"Uh huh," the nurse said. "Looks like sage."

"But it sah JAY," Amy insisted.

Now, at eighteen, Sage had two sisters, Age, pronounced ah JAY and Lage, pronounced lah JAY Smith, and two brothers, Fremonte, pronounced free MON tay, and Tremonte, pronounced tree MON tay Jones.

The handsome young man had obviously finished up his shopping and approached Sage's register.

Sage brushed her ankle length strawberry blonde hair back with her hand and smiled.

"Hey, how's it going?" the man said as he placed his items on the conveyor belt.

"Lives alone," Sage thought as she glanced at his purchases.

His bare left hand also said he was alone. She rang up the purchases as they chatted, mostly nothing in particular.

"Your total is eighty one nineteen," Sage said.

Robin swiped his card and entered his PIN.

"Sage, that's an unusual name," he commented, reading her name tag.

"Well, I'm an unusual girl," she flirted. As she jumped down off of her box and began bagging his groceries. "But it's pronounced 'sah Jay.'"

"So, what time you get off, sah JAY?" he asked

"Six," she said and jumped back on to her box to press the 'print' button on her register.

"In the morning?" Robin asked, surprised.

"Nine to six," Sage agreed.

"Ever had breakfast at Dusty's?" Robin asked.

"No; had lunch there once," Sage said. "Their brisket sandwich."

"They've got the best breakfast anywhere," Robin said. "Biscuits big as your head, best milk gravy ever."

"Mm-mmm, damn that sounds good," Sage said.

"So, I pick you up at six?" Robin asked.

Sage blinked her large green eyes, staring at the handsome man. Then she smiled.

"I'm going be super-hungry," she warned. "Forgot pack my lunch again."

"I'm in the red Mustang," Robin said, pointing outside.

He showed up at five fifty and sat, waiting. There weren't many more people shopping at that time of the day than had been there last night. Through the clear glass doors, he watched Sage as she worked. She was short, so short she had to stand on a box to work the conveyor belt and the cash register. But she had long reddish blonde hair, and an adorable bubble butt.

Her breasts had stretched her Burns & Burns uniform top even as the top billowed on her arms and mid-section.

At five after six, another Burns & Burns employee approached and relieved Sage.

Four minutes later, Sage came scurrying out.

"Hey, sorry I'm so late; Linda's always doing that shit, showing up late," Sage apologized as Robin opened the car door for her. "Hey, this is nice! What kind of car you said this was?"

"Twenty fifteen Mustang," Robin said.

Robin drove the car fast, hoping to impress the diminutive girl.

"That a new suit?" Sage asked.

"Huh? No, not really; it's about eight, nine months old," Robin said.

"But you had a different one on last night," Sage pointed out.

"Uh yeah, not going wear the same suit two days in a row," Robin smiled.

"That your real hair?" Sage asked as they pulled up to the restaurant.

"What?" Robin laughed.

"Tommy? My last boyfriend? He tried doing a perm, fucked it all up," Sage said.

"Yeah, this is my real hair," Robin laughed.

"Like how it's all curly like that," Sage said, actually reaching a small hand out and running her fingers through Robin's thick brown hair.

Robin ordered the country fried steak breakfast and Sage decided on the garden omelet.

"Don't worry, I'm not one of them dumb ass vegetarians," Sage assured Robin.

Over breakfast, they chatted, two young people getting to know each other. Then he drove her home.

Sage could tell Robin was shocked by her neighborhood. She could also tell he was uncomfortable, nervous in the Waters Housing project.

"I uh, I get your number?" Robin asked, pulling his cell phone out.

"Sure," Sage said happily and gave it to him.

Then she leaned across the console and kissed him. A soft, closed mouth kiss, lips to lips.

"Later gator," she said and got out of his car.

Robin drove to work and spent his day between the two dealerships. Then he asked Mattie where a romantic place to take a date would be.

"Henri's; last boyfriend took me there; then we went on a balloon ride," she said.

"Wow, that does sound nice," Robin agreed.

"Sounds stupid, but Jack took me to that petting zoo they got in Pinoak," Anita offered then smiled when her client said he'd like to take the Malibu on a test drive.

In her darkened bedroom, Sage was sleeping. Sleeping as well as anyone could sleep while loud rap music thudded and boomed and vibrated through the walls of the two bedroom unit they lived in. She did not hear her cell phone ding and chime over the thuds of the music.

Later on, she would see that she had a message. She smiled as she heard Robin's voice, then gasped as he mentioned Henri's restaurant.

She'd seen the exterior of the French restaurant a few times, and could only imagine what the interior looked like. Girls, even white girls that lived in Waters did not eat at Henri's

She quickly called Robin and accepted a date for seven that evening. Sage put on her best dress, her only dress and borrowed a pair of her mother's pantyhose.

"I, what, I don't believe, Robin Boudreaux, you leaving? Before ten o'clock?" Mattie teased as Robin wished her a good night.

Robin sent Sage a text message that he was waiting and she grabbed her purse.

"Sorry, just didn't want leave the car out here," Robin admitted as he took in the sight of her in her shabby dress, scuffed up dress shoes.

"No, it's cool," she agreed.

The maître's almost wrinkled his nose at the sight of Sage. But years of professional decorum did prevent him from doing so. The waiter and the wine steward likewise fought down their sneer.

Robin discreetly canceled the balloon ride. Then he smiled as Sage made a face at the taste of the wine.

"Ever been to Babbage's?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah right, every day; sick of the place," Sage scoffed.

"Well, need to go there and get myself a tie; want to come along and help me pick it out?" he asked.

"I guess," she said.

Sage had no idea what they'd eaten, but she did know she'd enjoyed it tremendously. She had no idea what truffles were, but the rich dark chocolate and the raspberry liqueur tantalized her tongue and was a fitting compliment to the dark, thick expresso.

"Thank you, monsieur, Madame," the waiter said as they left.

Babbage's was another place Sage had only seen the exterior of.

Robin quickly found a red tie, and smiled at Sage. He tugged a lock of her strawberry blonde hair.

"What can I say? Red's my favorite color," he admitted.

Then he steered Sage toward the Petites Department. Sage looked at the dresses, saw a price tag and nearly bolted.

"What do you think? Little black dress? Probably some hose go with it, Sage, those shoes even fit you?" Robin said to a sales woman.

An hour later, Sage was in a daze as they left the store, a polite young woman carrying the boxes of her new clothes and shoes and hose and bras to Robin's car.

"Sir, please, I cannot, I'm not allowed to take tips," the girl insisted as Robin held out a twenty dollar bill.

"Well, then, thank you," Robin said as Sage slumped in the passenger seat of the Mustang.

"Ain't no fucking way I can take that shit home," Sage suddenly blurted.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Fuck! They see them fucking boxes? From Babbage's? They be kicking in our door quicker than shit," Sage said.

"Then we'll take it to my house," Robin said. "Wanted show it to you anyway."

The house that Robin had inherited from his father was nearly as large as the building Sage lived in. She gaped at the three story building, with its gleaming white columns and neatly manicured lawn. Discrete recessed lighting illuminated the gardens in front, illuminated the front door.

Arnold had put the lighting in to highlight the gardens he spent so much money maintaining. It also served as security. Thieves like darkness and there was no darkness around Arnold Prentiss's home.

(His four wives and numerous girlfriends would have said that the inside of his home was a different matter.)

Sage gaped at the interior of the home and that was just in the foyer. Her mouth did not close the entire time Robin was showing her around.

Robin learned a few more things about Sage Amy Smith that night. She had not liked the wine at Henri's, but she loved vodka. The second thing he learned was that, because of her size, she was a fairly cheap drunk.

And she was an affectionate, giggly drunk. The more alcohol she poured into herself, the more affectionate she became. After her second vodka and orange juice, she was giving him sloppy open mouthed kisses. After her third, she was shoving her naked 30DD breasts in his face.

Chapter 7

Sage might work a nine pm to six am shift at Burns & Burns, but after five vodka screwdrivers, she was not a morning person. And she did not think a bowl of Rice Krispies and a cup of bitter coffee was a good breakfast to wake up to.

And when she sat down, Robin's old football jersey rode up and Sage realized she was naked underneath the old jersey.

"What, did you, oh God," Sage whined.

She covered her face with her small hands.

"Did we, did we fuck?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Robin let her stew for a moment. Then he shook his head no.

"Nope; you wanted to, but you passed out right after we got in bed," Robin admitted.

"What, oh my God; it's still dark outside!" Sage yelled, looking through the bay windows of Robin's breakfast nook.

"Usually is at five," Robin admitted.

"Five? Fuck, I'm going back to bed, ass hole," Sage grumbled.

Robin almost ordered her to get dressed; he'd drop her off at her home before going in to work. Instead, he shrugged, finished his breakfast, then showered and shaved.

"See you," he said, kissing her on her cheek.

"Fuck off," she mumbled, burrowing further underneath his blankets.

Julia at Boudreaux Ford did comment on his cheerful demeanor. Robin smiled and ordered her to get back to work.

Another glance at his phone and Robin's smile grew wider.

He did not take advantage of Sage Smith when she'd passed out after wiggling out of bra and pantyhose. But Robin Boudreaux did snap a photo of her beautiful naked form.

She had surprisingly large breasts on such a small, slender frame. Each large orb was capped with large pink areolae and short nipples. Her belly button was just a nick in her pale white belly. Her pussy was covered by a small triangle of pink pubic hair, nestled between womanly hips.

Her legs were short, stumpy pale white legs.

He had rolled her onto her belly and had taken a second photo of her adorable bubble butt, long reddish blonde hair lying next to it.

Then Robin had pulled his old football jersey onto her, pulled the impossibly long hair out, and let her sleep.

He wondered if she was awake yet.

Her response was to ask him where the fuck he was.

"I'm at work," he said when she answered her phone.

"Well, how the fuck I'm getting home?" she complained.

"What time you need to get home?" he asked her, already walking toward his car.

"I don't know; when I get there, I guess," she admitted.

"Well, what time you need to get to work?" he asked.

"What's today?" she asked.

She realized she did not need to go to work until the next evening, but she did need to wash her work shirt.

"Well, put them jeans on, yes, the ones we got at Babbage's, you ever eat at Cowboy's?" Robin said as he started his car.

"Is he, he's leaving?" Jordan, one of the sales people asked Simone, another one of the salespeople.

Sage's form fitting jeans and his old football jersey looked sexy on the girl. And, her mood had improved since that morning. When he pulled up in front of his own house, she came skipping down the steps and got into his car.

"Hi, hope you don't mind but I used your toothbrush," Sage said, kissing him.

"Not the red one, huh?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, the red one," she said. "Only one in there."

"Oh God, that's the one I use to scrub the boogers out my nose," he teased.

"Oh well, I rinsed it off," she said. "What's Cowboy's?"

"Barbeque place, and they got great malts," he said.

For a small girl, Sage ate a lot; she managed to finish off her brisket sandwich, her French fries, her baked beans, and half of his fried jalapenos as well as a double mocha chocolate malt.

"Okay, take you home now?" Robin asked.

"Yeah," Sage shrugged. "So where we going tonight?"

"Sales meeting at Boudreaux Ford," Robin said. "So, nowhere."

"Oh," Sage said quietly.

"What?" Robin asked.

"So, you uh, you getting rid of me?" she asked, staring out the window of his car.

"What? No, Sweetheart, I just have to work, all right?" Robin protested.

"But we can't go nowhere after your stupid meeting?" she asked.

"Like what? Only place open is Waffle House; you really want to eat at Waffle House?" he asked her.

"Who said we got to eat?" Sage asked.

It was nearly eleven o'clock when Robin pulled up in front of Sage's building. The noise, the sights, the smells frightened him. Everywhere he looked, there was unhappiness. Everywhere he looked, there were sad, or angry, or emotionless black faces. Everywhere he looked there was decay.

Sage bounded into his car, still wearing her new jeans and his football jersey. In her hand she had a grocery bag.

"My work clothes," she explained.

Again, she drank his vodka, and actually pouted when he suggested she might want to stop.