Someone's Watching Page 3

  2

  Marty was ambivalent about his feelings toward Judy. On the one hand, he was aware of Frank’s obscene thoughts and expectations that Marty would have some sort of relationship with his stepsister. “Hell, you can thank me for it,” he said. “I brought her around here.”

  Marty never reacted to that; he tried to ignore it as much as he could. His father had a way of distorting and polluting everything. The more he remarked about Judy, the more Marty hated him for it and the harder it was for him to admit his true feelings. The truth was that he had begun to find her attractive. As time went by, Marty found it more and more difficult to put thoughts of his new stepsister out of his mind, despite all his attempts to do so.

  He’d be riding along with some of his friends or banging out a dent in a car, or even be talking with another girl, and suddenly he’d see Judy smiling up at him, Judy serving supper, Judy coming to him with her homework questions, Judy walking down the road after getting off the school bus.

  He was aware, too, that some of his offhand comments had taken effect. She had begun to wear nicer clothes, clothes that fit her a lot better. Elaine brought home seconds from the department store—dresses, slacks, and blouses that had minor imperfections, all of which were Judy’s size. Sometimes the manager of the store just gave things to her, she said, but Marty had the feeling she was stealing. Once in a while she claimed she bought something because the manager sold it under cost.

  Whatever the truth about the clothes, Judy was taking much better care of her hair. One day he complimented her on it and her face took on a glow that made him blush. She hung around him a lot more than usual that day. He was embarrassed by the attention and afraid that Frank would notice it and make another dirty remark.

  None of this had any positive effect on her school-work, however. As the school year drew to an end, it became increasingly evident that she was going to fail some subjects. Even so, he stayed up late two nights in a row studying and reviewing with her in preparation for her finals.

  Frank’s reaction to all this changed from disdainful smiles and sarcastic comments to the sort of outright belligerence that usually followed one of his drinking sprees. Marty became concerned. In a roundabout way he tried to warn Judy about it.

  “You’ve got to expect Frank to get pretty nasty sometimes,” he told her, “especially after a bad drunk. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who could drink as much beer as he can.”

  “I never saw anyone drink as much. Was he always this way?”

  “For as long as I can remember. It got so I used to hate it whenever he said, ‘I’m just gonna stop for a beer.’ Especially when I was little and I had to wait around those dingy bars. A few times he got so drunk he forgot I was with him and left me there.”

  “No.”

  “Yeah. I remember the first time that happened. I was terrified because no one seemed to notice or care. I hated to cry, but it was the only way I could get anyone’s attention. I remember this woman who took me home. God, I’ll never forget her.”

  “Why?”

  “She was so drunk she nearly drove us off the road three or four times. And every time she stopped for a light or a stop sign, she’d reach over and pull me to her to hug me. She smelled from onions and stale beer. To this day I can’t stand that combination. My stomach churned so much, I almost threw up on her.”

  “Ugh.”

  “Yeah, ugh. Turned out she was one of Frank’s women. I had a vague memory of her being at the house. He brought so many around: fat, very thin, short with wide hips, all ugly women. It never seemed to matter to him, especially when he was drunk.”

  “I’m just surprised he doesn’t have a beer belly.”

  “Yeah, well, the alcohol’s probably eating away his insides.”

  “He’s not much of an eater. I never saw him eat breakfast or lunch.”

  “He’s strong, though, especially when he’s drunk. I remember once,” Marty said, smiling, “when he came out of the River Tavern in Woodbourne and found a ’70 Volks Bug parked too close to our car. He lifted the front end of that thing right off the ground and pushed it away as though it were a wheelbarrow. The owner had to be surprised as hell when he found his car on someone’s lawn.” He laughed and then his expression became intense. “When he gets violent, though, his face changes horribly. He can scare someone just with the look in his eyes.”

  “I know.” Judy’s voice was barely more than a whisper. Marty’s eyes became glassy. He had a far-off look and she imagined that he was recalling times when Frank was terrible. She felt sorry for him. Whatever hardships she had endured suddenly seemed pale and insignificant compared to living with Frank.

  “Anyway,” he said, snapping out of it, “whenever you see Frank boozed up, avoid him.” She nodded, but he sensed that it wasn’t going to be enough.

  As her appearance improved Marty noticed that Frank began to pay her more and more attention. He would stop working on a car and wipe his hands as he watched her walk up the road and into the house, mesmerized by the movement of her hips and the slight bounce of her breasts. Sometimes, in the house, he would stand in her way and smile at her until she moved around him. Once Marty caught him reaching out to pinch her ass. He didn’t say anything, but their eyes locked. Frank gave one of his chilling, insane laughs and moved on.

  Marty wanted to warn Judy more about his father. He was just unsure of how to go about it. It annoyed him that Elaine was either blind to what was happening or didn’t care. When they both got drunk on weekends, she was just as slobbering and moronic as Frank was. Nevertheless, Marty blamed himself afterward for not forcing her to face the facts.

  It was the week after Judy had taken her finals. Even though she would have to repeat social studies and science, Judy was ecstatic over the fact that she had passed math. She credited it entirely to Marty’s tutoring. Even Elaine was impressed and listened with interest when he explained why Judy should repeat the courses in summer school. Frank thought that would be stupid.

  “She needs to work. We need the money. Didn’t you say you could get her a job in Jamesway too?”

  “I can, but maybe she could do both. We’ll fix up the hours. The manager will work with me. I think Marty’s right.”

  “Marty’s got a big fuckin’ mouth,” Frank said. “He ought a keep his ideas to hisself,” he added and slapped Marty on the back of his head as he walked out of the kitchen. Marty suppressed his rage. Judy felt sorry for him, but she didn’t express any pity. He was red with embarrassment that it had happened in front of her. Later, as a way of consoling him, she told him she agreed: she should go to summer school and she would try her best.

  “It’s going to be different now. I never really cared about school, but I think I could do better if I tried.”

  “Sure you can. People are always putting you down,” he said, glaring in Frank’s direction.

  “I don’t understand why you quit school,” she said and then regretted it immediately when she saw the pain it brought to his eyes.

  “Because I was an idiot,” he said. “Because Frank made me,” he added in a lower tone of voice. “This body shop was going to be our big thing, you know. Some big thing. Anyway, if I didn’t quit, he would have made life miserable for me, even more miserable than he makes it now.”

  She was quiet for a few moments because she saw that tears had come into his eyes. He had that far-off look again. She wished she could reach out and touch his face.

  “I never really thanked you for helping me so much,” she said.

  “Forget it.”

  “I’ve never been so friendly with a boy.” He looked up sharply. “I mean, I’ve known boys, but I’ve never studied school stuff with them.”

  “Meet any boys you like here?”

  “Not really.”

  “Not really? What’s that mean?” He smiled, waiting. She twirled a strand of her hair around her right forefinger.

  “The boys in my classes are so immature. I mean, there are some who are good-looking, but they’re babies. Half of them are still flipping baseball cards as their chief entertainment.”

  He laughed. “What about the girls?”

  “I like Linda Minarsky. She was in all of my classes. She keeps to herself a lot, just like me.”

  “I knew her brother Mike. He joined the army.”

  “She said you did. You used to spend a lot of time together.”

  “Been diggin’ around about me, huh?” She blushed. “That’s all right, as long as you don’t find out about my great crimes.” When she looked at him again, their eyes locked. For a moment they did nothing but smile at each other. Judy felt something pass between them and went to bed that night thinking about it.

  The next morning everyone went his own way. Elaine had the early shift at the department store. Before she left, she promised Judy that she would try to work out something with the manager.

  “They have everyone hired for the summer, but I’ll see if I can get him to squeeze you in a shift.”

  Both Frank and Marty had breakfast early, before either Judy or her mother got up. Just as Judy came down, Marty was on his way out of the house.

  “I gotta get some parts over in Monticello. Frank’s in the car. I’m dropping him off in Hurleyville so he can pick up a car he’s been promising to work on for weeks. I’ve dropped him off twice before and both times he went to Fred’s Bar and Grill and forgot about the car.”

  “See you later then.”

  “Yeah.” He paused at the door and turned back. “Maybe I’ll get some time off later and take you over to Kaplan’s Lake for a dip. It’s going to be a hot one and that’s where all the local kids go.”

  “Great,” Judy replied. He left quickly, as if his invitation embarrasse
d him.

  She ate a light breakfast, deciding that she should go on some kind of diet. Compared to the model’s thighs in the Playboy centerfold, hers were already too wide. She planned to start exercising. The bright sun promised a good day to get a suntan. She decided to get a blanket and one of the Modern Romance magazines Elaine had brought back from the store, the kind with the front cover ripped off so the store could get credit, and go out to the backyard. She ran upstairs and dug her bikini out of the pile of yet unpacked clothing. When she put it on, she was shocked.

  She hadn’t realized how much she had developed since last summer. Her breasts ballooned out of the flimsy top. The bottom seemed more abbreviated than she remembered it to be. The bathing suit was much too revealing to ever be worn in public, but considering she was going to stay by her own house, well hidden from the lightly traveled road, and considering that she was out to get a great tan . . . she decided she would wear it.

  She scooped up the blanket and the magazine and moved quietly out the back door. It was a very sunny day with practically no clouds in the sky. Those that were there seemed painted against the blue, everything was so still. There wasn’t even the slightest breeze. She spread out the blanket and began by lying on her back, her eyes closed, facing the sun. A warm glow quickly formed around her and she nearly fell asleep.

  Her skin had become hot to the touch. Even in the bright sun, she could see the redness on her legs and stomach, so she turned over on her stomach and rested her face on her arms for a few moments. Then she reached back and unclipped her bikini top so there wouldn’t be any streaks across her tan. She propped herself on her elbows and began to thumb through the magazine.

  Frank had no idea she was back there when he came home. He drove right up to the body shop. He had converted the detached garage into his workplace. There was nothing neat or attractive about what he had done. He had taken out all the lawn and garden equipment he had stored in there and simply left the machinery beside the building, along with hoses, old tires, pieces of furniture, and rusty car parts. Both the house and the detached garage were in desperate need of a paint job. The one window in the garage had been broken and never replaced.

  Despite the junkyard appearance of the yard, Frank was occasionally able to use some section of a door or piece of a car interior left to the side or behind the body shop. This was how he had come to spot Judy in the backyard.

  It was already proving to be one of the hottest days of the year, so Frank had stopped at the New York Bar and Grill in town and spent nearly two hours drinking beer, cooling off, and talking with the owners. He took a six-pack with him on the way out and was carrying one of the cans in his hand when he came around the back corner of his body shop and set eyes on Judy propped up on her blanket. He froze in his steps and barely made a sound.

  The bottom of her bikini didn’t quite cover the separation of her buttocks. That, and the revelation of her breasts, stirred him quickly into a frenzy. His eyes widened; his mouth watered. His instant erection put terrible pressure against his tight old jeans. He squeezed the nearly empty beer can, silently crushing the sides together with his powerful fingers.

  His lust for her had been growing ever since she had moved into the house. Every time she took a shower, he thought about her naked behind that old wooden door. Sometimes, when she walked past him in the hall or in a doorway, he’d get a whiff of her hair and grind his teeth in a smile. Elaine swore that Judy was a virgin. He didn’t think it was true, but even so, he fantasized pushing himself into her, tearing at her innocence. After he fucked her, he thought, she’d never be satisfied with those pimply-faced peckerheads in school. She’d always want a man.

  All of this came to mind now as he watched her. Judy was engrossed in a story that was an amazing coincidence. It was about this teenage girl who had become infatuated with her own college-age brother. References to her incestuous thoughts were subtly woven through the narrative. She had just reached the part where the older brother, realizing what was happening, had begun a deeply emotional and moving discussion with her.

  Frank was glad Judy didn’t hear him. He was only a couple of feet from her now and he held his breath. His fingers worked the button on his jeans and moved the zipper down in near silence. His fingers caught the top of his underwear as he slipped the pants down off his hips, revealing his enormous erection. In an instant he was at her.

  When Judy suddenly felt hands clutching at her breasts, sweeping the bikini top away, she screamed with shock. The weight of his body sent her flat against the blanket, crushing her cheek into the material. She felt the cloth burn her skin with the friction.

  As soon as he said, “Quiet,” she knew who it was and what he was about to do. The knowledge sent her into a wild panic, but she was unable to move his body from her or get her arms around enough to grasp and scratch at him. His fingers squeezed her nipples so hard that she screamed in pain and fright. When she felt his right hand moving her bathing suit bottom down, she flared out wildly and tried kicking back, but he pushed her head down so firmly with his left hand that she was afraid he would actually smother her to death. She understood that she was completely helpless under him. His strength was too great. He was separating her legs at will. To resist simply increased her agony.

  When Marty returned home with the parts, he saw Frank’s car and looked for him in the body shop. He was surprised that there were no sounds of work coming from there. He knew Frank was supposed to have Sam Cohen’s Cutlass ready by the weekend. He had just walked in and out of the body shop when he heard Judy’s first scream.

  Without setting eyes on the scene, Marty knew what was happening. Instinctively he took hold of an old coal shovel left against the side of the body shop, held it across his body like a rifle, and charged around the building.

  Frank had made his clumsy and gruesome entry, thrusting at Judy and then twisting her body roughly to bring himself the most satisfaction. Her arms moved back toward him weakly. She was trying to push herself off the blanket as well.

  Marty didn’t shout or call. In a blinding rage he charged forward, lifting the shovel as high as he could. Without hesitation, he brought it down with all his might. The spoon of it caught Frank smack on the back of his head. His hands flew up by reflex, but he never turned around. He just fell to the side. Blood streamed out of the gash and drew a quick line down his neck, disappearing under his shirt. His whole body shuddered and then went still.

  Judy went flat against the blanket. Now free of his weight, but not fully realizing what happened, her screams intensified.

  Frozen by the sight of Frank’s crumpled body and the blood running down his neck, Marty stared down at him. He had known all along what Frank was capable of doing and he felt partially responsible. All of the fear of his father had turned into hate. Marty had begun to fantasize about his relationship with Judy. He saw them growing closer, developing a romance that was pure and good. Now Frank had destroyed and polluted that dream forever. And he had destroyed Frank.

  Marty didn’t move his arms or turn his head until Judy began to sob uncontrollably. Her convulsions frightened him. He dropped the shovel and pulled the sides of the blanket over her.

  She spun around to strike out and saw that it was him. Her eyes, wild with fear, changed when she spotted Frank’s crumpled form beside her. She looked up at Marty and clutched the blanket to her bosom. It had all happened so quickly—and in front of him! His eyes were wide with excitement, his face flushed, his chest heaving. She looked from him to Frank and back to him again. Her sobbing continued in spasmodic jerks. She couldn’t stop it.

  “Judy, I. . .” He stepped toward her and she screamed. The piercing, shrill sound made him close his eyes and then look at her in amazement. She pushed herself backward on the ground, clutching at the blanket.