CHAPTER 10

BILLY BOB

“Do you know why you can’t tell a pig secrets?” Lyle asked as he walked into my abode.

“I give up,” I replied.

“Because they always squeal,” he said with a laugh.

“Where do you come up with these jokes?” I chuckled.

“Here and there,” he answered with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“You want a beverage?”

“I’m good,” he replied as we sat at my kitchen table. His mirth upon entering my home quickly turned to a scornful scowl. “I got a call from Willa about a half hour ago. She told me she is done, shall we say, entertaining.”

“Really?” I responded.

“Yeah,” Lyle continued. “So, I say how about one more farewell tryst, and she said no because it was something she needed to do immediately. I asked her if she could tell me why she was ending our business arrangement, and she said, in a nutshell, that you introduced her to her Savior.”

“That’s wonderful!” I declared.

“That’s terrible!” Lyle countered.

“Oh, come on, Lyle. I know you’re not religious, but surely you can see that giving up her, um, profession is a good thing.”

“How is it a good thing? She brought me and her other dudes plenty of pleasurable moments, and she was rewarded handsomely for her efforts. I mean, she made two hundred dollars for every hour she worked. That’s almost ten times what I pay yo… Never mind.”

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

Lyle frowned, waving his hand. “Ya know, I tried to do you a solid several weeks ago when I set you up with Willa. I even paid for your first round. And how do you thank me? By influencing Willa to break up with me.”

“Um, I don’t think no longer going to a certain prostitute would be considered breaking up,” I suggested.

“I beg to differ, my good friend,” Lyle insisted. “Willa and I saw each other once a week for almost two years.”

“But you paid for it!”

“Every guy pays for companionship in one way or another.”

“Are you serious? Companionship?” I laughed. “You paid a hundred dollars for every half hour of that companionship.”

“Look, let’s not get into an argument over semantics,” Lyle scowled as he scratched the back of his head. “The thing is… I think… I’m in love with her.”

I felt parts of my body clench, and my toes curled. Was it jealousy? Shouldn’t be, I had Carly back. Was it concern for Lyle, and what he might do with his passion? Would Willa even be interested?

“What about what you just told me, that Willa has become a Christian?” I asked.

“I’m a Christian.”

“In name, not practice.”

“Judge not lest ye be judged, my friend.”

“I’m not judging. I’ve just observed your lifestyle.”

“Fair enough,” he replied with a shrug.

“So what are you gonna do with these, um, feelings?”

“I don’t know,” he said, throwing up his hands. “I’m just really bummed she ended our relationship.”

I raised an eyebrow at him over relationship.

“Arrangement.”

“Oh well, don’t worry, I won’t tell her.”

“No, no, do tell her! Then the likely rejection if I told her won’t be humiliating.”

“Humiliating? Didn’t she used to hand cuff you, spank, and what not?”

Lyle put his hands behind his head, looked at the ceiling, took in a big breath through his nose, blew it out, and looked at me. “I can see why you’d think that. But this is different.”

When Lyle left, I called Willa. Not to tell her about Lyle’s sentiments, but to see if she was still going to church with me the next day and offer to pick her up. However, after she declared she would go and I set up a time to pick her up, I related my conversation with Lyle.

“I would never ever see a client, or I should say former client, socially, let alone romantically,” she declared.

I was relieved by her words. Had I been a bit jealous? No, why should I, I was back with Carly.

 Dirk Easton was the first person we saw after Willa, and I entered the church.

“Dirk, I’d like you to meet my friend, Willa Waconia,” I said. “Willa, this is my good friend, Dirk Easton.”

“Nice to meet you, Willa,” Dirk said as he offered his hand. “Are you related to Whitney Waconia?”

“She’s my cousin,” Willa replied.

“Whitney and I dated a few times,” Dirk said a bit uneasily.

“Oh, my!” Willa said with wide eyes. “You’re that hero guy that saved some girl from being raped. I thought your name sounded familiar.”

Dirk winced. “Actually, Brock Storm was the hero.”

“That name sounds familiar too. Who’s Brock Storm?”

“I’m Brock Storm,” said the tall, solid man who came up behind Willa. His friendly, light brown eyes were contradictory to his otherwise menacing appearance. “Who might you be?”

Willa gasped at Brock’s zero masses of muscle. He was a rare guy that made me feel small. “Are you a professional wrestler or something?”

“I’ll have to go with ‘or something,’” Brock replied a small smile.

“No, I guess you’d be too pretty for a wrestler,” Willa said with a seductive grin.

“You just haven’t got a good look at his bad side,” Destiny Knight Storm said as she appeared from behind Brock. She took his face in her hands and twisted his head almost halfway around to reveal facial scars. The most sinister of the three was curled like a twisted smile from the corner of his mouth. Brock not only didn’t resist, but he and Destiny both laughed.

“You must be Willa,” Destiny said smiling warmly. “I’m …”

“Destiny Knight Storm,” Willa interrupted. “You’ve got the coolest name.”

“Thank you,” Destiny replied. “Billy’s told me a lot about you.”

“Has he?” Willa asked with a grin as she looked at me, yet there seemed to be a skeptical glare in her eyes as well.

“Hey, I’ve got a little book I’d like to give you,” Destiny told Willa before taking her hand and leading her thirty feet away to a table where she had a big duffle bag. Destiny handed Willa something, and then they became engrossed in conversation.

“It looks like those two lovely ladies are becoming fast friends,” Dirk said.

“Speaking of beautiful women, where’s Amy?” Brock asked Dirk, referring to Dirk’s wife, who was also the woman Dirk and Brock saved from a probable gang rape.

“She’s helping Mrs. Bakersfield prepare some of the kids for a song for the service,” Dirk said.

Once again, speaking someone’s name seemed to conjure them. Dirk’s lovely wife bounced as she approached us. Her long, wavy red-gold hair was pulled back with a hair clip. She wore a light denim dress that revealed a baby bump in her otherwise tall, slender frame. “Hey, Billy. Good to see you,” Amy greeted me with a smile and a twinkle in her unusual, yet appealing eyes. One was blue and one was green.

“Hi, Amy. Good to see you too,” I replied.

“Where’s Dee?” Amy asked, referring to Destiny.

“She’s over there,” Dirk said, pointing at Willa and Destiny.

“Oh,” Amy said as her face became serious. She squinted with her large, pretty eyes when she noticed her best friend talking to another young woman. “Who’s the new girl?”

“It’s Dee’s new best friend,” Dirk told her with a wink. Everyone knew that Destiny and Amy were as close as sisters.

Brock playing along, patting Amy’s baby bump. “You’re too chubby to fit in with the cool kids.”

“That’s not funny, Storm,” Amy said with a cold, menacing stare. I didn’t know Dirk’s wife all that well, but I did know the feisty young lady was a crusader for the underdog and the less fortunate. I was just starting to feel a little uncomfortable when I noticed a smile playing at her lips, and she showed him her fist. “I ought to sock you for that, Storm.”

Brock spread his arms as if to say, ‘have at it.’ Amy actually punched him really hard in the stomach, but Brock didn’t even flinch. Amy on the other hand said “ouch” and shook her hand.

“I’m sorry,” Brock said pitifully. “But I prefer you to call me Dad rather than Storm.”

 “Is Brock really Amy’s dad?” I asked Dirk, but Brock, overhearing, answered for him.

“Amy’s and also Dirk’s parents have all passed away, so Dee and I unofficially adopted them,” he explained then glanced at Dirk. “But my son is less violent than my daughter.”

Amy grinned and shrugged. Then Dirk said, “I just don’t want to hurt you, Dad.”

Fast as a blink, Brock grabbed Dirk and bear hugged him. Dirk groaned, and with a squeaky voice said, “Amy, get him.”

Amy tickled Brock, who squirmed while he laughed and released Dirk.

“Ha,” Dirk began gleefully. “David downed the mighty Goliath with a sling and a stone. Lovely Amy bested the mighty Storm with a tickle.

“Don’t compare me to Goliath,” Brock whined. “He was a bad guy.”

“How about Samson?” Amy asked.

“Nope. He was strong, yes, but disciplined, no.”

“How about Grandpa?” Amy asked sweetly.

“Huh?”

“Look,” Amy said, showing Brock a picture. “It’s from an ultrasound yesterday!”

“Grandpa,” Brock said quietly as he gazed fondly at the picture of the in-utero baby. Then he pulled Amy in for a hug and kissed her on her forehead. After he released her, he shook Dirk’s hand.

“You already hugged me, but I got no kiss,” Dirk joked.

“Well, come here, little buddy,” Brock said with a big grin and an aggressive yank.

“Brock, Dad, no. I was kidding,” Dirk exclaimed as he tried to wiggle free from a second bear hug. It was to no avail – Brock kissed Dirk on the side of his head right by the temple. Everybody around started laughing. Destiny caught sight of the struggle, and her mouth gaped open in surprise before it curled into a smile.

When Destiny spotted Amy, she smiled and wiggled her fingers at her. Amy returned the finger gesture, grinned excitedly, and made her way over to Destiny and Willa. Destiny introduced the two women, and Amy hugged Willa.

I watched Willa’s contented smile as Amy shared the photo of her baby in the womb. We had only been there for fifteen minutes, but I knew Willa had found some good friends. However, in the days ahead, she would struggle as a ‘babe in Christ.’

I actually have two meanings with this description of a ‘babe in Christ.’ The first is the fact that she was a new Christian. The second was indeed her appearance. It took Willa a while to become convicted that she should stop dressing rather, well, sexy. Guys still looked at her and thought, even said, “Wow, what a babe.”

Ultimately this led to some difficult situations and choices for her with a couple guys she was attracted to. It’s uncomfortable for me to admit that I was more of a hinderance for her than a help.