arms felt sore and useless.
It was funny to Joel how he was becoming more capable of understanding Pillowface. Even without words, he seemed to speak clearer than most people he knew. Joel liked him, and no matter how heavy things got, he had no plans of ditching him.
Pillowface led them deeper into the woods. After a while, Joel sat on a tree stump, allowing Pillowface to go on without him. He was exhausted, and his shins were screaming. Ten minutes passed before he finally returned, carrying the largest chainsaw Joel had ever seen. With all of Pillowface’s toys gathered, it was time for them to return to the house.
(III)
The kid looked parched and sore by the time they made it back to his house. Walking alongside him, Pillowface carried the chainsaw in one hand, and the machete in the other.
“Are you thirsty? I am. Want to get some water or something?”
Joel took the lead, marching to the side of the house where there was a water spigot with an attached hose. He turned it on, leaned over, and slurped the water as it dispensed. He stopped when the sudden blaring of rock music erupted from the other side of the wooden fence .
The chainsaw and machete clattered when they slapped the ground. Pillowface left them there on his way to the fence.
“Wait,” Joel whispered, trying to shout without raising his voice. “Don’t go over there, they might see you.”
Pillowface ignored him, and marched straight to the wooden barrier anyway.
Joel trotted after him, catching up as Pillowface pressed his bulk against the fence to peer over the top. What he found on the other side was a young woman with dirty blonde hair, no older than eighteen, sunbathing. She sat on a towel with her legs extended in front of her, massaging glistening oil onto her skin, causing it to shine as if she’d been swimming in wax. He couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses. A thin, two-piece white bikini was tied around her hips with noodle-like straps. The top was nothing more than small triangles over her nipples that laced around her neck. Her breasts were nearly falling out of it.
He licked his lips, practically able to taste her.
Then he felt that familiar hatred rising from deep within. His hands trembled with pumping adrenaline. He wanted her. Not to hold her, or to caress, but to crush and disfigure. How could she be so beautiful? How was it allowable that his beauty could be so callously stolen yet this insipid girl could be so effortlessly beautiful?
She would laugh at him if he took the mask off. If she could see his face, she’d make fun of him, laugh at his scars.
They all would.
“That’s Tonya,” said Joel.
Pillowface jumped at the sound of his voice. Looking down, he saw his little buddy peeking through a small knot in the wood. If Joel had noticed his reaction, he gave no indication to it.
“She’s the neighborhood hottie, and the neighborhood slut.” Joel snickered. “She let me look at her tits before. I swear it. One time after my parents died, she let me play with them. It was her way of trying to make me feel better. It worked. But, she made me swear not to tell anyone. So, you can’t say anything. Promise?”
Even if he wanted to, he had no one to tell, and if he did, he wouldn’t dare to anyway. In some way he was honored Joel had shared that, and wouldn’t betray him.
“Look,” he said. “She’s taking her top off. Shit, that’s two sets in one day.”
Tonya’s hands were behind her back, tugging at the knot. The top came off easily; her perky breasts slumped, but only slightly. Perfectly round in shape, the nipples were the size of raisins. She began lathering them in oil, cupping them in her hands, fondling them with the glaze. Her breasts looked wet and slippery under the yellow spread of sunlight.
“Aren’t they huge? They felt so soft though…”
Pillowface felt warmth in his pants, but willed it to remain
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