Chapter IV: Erica makes friends (Part 2)
2180 Words
She raised her eyebrows. The question sounded strange to her.
“If I know something? Well, aside from the fact that men here seem to be quite overprotective in general and like polyamorous relationships…”
“Yes, but not to all and they are certainly overprotective. But there's more,” Stephanie explained. “Actually our town was founded just a hundred years ago or so. By our mayor's ancestor, a certain I-don't-know-who Kilgour.”
Lauren gasped.
“Stephanie!” she scolded her. “His name was Geoffrey Lloyd Kilgour, and we have a statue and several commemorative plaques throughout the town about him. How can you forget him?”
“Oh, Mr. Geoffrey, yes, yes,” her friend agreed dismissively. “Well, he founded it with his wife Catherine. And with him came many more. His goal was to create a place where more people like him and their partners could live in peace and quiet.”
The story was so interesting. Erica found herself wanting to know more.
“By more people like him, you mean…”
“No, he didn't share a woman,” Stephanie replied quickly, guessing her thoughts, “but there were friends of his who did. What I mean is that Mr. Geoffrey had very clear ideas about how women should be treated and he wanted all the men who settled in his town to follow the same type of mentality as him.”
“Hmm, and what was it?”
“That women should always be men's first priority. Men have an obligation to protect them and look after their welfare, and be the head of the family,” Lauren recited.
Oh, that doesn't sound so bad.
“But also,” Stephanie added mischievously, “in the case a woman committed a reckless act that jeopardized her safety, it was her husband's responsibility to bring her to his knees and give her a good spanking.”
Erica nearly chokes on her drink. She began to cough desperately as Lauren hastened to pat her on the back.
“What?” she managed to articulate after a while.
“Steph, you shouldn't have been so direct," her friend defended as she looked at Erica with concern. “Are you ok?”
“Oh, but I haven't said anything. Spanking is liked by many couples,” her friend defended herself, still smiling.
“In bed! Not like…not like…” Erica was beginning to stutter.
“Domestic discipline?”
“Exact!”
“So you don't like spanking? Too bad.” Stephanie looked disappointed. “You do not know what you're missing.”
Erica cleared her throat, feeling her face turn red.
“U-Um, you… by any chance…?”
“Yes, our husbands spank us every time we misbehave. Or we feel like being naughty, depending on how it looks,” Stephanie replied as if she were commenting on some weather trivia. “All the women of Comraich Gaoil are spanked.”
Erica's eyes almost pop out of their sockets. A cold sweat ran down her back.
“All the women? Every one of them?”
“Yes, Even Mrs. Jones, who is ninety-two years old, I bet still gets the occasional pat on the bottom from her husband from time to time.”
“Oh, but... isn't that abuse?” Erica wanted to know, confused.
Both women were quick to shake their heads.
“No, nothing of that. In fact, I would say that in general we are happier than other women. I mean, our husbands love us, are overprotective of us, and spoil us a lot. They all have a rather protective and dominant side, and we live very relaxed,” Stephanie said good-naturedly.
“That's true,” Lauren agreed. “I think if someone really wanted to force a woman to do something she didn't want to do or hurt her in any way, they would get really mad. I don't even want to imagine it.”
Stephanie agreed.
“That's true. Some time ago, when I was twelve or thirteen years old, a couple came to look at houses. They wanted to stay here because they had heard about the Comraich Gaoil way of life. Apparently the husband slapped his wife for some reason and there was quite a bit of trouble. Several neighbors chased him until they beat him and even the father of Marcus Kilgour, who was mayor at the time, had to intervene. We never saw him again.”
“My goodness. And what happened to the woman?”
“Several women from the town convinced her to divorce him and for twelve years she has lived happily married to her current husband, who is from here. They both run a shoe store.”
Erica was sincerely happy for the poor woman. At least she had gotten her fairytale happy ending. But she also felt a little envious when she realized that this was not going to happen to her. Not with all the problems and insecurities and obstacles that were thrown at her. Having a boyfriend was one of the last things on her priority list right now. And above all that was working and saving money.
Besides, being completely honest, what man in his right mind would want to date her? She had no job and lived in a horrible house. And she wasn't very pretty either. Too small and underdeveloped. Many men hardly found her sexy. The fact that she loved watching Disney movies and sleeping with stuffed animals didn't help much either. Jordan used to complain about it on countless occasions, claiming that she looked silly and childish. That only she knew how to kill a man's interest.
Well, he might as well go f**k himself, Erica thought as she finished emptying her drink.
“Do you want another?” Lauren asked.
“I shouldn't, really. I don't want to exceed…”
“Come on, you've only had one beer since you've been here. Another one won't hurt you.” Stephanie rose from her seat. “I'm going to order another one too. And you, Lauren?”
“I'm fine.” Her friend pointed to her half-full glass.
“I order the drinks and then go to the bathroom. I'll be back now, don't have fun without me.”
“Okay, we’ll be watching your purse.”
As Stephanie walked away, Erica and Lauren resumed the flow of the conversation.
“I'm sorry if we gave you a shock or something,” Lauren began, somewhat anguished. “Steph can be a bit blunt at times, but she always says things with good intentions.”
“Don't worry about that. I actually like to know about the town where my father lived,” Erica said with a smile.
“Oh, the Old Carl's son?”
“I never knew my grandfather. I think my father hated him, but no one explained why. When I was born, they had long since lost contact.”
“It's a shame,” her friend agreed, “but your grandfather was quite a character in the town. I don't think anyone liked him.”
Erica laughed out loud.
“That's what I thought. I heard that he liked to throw rotten things at people, right?”
“Oh yeah. My mother once told me that as a child she bumped into Old Carl when she was holding an ice cream cone. His pants got dirty and he started yelling at her and saying all kinds of things. She ended up urinating on top of the scare and ran off while crying. My mother still remembers that.”
“What a shameless person.”
“At least you still have your parents.”
Erica was paralyzed and took a few seconds to respond:
“I don't really have them. My mother died when I was little in a car accident and my father died about a year ago. Cancer,” she confessed with some reservation.
Lauren clapped her hands to her mouth in disbelief.
“Oh, I'm so sorry, Erica. I can't believe I said something so inconsiderate. I've been a loudmouth.” She looked like she was about to start crying.
Erica hurried to calm her down.
“Of course not! Please do not cry. It's not your fault at all.”
“But still…”
“It’s nothing. My mother died when I was two so I barely remember her. And as for my father…” Her face darkened a little more, “he was diagnosed with cancer when I was sixteen, so I had been getting used to the idea that I was going to lose him one day for a long time. Of course, when he really died, it didn't make it more bearable, but I knew how to handle it a little better. So that's why I like hearing about Comraich Gaoil. After all, it was here that he grew up.”
Lauren was really touched.
“We can tell you all the things you want, Erica! And take a tour of the town together, although there is not much to see. I'm sure Stephanie will love it.”
“Thanks. I'd love to.”
“It doesn't matter. Oh, Dylan has also told me that if you need anything, he always has the doors of the police station open for you.”
“The police station?”
“Didn’t I tell you?” Lauren looked embarrassed. “Dylan is the superintendent of the town police station. And Steph's husband, Evan, is her second in command.”
“Oh!” Erica exclaimed. Then she smiled. “Good to know.”
“I'd love to introduce him to you. We can plan a dinner for the five of us one of these days.”
“Sounds great.”
“Fantastic!” Lauren looked excited. “I know a good place near here. Do you like seafood? I haven't asked if you're allergic to anything. Sorry.”
“No, like everything.”
“Great. Let me set dates with the others and I'll tell you later, okay?”
“For me, perfect.”
Then they saw Stephanie come out of the bathroom. She was walking at a safe pace towards them when she accidentally collided with the arm of a large and strong man who was carrying a couple of beers in his hands, causing its contents to spill on his black T-shirt. A sepulchral silence filled the establishment.
“What the hell you’ve done, b***h?” The man exploded, red with anger.
But Stephanie didn't seem alarmed.
“You collided with me, you piece of s**t, because you didn't look where you were going. And who are you calling a b***h, huh?”
“Well, to the w***e in front of me. You're going to pay me for the beers.”
“Your mother is going to pay for it. Sod off, bastard.”
Stephanie started to walk past him without so much as a glance, but the stranger grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and spun her around until she was face to face.
“You're not leaving here until I say so, son of a b***h. Either you pay me or I f**k you right here.”
Lauren turned as pale as a ghost.
“Oh oh. We have to do something. I'm going to call Dyl… No, wait, Erica, don't go!” Her friend yelled, startled.
But Erica was already running towards them, although inside she did not understand where this sudden burst of courage came from. Erica was scared to death inside, but she couldn't stand idly by as she watched her new friend about to be abused like this. She yanked her pepper spray out of her bag and sprayed it without looking directly into the man's eyes.
It was a real show. The dude began to scream as if his eyes were being gouged out and he began to rub them as if his life depended on it. The other customers were stunned by the scene, including Stephanie.
“Wow. I have to buy one of those, seriously,” she commented.
Erica grabbed her arm and gave it a little tugs.
“We'd better get going. Quick,” she urged her.
Lauren, phone still in hand, tossed a couple of bills on the table and scrambled to her feet, in keeping with Erica's thoughts. Girls night over. Understood.
“Where the hell do you think you're going!? I'm going to kill all three of you!” the stranger bellowed, as enraged as a bull.
Just when he was about to charge at them like a beast and chase them...
“What the hell is going on here?” thundered a voice from beyond the grave.
In the doorway stood Emerson Allister with an expression that made it clear that he was in a worse mood than usual. And that he wasn't for bullshit.
His voice sent chills down Erica's spine. Her heart began to pound strongly.
“I want an answer now.”
- Writer
