Inner Circle by Charles Arnold Page B

you going to do to convince them the stories are true?”
    Kathy bowed her head, then looked up, “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them about the photographs of you and…and…Jeff kissing. I’ll tell them that I found love letters from him to you. I’ll tell them how grateful I am to you and your kind uncle for forgiving me about the lies I spread last year.”
    “And you’ll tell them your husband always had a thing for young girls. You’ll tell them he wanted me when I was fifteen, but I didn’t let him fuck me until two years ago when I was seventeen?” She paused. She glared across at Kathy, “Then we made love and he fucked me every night until he died.”
    Kathy bowed her head and said nothing.
    Ruben’s arm shot out and the slapped Kathy across the face. “When my niece asks you a question, you’re to answer her!” he shouted.
    The stinging blow left a red mark on Kathy’s cheek. She determined not to cry. With her head still lowered, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Miss Sheila. “I’ll tell them that my husband, that Jeff, was interested in…in young women and that he was especially fond of you and had been for several years. I’ll tell them you were lovers for the last year of his life.”
    “And tell them when he started lusting after me, he stopped having sex with you. Tell them he confessed when I was fifteen I made him promise to cut you off and he did.”
    Kathy lifted her head and stared at Sheila. After a moment, she said, “Yes, Miss Sheila, I’ll tell them that.”
    Sheila blew another cloud of smoke across at Kathy. “Uncle says you’re to let your friends know you’ve become attracted to me, physically attracted.” She licked her lips and leaned forward. “How do you propose to show them that, Mrs. Ryan?”
    “I…I…don’t know.”
    “Well, I’ll tell you how. When you’re not attending to Uncle, you’ll look at me like you’re in love, like you’d be thrilled if I smiled at you. You’ll find ways to touch my hand. You’ll look for ways to serve me, to do little things for me. No matter how I might humiliate you, you’ll appear to be grateful. You’ll support everything I say about my affair with your late husband.” She sat back and took a long drag on the cigarette. “There will be other things I’ll require of you both in public and in private.” She turned toward Ruben. “Oh, Uncle, I’m going to enjoy this! She is my very own servant, isn’t she? She will do what I tell her to do?”
    Ruben patted her knee, “Yes, Sheila, she will do exactly what she’s told. She knows what will happen if she doesn’t. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Ryan?”
    “Yes, that’s right. I’ll do what you and Miss Sheila say.”
    “You can start by getting on your knees and looking up into my face. Do it lovingly, Mrs. Ryan, lovingly.”
    Kathy slid off the seat and onto her knees. She tilted her head up, but the hatred in her eyes was clear to both Sheila and Ruben. Once more, Sheila took a long drag on her cigarette and blew the smoke directly into Kathy’s face. Kathy’s expression didn’t change. Sheila turned toward her uncle. “I told her lovingly,” she complained.
    Ruben reached in his coat pocket and withdrew a photograph that he held up before Kathy’s eyes. It was of her tied naked over the rat cage. She shuddered visibly and closed her eyes. “Lovingly,” Ruben said, “My niece told you to look at her lovingly.”
    Kathy tried to imagine Jeff, tried to make herself believe that when she opened her eyes she would be looking up at Jeff. It didn’t work, but the change was enough to satisfy Sheila for the moment.
    “Say something nice to me,” Sheila demanded.
    Kathy paused gathering her thoughts, “You are beautiful, Miss Sheila. I can understand why my husband fell in love with you. It…it’s easy to see why he preferred you to me.”
    Sheila sneered at her, “Of course, you don’t mean that, but I like to hear it.” They were pulling into the driveway