Poor Jerry

Contributor: Moxie Malone

- -
Poor Jerry.

It was difficult to watch him slowly deteriorate day after day. It's never easy seeing someone you care about suffer. Unable to do anything to ease the pain, you feel helpless, irrational and guilty. There were moments - fleeting moments - when it crossed my mind that maybe, just maybe I was somehow responsible. Hell, at the end, Jerry blamed me, but any rational person would know that it was ridiculous to fault me. To my knowledge, stepping on cracks never broke any mother's back and secret curses don't come to pass.

It's true, there were times when I was angry with wickedly cruel thoughts, but I would never act on them and certainly never tell him. I didn't really mean to cause any actual harm, which is not to suggest that it is possible to inflict pain with a simple thought. Obviously, it's just not possible.

Still, if he had just apologized, even once, I would have taken it all back - those thoughts, those vividly destructive images that played in my mind and the silly little rhymes that I would chant in my head. He hurt me and I lashed out in the only way I would. It was a defense mechanism from my childhood, I suppose - a harmless defense mechanism.

To be clear, I never once laid an angry or hurtful hand on him, which is more than I can say about Jerry. He was still under the affects of anesthesia the first time he smacked me. Although, that was not my first inkling that he had a temper.

I figured out pretty early on in our relationship that he was prone to flaring up in anger, quite unexpectedly. I still don't know what set him off that night when he threw my brand new laptop across the room, smashing it against the wall.

Of course, I didn't actually kick him in the balls for that; I just pictured myself doing it. Even now, I can almost feel the satisfying yield of his scrotum as my imaginary foot sunk deep into his imaginary nut sack. I would liken that satisfaction to the deliciously indescribable feeling you get when you press your fingers against those little plastic air pockets found in bubble wrap and they acquiesce with a final airy pop.

I felt badly for him when we had to take him to the doctor's office later that same week. He could hardly walk from the pain in his crotch. It came on quite suddenly and worsened over the next few days. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with him and suggested that he had likely pulled a muscle in his groin. Perhaps he did that when he heaved my laptop across the room; secretly, I thought it served him right, if he had. Rest and aspirin were what the doctor ordered.

The laptop survived with only a small crack in the plastic case and Jerry seemed to get better for a little while.

He suffered a relapse a couple of weeks later right after a particularly aggressive fuck session. Jerry had a tendency, on occasion, to get rough during sex. I remember that time specifically, because he actually bit my shin, causing me to scream out in pain. It left an ugly purple-black bruise that lasted for months. He must have re-pulled that muscle too, because we had to make another trip to the doctor.

I found it mildly amusing when the doctor cupped his balls during the examination. It was not unlike what I pictured doing right after he bit me. Except, in my little mind-movie, I dug my nails into his flesh and squeezed until he cried like a little girl. I confess that it made me giggle. The truth is, it still does.

It was just a harmless fantasy - a tension reliever that allowed me to get past my anger. It worked, too; I forgave him for both the pain and the horrible mark he left on me. In time, the bruise faded and disappeared but not before turning a grisly shade of green. I'd say that it was about the same shade of green as the phlegm that Jerry started hacking up from the cough he developed. Damned cigarettes; he really needed to give those up.

At the doctor's suggestion, we bought Jerry a cane for walking; that muscle pull was really causing him a great deal of pain and wasn't showing any signs of improving.

I think the worst of it was the blow to his ego. Understandably, he felt a bit emasculated, though he would never say so. I knew that there were two things that Jerry was most proud of besides his intellect: his cock and his hands.

I suppose most men are fond of their organ, but Jerry took special pride in both the form and function of his penis. As for his hands, he was very fast on the keyboard and did a good deal of computer work - scripting, coding and the like. He once remarked that his greatest fear was to lose the use of his hands, presumably because it would affect his ability to work. I think he feared that if he lost the use of his hands, he would not be able to hold the love of his life - his cock.

He became difficult to be around while we waited for his groin injury to heal. He was always snapping at me and being generally mean spirited, grouchy and ungrateful. The more I did to help out and care for him, the nastier he became. He never even offered a simple, "thanks" for everything that I was doing to make him comfortable - to make his life easier. It wasn't expected, but neither was his miserable attitude.

Undoubtedly, it was a combination of the pain and his inability to have sex that made him so disagreeable. Oh, he tried repeatedly - the man had a nearly insatiable sexual appetite, but it always ended with him unable to cum or if he did manage to orgasm, he wound up doubled over in pain.

Frankly, the nastier he got, the less I wanted to be around him, let alone have sex with him, but I kept those thoughts to myself. Admittedly, I wasn't proud of the mean thoughts I was having at the time, especially in light of his condition. I really wish he had offered a simple "thank you" or an "I'm sorry." I can't say that it would have made him feel better, but I know I would have been in a more charitable mood.

His condition worsened and, once again, we returned to the doctor. This time, the doctor did find something and ordered tests. Somehow, Jerry had managed to get a double hernia that had gone undetected; surgery was scheduled. I knew there had to be a reasonable explanation for his ever-increasing pain.

That was the day that he smacked me - the day of his surgery. It was an out-patient procedure so he was still groggy from the general anesthesia when I was driving us home. To this day, I'm unclear what he thought I said or did that gave him cause to smack me. I was stopped at an intersection and just started to pull out when, out of nowhere, there was a jarring, stinging pain to my cheek. I swear my brain rattled in my head.

Reflexively, I stomped back onto the brakes as my mind ran scenarios to determine what happened: Accident. We were hit. No. I was hit. He hit me. That fucker just hit me.

Quickly, I moved from confusion to understanding and a flash of anger exploded inside of me. I couldn't even speak, which was probably for the best. I can still recall the picture that played over and over in my head as I stared at him in disbelief - the picture of slamming the offending hand in the car door again and again and again. It took me a couple of minutes to regain my composure so that I was able to drive.

I had to repeatedly remind myself that he was under the influence of the anesthesia and while he could be cranky at times, he had never struck me before that day. Even though it was out of character for him and it was an unusual circumstance, it was difficult to let go of the anger this time. I even made up a childish chant in my head; the kind that made me feel better when I was a young girl - when I fancied myself a powerful, good witch who could cast spells to defeat evil and banish monsters back to the sewers from whence they came.

Jerry, Jerry quite mean and scary;
There's something you should know:
'til you look in my eyes and apologize;
Your pain will grow and grow.

I think I silently repeated that silly chant in my head for weeks until I was able to move past the incident and forgive him.

Sadly, it took longer than expected for Jerry to recover from the surgery. The doctor was perplexed and commented that this was not a complicated procedure; Jerry should be further along than he was. He was given a different prescription of pain meds and reminded to refrain from heavy lifting or extended periods of standing.

The newest prescription was a stronger dosage than before and I remember noting a glazed, dull look in Jerry's dark brown eyes as he sat at that damned computer typing for hours on end - sometimes for eighteen hours a day - day after day. At least he was staying off of his feet.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise when he developed carpal tunnel syndrome; that much time spent on a keyboard was bound to cause problems in his hands. It also didn't come as a surprise that his already dismal mood spiraled ever-downward. That was when he started chasing the pain meds with vodka.

It was heart breaking to see someone so young fall apart right in front of my eyes. I worried that he was slowly killing himself as he swallowed more and more pain pills and drank larger quantities of vodka all while seated at the center of a cloud of thick, blue smoke that hung lazily around him from the cigarettes that he burned non-stop.

I blame that lethal cocktail combination on his inability to get an erection even with the aid of those little blue pills that his doctor prescribed. Jerry blamed me.

That was the gist of the argument the night that he grabbed hold of my arm and twisted it painfully behind my back, bending me to my knees. "This is your fault," he screamed at me as I tried to contort my body to relieve the agony that burned along my arm.

I knew it was the pills and booze talking, but that didn't change the lingering pain that seared up my arm every time I tried to move it. I no longer pictured terrible things happening to him; he was creating and living in his own hell that was worse than anything I could dream up. I did write another poem in my head that gave me comfort, though.

For every pain you inflict on me;
You will suffer it three times three.
I fear your "sorry" will come too late;
And, soon you can't even masturbate.


Gradually, as my pain subsided, I no longer needed the chant to feel better and returned to tending to Jerry who was now scheduled for another surgery. This time, it was on both of his hands. Though we never spoke of it, we were both painfully aware that he was teetering dangerously close to realizing his greatest fear.

You'd think that he would have shown some degree of gratitude for the extra effort it took to help him as he recovered from the surgery. I became his hands since his were wrapped in bandages and essentially useless. Jerry - being Jerry - not only showed a complete lack of appreciation, he acted as if he held me in contempt. The expression in his eyes said, "This is your fault."

He was supposed to keep the bandages on for three weeks at a minimum and not use his hands to allow them to heal properly. He lasted only a few days before he ripped off the bandages and stubbornly went back to the keyboard on his computer against the doctor's explicit orders.

There was no convincing him otherwise, either. I'd see him wince in pain as he stroked the keys then reach for his glass of vodka that was ever-present on his desktop. His typing was much slower than before - impeded by his unhealed hands and the affects of the pain pills and liquor.

I couldn't watch him self destruct any longer and took to staying in the bedroom. Rarely, did I hear any movement coming from the living room. He was becoming more of a fixture than a person sitting in the same spot all day long until the early morning hours. Oftentimes, he didn't even come to bed.

He started watching his extensive porn collection for hours at a stretch. Even with the door closed, I could hear the artificial moans and panting of plastic babes taking a pounding. "Yeah, baby, give it to me. Fuck me baby. Harder. Harder," echoed through the walls and invaded my dreams well into the wee hours of the morning.

Sometimes, from the doorway, I'd watch him sit there with his limp cock laying lifeless in his crippled hand as he starred blankly at the screen - a cigarette burning in the ashtray next to his glass of vodka. My heart ached at the sight, "Please stop," I whispered from the dark.

The last time that he hit me, I was sitting on the bed watching a movie. He charged in and whacked me on the back knocking the breath from me. I jumped up in a panic gasping for air as piss poured out of me. He'd managed to nail me in the kidney.

He recoiled in pain, grabbing his hand and ducked just as the lamp flew past his head followed by everything in a five foot radius of me. Oddly, I don't even remember picking up and throwing those things. I do recall the shocked look on his face as books, lamps, a bed tray, and various bed stand items flew through the air and bounced off the wall mere inches from his head; I think he was surprised at my reaction. I was surprised at my piss-poor aim.

He stayed away from me until he departed days later. I've not seen him since.

It's a shame we parted company under those circumstances. No apologies. No thank you for the good times. Just the sound of a door closing. I sent my silent wishes with him on his journey.

So, the time has come for you to go;
There's still something that you should know.
I send you love as you walk away;
May you get what you deserve each and every day.

Good bye, Jerry.


- - -
Moxie Malone is a purveyor of dreams, fantasies and the occasional nightmare --
Purv for short. Usually sensual, often romantic, frequently erotic, sometimes humorous and nearly always offbeat aiming for provocative, the stories that she writes as well as the people, places and events found in them are pure fiction and nothing more - as far as you know.
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Nom de Plume

Contributor: Quill Enparchment

- -
Coming home for the evening after a hard day of work, I had two things on my mind: a hot bath to wash the stench of ink off my skin, and a date with the dragon.
President Grant visited Virginia City today and the streets filled with hullabaloo the moment he stepped off the train. I wanted to cover the story for the newspaper but that son of a bitch editor I work for reminded me that women weren't real writers and told me to go cover the quilter's circle. My afternoon had me up to my ears in tea and talk about the ladies' work being done in time for Halloween.
I'm not part of the quilter's circle. In fact, I don't sew at all - not a stitch. Can't even darn my own socks. I write minor stories and help the guys on the printing presses. Every evening my skin is covered in stinky black ink and sweat. No wonder I'm single.
Mr. Chang was the only one who would rent to me after Philip was shot last year. I lost our house to the man who pulled the trigger. The swindler claimed the property was lawfully his, and the gunfight proved him right.
My job doesn't pay much, but it's enough to rent one of the apartments above the opium parlor. My. Chang wasn't actually using this particular unit anyway. It's up a very narrow, winding staircase that opium users have a hard time ascending. He keeps the stairwell hidden behind a red silk curtain to deter trespassers.
On my way home tonight, a very handsome stranger opened the door for me - obviously a passerby as I didn't recognize him. No "helloes," between us - just a cordial exchange of nods and polite smiles.
It wasn't so much his facial features or stature that impressed me. It was his skin - a stunning golden color unlike a farmer's tan or the olive tone of the Orientals. And its texture was so soft and creamy that I wanted to reach out and touch him, stroke my fingertips across his back, dig my nails into him.
We stepped into the parlor then went our separate ways. The golden man made a bee line for the bar. I headed toward Mr. Chang. I allow myself one taste of the Chinaman's pipe per week. It helps me write. I don't dare smoke too much of it or I'll end up like the others with a fatal case of dysphoria. But the dragon summons my muse the way no one else can. I’m not just a journalist. I'm also an aspiring novelist and hope someday to be the next Mary Shelley.
Mr. Chang took my money and handed me a pouch filled with black paste wrapped in rice paper. I passed through the silk curtain leading to my apartment and took about three steps upward when my curiosity over the new stranger got the best of me. I found myself compelled to tip-toe back down to peak through the slit in the curtain to see what he was up to.
The guest was still at the bar. Thomas the bartender was pouring him a brandy. Mr. Chang greeted the newcomer and rang his bell, signaling for the girls to line up. The girls fanned the room like a peacock's tail, each one part of a train of bright yellow camisoles, blue robes, purple bodices and low-cut green dresses, their breasts exposed to give the customer a view of the merchandise. Jade jewelry dangled from their ears and necks, the pendants running into their cleavages, accentuating their femininity. I stayed a moment to see which woman the gentleman would choose.
He must have been displeased with the selection because he turned to leave. He took about two steps forward when the air in the room thickened. It wasn't from the smoke or dust, though. Adélaïde walked through the door. She was late getting back to the parlor tonight because she sings at the opera house down the street. Beautiful voice - powerful just like the rest of her.
Adélaïde was not part of the peacock fan. She trudged into the room and took a seat at the bar with her back arched, shoulders proud, and legs crossed. Tonight she was wearing a black feather-trimmed corset and ankle-length velvet skirt. Her long, wavy chestnut locks cascaded over her shoulders and framed her neck. Thomas poured her a cognac.
The stranger seemed to know who she was. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him, striking up what appeared to be a conversation between two very close friends. I couldn't hear every word of their conversation, but I made out something about him being in town as part of a traveling performance troupe.
"So you're still singing?" Adélaïde asked in that guttural, breathy tone that drives all the men wild. The stranger nodded in answer to her question, but his eyes seemed more focused on her ankles than her words. He moved in a little closer and started rubbing her bare shoulders. Mr. Chang darted over to the couple, shooting the man a look of "don't touch unless you're willing to pay." The stranger complied and handed Mr. Chang a wad of money. Adélaïde took the gentleman's hand and led him to her room. I closed the curtain and headed up to mine - alone.
Depressed and lonely, I drew the bathwater and tossed in some of the lavender bath salts Adélaïde gave me for my birthday last year. Once the tub was full, I undressed and slipped inside.
"I want that golden skin," I told myself over and over again. As I looked down at my body in the bath water, I compared my figure to Adélaïde's and realized there was no hope of me ever feeling any man's touch again, let alone an Adonis like her golden man. The more I dwelled on the situation, the more frustrated I became, so I stepped out of the bath, dried myself off and slipped into my very plain, white cotton nightgown.
I looked over at my nightstand where my opium kit was sitting. It's an ornate black cloisonné box with images of white plum blossoms decorated all over it. I bought it from Mr. Chang the first time he sold me his drug.
I fetched the pouch my landlord had given me earlier this evening and walked over to the kit. I pulled out the tray and the knife and cut myself a small piece of black poppy paste, rolling it into a pill. The tip of the needle, so pointed and sharp, begged to lance the small capsule. I heeded its command, then inserted the ball into the bowl of the pipe and lit the lantern sitting on my nightstand. As I lay down on my settee, reclining on my right side, I picked up the pipe and held the bowl over the lantern to allow the paste to vaporize and flow up the shaft into my mouth. One inhale, then two. A few more and my mind found itself reaching for the dragon's trustworthy talon as he led our dance, one I'm sure he had shared with partners like Mary Shelley, Emily Bronte and Jane Austen. I ignored the nausea.
When the lucid dreams started, I saw images of a dozen crows standing on the floor of Adélaïde's room. Their feathers carpeted the floor. Adélaïde was nowhere in sight. Her gentleman friend was sitting on the settee completely naked and oblivious to the birds as well as to me. By his countenance I could tell that he had only a puff or two from the pipe. He sat up straight on the settee with a peaceful but not entirely inebriated look on his face.
"These are your gifts, Rossalyn," a chorus of black beaks squawked as one by one they handed me their quills.
"Why so many?" I asked my gracious friends.
"You have much to write," they replied. "Yes, much to write."
"Thank you for the gifts, my friends, but I have no ink or parchment."
"Yes you do." Squawk. "Yes you do."
I knew what they were implying and I wondered if I had the nerve to actually pursue their suggestion.
"This is just a dream," I reminded myself. "I'm not going to actually hurt anyone."
Grabbing as many of the feathers as I could before Adélaïde came back from wherever she was, I knew I wanted to stay and watch her in action. When I heard her approach, I ran and hid in the doorway. She was still dressed in her evening clothes.
Adélaïde pounced on the gentleman caller, knocking him on his back and grabbing his wrists, pulling them over his head and tying them together with a leather strap. She straddled her long-lost friend and started unfastening the hooks on the back of her corset. The corset fell to the ground and she pulled her black skirt over her head, revealing her sensuous body and the black stockings and shoes that remained to cover the bottom half of it. There were no other undergarments.
She moved with the most graceful, elegant, serpentine gestures. The golden man's moaning grew louder and faster in direct response to her movements. When he arrived at his orgasm, Adélaïde wasted no time getting up to clean herself.
The gentleman rolled onto his side, his bound arms reaching for another puff from his pipe. Since Adélaïde was busy, I ran over to him, freeing his wrists from the leather strap and relighting the lantern for him. No thank yous. I was invisible as far as he was concerned.
Although mentally, I acknowledged this whole affair was nothing more than a surreal journey, I still wondered if perhaps it wasn't as illusory as I thought. I didn't want the man to wake and find me or the crows in the room. I started to leave when the corvids called me back.
"You are not done yet. No, not done."
"What do you mean?" I asked my fine, feathered friends.
The man's pipe was soon empty. He rolled over onto his stomach and fell asleep on the settee. His bare back exposed. My temptation was too great. I took one of the quills and thought about my heroines - Shelley, Bronte and Austen.
It was then the most fantastic story line came to me. I had to write it down, but there was no parchment and no ink. However, I did have a fresh quill and the most beautiful canvas in front of me.
The golden man was out cold.
I sat atop his buttocks and started stroking him with the sharp edge of the quill, just a light scratch, not deep enough to draw blood. As the characters, setting, and plot unfolded, I dug a little deeper.
Adélaïde was still washing up. She was totally unaware of what I was doing to her customer.
I couldn't help it. My own version of Frankenstein's monster was before me. The gorgeous sanguine liquid flowed over that stunning golden parchment. The poor crow's quill was covered in blood, which dripped down my hands and forearms. The birds cheered me on.
"Quiet!" I scolded at the crows. "Adélaïde will hear you."
"No, no, Quill, don't worry," they all replied.
"Quill?" I asked, wondering why they were addressing me by such an odd name.
"Yes, yes, Quill," they squawked over and over. "That is your new name. Quill Enparchment. Sign that as your nom de plume. Yes, yes, nom de plume."
The dream ended at that point. I found myself in my own room, in my own bed, with my pipe on the table right where I left it. The crows, feathers and blood were nowhere to be found. But the story I had written was still fresh in my mind so I spent my weekend committing it to paper. I signed it Quill Enparchment.


- - -
Quill Enparchment is a writer living in Northern California. Her work is best described as macabre erotica, although it is tasteful and targeted toward an audience that appreciates cerebral adult fiction.
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