Chapter 79: Tangers X

The Land of Nuts and Fruits--I Will Love You Forever

A/N: Jad you’re invaluable!

Chapter 79: Tangers X—The Land of Nuts and Fruits—I Will Love You Forever

...frankly, it looked to me as if someone had lain a canvas onto the floor and then taking their palette, dumped the entire thing onto it. Either that or it looked as if some kid took tubes of paint and just scratched them onto the damn thing. So this was Monet? All I could think was... OK...

"It’s beautiful," I finally said.

"Isn’t she!" Penelope breathed. "She is brilliant and alive!"

"Oui," I said. I just didn’t get it. Was it a woman thing this art stuff? I mean it looked like I could do something like this, hell if this is what it took to win the heart of a gorgeous woman... then I had to get to the store and buy some paints. I turned my head to an angle, maybe it was upside down... would anyone notice if it were? "I like the way the blues seem to spiral," I said.

"Ah si!" Penelope said. "The blue is what pulled me into her at the start. It is so calming to look at..."

"Like a cool ocean at midnight," I blurted and I almost covered my mouth. Hehe, that was a good one! Where the hell did I dig that one up?

"Ah yes!" Penelope exclaimed. "Like an ocean at midnight, that is lovely!"

"Oui," I said.

Penelope suddenly giggled and I looked at her. As soon as I did I began to hate myself for ever looking away from her! How could I? She was so perfect that it was a crime for me to look away and gaze at some stupid painting! "I love that accent!" she said and I could feel the blushing overtake my body. "It is so adorable, like little puppies."

"Um..." I said. "Merci!"

Penelope covered her perfect mouth; laughing and her long, tangled black hair fell a little in her face. Talk about art! I believed at that moment that God was the ultimate artist for making her! "The French language is so endearing!" she said. "I could make love to the words alone. It is God’s plan eh? Without the French language there would be considerable less babies made!"

I laughed out loud in surprise. "I never thought about it that way! That’s just a myth!"

Penelope’s dark eyes narrowed in a playful sort of way and she held up her finger and wagged it at me. "No, no, no," she said. "Do not underestimate yourself my charming boy. With a French accent many, many women are held helpless, they will do anything, they will be anything just to please the speaker. That is why men hate the French so, haha, they take all the women of the world!"

"Ooooh," I said not able to take the grin off my face. "That’s not true!"

"Oh it is," Penelope said. "Just you watch..." she turned away and picked up a small, pocket dictionary and then handed it to me. "Here," she said. "Just open up the book and read anything from it, anything! And you will see the power you hold!"

I took the book from her hand and looked at her. "Um," I said. "OK." This was nuts, I thought as I opened up the small book and then zeroed in on a word. I cleared my throat. "Laten," I said. "To become late."

Penelope’s eyes closed and she pursed her lips as if waiting for a kiss and I held my breath as she cooed. "Ooooooo! I love it!"

I raised my eyebrows. OK. "Latent," I said. "Potential, undeveloped."

"Si!" Penelope said sliding her hand onto my ribs causing me to flinch in surprise.

"Say some more!"

"Lateral," I said with a slight squeak in my voice. "Side, sideways..."

"Ooo!" Penelope cooed again and I cried out in surprise as she put both arms around my waist and pulled me to the floor.

"Penny!" I gasped.

"Yes!" She said. "Call me Penny is endearing! Keep reading!"

"Um...Latest, newest, most recent.."

And her perfect, fragrant, waifish little body was pressed against mine as she hugged me tightly, resting her head on my chest. I could feel her rapid heartbeat and her warm breath. Was this a dream? "Keep reading!" she said in a tone so insistent that I was reminded of Jana when she is demanding something.

"Oh!" I said. "Um..." It was terrible because I knew there was no way that she could not be feeling how...well how should I put it delicately....how excited I was to have her pressing against me like she was. "Lath," I said with a cough. "A thin wood strip...."

"Not thin at all," Penelope purred as she wrapped her long, warm legs around my waist. "Keep reading."

"Uhhhh..." I sputtered. "Lathe...uh...a...machine used for cutting and shaping wood...."

"Mmmm," Penelope said as she ran her hands over the top of my head and the back of my neck.

"Lather!" I exclaimed when her fingers tickled the roll of flesh at the back of my neck. "Lather! Lather! Foam to coat with lather!"

"Excellent," she said as she began sliding the buttons of my shirt out of their holes, flicking her hot tongue quickly over my skin and as she pushed me down onto the carpet I held the book up to the ceiling, keeping my eyes on the words. It was almost as if I thought that if I put the book down, then she would disappear. This was so wrong but oh how it felt sweet!

"Latitude," I gasped, "An angular distance....oh sacre bleu...uh...from...um from the equator...sweet heavens...or...a celestial body....CELESTIAL BODY....uh that...um..a range in which...to function....."

Oh and how celestial she was as she sat up from me and smiling she pulled her gauzy blouse up and over her head, tossing it to the carpet and covering her dark breasts with her dark hands, I just held my breath. "One more word and you can have it all!" she whispered in her high childish voice.

Blood was pounding and threatening to just burst from all points in my body as I peered back into the dictionary and read in a rapid voice, "Latrine, a communal toilet..."

Oooh that was a mood killer.. I grimaced and looked at her and we both sat in awkward silence for a spell.

"Dios Mio!" Penelope exclaimed, laughing and curling her svelte body forward. "Too much!"

I smiled too but I was also disappointed cause now the whole mood was broken. Of course I reasoned, it’s not like I was doing the right thing here, she was another man’s girlfriend... Tom Cruise’s girlfriend of all people and he could walk in here at any moment and well, do something!

"I’m sorry," I said. "Really I am."

Penelope stopped laughing and she frowned in that peevish way that again reminded me of a petulant child’s. "Sorry? Don’t be silly!" she exclaimed and she threw her arms around me and pressed her delicious, soft yet moist lips against mine and when she slid her lovely little tongue into my mouth I wrapped my arms around her. Mon Dieu! I thought, I’m French-kissing and hugging a topless Penelope Cruz! And she smells nice to boot!

Her skin was so beautiful and warm, I slid my palms up and down her back, and at that point I didn’t care what was right or wrong. Why question something like that when a Goddess is embracing you? There’s no point in it!

As her hand slid down my chest and to my fly I knew someone up above was smiling on me... and then....

"Come on Tangers we gotta get the hell outta here!" Danny yelled as he stormed into the room.

Penelope cried out and fell back from me as Danny grabbed my arm and ripped me from her embrace. I would have to rank that still as one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life!

"Nooo!" I cried. "Penelope!"

Danny still had me by the arm and he was dragging me out of the room. The last I saw of her was her large eyes, her small perfect breasts and her thin legs tucked under her as she blew me a kiss and said. "I will love you forever!"

"And I love you!" I wailed and as I did I thought I heard another wail from another room and at the sound of it, Danny held me tighter and just flew down the hallway. By the time we fell into the elevator and Danny had punched in a floor number, I was still in shock. And I was livid!

"Danny!" I screamed. "What the hell! I was just about to make it with Penelope Cruz!" Danny didn’t look angry or defensive though, he just blinked once with his large blue eyes and sorta crouched into the corner of the elevator, almost as if he were afraid of me. That was weird cause as far as I knew no one was afraid of me.

"Danny!" I said again not knowing if it were an angry or confused tone I was taking with him.

"I’m sorry," Danny finally said quietly and he slid to a sitting position in the elevator. "I’m real sorry." And then he dropped his face over his knees and covered the back of his head with his hands.

Man, I thought, I really musta made him feel guilty. The elevator stopped at the lobby, Danny barely made an effort to move, and he looked so pale. This couldn’t be good. I reached down and I grabbed his arm and was horrified to feel how ice cold it was. "Noter!" I exclaimed. "What’s wrong?"

Danny moaned and wasting no time I pulled him to his feet and out of the elevator. "I need a drink," he said quietly.

"So what happened?" I asked Danny as we sat at a table in the hotel bar with our drinks in front of us. "You look like you’ve..."

"He’s a predator!" Noter said abruptly. "He hunts for young men to... to..."

"To what?" I asked and then I knew the answer. "Oooooooooh," I said. "Right."

"He kissed me Tangers!" Noter said. "I mean he tried to give me a blow job...."

I frowned. Ick! There goes the last Tom Cruise movie I could ever comfortably watch! "Did you hit him?"

Danny downed his drink in one gulp and then looked at me. "No," he said. "I wasn’t expecting it...I thought I was gonna hit him and I just ran... he was talking all this shit about repression and stuff and it was confusing and...Dammit Tangers his tongue was in my mouth!"

"Well I’m done with my drink," I said pushing it away. "Shit, Noter," I said. "I’m sorry."

"I’m OK," Danny said after taking a deep breath. "I’m sorry too for ruining that thing with Penelope...." Danny couldn’t finish the sentence before he broke down crying his shoulders shaking as he dropped his face onto his hands. I sighed in sympathy, and walked next to Noter, patting him on the back. "It’s over," I said. "I won’t tell anyone either... I feel real bad for ya." And it was true. I did.

It was about an hour before Danny calmed down and I walked him to his hotel room. "You gonna be OK?" I asked.

Danny nodded with watery eyes. "Yeah, I feel real embarrassed..."

"Don’t," I said. "I mean that was an ordeal! I won’t tell no one I promise, not even Patty!"

Danny smiled, finally a Noter smile. And he opened the door and as soon as we did we could hear Keaner snoring. "And then there’s Keaner..." Danny muttered as I closed the door behind him.

When I came back to my room I could see immediately that Joey was not back yet and I sighed. How sad. And then I saw Drury sprawled over the bed and I could see Peter face down sprawled on the carpet. Both of them were naked, pale bodies gleaming in the dark. I saw no sign of the hooker they had come in with. Briefly, I wondered what happened to Chloe and that other girl.

I shook the thought outta my head. Patty wasn’t like that....

With an exhausted groan I fell into bed and all night I dreamt of Penelope’s words to me. I will love you forever.

"Ten...Eleven...TWELVE! Oh my God Peter how many times did you say she bit me?"

I woke up hearing that but I didn’t open my eyes.

"Uh," I heard Peter say. "She was kinda rough, maybe thirteen or so times..."

"Thirteen," Drury snapped, "FOURTEEN! Peter I got a girlfriend she can’t see these!"

I opened my eyes and sat up stretching and yawning. "Morning guys," I said as I saw Peter drying himself off with a towel, evidentially he had showered and I saw Drury as he sat naked on the bed counting the numerous red welts all over his body. Those were worse than hickeys! Those were bites! "Holy shit!" I exclaimed.

"Um just tell her those were from a game," Peter said. "Girls believe that."

"Yeah, dumb ones do!" snarled Dru.

"Morning kittens!" Pascal sang as he hopped into the room, flinging the door open and bringing Patty and Keaner with him.

"Morning," I said. "Hey where’s Joey?"

"Yeah," Peter said. "Where is he?"

A suddenly sad and disturbed expression fell over the three men’s faces and my blood ran cold. "He was traded," Patty said holding his hand over his heart. "I heard it through the grapevine."

My heart shattered at that point and I knew I lost something inside me and I could see it in Drury’s face and in Peter’s. "What?! NO!" Peter cried.

Patrick laughed loudly, "So easy! Is facile! Don’t be gullible shitheads I lose respect for you no?"

I threw a pillow at Patty and shook my fist at the three of them. How dare they toy with our emotions like that! "You’re the shithead!" Drury snapped.

Patty winked and brashly looked Drury up and down. "Mmm," he said, "What a great night." Drury sighed and rolled his eyes.

"So where is Joe?" Peter asked looking at Keaner.

"He went back to Denver," Keaner said. "Late last night, Debbie called that Mitchell was on his way to the hospital and he told the coach he had to go be with him."

"Is Mitchie OK?" I asked feeling scared all over again.

"Oui," Pascal said. "He is fine, Joe I think is just arriving in Denver but Mimi, she called Patty this morning and told him that it was just really bad gas."

"Gas?" I asked.

Patty nodded. "Oui, they thought it was perhaps appendix but it was just gas."

"Poor kid needed to fart," Keaner said.

I exhaled. "Well thank God for that!"

"Fifteeeeen.....SIXTEEN....SEVENTEEN!" Drury howled. "DAMMIT PETER!"

Weall looked at Drury as he sat on the bed with his arms crossed over his hairy, naked chest.

"What happened?" Patty asked.

"Hooker bit him," I answered.

"Shut-up!" Dru yelled.

I shrugged. "Well it’s kinda obvious!"

"Hooker bit ya?" Patty said. "Hehe shouldn’t it be the other way around?"

I briefly made eye contact with Patty and shook the thought out of my mind.

Drury growled and jumped off the bed still naked and craning his neck around trying to look at his backside. "Hey Trep," he said. "Can you help me out, is there any bites on my ass?"

Pascal looked at Patty with a huge smile. "Of course," he said and he glided over to Drury and kneeled down behind him, peering intently at his ass. "Hey did you get an ass wax? You look oddly hairless..."

"Shut-up," Drury snapped, "and look!"

Trep looked.

"Well!" Drury yelled.

"I’m looking, I’m looking," Trep said.

And I covered my mouth and pretty much everyone else hit the floor laughing at what happened next.

"Ow!" Drury yelled. "Pascal what the hell!"

Pascal grinned. "There’s a bite there now!"

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