He set Shirley against the wall of the hangar and collapsed next to her, breathing heavily.
“Goodness, Shirley,” he whispered, “You’ve packed on a few pounds.”
That wasn’t true. Shirley’s body was just as nubile and fit as he remembered. He just wasn’t that strong. Maybe that’s why women didn’t like him. Gemma had been so repulsed by his advances that she had recommended he find a new therapist, and Shirley had screwed one of his forklift drivers before leaving for a different company and taking the driver with her, both to the new company and into her bed.
“Whores,” he whispered.
He felt a stab of guilt at that. They weren’t whores. If they had, they might have slept with him. No, their sin wasn’t selling their bodies but in leading him on for months, years in Gemma’s case, and then acting like they hadn’t made him feel as though they wanted him.
The worst part was that they had lied to him. Shirley said she wasn’t ready for a new relationship, but she was ready to open her legs for that driver. Gemma acted like she cared, then said that they couldn’t see each other anymore because it wouldn’t be “professionally honest” whatever that meant.
He had written Mr. Jeter both times asking to know why he was so unlovable, but Mr. Jeter hadn’t answered his letters in years and wasn’t going to start now.
And Kevin, of course, had already moved away so he could be closer to his daughter. His daughter, who lived in Sioux City and was only a fifteen-minute drive from where Kevin lived next to William. He had moved all the way across Sioux City just so he could save what, five bucks a weekend in gas?
They all deserved it. So they didn’t think he was worth their time? Fine. That was all right. If he wasn’t worth their time, then their time clearly didn’t matter all that much.
“You planning to stew in your misery all day, boy, or are you planning to work?”
He looked up to see Grandpa staring down at him. In the dim light of the hangar, his eyes seemed to glow like demon’s eyes. “I’m just resting a minute. She was heavy.”
Grandpa looked at the svelte Shirley and curled his lip in contempt. “Right. Well, when you’ve finished with your beauty rest, you might want to think about the fact that Shirley’s going to wake up soon. If she’s this much to handle when she’s unconscious, imagine how tough she’ll be when she can fight back.”
“I can handle her,” William said, ignoring the ridicule in Grandpa’s voice. “I handled Kevin, and he lifted weights.”
Grandpa’s eyes narrowed dangerously at being defied, but he acknowledged the point. “Fair enough. But don’t wait too long. People see your car parked out here, they’re going to start wondering, and we don’t want that right now.”
“I parked behind the building. No one can see me.”
“You decide to have attitude today for some reason, boy?” Grandpa thundered.
William shrank back as his grandfather approached, looming over him. “N—no,” he said, his voice thready. “I just need to rest.”
“Rest after you kill her,” Grandpa snapped. “I know you don’t look, think or feel like a man, but you can play pretend for five minutes, can’t you?”
William sniffled, tears stinging his eyes. “Yes, Grandpa,” he whispered.
“Wonderful. So grab whatever you have instead of nuts and kill her.”
“Yes, Grandpa,” William said.
He wiped tears from his face and stood. Shirley groaned and opened her eyes. She stared at William, but her eyes were unfocused at first, and she didn’t notice him pull the knife from his pocket.
He reached down and grabbed her left arm, lifting it gently away from her chest.
“Where am I?” she moaned, “Billy? Is that you?”
“Hi, Shirley,” he said.
He sliced her underneath her armpit in the spot Grandpa had shown him when he killed Gemma. She grimaced, but she was still too foggy to realize what had happened. He lowered her arm and stood.
“Hey,” she said. “Where are you going?”
Then the pain hit. Her eyes widened. “Ow.” She said. “Ow! What? Did you cut me?”
“There's a reason you're sticking around, boy?" Grandpa asked.
“It’s just… I never got to kiss her.”
