With Cruel Intent (4 page)

would you?”

“We sho nough got a phone, but

ain’t had no powah to it fer some time

now. My boy, Jasper, could hep ya with a

lift. Where ya’ll be needin’ ta go?” he

said, waving his hand and motioning

Blanche up onto the porch.

Blanche could feel her anxiety

level rising like mercury in a thermometer

on a hot day. Wishing not to be impolite,

she slowly started to decline, moving her

head side to side, when she noted that the

Impala had flipped around at the end of

the street and was now pulling to a slow

stop, engine idling.

“Well, you know what, maybe I’ll

take you up on that offer if it’s not too

much trouble,” she said, making her way

quickly up the sidewalk to the relative

safety of the porch.

“You sho is a pertty little thing

missy, what be yo name?” the dark

skinned gentleman said, extending his

bony hand and baring his large yellow,

coffee stained teeth.

“Delaney,

I

mean,

Blanche,

Blanche Delaney,” takes his hand in hers

surprised by the power in his grip.

“Pleasure to be meetin’ ya Miss

Delaney, I’d be Rufus and my boy Jasper

could sho nough get ya home. Ya cum on

in now, ya hear.” He pulled the rickety

screen door open and ushered Blanche

into the dimly lit living room.

Stepping into the tidy space, an

aroma reached her delicate nostrils, not

unpleasant, but also not definable. Rufus

pointed to a couch with a large afghan

thrown over the back, leaned into the

doorway of the kitchen and hollered down

the stairwell.

“Jasper, Jasper, listen up boy!

Cum on up here. Got a job fo ya.”

Moments later, the unmistakable

sound of someone lumbering up a flight of

stairs, then a giant of a man filled the

frame of the doorway, dwarfing his father.

“What you need pops?” Jasper

boomed, his deep voice reverberating in

Blanche's chest.

Reflexively she moved her hand,

lightly pressing the area just above her

cleavage. The motion drew Jaspers eyes

to meet Blanche’s, and then dropped to the

exposed tanned flesh, her breathing

accelerated.

“Jasper, dis here is Miss Delaney.

She be a bit lost and needin’ a ride to her

place. Ya do that for us, ya hear.”

“Miss Delaney,” Jasper nodded

his large head in her direction, Blanche

responded with a nod of her own, pulling

the top of her shirt together in the process.

Her breath continued to come in

quick intakes, her head very light now; she

reached for the arm of the couch and

plopped down on the seat.

“Ya okay, dere little missy?”

Rufus said, moving quickly to her side.

“No, I mean yes, I’ll be fine just

feeling a bit light headed. Could I trouble

you for a glass of water?” Jasper moved

from the doorway and she could hear

water running in the adjacent room.

“There you go, sorry if I scared

you, coming in the room like that,” Jasper

said.

“No, no, just the long walk, the

heat and the humidity. Guess I’m not quite

used to it yet,” she said, drinking the water

down quickly.

Blanche suddenly came to the

realization that the position of the trio was

somewhat ‘uncomfortable’. She on the

couch, Rufus standing at her side with the

arm of the couch between them and the

hulking Jasper standing directly in front of

Blanche, her head at the level of his

crotch. He stood at least 6’5” and was

covered from head to toe in a fine mist of

sweat, his muscles large, stretching his

skin to a fine sheen. He wore only a very

small, very tight pair of shorts that were

struggling to contain all of him. She’d read

about women getting trapped in these very

circumstances and how stupid they were.

“That’s not what a real woman

would do,” she had said a hundred times,

yet here she was in a home alone with two

men, strangers, in a strange place and

totally at their mercy. Jasper sensed her

uneasiness and took a few steps back and

sat on an opposing chair.

“Thank goodness,” she thought,

pulling the hanky from her purse and

wiping her neck.

“Where is it I can take you?”

Jasper said, not taking his eyes off her

shapely form.

The color in her cheeks began to

recover and her breathing slowed. Rufus’

demeanor was very non-threatening and

within minutes she began to calm down

and her breathing normalized.

“I’m staying at Caroline’s Bed and

Breakfast, are you familiar with it?”

Jasper lowered his gaze to the

carpet and shook his head, then looking

back into Blanche’s face asked, “Is that

over on Jackson Street, got a big porch

and flies a Confederate Flag in the front?”

“That’s it, you know how to get

there?” she replied, a spark of hope in her

voice.

“Yeah, that’s not too far, only take

us a couple minutes to get you there,” the

bodybuilder said.

Relief must have shown on her

face.

“Ya’ll was lookin’ a might

worried there missy. We’uns don’t mean

ya no harm. Ya ain’t used to bein’ round

black folk?” Rufus inquired, gently patting

her on the arm.

“No, it’s not that, just been a long

day and I’d like to get back to my room.

This is so very kind of you to offer me a

ride.”

“Pops, I’ll go get the truck and

bring it ‘round to the front, if you’ll help

her out I’ll take her home.” Jasper stood,

again startling Blanche with his obvious

strength and brawn.

She couldn’t help finding him

attractive, etched features, chiseled - thick

muscles, and a ‘carved from stone’

buttocks that shifted as she watched him

walk away, the color in her cheeks rising

as he left the room. A moment later she

could hear a vehicle roaring to life.

“Sounds like he be riddy ta go.”

Rufus took her elbow, helping her to her

feet and moving toward the front door.

There was that smell again, she

looked about trying to place the source but

could not. Through the screen and back

onto the porch she could see a small,

yellow Datsun truck pulled alongside the

curb.

She couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m

sorry, really, I am sorry. Just Jasper in that

tiny truck makes it look like a matchbox

car.”

Rufus looked in the direction of

her pointing finger, “Oh, he get dat a lot.

Pertty big boy fer such a small truck. He’s

a good un though, driva dat is.”

Jasper waved a hand, motioning

her to the car. On his way to the Datsun

he’d taken the time to put on a shirt, to

Blanche’s relief. He motioned her around

to the passenger door, reaching across to

open the door without having to get out.

Blanche couldn’t believe that someone so

large and bulky could fit into such a

confined space. His knees touched the

dash and the top of his head grazed the

roof of the tiny truck. She bent down to

see how she might get in, not wanting to

catch her clothing on anything or reveal

too much.

Blanche turned facing away from

the truck, ran both hands over the back of

her skirt, pulling it tight against her fanny,

and with the same motion lowered her

behind into the seat, pivoting to draw her

legs into the cab, being careful not to bang

her knees on the frame.

“Ya in?” he asked, and without

waiting for an answer, reached across the

front of the nervous librarian, grabbed the

door handle and pulled it closed with a

slam.

Jasper gave her a reassuring nod,

extended his left leg, pressed the clutch to

the floor, grasped the gearshift knob and

thrust it into first gear. Releasing the

tension on the clutch and applying the

opposite amount of pressure on the gas

pedal the little truck pulled away from the

curb and rumbled down the street.

“You new to Georgia?” Jasper

asked.

“Yeah, only been here a couple of

days, just started a new job at the library.”

“You, a librarian, fine looking

woman like you? Shoot, wished we’d a

had a school librarian nice to look at as

you.”

Blanche tightened her grip on the

door handle and replied, “Uh thanks, you

sure you know where this place is?”

“Sure nough, drive by it all the

time on the way to work over in that new

housing development, swing a hammer for

a living,” he said, as he smoothly shifted

the gear box up and accelerated.

In an attempt to keep the

conversation light and her mind at ease,

Blanche asked, “You read much?”

“Nah, not really, like to read but

hard to find the time. Ya know, with work,

chasing girls and working out, I have a

hard time finding time to do much of

anything else. In fact, I was working out

when you showed up, try to get at least a

couple hours in a day.”

“That’s quite a commitment,” she

assessed.

“Tell me about it, would like to be

Mr. Universe one day,” and he laughed.

“Seriously, would like to try, but got to git

bigger to go up against them boys. I’ll be

competing in a little event, Mr. Muscle, in

a few weeks, you should come,” he said,

letting his eyes drift from the road long

enough to take in her bosom one more

time. “Would be nice to have a beautiful

lady, like yourself, rooting for me.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said,

knowing in the back of her mind she could

never see herself at such an event,

however, that was the old Blanche.

Thankfully, the chauffeured ride

took less time than Blanche had

anticipated, and she let loose a noticeable

sigh of relief when he pulled in front of

Caroline’s.

“There you go, safe and sound,” he

said, smiling broadly, a twinkle in his eye.

“Well, Jasper, I just don’t know

how to thank you enough. Don’t know

what I would have done without you and

your dad’s help. It’s certainly much

appreciated.”

Jasper bent over to the right as she

exited the car framing his face in the car

window as she closed it behind her.

“Know how you can repay me?”

Jasper said, winking at Blanche as she

stooped to say goodbye.

“How’s that?” she replied.

“Come

watch

me

at

the

competition in a couple weeks,” still

grinning ear to ear.

“Well,” she hesitated, “can’t say

for sure but I will try.” But she was quick

to add, “No promises though.”

Jasper clapped and rubbed his

hands together, “That’s good enough for

me. I’ll drop by with the details later, now

that I know where to find you.”

With that, Blanche offered a wave

of her hand and turned to face the B&B.

Behind her she heard the Datsun’s engine

rev and thought she heard Jasper exclaim

as he pulled away, “Hot damn!”

“Oh my gosh! What have I done?”

she said aloud.

Then it hit her, “Pot”, that was the

smell she’d noted at Rufus’s.

“Just great!” she thought, “I’ve just

led a steroid pumping, pot smoking, boob

crazed, Neanderthal right to my front

door.”

Even as one side of her was

cursing the turn of events the other side

was somewhat intrigued by her newfound

‘friend’, and a wry smile curled across

her lips as she ascended Caroline’s steps.

CHAPTER FOUR

The next few days passed quickly,

her library responsibilities well in hand,

she was able to relax and settle in not only

to ‘home’ and work but the community at

large. Blanche was learning to love the

area and the people, so gentle, kind

hearted and the pace of life in general was

just so easy going. It didn’t seem that

anyone was ever in much of a hurry unless