Grounded
CHAPTER 6

Gina watched in disgust as Craig snorted cocaine off his palm and swung his head slowly back and forth. She felt pity for him. She waited patiently so he could be done with the cocaine before speaking to him. They had not spoken to each other since she returned to her mother. She had left his house because she found out he had gotten the mailman's daughter pregnant.

She was so used to him cheating on her but getting someone pregnant was an entirely different ball game. When she confronted him, he neither denied nor showed any form of remorse. Instead, he called her unrepeatable names and accused her of being barren and they weren't even married yet. She knew moving on without ending things with him smoothly was not a very good idea. Besides, she needed to hear from him. She wanted to know his plans for himself and her. "Hey," he said lazily with a groan, "You came back for me." He went over to sit beside her, throwing his arm around her waist.

"Get away from me," she said, pushing his hand away.

"Great. I'll go away, but if you feel so repulsed by me, why are you sitting on my sofa in my house?" he asked, standing up and walking away while making a face as though he were mocking her.

Gina swallowed hard, walked up to him, and smacked his right cheek as hard as she could with the back of her palm.

"I pay the rent for this house that you call yours," she voiced spitefully as he rubbed his cheek to soothe the pain he felt. "All you ever do is go around, making other women mothers out of wedlock," she continued almost in tears. "I am your woman and if you are tired of me then-"

He covered her mouth with a daring kiss, trapping the rest of her words inside. She was still for a few seconds as he kissed all of her bitterness and spite away.

"I love you, Gina," he said when he let go of her lips and looked into her sad eyes. "I know I make a lot of mistakes, but you can help me through this," he said, staring at Gina, who was also staring helplessly into his face. He leaned in the second time and took her lips in his again. She let her tongue taste the sweetness of his lips mixed with a little cocaine powder. She bit his lower lip as she felt helplessly trapped by his touch. He grabbed her breasts as he kissed her, pinching her nipples softly through her blouse, sending mixed signals to her brain cells. He moved her gently back to the sofa and made her sit while he sat beside her, taking her hand and directing it to his zipper.

"I don't want to-"

He hushed her with a more soothing kiss. He almost drove her insane running his fingers all over her body.

"You know you want this more than I do. Don't fight it," he told her as he began to undress her. Gina sat still, moving only when she wanted to help him get a piece of her clothing off easily. Soon she was sitting there stark naked. Craig's erect, uncircumcised penis stared at her menacingly. She closed her mind's eye and contemplated leaving, but it was already late. Craig dragged her naked body beneath his and groped her breasts with one hand. His other hand rubbed his manhood, preparing to devour her. He lowered himself and let his manhood slide in gently. Gina bit down on her lower lip to prevent a moan from escaping her mouth. He began pounding as soon as he got in, grabbing her breast with one hand and placing the other hand firmly on the sofa to support his thrusts and avoid crushing her with his weight.

Every thrust felt more violent than the former. Gina opened her legs wider to create more room for him. She bit down harder on her lower lip as she began to feel herself nearing orgasmic release. Craig had already begun to gibber, panting as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and dropped onto Gina's naked body. She opened her mouth to let her moans escape but the sounds that escaped grew louder. She began to arch her back upwards and lifted her buttocks to meet his thrust. Her breath became louder and faster. She fastened her fingers tightly to his back. She opened her mouth wider, waiting to let out a scream of orgasm when she felt Craig's warm liquid spurting into her vagina, tickling her walls and bringing her to the gate of her orgasm.

At that moment, he pulled out and rolled over on the floor, panting as more of his semen spewed out. He closed his eyes and smile satisfactorily.

Gina was upset. She remained on the sofa, trying to breathe properly. He had pulled out just as she was about to climax.

"I missed this, baby," Craig said lazily, bringing himself close to kiss her.

She pushed him away and began to redress. "You pulled out just when I was about to climax," she muttered.

"Well, it takes you forever to get there," Craig blurted out, trying to defend himself.

"You do it all the time!" she replied, this time screaming.

"It's late, Gina, you are going to startle the neighbors," he told her, lifting himself off the ground and walking into the room. He was clearly uninterested in what she had to say.

"That's it, this time! You are just a selfish and ungrateful bastard. I came here to tell you that I'm not having this anymore," she announced loudly, her face red with anger and still covered with sweat.

Craig froze in his tracks and turned to face her. "You are kidding," he said with a smile, hoping that she was.

"No, I'm not," she said, lowering her voice as her eyes became teary. "I can't do this anymore. You and I are bad together." She sniffed and began packing her ruffled hair into a ponytail.

Craig stood there watching as she put her shoes on, picked up her cell phone, and made to leave.

"Come on, we just had sex. Swear to me you did not enjoy it?" he spoke loudly, following her to stop her.

"What do you care? You've always wanted to please your insatiable willy," she told him as she flung the door open and dashed out into the night.

"Alright. At least spend the night. It's so late already," he implored loudly as he held the door from shutting in his face.

She turned around to face him with a dirty smirk across her face. "It's late, Craig, you're going to startle the neighbors," she said mockingly and began to walk briskly. She tried holding all the anger in, but it burst open within a short time, and she began to cry, running as she did. The tears were almost blinding her, but she ran on, getting chills from the cool wind that the vehicles on the highway pushed towards her as they zoomed past.

A jeep soon pulled up beside her. Its driver pressed the horn for a long time to get her attention. She walked over to the car, drying her eyes with her hand. The window slid down to reveal that it was Cassidy, who had a straight face, but his eyes were telling her to get in. She faked a smile and hopped into the vehicle, hoping he would not notice anything strange.

"So late at night, why?" he asked, his eyes still focused on the road as he drove on.

She looked at the time. It was already past midnight. She hissed and rested her back.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, not minding that she had not answered the previous question.

"Depends on where you are headed," she replied, looking to read the expression on his face but there was none to be read.

He drove on, taking a rough path at the far end of the highway that cut through a savanna before halting in front of a narrow stream.

"What is this place?" she asked in confusion as they got out of the car.

"It's a place I found. I come here to clear my head when I'm troubled and to get answers to all my questions," he told her, pushing both of his hands into his pockets.

"Does it work?" she asked, fascinated by his reply.

"That depends on the degree of your faith. You want to try?" he asked, smiling for the first time since Gina met him. She was glad to see him this way. She had never heard him say anything other than his order whenever he came to drink at the bar.

"Your smile-it's beautiful," she told him, waiting to see his reaction.

He simply ignored her, walked closer to the stream, and threw a pebble into the water.

"The water is ready. What is your question?" He turned to face her as he spoke. His expressionless face shone as bright as his bald head under the moonlight.

She was tempted to ask about her life. Why was she like this? Why was she unfortunate? Unloved? Why did her life turn out to be so sour? She quickly changed her mind. She did not want to sound so depressed and selfish around Cassidy. Besides, she believed they were only playing a game.

"Oh, great waters," she called as she walked closer to the stream with a smile, "which will suit me better, banking or bartending?" she asked, moving her glance from the moving waters to Cassidy's straight face.

"Well, I think any would suit you perfectly. You've got grace for anything, and your personality is awesome," Cassidy answered, looking into the stream.

She laughed heartily at his words. "That's cheating," she told him, sarcastically.

He smiled at her and began to walk towards the car. "Come on, let me take you home. It is late and cold out here," he said.

Gina could not understand him, but she loved his aura. The way he talked made her happy. She followed behind him like a puppy, smiling sheepishly.

"I didn't get my answer from the water," she said when they finally got into the car.

"You did. You just weren't listening," he replied softly as he started the car.

Gina sat still, smiling to herself as he drove gently towards her home.