Chapter 12 – The Day After

The next morning, even before I opened my eyes, I smiled.

I was lying naked on Otis' bed, having him close beside me; his arm was resting around my belly, and we were sharing the same pillow. He was still asleep.

I glanced at my wristwatch: almost noon! Which was little wonder; we had only gotten around to sleeping not long before the sun appeared in the horizon.

Moving sideways and supporting myself on my elbow, gently not to awake Otis, I lost myself in the pleasure of watching him. I just couldn't believe it. I had had the most amazing night of my entire life, with no one less than Otis Driftwood, from whom anybody with a hint of sanity would run, screaming and scared for her life. But there I was, watching him sleep peacefully.

I softly touched his beard, curious to feel it. I wanted to run my fingers on his face, touch him, but that would awake him. So I gently played with his hair, removing a thin lock that had fell on his face, feeling how light and smooth it was, then running my fingers over its length.

Next thing I know, Otis was staring at me, wide awake. "Hey, you were pretending to be asleep!" I playfully pushed his shoulder, then finally acted upon my urge of touching his face. "Good morning!"

He looked at me a bit strangely, but finally smiled too, then jumped off the bed. "Good morning."

I imitated him, getting up full of energy. I walked to the adjacent room, gathering what was left of my clothes on the floor. I quickly got dressed and ran past him, opening the door. "See you later!"

I jumpily made my way downstairs, finding Baby and mama in the kitchen. Baby was eating an apple, while the older woman read a newspaper. "Good morning!" I joyfully greeted them, helping myself to some bread that was sitting on the table, proceeding to make a sandwich for myself.

"I thought you had died in your sleep – did you see what time it is?" Baby asked.

"Uh-huh!" I nodded, after taking a large bite on a piece of cheese.

Otis showed up soon, not saying anything or looking at anyone, opening the fridge and helping himself to a glass of milk.

Mama glanced at both of us, studying one, then the other. "Have you two been fucking?" she finally asked.

I cleared my throat. That family certainly wasn't known for their discretion.

"Mama, of course not!" Baby stated matter-of-factly, as if that had been a very stupid question. "Laura is still alive, isn't she?" She looked at me with renewed curiosity, studying me from head to toe. "No cuts, no bruises, no blood – not that I see... Nope! Definitely not been with Otis."

"That is none of your fucking business!" he finally shouted at them both, leaving the kitchen.

As I glanced innocent looks at them, mama concluded in wonder: "Yes, they fucked."

"What? Did you really, Laura?" Baby came towards me, looking me up and down as if I was a horse on sale.

Not wanting to be the one to piss them off with a similar response as Otis, I simply shrugged and admitted it with a smile.

"Oh, shit!" was her astounded response.

"Told you!" mama exclaimed.

"Forgive me," I said tentatively "but what is the big deal? Otis brings girls everyday to his room-"

"Not willing ones, sister" Baby interrupted. "That ain't happened since the day he came live in his house."

Not it was my turn to be astounded. I didn't see that one coming. "You are kidding, right? No girlfriends?"

"Not that I know of, no." Baby stepped closer, facing me in a threatening manner. "You break my brother's heart, I'll rip yours out with a fork, and I'll shove it down your throat." Taking another bite of her apple, she smiled and went back to her playful self.

Like I said before, they took good care of each other.

As I finished my sandwich, I asked Baby if she would land me new clothes. I hadn't taken a shower since I left home, and although that wasn't an issue in that house, it certainly was for me. Baby made me follow her to a pile of clothes lying on the ground, outside of the house, and told me to choose whatever I liked.

"This aren't your clothes, are they?" I asked, suddenly bothered. There were just so many clothes – each pair, I knew, had belonged to one of their victims.

"Don't worry, they don't need them anymore!" she said casually.

Taking a deep breath, I chose a simple but girlish, flowery dress; a pair of jeans; a couple of different shirts, and the most decent underwear I could find.

Dying for a cold, refreshing shower, I headed for the downstairs bathroom and closed the door behind me. So good to have a little privacy, I thought, looking at myself in the mirror. A few moments alone, where no crazy murdered was watching me, and I could just relax. Not that I didn't love being around Otis – of course I did. But I couldn't lower my guard around him; I had to watch out for my every word, not contradicting a single lie. Ah, some peace at least.

Stripping off my clothes, I headed for the bathtub, pulling the curtains sideways. I backed away screaming in madness, horrified at the gruesome sight.

It was one of the boys that we met the day before, at the diner. He was dead, lying naked with his limbs bending in unnatural positions, covered in blood. He had been cut horribly in several places, his face a mask of pain.

I kept screaming until the door slammed open, and Baby stormed in. I shut up as she shamelessly stared at my nakedness, studying me. As I quickly wrapped a towel around myself, she commented astonished, mostly to herself: "No bruises at all!"

In seconds the whole family was cramming inside the small room, as I stood there in shock.

"What happened?" Rufus ran inside, looking ready for a fight.

"It's nothing!" Baby exclaimed, attributing little or no importance to it. "I was playing with him last night, and I forgot to take him from here."

"Baby," her mother scolded her "how many times did I tell you not to leave dead bodies around the house? I don't see a maid around here; you have to pick up after yourself!"

"Sorry mama" she apologized innocently. "It won't happen again."

Everybody started to leave, looking annoyed that it hadn't been something important.

"Rufus, would you give me a hand in here? Please?" she batted her lashes at him, as a typical small sister trying to get a favor from her older brother.

Frowning at her, but incapable of saying no to his baby sister, he bent over the tub and picked up the body, throwing it effortlessly over his shoulders. Apparently, he didn't care about getting all smeared with blood himself. "Where do you want me to put him?"

"Take the other corpse under my bed, and put this one in his place. That one is kind of rotting already" she said with a small frown. "Thanks a lot, brother!"

I witnessed the whole scene completely dumbfounded.

Baby peeked over the now empty bathtub. "Just rinse it with some hot water. This blood is not dry yet; it'll come off easily." She walked away, shutting the door behind herself.

Sitting on the cold floor, grasping my fingers at the towel that was covering me, I blankly stared at the closed door for a long time, as if expecting for somebody to turn around and come help me. But finding a dead person in the bathtub was no big deal for the Fireflys; it was daily routine as coming across a cockroach, or having to wash the dishes after dinner. Probably nobody assumed that I was in distress, and even if they had, it would only make them laugh.

Willing myself to come out of my semi-shock state, I stood up, approaching the tub and evaluating the damage. It's just blood, I told myself. You've seen much worse, like that woman being killed in Otis' bed. This should be nothing in comparison.

Throwing up a couple of times couldn't be helped; but I gathered enough courage to turn on the water and start cleaning all that mess. Eventually, the tub was good as new.

And so was I, after a long shower. Afterwards, being clean felt so good that I almost forgot about the horrible incident. Putting on the light dress that I had borrowed, and brushing my hair with my fingers, I stepped out, feeling ready to go.