32.
~ Norman had been seeing Madeline for years now while her husband was out of town seeing his girlfriends. Seeing Madeline in secret had made things so much more exciting for both of them and easier to manage for Norman.
He never brought her to the house or the motel. Her truck was noticeable and people would talk. Besides, he wouldn't have her at the motel where her husband brought his girlfriends. Wouldn't disrespect her like that. He also couldn't bring her to the house with Mother stalking around the hallways like she was prone to do and Rebecca hidden in the cellar. If his guest went into Mother's room by mistake or down into the basement… Norman could never explain. No, it was best to go to her house.
The affair with Madeline had started innocently enough. Two friends keeping each other company while her husband was away on business. Madeline warned him that some people in the village thought he was gay. A lonely bachelor living up on the hill with no known girlfriend and who stayed away from women and other people in general.
Norman had laughed.
"Let them think that. It will be easier for us. Protect your reputation better." he'd said.
He even parked at the local gay bar, 'The White Stallion' when he stayed over night so no one would see his truck near her house or her hardware store.
"It's better this way." he told her after he raced to climb into her old pick up and they'd sped back to her house. A large smile on his face at the thought of spending the night.
"I don't care what people in this place think of me, but I don't want them to gossip about you." he said.
She'd been grateful for that. Grateful for thinking of her as something more than a conquest like Sam had in the beginning of their relationship.
With Norman, things were pleasant. Easy and very routine. They were very much like children playing house. They would cook dinner together and clean. They baked cookies together for a sale she was having in the morning, and then go upstairs.
Norman was old fashioned. Old fashioned in a way she wasn't expecting and it took some time to get used to. She'd expected him to be like all men, into pornography and slightly naughty lingerie. She'd been shocked to find out those things repulsed him.
Instead, he wanted her always respectable. Always well dressed, even if they were alone in the house together. He wanted her dressed as if she were going to church or working shift at the store. He wanted he in nice dresses and preferred the crinoline that made her skirts billow out and rustle when she walked. She wanted her in heels and her hair perfectly styled and light make up on; nothing garish or heavy and when she cooked, she had to wear an apron.
Norman despised kinky talk and wouldn't stay the night if she tried it. He rejected any suggestion of changing their routine either. He was affectionate and almost boring when they were together, but at least Madeline always felt very loved afterward.
It was always the same routine. Always the same as soon as Sam left for a few days. She'd pick Norman up at the gay bar's parking lot. He'd be waiting in his truck in the back of the lot where it was dark and they'd drive to her house. Sam was long gone and they had the house to themselves for the weekend.
Norman had hired a man from town to look after the motel during these times. An easy enough job for anyone needing a second income.
She and Norman would cook together, or bake together. They'd clean up and he'd say very little. As soon as they had finished cleaning up, she felt his hands go to her waist. Then pull at the zipper at the back of her dress.
She'd always look back coyly and smile. If they'd been a married couple in the 50's they'd had already watched 'I Love Lucy' and sent the kids off to bed. She didn't say anything but went upstairs to the master bedroom. Sam had stopped sleeping in the same room as her and she'd stopped thinking of it as anything but the master bedroom these days.
Norman never wanted her to touch him. He did everything. He always wanted her to seem like it was her first time with a man. She realized right away that he was excited by that idea. The one time she'd gone to their bed without panties he'd been upset and left. Actually walking home. So, she'd always dressed correctly for him. Even if it meant old fashioned stalkings with a gander belt and lots of extra work for him to do.
He seemed to like it though. He wanted to take his time and gently expose her. Always in the security of the master bedroom and the bed they shared with the curtains drawn. Never anywhere else.
He loved to watch her face when his large hands explored her body. Especially when he moved between her legs and she had to pretend she'd never been touched there before and was afraid. He always seemed very happy when she did that.
He wouldn't let her take her own clothes off. He had to do it and preferred such a thing happen while in the throws of their love making. He liked it when she resisted slightly to him unhooking her bra. Her feeble mumble of 'no' when he pulled down her top and exposed lace that only he would ever see.
She was rewarded for playing her part by gentle kisses to the lips and neck. Whispers of sweet names that made her very happy. It was all a game after all.
He refused to expose her all the way. He wanted her breasts to spill out as if by accident. As if her sudden exposure of flesh only added to his excitement. She was required to give a little cry of protest and scream when he entered her. As if he hadn't done it a hundred times before. She had to try and push him away just so he could tell her how much he loved her.
Those words were wonderful to hear because she knew he meant them. Norman always meant them and he always said them to her. Not just during the night. Not just during the game.
"Relax, darling." he whispered and kissed her. "I love you."
His hips moving with force that she loved and pushed her skirts up as he jarred her body hard enough to make her breasts escape the loosened fittings of her bra.
His eyes gleamed with excitement at this and she had to pretend to be embarrassed and mortified at him seeing her this way.
He always had to be on top, always had to be in control and they always had to play the game. The same game in the same way every time.
Madeline wouldn't have put up with it, but Norman was very good sexually and the game did seem to make things better.
Afterwards, he smoothed down her skirt and pulled up shirt so she was covered. She still wasn't allowed to touch her own clothing. He seemed to care enough that she was disgracefully exposed and wouldn't have it.
He insisted she shower and redress. Again in a nice dress and heels. He'd taken the liberty of changing her sheets for her and even putting them in the washing machine. He was polite and sweet when he apologized for his rudeness.
"I don't know what came over me." he said.
"Same thing that came over you last week." she smiled back.
Norman looked away and blushed. Madeline wondered if he was raised in a religious home where sex was seen as dirty or wrong. He was so kind and gentle to her. He treated her far better than Sam ever did.
"Norman?" she asked. Her voice sad that she'd have to take him back and she'd be lonely for the rest of the week.
"Yes, dear?" he asked. They were still in the game. Still in the game of picture perfect man and wife.
"Let's get married." she said bravely. "I'm going to ask Sam for a divorce. He's been having affairs all this time. Seeing other women. I've seen the cell phone receipts from all over the country. I even did a web search. He's been on married but looking web sights. I won't feel guilty about seeing you anymore. I won't. I don't want to hide. This is stupid. We shouldn't be ashamed. We've done nothing wrong."
Norman blinked. She'd broken the rules of the game. They weren't supposed to mention Sam or the fact she was anything less than his perfect Madeline. His beautiful wife and subservient sex toy.
The color seemed to drain out of Norman's face.
"I'm sorry." she said. "We can talk about this tomorrow."
"Well, let's talk about this tomorrow." Norman snapped angrily. "I don't want to fight with you. I never like fighting with you."
Madeline backed away from him. His face had changed when he spoke to her like that. His voice was different. Darker and raspier now.
"Norman." she pleaded.
"It's time for me to go." he said rudely. "You remembered to put you panties on this time?"
~ Madeline was never afraid of Norman. Not really. But there were times that he acted oddly. Times he just wasn't himself. When he treated her like a whore after so many weeks and months of treating her so well. It was such a vivid contrast and she didn't know what to make of it.
She dropped him off at the 'White Stallion' parking lot and her lover didn't look back at her. He didn't call her for a week and when he finally did, it was the same game as usual. Only this time, she knew better than to break character.
~ When Sam was home, things were awful. Everything he said was a lie. His drinking made his behavior erratic and she never knew how to act or what he would do or say. Madeline could feel herself questioning her sanity when she was with Sam and she longed for the stability Norman would give her.
She wanted more than anything to live in that eccentric old house with him. They could pass the years together fixing it up. She didn't care how badly it needed to be repaired. She owned a hardware store after all. Her grandfather had left it to her and she'd run it successfully for the past few years now. Even without Sam's help.
She and Norman could turn the old house into a thing of beauty. Make the motel into a charming off road spot instead of the run down last resort it was becoming. She wasn't so very old. She was barely 30 now. Same age as Norman. It wasn't too late to start their lives over together.
They could get married and have a babies together. Live in the big house. If they wanted to, they could even tear down the old motel and live alone there. She could support the both of them with the hardware store.
She knew Norman would be a good husband. Be a good father. Sure he was a little strange sex wise, but she'd never failed to orgasam with him. Thanks in part to the their game and Norman's demands she always be lady like while he deflowered her each time.
It was a far cry from Sam's selfish brutality and vulgarity. Madeline was always left feeling like she'd been violated by her own husband.
She'd have to divorce Sam first. She'd have to protect her assets in the hardware store and divorce Sam. She wouldn't lose all she'd work for the past ten years just to lose it to Sam. She and Norman deserved a good life together.
~ Julian Romero's teacher asked him why his father never picked him up from school anymore.
"Your parents aren't having problems, are they?" she asked suggestively.
Julian looked over his teacher and knew exactly what she was really asking. All his female teachers, and even a few of the male ones, were very interested in the relationship status of his parents.
His fourth grade teacher, Miss Shielder, was bug eyed with a compact body and wide, moonfish face. She was nice enough looking in pieces, her eyes were a clear blue and her hair was a shinny auburn. She had light skin that burned easily in the sun and small hands and feet. Oddly enough though, when all those pieces were put together, she looked strange. Almost alien like. Miss Shielder wasn't beautiful. Not like his mother was.
Miss Shielder was younger than his mother, that much was true. But youth was no substitute for beauty and style and Julian knew it. He knew his parents had had him later in life and that they were older than the other parents in his school. He also knew they were prone to less dramatics than the other kids parents.
There were no crazy, indicate visitation schedules, court dates or therapist to see. No drunken arrests or shouting in the middle of the night. Their lives were painfully boring and Julian never had anything new to add to the conversation when his friends talked about visiting their dad one weekend or their step brother hitting them with a ruler and their mom didn't want to say anything because this was her fourth marriage and she wanted to make it work.
Julian couldn't imagine a life like that. How horrible it must be to not live with your parents. So why did his teachers always ask if his parents were together? Julian knew why. Because the female teachers thought his father was very handsome and the male teachers, especially his principal, thought his mother was very pretty. They didn't like the fact that two such good looking people who lived in the upscale apartment building were together and unavailable.
"They're fine." Julian said just as the hurried clack-clack-clack of his mother's heels were coming down the hall. Norma Romero breezed into the now empty classroom looking for her only son and when her eyes fell on him she looked annoyed and relived.
"There you are! Why weren't you outside?" she asked with a smile. Her shoulder length blond hair had silver whips around her temples and there were only slight signs of crows feet around her eyes from smiling too much. Other than that, she looked the same as she did Julian's first say of pre-school. A thing that annoyed all his teachers greatly.
"Is there a problem?" Norma asked Miss Shielder.
"No, I just wanted to make sure Julian had all his homework." Miss Shielder said and quickly skirted away from Norma Romero who was better dressed than the school teacher.
Most mothers who picked their kids up at the expensive private school wore yoga pants and had just come from sessions with their personal trainers. None of them actually dressed like Norma Romero did. Not even the ones who worked regular, professional jobs. Those were the ones who sent nannies or housekeepers to pick the kids up.
Norma Romero, just walked from the posh apartment building where she lived with her good looking husband to pick up their equally good looking son who was on the honor roll with his nice manners and played piano well enough to impress scouts for performing arts schools.
There was a great sense of bitterness among the staff of the school when it came to the Romero family. They attended no school functions, enrolled Julian in almost no extra circulars in the school and kept to themselves. Unlike every other family here, there were no dark secrets or skeletons in their closets.
Norma looked at her son as if sensing exactly what his teacher had asked.
"Do you have your homework?" she asked.
"Yes." Julian smiled at his mother. He'd fished half of it already during study hall like always.
"Alright, lets go home, your dad is waiting on us." Norma made sure to say before leaving.
~ "Mom?" Julian asked on their walk home from school. The sun was out and it felt like a scene from a movie.
"Yes?" Norma asked looking both ways before crossing the street with her son. She was annoyed the teacher had held him up in class to question him about his home life. Every year they got a teacher like that. A teacher, or a soccer coach or someone who questioned if his mom was single or his dad was single. It was why Alex refused to pick Julian up from school anymore. He claimed he'd been practically mauled by the newly single mothers there.
Norma hadn't believed him, but when she started to pick Julian up from school, she'd heard whispers about her son's father. That 'good looking salt and pepper man with the leather jacket' and she knew right away who they were talking about.
"Are we rich?" Julian asked.
"What?" Norma laughed. "What makes you think we're rich?"
"All my friends are rich." Julian explained. "We live in an apartment building that's for rich people. I go to a school for rich kids."
"We're not rich." Norma explained slowly. "But if your friends want to think we are, let them."
"Is that why I couldn't go to Spain last year with my Spanish class? Because we're poor?" Julian asked.
"We're not poor and you didn't go to Spain because I'm not letting my only child travel overseas." Norma snapped when they waltzed into the lobby. Julian saw his father was talking to a group of exterminators and waved to him.
Norma didn't want to think about the infestation of bats in the old fireplaces.
"Besides, you had fun with your uncle Dylan and aunt Emma in Florida that week. They took you to Disney World." she said. "Wish I got to go to Disney World when I was your age."
"Yeah." Julian agreed. Disney had been fun and uncle Dylan and aunt Emma were a lot more easy going than his parents. They had more energy, were willing to feed him junk food and let him watch scary movies all night.
He didn't have to practice piano everyday, read every night and eat heathy foods.
"I wish they stilled lived here in Seattle." Julian sighed.
"Me to." Norma agreed and guided her son back to the apartment.
The Romeros never had time to watch or really follow the news and Alex only occasionally read the news paper when it crossed his desk during the day. Their lives were busy and hectic and revolved around their son and jobs.
If they had been paying attention, they would have read about the horrific story unfolding in their former home of White Pine Bay. A man named Norman Bates had just been arrested for murder and the body count was rising.