Blackwater Read online

  Blackwater

  Paul McParland

  Blackwater

  By

  Paul McParland

  BLACKWATER

  ISBN-13: 978-1976099151

  ISBN-10: 1976099153

  Copyright and Published by JeffGem Publications

  Craigavon, Armagh

  First Edition: November 2018

  Created with Vellum

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locations is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume the responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stores in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Printed and bound by Amazon Ltd.

  Created with Vellum

  For Mum and Dad, your love and support gave me the confidence to embark on this journey.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Afterword

  1

  “Oh James, it’s beautiful!” Karen said with hands clasped to her mouth.

  There were tears in her eyes and she was shaking.

  She was looking up a small grassy knoll to a Grand Victorian Manor; Blackwater House. It had once been painted a baby blue color but the flecks of paint that peeled off with the slight breeze hid that now. The house’s original dark, rich, wooden frame was visible.

  James Dawson stood with his arm around his wife’s shoulder.

  She was wearing her ’67 Northeastern Grad tee. Torn and faded, she insisted upon wearing it still.

  James threw his own in the trash after painting their first apartment together back in 1968. It had become badly stained; crusted with dirt and sweat from the hottest summer on record. He had no sentimental feelings towards college.

  Karen on the other hand wore her shirt with pride. She had been doubly proud of herself as the first member of her family to go to college. This is where she met James. They both minored in Sociology; sitting next to each other from the first day.

  James had been a gangly, bespectacled teenager; the only child of a lawyer and a former cop; Gregory Dawson had represented a man that his future wife arrested.

  James’ parents had pushed him into every sport and activity they could find.

  “A young man must be busy. Idle hands produce nothing of worth.” James’ father would repeat when he found his young son reading.

  He loved to read. Throughout adolescence, he was always seen with his nose stuck in a book.

  When Karen had sat down next to James, he had been reading. Karen had never heard of the book. She didn't understand the title – The Catcher in the Rye. She asked James about it nevertheless.

  “Is it any good?” the bright faced young girl had asked.

  James had not even noticed the girl sit down next to him. Her question frightened him.

  “Eh...yea...I guess, it’s hard to enjoy...” he said, not sure of how to speak to this object of the opposite sex; especially one so pretty.

  “I’m not a big fan of baseball. My dad loves it! He’s always going to local games when he isn’t spending all day out in the fields.” James now noticed the young girl’s country drawl.

  James sat open mouthed, staring at Karen; trying to say something. The girl raised an eyebrow and looked behind her, wondering at what this strange little guy was staring.

  She turned, looking for another person with which to start a conversation.

  “It’s not about baseball.” He managed.

  “What?”

  “It’s not about baseball. It’s about the hypocrisy of those in power. The young are told by their parents and teachers how to live, only to find out that their superiors are just as fucked up as everyone else and no one is who they say they are...” James trailed off. He could see the girl was looking at him strangely.

  Oh god, she thinks I'm a freak, he thought sourly

  “You're cute!” she laughed.

  2

  That was the start of their friendship, and ultimately their romance. He knew movies and music. She taught him to dance.

  He talked about literature and its metaphors and intentions. Karen just liked the stories. Even when she found the book pretty boring, she couldn’t wait to listen to James talk about it. She loved to listen to him.

  It was funny that a boy, who never spoke, would talk for hours with this strange, yet exquisite girl. He didn't feel nervous around her like he did with other girls. She made him feel at ease.

  Late one Friday in November, the pair were returning from a bar. They had known each other for over a year, and yet they never progressed past the friendship stage, even with their regular flirting.

  James had left Karen back at her dorm. She didn't step all the way inside the open door. She just looked at James. They could both feel the tension.

  “Well...goodnight...” James hugged her. He always held her a second too long. He told himself it was flirtatious but knew it just intensified his weirdness. As he was pulling away, Karen yanked him back by the jacket lapels and on to her lips.

  It was a good kiss. James had never kis
sed a girl but he could tell it was good. Her soft lips made his stomach do a little flip and there was a stirring in his groin. When the girl finally let go of him, James could only manage a goofy smile.

  Karen giggled and James guffawed stupidly.

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said, and promptly turned and ran off.

  James’ mind raced as he ran back to his room.

  “Shitshitshit!”

  He didn't know what to do. Should he ask her out? Is that what she wanted? Did she just want to fool around with someone? Did she want him to come in?!

  James thought for a panicked minute he should sprint back up the stairs of the building and knock on her door. It took all his might not to do so.

  He stayed awake replaying the evening in his mind; looking for the signs or opportunities when ‘cool James’ could have done something differently. Erotic thoughts of Karen kept creeping into his brain. He made use of them. He had done this with Karen in mind before, but now it was more consequential. What if she found out? How awkward was he going to be with her tomorrow? How could he look her in the eye? Maybe he should avoid her over the weekend and deal with it on Monday. He could even avoid mentioning it on Monday; wait for her to bring it up...but what if she didn't?!

  “Ahhh!” he screamed into the dark. Thankfully his roommate was out for the evening and wasn’t there to witness his self-flagellation and mental torment.

  Karen, on the other hand, found the whole ordeal rather amusing. She knew perfectly well what the kiss would do to James. His awkward skittle away, as he tried to hide and maneuver with a boner, was just the icing on the proverbial cake. She hadn’t necessarily planned on kissing him. She wanted to kiss him when he hugged her. He always hugged her when they said goodnight; holding her a second too long for anything platonic. She decided in that split second to take matters into her own hands, knowing in the instant, James would not know how to react.

  After the initial butterflies and laughter at him subsided, Karen thought of James more than usual. She, too, touched herself. She usually had to warm up to masturbation with light pressure on her clitoris, pressing her thighs together as she thought of a boy. Tonight she was already wet. She didn't have to imagine some hunk, sweating, a plaid shirt tied around his waist with a Coca-Cola in hand. This Friday evening, the mere thought of James kissing her made her horny. She fingered herself and allowed her mind to wander. James kissing her outside her dorm evolved into him pushing her inside, pressing her against the closed door; his breath and lips on her neck. He was unbuttoning her jeans. She unbuttoned his. She turned around and presented her bottom to him. He was entering her, his penis impossibly big ---

  “Karen! What the fuck?!”

  Karen was yanked violently out of her fantasy. Her roommate, Maisie, was staring at her wide-eyed. She had turned on the light. Karen had been making too much noise apparently.

  “Jesus! Do you have to do that so loudly next to me?!”

  “Sorry Maze...” Karen said wiping the sweat from her forehead. Maisie lay back down, letting her head hit the pillow. She let out a huge sigh. She turned out the light and there was silence.

  Several seconds passed before Maisie commented, “Sounded like a good ‘un. I'm jelly.”

  The two girls laughed long and hard.

  3

  James tried to avoid Karen the next day. He snuck out to the bakery on the corner for breakfast, only to find her sitting in their usual spot.

  Obviously, he thought.

  He had to walk another five minutes to Café Crème. He had brought a book with him; a good thick one. He wasn’t taking any chances she would see him on the way back to his dorm. She would probably turn up after he hadn’t shown at breakfast. James was camping out here for now.

  He ordered a large breakfast and continued to order cups of coffee. He needed to stay in this place as long as possible. Eventually the café waitress asked him to leave unless he ordered another meal. They shooed him out the door after he had been there for nearly four hours.

  James walked to the Fenway Gardens Park and selected a private bench. He settled himself. He paid for a sandwich from Café Crème; a small thanks for letting him stay so long. They agreed to put it in a bag for him in exchange for his leaving. He had contemplated explaining his odd behavior but then thought better of it when he realized he was being strange again.

  He took the brown paper bag out of his knapsack and removed the prepared sandwich; ham. He wasn’t particularly adventurous in his choice of filling either. He laid it on the brown paper bag, which he now used as a tray.

  “There you are!” Came a light, lilting voice.

  James looked up with a start, squinting into the sun and the silhouette standing above him. It was Karen.

  “Oh...hey...I...eh...”, he faltered.

  She laughed, “Were you avoiding me?!”

  James let out a small titter, “I'm sorry, I didn't know what I would say to you this morning. To tell you the truth, I was up most of the night stressing out over what to do.” He gave a weak smile. She had a perplexed but amused expression.

  “Why don’t you ask me if I want to go for dinner?”

  James stared dumbly at her before stuttering, “D-d-do y-you want t-to go for din-dinner?”

  She beamed, “I would love to, James!”

  This dinner was the couple’s first proper date. James knocked on Karen’s dorm room with cripplingly shaking hands. The flowers in his other hand rustled loudly from how violently they were being shaken. James worried on the long walk over, that they might die in his tight, sweaty grip.

  The whole second floor on which Karen lived, had secretly spied on the two love birds as they walked up and down the hallways. They had spent months marveling over the friendship. The girls thought he was sweet, if a little naive over how his friendship with Karen was proceeding. They left the boys scratching their heads as to how James spent every day with the country rose that was Karen Fellows. A nerdy city kid like Dawson should never have had a chance at conversing with such a beauty, never mind court one.

  Karen opened the door to the shaking James. She wore a flower print dress. James wore a suit that was two sizes too big for his slight frame. His hair was combed for the first time in years and he wore cologne.

  Karen was used to the scruffy unshaven James. The James who wore band and movie tees. James looked more at home in a ‘Rolling Stones’ t-shirt than a pinstripe from Macy’s.

  Karen could see how awkward he felt. She extended her hands and gripped the knot of his tie in one hand and neck tie with the other and pulled, loosening it. When she had loosened his tie enough, she pulled it over his head. She threw it on the bed behind her.

  “There, much better. You can get it later...” She said closing the door behind her as she joined James in the hallway.

  James wondered in that split second if he would see his tie later, by being thrown onto the bed by a sexually rampant Karen. Or better yet would ‘cool James’ dominate and throw the charged Karen onto the bed?

  The couple went to the same Italian they frequented every Saturday night – Mickey’s – a pizza parlor off Parker Street. Again, the staff had argued amongst themselves as to the relationship between the pair. Siblings? Cousins? Charity case?

  Tonight however, the relationship was obvious. They entered holding hands; still looking slightly awkward at the change in pace.

  By the time, dinner arrived; the two friends had relaxed into each other’s company again. This time with a difference. The facade had gone. The sexual tension was free to linger over them, informing everyone nearby that these were two people who wanted to, and would have sex tonight.

  They laughed and talked all night, flirting outrageously.

  James and Karen walked back hand-in-hand, looking up at the stars. They commented to each other on their beauty. When they reached their destination, Karen didn't even pretend to fumble for her keys or linger for a goodnight kiss. She opened the door, and still holding
James’ hand, led him inside with only a slight glance over her shoulder.

  They made love. Karen confessed seconds before he entered her, that she too was a virgin. She had always maintained that she had lost her V-card to an ex-boyfriend but it wasn’t true. He was a country hick; a bumpkin. He was certainly good looking, but simple. Karen feared that if she went all the way with Johnny, she would seal her fate of just being the next country girl from Mason, New Hampshire to never amount to anything other than breeding more Karens and Johnnys to carry on the sad sack tradition.

  When Karen told James that she was still a virgin, he smiled, “This makes this extra special for both of us then.” He kissed her forehead lightly.