life of buddy don, chaptur 132: a changin of the friends

i dun menchuned lots bout how johnny mayhew changed my life, witch thays more to cum on that, but a nuther way he had a influents wuz how he wuz a'datin this beeyootifull woman name of martha townsend whenever we met n he tuck her to group the furst time he cum. quick as they met, martha n emily made friends. martha wuz eager to tell ye she wuznt no real riter but ever now n then she wood brang sumthin to read. as ye mite speck, she hit paydirt as often as innybidy did. she n johnny dint stay together long, but since she lived in the same buildin as us, emily gut to whar she wood hang out with martha to the point i wood cum home n know to call martha to find out whar emily wuz. lack as not, emily wood anser the phone.

fer the most part, martha wuz a grate influents on emily. she had two children, one by her furst n tuthern by her secunt husbin, so she dint have no fear of havin kids, witch that wuz the issue twixt emily n me by the time the group wuz really a'goin good. martha poopood all emilys talk bout how awful twood be to be a mother n nobidy couldnt say nuthin bout martha not bein beeyootifull. she had that odd combinayshun of verr dark blue eyes n black hair that kindly put ye in mind of liz taylor. n she had one crooked tooth in front lack ali mcgraw, witch that seemed to make her smile seem almos lack a blush.

corse twuz whut happens to a womans bidy that wurried emily, n fack is, ye couldnt tell martha'd ever had no babies on a counta how thin her waste wuz n how her hips warnt all that broad. she lacked to wear hi heels n had a pidgen toed way of walkin, witch the combinayshun made her beehind stand up n move in such a compellin way to whar i ast emily to cunsidder gittin sum hi heels her ownself (emily sed she wood stick with earth shoes). martha lacked to joke bout how small her chest wuz but ye could see whenver she wuz a doon it how she wuz a'showin off her flat belly. as johnny lacked to joke, she wuz 'one sexy mother'. even emily could see that, so i figgerd thay wuz lots of hope fer emily n me to start a fambly.

seemed lack our sex life gut better after emily n martha becum friends too. martha gut emily to unnerstan fer a lil while how it mite please a man fer her to cum to bed dressd in sumthin sides knee socks n a flannel shirt with a underwired bra on underneath it. n not long after emily met martha she ast me wood i tie her up n tease her, witch ye mite could magine how that wood be my pleashore n twuz a grate pleashore fer bofus. but the way emily lacked to carry on bout the penis bein a weppon n all, i dint lack to suggest nuthin all that confinin. so twuz not only a pleashore but a sprize to find out she wonted sumthin lack that. she also started usin lots of nasty wurds in bed n beggin me to do thangs n gittin me to make her beg more befor i wood do em even tho she knew i wuz a'wontin to. i ast her one time when i had her beggin almos fer mercy, wuz this a nuther thang martha had suggested? n she blushed but sed yes n when i kep on, astin her bout when she cum to bed with nuthin but her pink dress, wuz it marthas idee? n i kep on astin her thangs bout martha till she melted in pleashore. after that, martha n i wood kindly flirt at group bout whut a sexy babe a sartin lady wuz a'gittin to be. emily wood blush n ast us to hush, witch that made it more fun n martha wood laff till emily slapped at her hand.

but whut martha lackly dint know wuz how emily had a crush on her to whar she wood beg me to tell her a story that had martha in it. emily lacked fer me to whisper sexy stories in her ear as we wuz a'lyin together, so when she ast fer a story with martha in it, i tuck the chants to eggsplore all kindsa fantasies mos inny man has bout havin sex with two women at the same time. i aint claimin tiz a sensibull or moral or even possibull thang but fantasies aint ackshuns n them stories wood show me kindly whut emily lacked.

her favert story wuz fer martha to visit fer coffee n a chat n fer them to sit on the couch till they touched a lil till martha finely kissd her ever so gently n fer thangs to progress to whar thays passin thurd base a'headin fer home at the eggzack moment when i wood cum in n catch em. n i mite be mad or upset but dint matter on a counta how i wood be be too eggcited to git upset bout it n next thang ye know, ever fantasy ye kin magine wood cum true, lease as a fantasy. i even tole her one whar martha wood cum over to our place when i wuz thonly one home n deecide to wait fer emily to git home n then cum on to me (witch to be honest that wuz a fantasy fer ever man in the group) n then fer emily to open the door n see us in the ack on the couch only have us not notice till she joins us. durin the years of the group, such a thang nearly happent twice n bof times virgil wuz the shadow that fell twixt the idee n the reality.

furst time thay wuz a halloween party over at billy n laurens stewarts. everbidy wuz speckted to dress up in a costume n martha deecided i wood go as a witch n she n emily wood go as warlocks. she had found a witches mask that ye put over yer entire head sos nobidy could tell who ye wuz. she cum up to hep us all git reddy she had this mexicun peasunt dress fer me to wear with a pair of pantyhose underneath on a counta how ye could see right through the dress. i tole her i dint know ifn that wood be a nuff, but they laffed. then she putt a see thru blouse on n they bofem laffed n laffed at how ye could see my nipples but woodnt nobidy keer ceptn ifn folks thought i wuz a woman, witch with me a'wearin that mask, how could ye be shor? emily wonderd wood i git arrested ifn a cop saw me? so they give me a shawl to wear with it. then they put on suits, emily a'wearin thonly one i had at the time. martha had one lef over frum one of her marrgs n she had made a cuple black capes with red linin. thang wuz, martha n emily wuz sexiern ever the way they filled out them suits, witch mayhap that wuz on a counta how martha made em bof wear hi heeled shoes. emily cumplaind she could barly walk in em n martha sed thats whut makes em so sexy: looks lack ye caint git away. i dint have no womens shoes that fit, so i wore sum tennis shoes with socks.

whut a nite that wuz. i wuz a sinsayshun fer the longest on a counta how nobidy couldnt figger out who i wuz till johnny mayhew noticed my shoes n hollerd out 'its the docter!' how thay laffed n made fun of me oncet they knew twuz i. seem lack ever woman at that party tuck the chants to pinch me or lif up my skirt or make comments to give me a lil taste of how men has treated them over the years n i couldnt say much bout it no how. corse nobidy give me more of it than emily n martha, witch they spent much of the party on either side of me a trine to git me all eggcited by whisperin thangs in my ears to whar i shore we wuz destined to wurk a lil magick, two warlocks on one witch or vice versa.

i wont bore ye with everthang bout that party but by the time twuz over, virgil had dun gut hisself fallin down drunk so thay wuznt nuthin else to do but lode im into the back seat of marthas car fer the drive back to the laurel marrd students apartments. martha ast me wood i drive n she n emily sat up frunt with me. i wuz a lil sprized whenever martha sat nex to me. she n emily wuz teasin me n playin lack they wuz luvers, eethur tendin lack lack they wuz kissin or mayhap ackshly kissin. they wood play lack that fer a bit while i tried to watch outta the corner of my eye n then martha wood turn back my way n putt her arm roun my waste or a lil lower n give me a lil kiss on the ear n squeeze my thigh till i cried out in pain n then they wood laff n ast me whut wood a lil witch lack me have neath that skirt? twuz one of the sexiest drives i ever had n twuz magick wurthy of a real witch that we made it without crashin the car, but we did.

virgil wuz snorin n slobberin on the back seat, so i suggested we leave im thar. we closed the doors as quitely as we could n tuck a cuple of steps. emily pinched me till i hollerd n then martha cum up to kiss my ear only i turnt by chants but jes in time fer her mouth to find mine n quick as ye could blank yer eye we wuz kissin n emilys hands wuz eggsplorin neath that mexicun skirt n martha wuz lettin her hand slip down till i felt her touch me whar she shouldnt. twuz verr stimulatin n i wuz a skeerd emily mite not lack it till i felt her hand take marthas n push it even harder. i turned tords emily n she kissed me n then spun me tords martha n she kissed me even harder as she squeezed me near to burstin n lifted my hand to her breast.

alla sudden virgil hollerd, 'wha?!?' i couldnta sed it no better lessn i wuz sayin sumthin wurser. i wuz cursin him neath my breath, but thay wuznt nuthin could be dun on a counta how virgil started to vomit n frum that moment on twuz a matter of gittin virgil under cuntrol, witch we dun whenever we made im do: wash his face n brush his teeth n drank sum water n git on the couch. he fell flat on his back into a snore. by then, martha had gone home n even tho thay wuz a fone calls wurth of hope twixt emily n martha, dint nuthin cum of it ceptn fer a verr hot time with emily as i whisperd the story bout whut mite a'been.

tuther time happened down at the lake whar mark kendall had a a'frame house n a pool. he wuz a poet who wuz also a rich lawyer n he gut to cummin to the group on a counta how martha had wurked fer im sum years ago n they run into each out at the west town mall n she mentchuned this grate group n nex thang ye know ever man is intimidated by this feller that makes all the women swoon, emily included. he had im a grate voice n had larnt how to use it in a cort room n he also writ sum fine poetry far as we could tell cept how the joke wuz folks wunderd ifn the fone book wood sound lack a good poem ifn he wuz a'readin it.

innnywho, mark wuz a huge fan of the forth of july n had im a party ever year. once he gut to be a reglar reader at the group, he invited all his friends, witch turnt out we wuz all folks that had been to the group one time or a nuther. i wuz verr proud how emily wore a bikini n all the fellers wuz sprized on a counta how they hadnt never seen her in nuthin but blue jeans and flannel shirts n earth shoes. johnny mayhew started makin jokes bout how she woodnt never have to suffer no 'deprivashun of eggcitayshun' ifn innythang ever happend to buddy don, witch did she wont sumthin to happen? everbidy wuz laffin n she wuz flushed n embarassed. corse, that all changed after she n martha gut to drankin.

happend thisaway. virgil had cum to that party as ye mite magine n he made a bet with martha n emily bout drankin. twuznt a sprize fer virgil to suggest a game whar ye had to drank to win but twuz a sprize how martha cunvintsed emily to take the bet. virgil wonted me to play also, but i never much lacked drankin beer n i wuz drivin, so i dint. but he did n so did martha n emily. i acted as timer.

twuz a simple bet: he bet em they couldnt drank one shot of beer a minute fer thirty mints n he could. twuz lots of fun watchin emily git so loose. the sprize wuz how after johnny mayhew had tuck over the timin he kep rite on a'goin even after they had dun made thar thirty mints n virgil gut distrackted whenever billy stewart ast him dint he have a inventchun to increase gas mileage? so they beat virgil witch that made everbidy laff, but lease they quit drankin.

virgil dint n by the time the party wuz over, the situation wuz near the same: we wuz feelin loosey goosey n virgil wuz passd out drunk. if innythang, we gut closer to makin the fantasy real this time on a counta how we knew whut we wonted even ifn we aint never sed nuthin bout it. corse, we wuz engagin in sum scandlus flirtin at that party n even touchin, speshly durin slow dances whar they wuz bof a'dancin with me. we drove keerful with a lil kissin n touchin but no talkin. we wuz verr quite gittin outta the car. we left virgil snorin in the back n dint stop to do nuthin in the parkin garage. gut upstairs n emily n martha deecided they wood take a shower. together. n martha sed she had brought sumthin more cumfterbull fer em to whar whenever they cum out. she held up sum frilly thangs ye could see thru only i hardly gut a look. i dint need no more! they teased me by sayin i could look at a gurly magazine while i wuz a'waitin my turn fer the shower.

they wuz back in our bedroom a'gittin undressd whenever a loud knock cum on the door. that meant virgil. i wuz tempted to let im knock but he kep gittin louder, witch i went back n hollerd to emily how i wuz a'gone drive virgil home. i dint even let im cum in to pee n made im doot behind a bush on the lawn. ye kin magine how i felt. it tuck near two hours to drive im to clinton in finely git im outta the car, witch i left im in a broke rockin chair on the porch. whenever i gut home, emily wuz asleep. i wuz eggcited but she sed she wuz tired n wonderd wood i turn the evenin into a story nex time we lay together? twuz clear she wuznt in no mood fer nothin so i outlined the plot of that story in my mind n give myself that familyer handshake till i wuz reddy to sleep my ownself.

later the nex day, i tole her that story, makin the problem of the story how i dint git home till twuz too late n how martha n emily tuck thar showers n putt on thar sexy nightgowns n how they deecided to have a nuther lil drank n then a lil music n then mayhap a lil dancin n the feel of the soft gowns n all led em back to the couch n deescribin in deetail how they figgerd twood be eggcitin ifn they wuz in the ack whenever i walked in. only in the story, i dint make it till they wuz dun n martha had gone home. that story had emily squirmin frum the moment i deescribed the feel of that lingerie durin the dance. mayhap she wuz waitin fer the part whar i cum in an sprize em, but i never gut to that part befor we wuz bof half dozin afterds. as i wuz bout to drift off, i thought to ast wuz that story i made true, but she kissed me n tuck my hand n rolled over, pullin me with her so i dint say nuthin.

innywho, that wuz martha townsend n i half to add mitt, i wish emily hadnt never let that friendship end. i caint say whuther sumthin happend twixt emily n martha, but seem lack once martha had her a new boyfriend, thay wuznt time fer them to sit n talk n take thar runs. but twuz a lil moren that. emily jes dint seem lack she wonted to make time fer martha, witch far as i could see, martha wuz still innerested in keepin emily fer a friend.

thang wuz, emily always claimd she wuznt good fer friendship on a counta how she wuz a loner n used to bein alone, witch tiz true she spent most of her life a'sittin on a chair, a'pullin on her hair, smokin her marlboros n sippin her tea (all but the las sip). she tole me thay wuz a club whenever she wuz in junyer hi skool that wuz dedicated to hatin her. emily. twuz a sore point twixt us on a counta that dint sound bleevabull to me. seems to me lack folks is more innerested in thar ownself than innybidy else n twuz a stretch to thank a hole club could focus inny attenchun on jes one person. but whenever i sed that, she wood fly into a fit n accuse me of not luvin her on a counta ifn i did, i wood bleeve innythang she claimd. but that wood jes git me a'goin more on a counta i dint thank twuz luv to pertend to bleeve sumthin that ye dint bleeve jes on a counta how sumbidy ye luv bleeves it. tiz better to be hones on a counta folks is rong more often than they wood add mitt.

thay wuz lots of fussin n fitin a'goin on in the duncan household round then on a counta how i wuz bout to graduwait. the plan whar i wooda dun started makin a nuff money in royaties fer ritin wuznt wurkin out. i wuz gittin me a lil pile of rejeckshun notices, witch that counted fer sumthin in emilys eyes, but dint pay no bills n ifn thays innythang emily couldnt take, twuz not knowin whar our next check wuz a'cummin frum. dint matter nun how much we had saved up while we wuz a'wurkin our way thru graduwait skool. fer her, twuz a crisis: whut wuz we a'gone do?

whut i wonted wuz fer us to go sumwhars else. she wuz one year into her phd program, but even her majur professers wuz add visin her how she orta go sumwhars else fer her thurd degree. tiz hard a nuff to find a 'tenure track possishun' when ye gut plenty of contacks in the educayshun bizness, but tiz even harder when ye gut three degrees frum a state university. thay wuz a'tellin her she could git into to chicago or emory or mayhap even stanford. twooda suited me fine ifn we went to one of them places. i figgerd i could git a job of sum kind, flippin burgers if nuthin else. she had nuthin but strate a marks, had dun reasurch in west germany, could speak n read german n a lil french, had writ a purty good masters thesis, and wood git nuthin but the bes referentses frum her profs, so they figgerd mane problem wuz figgern out whar twood be bes fer her to git her nex degree.

as fer me, i wuz wontin to travel agin, see sumthin new. i wunderd did emily really wonta git her phd or wuz it jes the easiest path to take frum whar she wuz. whut ifn we wuz to give up ackademe all together n finely go to new york city, witch i had been talkin bout that frum whenever i wuz with darlene n twuz one of the thangs she dint lack bout me on a counta i wood say sumday i wood half to live in man hattan fer at lease two years. n whenever susannah n i went i knew twuz a place i had to be fer lease a lil while.

but emily wuz skeerd of trine innythang that she dint know n minny wuz the evenins ruint by fussin n fitin over whut wuz we a'gone do nex. ifn i wuz a'gone stay with emily, then thonly choice wuz to stay in knoxvull n that meant i had to figger whut i wuz a'gone do to earn my half of whut we needed to pay our bills. i dint even have my resumé dun whenever docter alexander ast me dint i plan on teachin at the university? i tole im i dint know twuz a opshun but he sed they wuz always in need of teachers fer freshman english n i should go talk to docter whatley, witch he wuz hed of the freshman ritin program. i had dun tuck classes frum docter whatley n he had even ast me did i wont rite a ritin book together with im. i orta dun it, but i tole im i wonted only to rite fickshun n he sed he could respeck that. even so it seemd lack he wudnt too happy bout it. mayhap thats why he give me a grate welcum whenever i applied to teach but only give me the one class. twernt a nuff to live on but i tuck in innyway. n that turnt into a nuther reason fer fussin n fitin bout the futchur.

round that time, bud rankin n his wife ginny gut to whar thar marrg wuz a'dyin n he wonted to talk to sumbidy that had eggsperients with deevorce n that tuck us frum bein lanked together at the group to bein better friens. till then twuz ok fer him to be friends with jake dawes n fer me to hang out with johnny mayhew, but jake dint wonta do nuthin but make jokes bout how twuz time fer bud to git shed of ginny befor she smoked n drunk herself to death, witch she wuz the smokinest person next to emily n daddy i ever met n fack wuz, ye dint see her verr often without a can of budweiser in her hand.

we knew sumthin wuz up whenever she dint cum to the 4th of july party at mark kendalls a frame by the lake n nex thang i know buds callin to ast, 'docter, how bout we take us a walk n burn one?' witch thats how bud used to ast ye did ye wonta git hi. by then he had dun figgerd how i had truble gittin inny of thevil weed even ifn twuz purty clear how i lacked it, witch the problem wuz how emily figgerd twuz a waste of money n that led to her sayin she wood quit smokin ifn i wood n i sed i wood quit trine to buy inny of thevil weed whenever she quit buyin marlboros but befor eethur one of us gut to quittin, her mama maureen wood cum into town fer a visit or we wood git to looseburg fer one n maureen never failed to give emily a carton of marlboros n $20 to me jes fer my 'kinda tubacka.' but thang wuz still how we dint have much money fer buyin no reefer n everbidy knew it. mos folks seem lack they lacked heppin me out -- randy fox n johnny mayhew bein the mane ones -- but bud wood always brang a number or two n never once cumplaind bout how i dint brang nuthin my ownself. point is, whenever he ast me did i wonta take a walk n burn one, he alreddy knew the anser.

so thats how we gut to be better friens than we wuz befor. he even started a'wurkin out with me n johnny, witch johnny dint seem to lack bud much but he tolerated im. bud wuz ritin a big novel bout veetnam long bout then n ever time we gut together to wurk out, bud wood tell us how minny pages he had dun writ n the number wuz increasin so fast to whar johnny wood make fun of im. thay mite joust a bit, but twood end whenever johnny sed, 'yeah, but thang bout the docter is ye jes know hes a'gone make it.' corse that made it sound lack bud rankin wuznt a'gone to, but he made it into a joke n i dint hardly know whut to say on a counta how up to then i had only been paid in rejeckshun notices.

but thays sumthin bout havin a thang lack deevorce in common that makes it to whar ye gut thangs to talk bout that other folks caint git in on n that meant me n bud wood take long walks round campus or over to tyson park to find a place whar we could sit in peace n burn one n talk bout all the thangs that makes it whar a man n a woman caint live together no more even ifn they had vowed to stick together thru thick n thin n even graduwait skool till death dun em part. n that meant i gut to hear mos of buds story n even buds theory bout hatin sumbidy. he sed ye couldnt ritely hate nobidy once ye knew thar story with jes a few eggcepshuns lack hitler n stalin n charlie manson n such. he had hated one of our perfessers fer the longest till he herd bout how the perfesser wuz beat near dead fer bein gay n ever after that bud wood say how he wished he hadnt larnt that on a counta how he lacked hatin that perfesser.

corse once emily larnt how me n bud wuz discussin his maritull problems she gut to worryin that twood make us have em too, witch i joked bout how we seemed to be purty good at havin em all on our own only she dint laff much.

twuz round then that emily gut her a new friend name of millicent travers bohr, witch furst thang she sed to me whenever i met her wuz dont call her milly fer nuthin on a counta her name wuz millicent. once emily had made friends with millicent, she dint have no time fer martha no more n even tho we wuz a'livin in the same buildin n martha wuz datin the feller that lived jes cross the hall frum us, seem lack we never saw her much after that. but emily n millicent wuz a nuther matter. fer one thang, millicent wuz a'studyin histry n near to gittin her b.a. deegree n purty soon wood be cummencin graduwait skool her ownself.

i kindly hate thankin back on millicent on a counta i caint thank of minny people i ever met that rubbed me the rong way to the eggstint she dun me. mayhap twuz the way she smoked so much, lease as much as ginny or emily. mayhap twuz her way of fillin her conversayshun with comments bout how this person wuz stoopid n thatn wuz corse n tuthern wuz over reachin hisself. mayhap twuz how she hated the idee of motherhood. mayhap twuz how she wuz as opposit frum martha townsend as ye could git, as lifeless n dride up a human as ye kin magine. thay wuznt no way she wood have emily ever thankin bout havin a child. mayhap twuz everthang thar wuz bout her. i couldnt ritely say much bout that to emily so it becum a nuther topick fer bud rankin n me to go over. turnt out he had a even stronger reackshun to millicent n once he had met her, he never wonted to see her no more.

twuz hard to say whut twuz bout her that gut under my skin. she wuz beeyootiful, kindly lack a china doll with perfeck skin that coulda been made frum fine porcelun. he skin wuz so thin ye could see the veins runnin long her temples n ye had to add mitt how twuz purty, but still... she wuz verr tiny, witch i figger she couldnt weigh even a hunnert pounds soakin wet. she had the thinnest hips i ever saw on innybidy that wuznt a yungun n i reckun we gut off to the rong start on a counta how her n emily set up a game of scrabble fer her n her husbin n us to play. we gut thar befor he wuz home n furst thang she sed to me wuz. 'the ole bore aint home yet.' she gut to laffin quick as she sed it but i dint git the joke n i reckon she could see that on my face, so she sed, 'his name is willy bohr' n then after a lil paws sed, 'n the anser is, yes he will.' whenever i ast 'he will whut?' she sed she figgerd me n him wood git along jes fine. then she looked at emily n laffed so loud that emily joind in. i had gut the joke but still dint thank twuz funny but i reckon she dint git my joke (or lack it) inny bettern i had dun hers.

millicents mane topick of conversayshun wuz how she couldnt never have no children on a counta her hips wuz too tiny fer the hed of a chile to git thru n how willy bohr luved her so much to whar he had gut hisself fixed. she sed she wuznt all that eggcited bout sex innyway, but lease not havin to take no pills nor use no diafram or cundum made it a lil more tolerbull.

twuz the las kinda friend emily needed but she wood argue bud wuz the last kinda friend i should have on a counta i woodnt never quit smokin reefer while i wuz his friend, witch i sed the same wuz true bout millicent n not havin babies. she would holler bout how i orta unnerstan how she felt. sides that, she reminded me how i dint even lack bud rankin whenever i furst me im n i add mitted twuz so but i had changed my pinion on a counta how i had gut to know him better n how he had wurked so hard on his ritin n i respeckted that. she had to add mitt he had improved, but she figgerd he still wuznt much good. 'he aint on yer level, bud.' she knew i hated that talk bout folks bein on differnt levels n i couldnt hold back the comment that i figgerd she had picked up that level bizness frum millicent.

she jes sed i woodnt never unnerstand how she wuz glad she finely had a friend that unnerstood her fears.

'whut fears?' i herd myself ast, knowin twuz the questchun of a fool.

'of gittin pregnunt n havin yer baby.'

seem lack thonly thang i herd wuz 'havin yer baby,' witch that made me wonta ast ifn she wood have sumbidy elses baby but befor i could say nuthin bout that, emily sed she dint never wonta have no babies n i needed to git that thru my thick skull. i wooda anserd back, but millicent called rite then n whenever i herd her lil voice astin ifn my better half wuz thar, i sed she wuz n handed the fone to emily. whenever she tuck it n spoke into it as sweet as ye kin, 'millicent! yew must have e.s.p. i wuz jes thankin boutcha,' i flew mad to whar i had to take a walk. i dint say goodbye nor nuthin, but jes walked out n tole myself i wuz jes a'gone walk off my anger, but my feet tuck me strate to mcclung tower whar twuznt no sprize to find bud rankin drankin a cup of coffee n ritin in a notebook.

quick as he saw me he hollerd out, 'hey docter' n waved me over. 'ye wonta go burn one?' he whisperd. twuz jes whut i wonted n ifn i had give it much thought, i mite coulda noticed how i had more in common with bud rankin than i dun with emily dickenson smith duncan.