When Bull got his breath back, he got up off her and went to the bathroom where he stayed for a long time and it give her some time to get herself together. He hadn’t even said a word to her, but it coulda been because she wouldn’t even look at him. She laid there and cried and thought about going back home but Bull wouldn’t never take her back to Clive and Dorie’s. Jewel was now his wife and she’d said for better or worse, and it scared her to death! She was stuck with him. When she finally got up off the bed, though, something was running down her legs and she looked down and saw blood and some snotty looking stuff just running down. Scared the life right out of her! She went flying to the door of the bathroom and yelled at Bull that she was bleeding out of her toosie where he’d stuck his thing in there.
Jewel must undoubtedly be the dumbest girl he’d ever seen in his entire life. Didn’t even know that women bled the first time. She was fifteen, for gosh sake. She should know something. Hell, he reckoned he’d have to teach her a few things.
“That’s normal, honey. All girls bleed the first time.” And couldn’t keep the laughter out of his voice, not that he tried. Jewel heard him making fun of her. Did he think it was funny that she was bleeding? “Come in here and get a towel and wipe it off. Won’t hurt you none. It’ll be better next time.”
Next time? She didn’t want no next time! Maybe she’d already got a baby and he wouldn’t have to do that no more. But she put on what was left of her robe and went in and got a wet washcloth and still not looking at Bull, went back into the bedroom and wiped off her legs and toosie. It was sore, but she figured she was none the worse for wear because she could still walk. When she started to put the washcloth back in the sink, Bull grabbed her and pulled her down on his lap right there on the commode where he was taking a shit.
She fought him, trying to get up off his lap, but he wouldn’t let her up. “My baby. My little baby,” Bull was murmuring over and over. “I didn’t mean to hurt you but you jus’ been teasin’ me all this time, and I couldn’t help myself.” He grabbed ahold of her tit and stuck the nipple in his mouth and sat there and sucked it like a baby.
Jewel was scared of what he might do next and was mortified at first that he’d suck on her tits but then it started feeling pretty good. She didn’t mind this part. If she’d let him do this every once in a while, would he still buy her pretty clothes and rings like the one he’d got her? That wouldn’t be so awful bad.
But in the middle of the night, after Bull was sound asleep and snoring up a storm, Jewel was still awake, pondering on everything that had happened to her. She’d actually liked that titty sucking part and wondered if mommies felt that way when a baby was sucking milk out of their tits. Jewel hadn’t had any intimate conversations with women. Hadn’t had anyone to tell her what to expect as a woman. All she had was her brothers. And then Dorie had explained a few things to her about being married.
Thank goodness, Dorie had been there when she started having her monthly, because it scared the mortal fire out of her. Thinking she must a got cut, she’d run in the house from the toilet and stuffed some old rags in her panties even though she didn’t feel like she was cut anywhere. She went back to the yard where Dorie was working in the flowers and told her that she must a cut herself down there because she was bleeding something awful. And that’s when Dorie explained about her monthly, and that she could get a baby now. Then Dorie sat in the swing and told her what husbands and wives did to get them. She didn’t mention it again. Jewel thought she must be lying because nobody would do such a thing. And Clive and Dorie didn’t have no young’uns and they’d been married a long time.
The next morning, Jewel woke up and for a moment, didn’t know where she was. She soon learned though, because Bull grabbed her. His thing was hard as a rock and he wanted to stick it in her again, and she didn’t want him to. He kept kissing her and she didn’t like that because his breath stunk something awful and she wanted to get up out of the bed, but he held her in there and wouldn’t let her get up. She was scared to death, but figured she might as well get it over with because she wanted to get back in that shower again. Jewel tensed herself for the pain that was to come, but this time it didn’t hurt near as bad. She was sore, and had some bruises on her legs, but she didn’t feel that awful pain like she’d felt the night before. Maybe she’d get through this marrying thing after all. Dorie had said it was downright pleasurable. She sure wouldn’t go that far, but she didn’t think she’d dread it like she did. And Bull was right, she didn’t bleed this time. If Bull would buy her pretty stuff, she’d let him do that any time he wanted to.
After Bull got through with her, he went out somewhere and got them breakfast while she got back in the shower. When she come out, he had her clothes laid out on the bed that she was supposed to wear that day. At the time, Jewel didn’t know, but Bull would choose her clothes for a very long time. Then they drove for hours and hours, with Jewel being amazed at all the new things she saw.
She was downright flabbergasted when they pulled up in front of a big brick house and Bull told her that it was her new home. She stepped out of the car and looked around at the large house. Lord, it was a mansion! If only Clive and Clay could see this place. And Dorie would just die! One, two, three, six winders on the first floor and six more on the top. And two doors right together! Why would anybody need two doors to get in a house? Somebody really fat musta built this place.
And the inside was just as grand. Jewel thought she was in hog heaven and all because she’d let Bull do that thing to her, twict. What would he do if she let him do it every day? Lord, she’d have anything she wanted! Jewel couldn’t wait to write to Clive and Clay and tell them what all she had and that they wasn’t nothing but lowlifes living back there in West Virginia in that little house. Ain’t that what Bull called them when he was cussing them just about all the way to Charleston? And she had wrote that letter, and hadn’t seen them since she’d left home with Bull. Oh, Bull went back every so often because of his drilling operations, but she never went back. She was too afraid he might leave her there because something was just not right.
Jewel always had the feeling that she was lacking something that Bull wanted from her—-something that she couldn’t give him. And she couldn’t give him something if she didn’t know what it was. After a few weeks of living with Bull, there was just little things he said and did that made her think he wasn’t completely satisfied with her. She let him do that nasty thing any time he wanted to, although at times it still hurt her some. What else did he want? It really bothered Jewel at first, but after wracking her brain, trying to figure it out, she just let it go, and did whatever she could to please him. He liked blonde hair, he said, and took her to the beauty shop and had it dyed even though she didn’t want it blonde. He liked it up, so the beauty operator fixed it that way. He was always telling her to stand up straight, don’t say ‘ain’t’ and things like that, even though he did. But he always called her his baby, his little darling and didn’t hit her or nothing. So it must not be as bad as she thought.
And he was all the time buying her things, and giving her money to go shopping on, and she really liked that. After a year or so, it didn’t make no difference that she might not be pleasing to Bull, because nothing ever come of it. He was gone off drilling most of the time and that suited Jewel just fine. At that time she was still waiting for the pleasurable part that Dorie had told her about because Bull wanted to do that nasty thing all the time when he was home. Jewel just laid there and waited for him to get mushy again so it’d be over. He’d be leaving again soon and she got along fine right there by herself. If it wasn’t for Matilda picking on her all the time, she figured she had it made.
Matilda came limping into Jewel’s bedroom and threw the mail on the dressing table where Jewel had one foot propped up on the edge, giving her toenails another coat of polish. She had to quickly move her foot or the mail would have hit the new polish she’d just put on. Jewel liked having her own bedroom where she could do pretty much what she wanted to do. They didn’t sleep in the same room anymore because Bull’s snoring kept her awake, and he didn’t want to do the nasty more than once a month or so now. He was getting really old and told Jewel after he done it he couldn’t breathe so good. So he just pulled her down on his lap and sucked on her tits some and nuzzled her ear.