His own ejaculation was not far behind her soaringly rapturous ecstasy. The liquid fire of his sperm shot from him deep up into her belly. Christ! He had never felt anything like that before. It was wonderfully new and strange… and he loved her for it! "Oh, God! I love you, Dottie!"

Then… it had been two weeks later – there had been other nights of clandestine sex, wild, carefree and careless, in the back of his station wagon parked in the orange grove – when she had told him, "G-Gabe… you keep s-saying you l-love me… a-and I-I love you, too… but now w-we've got to do s-something about it…"

"What do you mean…?"

"We've got to g-get married… I'm going to h-have a b-baby!" she told him in a rush.

"My God! How do you know… for sure?"

"I'm sure!" she said. "N-nature doesn't lie!"

Within another two weeks, Gabe and Dottie were married. There had been the usual family recriminations, but in the end Dottie had moved into the Scott house where the newlywed couple set up housekeeping.

I was a blind, stupid fool… any son-of-a-bitch could have figured it out! Dottie trapped me… made me think that Charity was my kid…! And, she fooled me… for all these years! Of course, Donnie's mine… there's no doubt about that!

He nursed his drink and waited. She would have to come back, he told himself; Dottie's little bastard daughter would have to come back, because she had taken nothing with her. She had merely left for a few hours… But, when you get back Charity, baby… I'm going to give it to you… but good!

All his hate, his frustrations and his failures were concentrated in a warped plan for revenge… against his wife's daughter, Charity.

***

Don Scott and Ray Donahue had skipped out of school. They lounged on a grassy mound on the downtown shopping mall, their conversation centering around possible ways of raising their stake before they split for the streets.