In the Belly of the Beast

9

Tonight's call was the best phone sex Geoffrey had ever had. She was the best girl he'd ever talked with, and she really knew her stuff. Not only that, she could reach him, like no girl he'd ever talked to before.

He had first started calling these kinds of numbers out of boredom. He had wanted to hear a pleasant voice. But this type of calling had fast become a habit.

An expensive habit.

He reluctantly curbed his appetite for chatter and substituted magazines because he simply couldn't afford the astronomical phone bills.

But after the incident this morning, he believed he deserved a little treat. Besides, he needed the diversion. All day long he'd had flashbacks of those damn maggots. Creepy, nasty things.

Perhaps, Ruby was right. 

Maybe he needed fresh air. She was forever harping that bad things would happen to him if he didn't let in the outdoors and sunshine. She was always telling him that one day he'd develop something horrible like boils or rickets or lung diseases. 

He had never paid any attention to her prattle, but after this morning, he was beginning to wonder if his health wasn't starting to fail, his mental health anyway.

Ruby acted like nothing was amiss this morning, had even swiped up a finger of eggs from the floor and put them into her mouth just to show him they were fine. But they weren't fine. At least not when he had had them under his nose. When she'd scraped them off the floor they were fine, but they had definitely not been before that.

Or had they?

***

He was tired of second guessing himself. He'd been doing it all day long. He waited until he had eaten, a very long process since he was forever watching each bite, chewing it until it was mush, and gagging it down, before making the call.

Eating had never been such a chore, but he knew he must do it. He had skipped breakfast and declined lunch. If he didn't eat something soon, he would be doubled over with stomach cramps. 

Through sheer will, he had cleaned the tray. Ruby had come for it while he was watching the game show and plenty time had passed to clean up everything. She was probably snoring like a chainsaw by now.

It was time for dessert. Some real dessert.

He found the phone after a brief search. It had become wedged beneath a large roll of skin. The enormous amount of weight he carried caused him to grow oversized breasts. Oversized breasts and a four inch weenie. 

Life could be so cruel sometimes.

He thumbed through his magazines until he found an ad to his liking. He dialed the number. 

The call did not go through. He had started to yell for Ruby to find out how she's cleaned his phone and cuss her out for ruining it. Then a voice on the other end said 'hello.'

That voice.

Like an answer to all his prayers, it was soft, sultry, and wildly erotic. She had said her name was Danielle, but all her friends called her Danny. They talked for half an hour, the fastest thirty minutes Geoffrey ever experienced.

He was going to have to hang up. He could not afford to talk any longer, but he couldn't let her go. Not Danny. His Danny. 

He had almost whooped with joy when she gave him a private number, one he could call at midnight. Her shift ended at eleven, she explained, and she was always home by then.

They said their goodbyes, and Geoffrey looked at the number he had scribbled beside the magazine ad. A local number. This was his lucky day. But only at midnight, he could only call her then. She had been very firm about the time.

Only at midnight.

He could hardly wait and became so excited at the mere thought of dialing her up tomorrow night that he had to consciously make himself calm down. Wouldn't do to have a heart attack before their first true phone date.

He chuckled aloud. First time today, he'd forgotten about the maggots. 

Danielle. 

Danny, the girl of his dreams.