JC: Harry and Shadow
Chapter 4
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

As time passed, Shadow and Ginger had become comfortable with 
each other. Shadow told Ginger about growing up in a household 
under the watchful eye of an over protective mother. Ginger talked 
about how she had left home and found that the only way to make 
enough money to live on was by dancing. Shadow had never 
thought about how women entered the adult entertainment 
industry. 

The days had settled into a nice rhythm. Breakfast, morning 
workout, lunch, afternoon errands, diner, and then quiet evenings 
together marked the passage of the day. The different afternoon 
errands marked the week as he rotated between laundry, 
vacuuming, mowing the lawn, dusting, shopping, and gardening. 
Sundays he was free in the afternoon. 

He learned how to cook dishes other than stew, but they both 
admitted that he didn't have what it took to be a chef. However, 
with time his cooking had improved and neither of them died of 
food poisoning. There were a few dishes that they couldn't finish 
and they became the subjects of easy jokes.

The longer that Shadow lived with Ginger, the less concerned she 
became about covering herself when he was around. It seemed like 
every day that he caught glimpses of her breasts or panties. 
Everyday after her shower, he used the excuse of cleaning the 
bathroom to spend thirty minutes in the bathroom to relieve his 
erection that watching her workout produced. Jacking off when he 
took his shower in the evening helped keep him from doing 
anything that would upset her.

Ginger seemed oblivious to the tensions that raged through 
Shadow. She was too busy dealing with tensions of her own. At 
night, she would lie in bed rubbing her clit getting rid of some the 
tension that raged through her. As far as she was concerned, 
Shadow was a fantasy come true. She wondered how many women 
could possibly find a man that would take such good care of her. 

As time went by, the sexual tension in the air became thick enough 
to cut with a knife. Their conversations became longer and more 
intimate. The silences became less threatening. Neither one was 
willing to give into their individual urge. Shadow because he was 
completely clueless about how Ginger felt about him. Ginger was 
unwilling because she was unable to see the effect that she was 
having on Shadow. 

Shadow waited as Ginger went about the business of getting ready 
for her appointment. He had set out a nice outfit for her to wear to 
the doctor's office and she was in her room behind closed doors 
getting dressed. Shadow's imagination worked overtime as he 
imagined what she looked like while she prepared. Her gorgeous 
legs, full breasts, and womanly shape were firmly etched into his 
mind. He sighed, but kept his thoughts to himself. There was no 
sense letting her know that he was a pervert at this late stage.

When she opened the bedroom door, he raced over to it and took 
her hand. As always, he said, "Let me lead you to your chair."

"I'd prefer to sit on the sofa with you today," replied Ginger. There 
was a nervous tremor to her voice that let him know how worried 
she was about the appointment. 

"Okay, Ginger," replied the ugly man. Both of them knew that at 
this point, it was unnecessary for him to lead her around the room. 
She could navigate the room without any problem, but they went 
through the motion anyway. He led her over to the sofa and waited 
until she sat down.

She patted the seat beside him and begged, "Sit here and hold me."

Once Shadow sat down beside her, she turned and settled against 
his chest. Not knowing what else to do with his hands, he put his 
arms around her. Unconsciously, he pulled her tight against his 
chest as though afraid of losing her forever. In the tone of voice 
that one would use to calm down a skittish horse, he said, 
"Everything will be alright."

She settled against his chest feeling protected. For the first time in 
her life, she felt safe and that it had come in the form of being held 
by a man surprised her. The fact was that she had never expected 
to fall in love with a man. Her mother and stepfather had killed all 
desire to find someone to love. Being beaten by her mother for not 
sexually satisfying her stepfather made it virtually impossible to 
hand her heart over to anyone.

After living with Shadow for almost three months, she had come to 
love him. Loving him had crept up on her and she couldn't quite 
pinpoint when it had happened. She knew the stages that her 
feelings for him had passed. At first, she was terrified of living 
with a stranger while blind. After a while, she found herself 
trusting him to take care of the problems associated with being 
blind. As time went by, she realized that he hadn't made any 
unwanted advances upon her.  That's when she realized that she 
could trust him to take care of the real her - the person inside the 
body. It was about that time when she realized she loved him.

She sighed and said, "I'm so worried about the doctor's 
appointment. What if I can't see ever again?"

The question tore Shadow apart. He had come to have very strong 
feelings for Ginger and feared what would happen when she had 
her sight back. As strong as his fears were, there was no way that 
he would ever wish that she would remain blind. He hugged her 
and answered, "I'll take care of you."

"You would, wouldn't you?"

As her head rested against his chest, the smell of her scented soap 
tickled his nostrils. He inhaled enjoying the scent and tried to etch 
it into his memory, so that he would be able to recall it even after 
years had passed. Tears ran down his face as he answered, "For as 
long as you needed me."

She cleared her throat and asked, "I know that you must have been 
tempted, but why didn't you ever try anything with me?"
 
"It wouldn’t have been right to have such beauty marred by my 
ugliness," answered Shadow. He felt like his chest was about to 
explode at admitting his feelings for her. He felt her body tense as 
he gave his answer. From the expression on her face, he knew what 
she was going to say.

"I love…" she started, but was cut off when he put a finger against 
her mouth. 

"Don't say it," he interrupted.

"Why?"

"You haven't seen me yet. You don't know what kind of horrible 
monster I am," he answered.

It hurt her to hear him talk about his appearance in that manner. He 
was a good man and deserved happiness. She replied, "Promise me 
that you'll be here when I get back."

That was the one promise that Shadow wouldn't make. He was 
spared from answering when there was a knock on the door. He 
sighed in relief and said, "That'll be Harry."

She shifted so that Shadow could get up and answer the door. He 
rose and paused to look down upon her. Her face was positioned as 
though she were looking at him. Her vulnerability touched him, but 
he didn't know what to do. An additional knock forced him to turn 
his attention to the door. He answered the door and said, "Come on 
in, Harry."

Harry looked at Shadow taking in the streaks left on his cheeks by 
tears. Rather than comment, he looked over at Ginger. She looked 
just as upset as Shadow. Raising an eyebrow, he looked from one 
to the other. In a cheerful voice, he said, "Today is the day."

Shadow, forcing as much cheerfulness into his voice as possible, 
said, "Yes. She gets her sight back today."

Reaching down, Harry took Ginger's hand and said, "We had better 
get going."

With a weak nervous smile, Ginger nodded her head. As Harry led 
her to the door, she paused and, in more of a question that a 
statement, said, "I'll see you when I get back."

"Sure," answered Shadow after an uncomfortable pause. He glided 
over to her and hugged her. As he pulled back, he said, "I love you, 
Ginger."

Shadow put a hand on the Druid's arm. Harry turned and looked at 
Shadow in surprise. In a serious voice, Shadow said, "Take care of 
her."

"Of course," answered the Druid. He smiled felling extraordinarily 
pleased that his plan for the two of them to bond over the months 
together had worked. It was with a light step that he led Ginger to 
the roach coach. 

Shadow watched from the window as the roach coach pulled up to 
the curb. Holding his breath, he waited to see if Ginger had her 
sight back. He was so nervous that he was close to pissing himself, 
but his hands didn’t drop the pack with his clothes in it. He 
clutched it even tighter when the door of the vehicle opened.

Ginger stepped out of the truck and, after taking a few steps to the 
middle of the yard, turned to wait for Harry. As she waited, she 
raised her arms and spun in place with her head thrown back as she 
watched the sky turn overhear. It was a genuine display of joy at 
having her sight back. She smiled and said something to the Druid, 
but Shadow couldn't hear over the pounding in his ears. He didn't 
need to hear to know that she had gotten her sight back. Feeling 
like the lowest form of life on earth, he fled out the back door and 
disappeared into the alleyway.

Harry and Ginger stepped into the house talking about how 
wonderful it was to see the world once again. She looked around to 
find Shadow, but there was no sign that he was there. She ran from 
room to room seeking him, but he wasn't there. Her face fell as she 
realized that he had left. Turning to Harry, she held out her arms as 
she broke down and cried. Harry stepped up to her and gathered 
her into his arms. He rocked her and rubbed her back while singing 
a soft song to ease the hurt. They had talked about the likelihood of 
him running off, but she had denied that it was a possibility. 

Shadow waited until dark before climbing out of a manhole at the 
end of an alley. A liquor store was less than a hundred yards away 
and the street was nearly deserted. All that he wanted was to reach 
the liquor store, purchase a bottle of the strongest rot gut whiskey 
that he could afford, and drink himself into oblivion. He had been 
doing that a lot lately, driven by his self-loathing. He hated himself 
for having run out on Ginger. He knew that it had hurt her, but 
couldn't believe that it was anything compared to how much it had 
hurt him to leave. Just thinking about it brought tears to his eyes.

Someone stepped out of one of the stores and headed in his 
direction. He pulled back into the alley to wait for the lone 
pedestrian to pass. He waited five minutes but no one passed by. 
Giving up, he stepped out onto the sidewalk and promptly doubled 
over when he was hit in the stomach. As his breath left his lungs, 
he collapsed to his knees. From the ground, he stared up at the face 
of the man that had hit him. 

"What?" asked Shadow as he struggled to recover his breath. The 
shock at getting ambushed prevented him from saying more. Harry 
stood in front of Shadow, leaning on his shepherd's staff while 
watching him struggle.

Happy Harry was anything but happy at the moment. He glowered 
at the prostrate figure at his feet and answered, "You made her cry 
on what should have been a very happy day for her."

Bitter at the hand dealt him by fate, Shadow answered, "Better that 
she cry than realize what she had shared her house with all of this 
time."

The sound of the slap echoed through the empty street. Harry 
shouted, "You hurt her!"

Shadow stared at the Druid. The happy-go-lucky little man was 
gone, replaced by a force of nature that wouldn't be denied. Feeling 
the emptiness of his words, he shouted back, "I had to."

Grabbing the ugly man by the back of his shirt, Harry said, "It's 
time for the ugly man to disappear."

"Huh?"

At a gesture from Harry, three men stepped out of a doorway and 
grabbed Shadow. He struggled, but accomplished nothing. They 
manhandled him to the roach coach and threw him in the back. 
Climbing in, they held him down as Harry sat in the driver's seat. 
Turning to look at his passengers over his shoulder, Harry shouted, 
"Hold on folks. This thing rocks hard enough as it rolls down the 
road to deserve admission into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Terrified at what was going to happen to him, Shadow struggled. 
His efforts were ineffectual as the three powerful men held him 
down without difficulty. He recognized them from the streets and 
knew that Harry had helped them in the past. They owed Harry and 
would do anything to help him. Desperate, he said, "He's going to 
kill me."

The biggest man grunted and replied, "He said it was time for the 
ugly man to disappear. If Harry says you have to disappear, then 
I'll help him make you disappear. I might not like it, but I'll do it. 
Now shut up."

A hood was put over his head blocking out the view. The rest of 
the trip was made in darkness. Shadow lay, curled into a ball, on 
the floor of the roach coach. Shaking uncontrollably, he cried like 
a baby as he thought about what he had done to deserve this 
treatment. His tears were driven by the knowledge that he had hurt 
a beautiful woman who he loved. 

An hour after being thrown into the roach coach, hands drug him 
out of the back of the vehicle and set him on his feet. He was 
roughly led away. With the hood over his head, there was no way 
for him to know where he was being taken. The destination didn't 
matter to him nor was he worried about what he would find when 
he reached it. He felt like he deserved whatever was going to 
happen to him. 

Shadow was pushed roughly to his knees and the hood removed 
from his head. Looking up, he found that he was staring at another 
green robed Druid. The man stared down at him and then looked 
up. The Druid asked, "What's going on Harry?"

"This man has been going around harming people because he feels 
ugly," answered Harry. He glared down at Shadow as he said, 
"That's got to stop. The ugly man has to go."

The other Druid knelt down and grabbed Shadow by the face. 
Turning the man's head from side to side, he nodded and said, "No 
problem."

"How long will it take?"

"A couple of weeks," answered the man.

A couple of weeks? Shadow reeled as he heard the answer. He 
wondered what kind of death could take a couple of weeks. As his 
imagination kicked up into overdrive, he fainted.

The man standing at the door of the strip club was the biggest man 
that Wally Benthusen had ever seen. The scowl on his face seemed 
to be a permanent fixture rather than just a passing comment about 
the man standing in front of him. Wally attempted to step around 
the man, but was stopped when a huge paw landed on his shoulder. 
The man grunted, "Private party today. Can't go in there without an 
invitation."

Wally licked his lips nervously and asked, "Is Ginger here 
tonight?"

"Have you got an invite?"

"No," replied Wally, "but I know Ginger. I just want to talk to her."

The big man was about to throw Wally to the street when he 
paused to examine the man. After taking in Wally's features, the 
bouncer looked thoughtful for a moment and then frowned. It was 
incredible to Wally that the bouncer's face could get even meaner 
looking. The bouncer asked, "Are you Shadow?"

"Yes," answered Wally admitting to the name that he had been 
known by for more than a decade. He hung his head in shame.

"I outta beat the shit out of you, you fucking son of a bitch," 
snarled the big man. He raised a fist getting ready to hit Wally 
when a movement from near the street captured his attention. 
When he noticed who was standing there, the bouncer brought his 
arm down. He grunted, "You can go in, but don't cause a scene."

Wally went into the club. When the man was gone, Harry walked 
over to the bouncer and said, "Hello Dargo."

"Hi, Harry. What's up with the shit head that hurt Ginger?" asked 
the bouncer as he turned to look inside the club.

"Don't worry about it, Dargo."

"So why are you here, if it ain't to take care of that asshole?"

Harry smiled and answered, "I'm here to cheer up the ladies."

Dargo chuckled at the answer knowing that Harry's visits were 
always fun for the ladies. It amazed him that women that wouldn't 
give the time of day to a man without money being involved, 
would fall all over themselves to play with Harry for free. He 
watched as Harry entered the club holding up his robe in front of 
him while performing a rather lame imitation of the 'Can-Can.' 
Shaking his head, he said, "Damn that man knows how to have 
fun."

Inside the club, Wally picked a chair in the back of the room. He 
was far enough away from the action that he could watch what was 
going on. He had never been inside such a place and had no clue as 
to what he was supposed to do. A number of men were sitting 
around a stage watching a red head dancing. She was wearing 
nothing except for a g-string. They were making comments and 
throwing dollar bills on the stage. Wally watched them, confused 
at the exaggerated excitement generated in the men from watching 
the rather plain woman gyrate on the stage. 

The guys seated around the runway were having a great time. It 
didn't take him long to figure out that it was a bachelor party for 
one of the men. The prospective groom was led onto the stage to 
sit on a chair. A brunette came out and gave him a lap dance. As 
she lost clothes, her activities with the groom became ever more 
explicit. When she was down to her g-string, she started rubbing 
herself on the groom's leg and thrusting her breasts into his face. 
His friends were yelling and shouting their encouragement. More 
money flew to the front of the room.

After the dance, the groom was led to his chair where he was 
greeted like a hero. While that was going on, a waitress came over 
to Wally and asked, "What's the matter? Aren't you going to join 
your friends?"

Wally looked over at the woman. She was wearing lingerie that 
covered the essential parts, but left little to the imagination. He 
answered, "I'm not with them. I'm here to see Ginger."

The waitress frowned at him, studied his face for a moment, and 
then asked, "Are you Shadow?"

The question made him wonder what they had heard about him. He 
answered, "Yes."

The waitress slapped him and then stalked off with an angry stride. 
His face stinging, he watched her leave in shock. He rubbed his 
face, trying to ease the sting from where her hand had connected. 
He wondered how many more slaps he would get before he had a 
chance to talk to Ginger. 

A song came on and a new dancer stepped out onto the stage. His 
heart started to beat faster when he recognized Ginger, but he sat 
back as he stared at the stranger that moved out onto the stage. She 
moved with grace, but there wasn't any spirit driving her. Having 
seen her dance, he knew that it was a pale imitation of what she 
was capable. The men around the runway looked as bored as she 
did. The sight of her moving mechanically through her routine hurt 
Shadow. He hung his head in shame, knowing that he had hurt her 
and killed the spirit that had lived within her.

The dance ended and a very listless Ginger walked off the stage. 
The disk jockey attempted to bring the energy of the room back to 
the level it had been at before Ginger had danced. His efforts failed 
until he announced that the dancers were coming out into the room. 
A couple of the dancers entered the room and started to mix with 
the men. The party resumed, with the men becoming even louder 
than before.

Wally put his head in his hands and started to weep. The pain, 
frustration, and anger from years of self hate surged forward in a 
desperate attempt to escape through his tears. His shoulders shook 
as he lost control. He was only dimly aware of a voice asking, 
"Hey, why are you crying?"

Deciding it was time to purge his guilt, he answered, "I hurt her. I 
didn't mean to hurt her, but I hurt her real bad. All because I didn't 
want her to see how ugly I was. God, she must hate me."

"Shadow?" The question came in the middle of a silence that had 
descended on the room.

He looked up to find that the voice belonged to Ginger. He stared 
at her, his chest tightening to the point where he couldn't breath. It 
was only with the greatest effort that he answered, "Yes."

Her hand trembled as she leaned forward and looked at him. Half 
of his face was a little darker than the other half, but he wasn't 
nearly as ugly as he had told her. When her anger at having been 
abandoned took control, she slapped him as she shouted, "You 
bastard. Did you honestly think that you were that ugly?"

Wally didn't say a word, but stared at the table knowing that he 
deserved every mean thing that she would say. He didn't even 
know or care what was happening when huge hands lifted him out 
of his seat. A growl by his ear said, "I told you I didn't want any 
trouble."

Fully meaning his words, Wally answered, "Kill me and put me 
out of my misery."

Seeing the anger on the face of the bouncer, Ginger shouted, 
"Dargo, set him down. He didn't do anything."

The bouncer set Wally down on his chair with a growl. He snarled 
as he said, "I don't want any more trouble out of you."

With her arms tightly crossed on her chest, Ginger waited until 
Dargo had left. Sitting back, she said, "You aren't that ugly."

His face colored as he heard 'that ugly.' He knew that she hadn't 
seen him at his worst. He explained, "Not any more. Harry found 
me a couple days after you got your vision back. He took me to 
another Druid, a doctor, who operated on my face. Over the course 
of a month, he performed four operations on my face to get rid of 
the veins that caused the disfiguration and discoloration of my 
face. My face just healed and I came to apologize to you for 
running out."

Ginger stared at him wondering what he had looked like before the 
operations. Four operations suggested that it had been pretty bad. 
She didn't say a word, but stared at him. 

"I had to go."

"So as soon as Harry picked me up, you left?" asked Ginger. It had 
hurt her that he hadn't even waited around to see that she was okay.

"No. I waited until you returned. When you got out of the truck 
and spun around on the front yard, I knew that you could see. I ran 
out the back door rather than risk letting you see me," answered 
Wally. He looked down at the table feeling like a worm.

"So you didn't abandon me?"

"I ran like a coward," answered Wally.

Ginger relaxed as she realized that he hadn't run out without 
knowing that she hadn't required his help anymore. It still hurt that 
he didn't trust her to accept his appearance, but he had always been 
honest that he didn't want her to see his face. She reached across 
the table and put a hand on his hand. She said, "Yes, you did."

Wally stared at her hand, unable to believe that she had reached 
out to touch him. They sat there for ten minutes without talking. 
Wally didn't know what to say to her. He fingered the photograph 
of the before picture that rested in his pocket. The last thing that he 
wanted to do was to show it to her. She sat there trying to decide 
what to do with him. Finally, she asked, "Do you work?"

"No, I don't," replied Wally. He didn’t even have any plans for his 
future. After years of being homeless, making plans for a career, 
education, or any other kind of commitment was pretty foreign to 
him. He shrugged, "I haven't gotten around to thinking about that 
yet. I guess I'll do something."

After a minute of thought, Ginger stood up so that he was able to 
see her clearly for the first time. She was wearing a bra and panties 
with a transparent robe that left very little to the imagination. The 
sight took his breath away. He asked, "What now?"

"I get dressed and we go home," answered Ginger with a smile.

He watched her walk away, appreciating the sway of her ass. She 
was a beautiful woman and he had come so close to losing her. On 
second thought, he realized that he hadn't come close to losing her 
- he had come close to never having her.

A commotion from the other side of the lounge caught his 
attention. Looking over, he spotted Harry in a chair with two of the 
women that worked there. Harry was touching the women in 
places that should have gotten him thrown out of the club, but the 
women were having a good time and would never complain. He 
watched Harry play connect-the-freckles on the redhead's body. 
She was making noises that he was supposed to be playing the 
game using his tongue instead of his finger. The other women was 
running a hand under his robe and laughing at some joke. It 
sounded to Wally as if she was curious about what Druids wore 
under their robes.

Wally wondered why Harry was there. It was unlikely that it was a 
coincidence that Harry had chosen to come to this club and at this 
time. As far as he could tell, it had nothing to do with him since 
Harry was having lots of fun with the women. Another women 
came up and slipped off her bra so that she could frame Harry's 
head between her rather substantial breasts. The sound of laughter 
echoed around the room. Wally shook his head wondering how 
Harry managed to charm so many women. 

Harry caught his eye and winked in his direction. Harry's attention 
was distracted when the woman with her hand under his robe 
discovered what he wore under it. With a loud yell, the old man 
shouted, "The Gods and Goddesses love randy women!"

When Harry put his hands on the breasts of the woman whose 
hands had disappeared under the robe, he added, "And you, my 
dear, are doubly blessed!"

Wally smiled as he watched the antics at the other table. It was a 
few minutes before Ginger stepped out of the back wearing blue 
jeans and a T-shirt. She looked more like the girl next door than an 
exotic dancer. He liked her better in jeans and T-shirt. As they left, 
he heard Harry shout out, "Remember that it's supposed to be fun!"

At the house, Ginger went over to the entertainment center and 
turned to look over at Wally with a smile. He fidgeted while 
wondering what she was thinking, but didn't ask. After looking 
through a stack of CDs, she selected one and put it in the CD 
player. As the music filled the room, she said, "Come here and kiss 
me."

Wally went over to her and hugged her. Bending down, he did his 
best to kiss her. Puckering his lips tightly together, he pressed them 
against hers. Ginger was startled by the bizarre kiss. She hadn't had 
a kiss like that since she was six years old and the boy next door 
had kissed her. Wondering why he had kissed her like that, she 
asked, "What's the matter?"

Embarrassed, he answered, "I've never done this before."

The exotic dancer stared at him in shock. Unsure that she 
understood what he meant, she asked, "Are you telling me you're a 
virgin?"

Wally turned bright red in embarrassment as he answered, "I'm 
afraid so. I've never even kissed a woman."

"Oh, wow," she replied as the full implications of what he was 
saying became clear to her. As a grin came over her face, she said, 
"I'll just have to teach you how to do it right."

For the next four hours, Ginger taught Wally how a man makes 
love to a woman. Wally paid close attention to her instructions and 
practiced every lesson repeatedly until he got it right. Ginger was 
in heaven. She returned the favor and showed him how a woman 
made love to a man. Wally was in heaven. Together, they 
discovered that Harry was right, it was supposed to be fun. They 
kept that in mind for the rest of their lives.




