Gwendolyn Stevens is on the road this evening. Her route is familiar. She navigates the corners and turns without thought as she talks to her friend over the phone.
“No, I can’t do it tonight,” she tells her friend. “I got a date,” she explains. “Yes, it’s with him. I’m on my way to his house right now… No, she won’t. His wife’s on a trip and she took his kid with her.”
Her friend repeats her misgivings.
“But, honey, the sex is terrific,” Gwen reasons. “Didn’t I tell you the sex is good? Honey, my toes curl. I scream his name. I cum on his face. I’m telling you it’s wonderful.”
Gwen makes a left turn onto a county road. She passes a boiled peanut stand. It’s closed for the evening.
“I know, I know,” she assures her friend. “I’ll be careful. Wait. You’re not judging me, are you? Oh, I know you’re not… Because I remember Nick. Yeah, Nick, Nick, with the big, ol’… Uh-huh, yeah.”
Her friend explains how that was different.
“Oh, really. Okay. Whatever you say,” Gwen mocks. “Sure. That was completely different. Well, you know, there is something quirky about my guy. It’s his dog. Every time we have sex at his house, his dog will just sit there and stare at us. It’s creepy. No, it’s a Jack Russell… Yeah, it’s a little dog… And you know what? You know what? The last time I was over there, it started licking my toes… Yes! While we were having sex. Like gross! Yeah, I definitely told him. He has got to do something about that dog… No! I don’t want him to get rid of it. He’s really attached to it. Scruffy! That’s its name. My guy just loves his scruffy dog. Yeah, he said he was getting it neutered today.”
Her friend makes a joke.
“Ew,” Gwen says as she laughs. “Little pervert dog. It’s a porno-dog… You’re so nasty.”
Gwen turns onto a long, white gravel driveway surrounded by manicured bushes.
“Alright, honey. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Gwen puts her cell phone away and parks the car in the back. She notices that the family SUV is parked in the back as well. His family must’ve caught a taxi to the airport, she thinks. She uses her key to open the back door and steps inside. The rear entrance leads to an empty servants’ area. It’s the weekend, so that’s no surprise. She walks into the living area.
“Honey!” Gwen calls out. “Who’s ready for a psychedelic shag?”
Barking is heard from upstairs.
“I’m up here,” calls her lecherous beau.
He sounds a bit timid, Gwen notices. He’s probably getting ready for some role-playing. She heads up the main staircase.
She calls out: “Nannie Gwen knows a naughty boy in need of a spanking.”
She heads to their love nest in the east wing. It’s the room he tells his wife to stay out of. Still, he keeps the toys hidden just in case she gets nosey. It’s the second door on the left. She hears more barking coming from behind the closed door.
“Oh my goodness,” she whines as she opens the door, “I told you I didn’t want the dog to watch us any—"
Her lover is strapped down to a gynecologist’s chair. His naked body is facing her. The black contraption has the stirrups pulled open exposing his dangling testicles. Standing next to him is his wife. She’s holding a .45 revolver. Tears are streaming down the faces of both spouses.
The wife speaks, “Please, let Scruffy lick your face.”
A bark from her left startles Gwen. The Jack Russell terrier, Scruffy, is sitting on top of a dresser, next to the door.
Gwen jerks away from the dog. “Ew, no!” she replies to the wife.
“He’s a special dog,” her strapped-down lover explains from the gynecology chair. “He’s a very special dog. He can make people do things.”
Scruffy barks at the wife.
“Please don’t leave,” the wife asks. She steps sideways, revealing a small corpse. It’s missing most of its head. “Scruffy made me do that,” the wife says, suddenly sobbing. The dog barks. The wife points the gun to her own temple. “Please don’t leave,” she repeats.
“Scruffy’s angry,” the strapped-down lover confirms. “He didn’t want to be neutered.”
With new tears in her eyes, the wife pleads, “Please. Please, dear God! Let Scruffy lick your face.”
“No!” Gwen shouts, “But I’m not leaving. I think we can work this out. We’ll call the police…”
Scruffy hops down from the dresser, as Gwen keeps talking, and goes into the connecting bathroom. It comes back out with a hammer in its mouth. Gwen is still trying to talk to the wife when she notices the dog dropping the hammer in front of her. Scruffy nudges the hammer towards Gwen.
Thinking the dog is an ally in her fight against this crazy wife who’s just killed her son, Gwen gently stoops down to pick up the hammer.
“Thank you,” says the wife.
The comment distracts Gwen. Scruffy seizes the moment to leap up and lick her mouth. Gwen can taste its saliva on her lips. Her vision blurs momentarily. Scruffy barks at her. Her body moves of its own accord. Gwen picks up the hammer and walks towards the gynecologist chair.
She swings the hammer at her lover’s genitals. She pummels them again and again. Every impact elicits a pained shriek. The wife is screaming at the dog to make it stop. The sex chair is cushioned however. The hammer blows only hurt. They don’t maim.
Scruffy grows bored and yips at Gwen to stop. The room is quiet as the bound man cries over his sore scrotum. Gwen imagines for a moment how enjoyable this might’ve been under different circumstances.
Scruffy barks at the bound man.
“Yes, I betrayed you,” the bound man admits. “I shouldn’t have had you neutered.”
The dog barks again.
“Yes, Scruffy, you helped me with a lot of business deals. You licked a lot of faces,” the man concurs.
A growl and a bark.
“Yes, all that I have is thanks to you.”
Scruffy looks at Gwen and back at the bound husband. Scruffy whines.
Tears flow down the man’s face as he looks at Gwen. He tells Scruffy, “I just wanted her to stay with me. I wanted to help you behave. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
Scruffy sits quietly for a moment. Then it looks at the wife and lets out a low, soft woof. She points the .45 at her husband’s genitals and fires. The bound man shrieks in grief and agony.
Scruffy, unphased, barks at the wife. She puts the gun to her temple. The dog barks again. The wife begins to sing:
How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the straggly hair…
Scruffy barks again. The wife pulls the trigger.
Gwen can hear sirens outside. She can hear policemen knocking on the door downstairs. Scruffy gives Gwen a low woof. Scruffy means for her to stay and be quiet. Gwen’s body must obey. The dog walks out of the room and heads downstairs. Gwen can hear the police greet the small dog. They laugh as it licks their faces. She can hear the officers head up the stairs and tromp down the hall. They never enter the room. Scruffy barks. They open fire.