Free Pin by Andrew Neiderman Page A

serious and at the same time puzzled expression on her face. After a few more moments, she spoke.
    â€œI don’t hear anything.”
    â€œI did.”
    â€œSo what? Go lock your door.”
    â€œI don’t have a lock on it.”
    â€œWell, he wouldn’t just walk in on you, would he?”
    â€œHe has in the past,” I lied. She was getting very impatient and very angry now. She crossed her arms over her bosom as if she had just realized she was naked.
    â€œLook,” she said, “are you going to or aren’t you?”
    â€œI think not,” I said. “Thanks anyway,” I added. She was dumbfounded. Her mouth dropped and she gave me a look of amazement.
    â€œWhat the fuck …”
    â€œI’m sorry, but I really do appreciate your coming over. Really, I do.”
    â€œWhat are you, nuts or somethin’ …?”
    â€œI’ll let you get dressed now,” I said, and I got up and walked out of the room and down to the living room.
    â€œWho’s upstairs, Leon?” Pin asked.
    â€œSome slut. I know what you’re going to say, but you don’t have to say it. I changed my mind about her. We didn’t do a thing.”
    â€œGetting sensible in your old age, huh?”
    â€œYeah. Who the hell knows what she’s got by now? Everybody’s been putting it to her.”
    â€œI’m glad you thought of that. I’d hate to have to give you penicillin shots.”
    â€œI know what you mean,” I said. Just then, Marcia appeared, fully dressed again.
    â€œWho are you talking to?”
    â€œPin.”
    â€œWho?” She struggled to see into the shadows. He was really back in the corner. “Why don’t you put on a light in here?”
    â€œHe likes it this way,” I said. She stepped a little closer.
    I suppose Pin’s appearance could be a bit frightening to someone who first saw him. He sat so stiffly in his chair and stared so directly ahead of him. We had given Pin some of father’s best suits to wear. He was dressed in a nice tweed at the time. Marcia took a few more steps into the living room. The little light coming in from the windows threw a glow over Pin’s face. When that happened, he became sort of transparent to someone first seeing him. Of course, Ursula and I were always used to it, but someone first seeing him would be attracted by that transparency. He would see right into Pin’s head, right through the skull, see the nasal passages, the teethand gums, the inner ears, the nerves of the eyes leading to the brain. Oh, yes, he would see the brain.
    Anyhow, Marcia’s reaction was typical. She gasped, put her fist into her mouth, turned and ran out of the room. When she got to the front door, she turned around again and gave me the funniest look, a mixture of shock and pity. Then she rushed out and slammed the door behind her. I had to laugh. The nerve of her, a pitiful creature like that, giving me a look of pity.
    â€œNot a very emotionally stable young lady,” Pin said.
    â€œTo say the least. She’s a regular nympho,” I added and walked up to him to pull him and his chair out of the shadows. “Sorry about the way she reacted. I was about to introduce you to her.”
    â€œNo loss as far as I can see.”
    â€œI know. I guess I was just a little curious. I won’t be doing that again.”
    â€œMaybe you should get out more, though, mix with people your own age.”
    â€œNaw, I’ll be all right. Really. It was just a whim. It’s OK,” I said. Then Ursula came home. I didn’t mention Marcia. As far as I was concerned, the whole affair had ended.
    So I guess it’s pretty safe to say we lived cloistered lives for a long time after the death of my mother and father. A lot of boys wanted to go out with Ursula, but she didn’t have the interest. I had a few dates now and then, but a great deal of my time was taken up running the