She could tell that her mother had been drinking and she knew there would be a bottle in the big shopping bag her mother had brought home with her. She was sickened by the vulgar display that her mother and Leo put on as they hugged and kissed. They came into the kitchen; her mother was watching Leo as he gazed at Norma, eyeing her intently no matter what she did.
Joyce, her mother, had laughed at him. "Does Mamma's baby boy see something he wants more than Mamma?" she said, almost giggling.
Leo shook his head. "She is so beautiful," he said, softly, unbelievingly. "She is so pretty it is shocking."
"You should see her in a bikini," Joyce said. "You just won't believe it at all."
Leo smiled and he put his hands on Joyce and he kissed her and Norma was shivering and trembling and she was sure that they knew it.
"After supper, if you're a good boy," Joyce said, "I'll have Norma put on her bikini and model it for you. Maybe that will wake up your lazy cock and I'll get some good out of it. But, let's eat first, I'm starving."
Norma knew that she was as red as fire as she sat down at the table with the two of them. Leo just wouldn't stop looking at her and it was making her very nervous.
"Lily is staying over at Olga's," she told Joyce. "She said that you gave her permission."
"Yea, I did," Joyce said. "She asked me this morning and I said all right. Mmm, this is good, dear. You are such a treasure."
She had fixed leftovers and she didn't think that the food was that good. Her mother was just trying to make up to her, she supposed. She looked at Joyce rather closely and she was again amazed, as she always was, to see that her mother had the face and figure of a teenager. Joyce was a very young mother, yet, even with all her drinking and screwing, still was pretty.
They ate in silence; Norma could feel Leo's gaze on her all the time and she was glad when Joyce took him into her bedroom with her and she was alone in the kitchen.
When she finished her work she settled down in front of the television set and she was watching a show when her mother came out of the bedroom, wearing a faded bathrobe. Joyce looked tousled and drunk; her face was a bit puffy, a sure sign she was a long way from being sober. Joyce got herself a fresh drink and she sat on the living room couch. A moment or two later, Leo wandered into the kitchen and settled beside Joyce on the couch with a fresh drink in his hand, too. He was fully dressed but he had the same slack look in his face and he turned to look at Joyce with a questioning stare. She giggled and leaned forward so that she could give him a sloppy kiss on his lips.
"Oh, all right," she said, "you animal, you.
All right."
Joyce took a swallow of her drink and then she lifted her head to look at Norma. "Norma, dear," she said, "I want you to go into your room and put that nice new bikini on and model it so that Leo can see how very lovely you are. Now go do it, dear."
Norma shivered. She shook her head, slowly.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't have that any more. I gave it to a girlfriend of mine. She liked it. I didn't. So, I'm sorry."
Joyce took another sip of her highball and she thought about what Norma had said and then she got a stubborn look on her face.
"All right," she said, slowly. "There is a set of black lingerie in the top drawer of my bureau. A bra and bikini pants. Go into my bedroom and put them on. They will do just as well."
Norma was suddenly in a situation that she could not handle. She was afraid to defy Joyce and afraid to obey her, too. She could see the crazy look in Leo's eyes and she was sure that Joyce would not be able to cope with him if he once got ideas in his head. She burst into tears and she was shaking her head. Joyce got to her feet and she walked over to where Norma was sitting. She cupped Norma's chin and lifted her face so that she could stare down into the soft, blue-green eyes. Joyce shook her head from side to side, then she took her hand away. A second later she smashed her palm against Norma's cheek and the force of the blow knocked Norma out of her chair and sent her sprawling on the living room floor. Joyce moved right over to where she was huddled, weeping, on the floor and she reached down, took Norma's hand and pulled her onto her feet. Then she slapped the other cheek and Norma went flying again.
"You little bitch," Joyce said, furious, almost murderous in a drunken rage, "you obey me when I tell you to do something. Now, stop your sniveling and go do what I told you to do."
She was shaking violently as she ran into her mother's bedroom and she was close to hysteria, but Joyce followed her into the room and sat on the edge of her bed, drink in hand. She glared at Norma, still angry.