In a Three Bedroom Harem

By Cristobal Covelli

The book opens when Dr. Covelli arrives in Boise after twenty years away from the West. Chris discovers that some of his acquaintances from the past are by now old, have died, or are no longer active in the circles he knew them from. Chris decides to make new friends. Through a phone line, he meets a certain Hank, who is seeking a special friend, and Chris is receptive. A relationship develops. Hank tells about his own past life, having grown up inside a community of polygamist Mormons in Colorado City, Arizona. Chris becomes acquainted with Hank's first wife, Marcia. Her character is exposed. It so happens that Marcia makes Hank beholden to a commitment to surrender money and willpower to her church under threat of personal and professional destruction. Hank is weak and incapable of opposing the destiny plotted against him by her and the church. Chris helps Hank stay the course and go along with his life until things may change. Later, Hank is forced to marry a second wife, to go back to the church from where he, years in the past, ran away, and to continue to practice cannibalism as when he was a child. Chris discovers the practice and reminisces about seeing it in two other parts of the world, in highly primitive societies. Hank narrates the history of his church and how they degenerated as a result of a devilish curse. Chris helps Hank escape the curse by assembling a harem in the house they share. From this experience, great excitement is derived by Chris and for the future of Hank, except that destiny had it otherwise. The grandest imperial treasure is bequeathed to Chris, but Hank reverts to his old ways, ending murdered by his own family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642982732

Book preview

Chapter I

Getting Acquainted with Hank

That Friday we met at the Capri, the restaurant adjacent to my motel. We sat in a booth, across from each other. Hank is a tall man, some six feet, two inches with a well-proportioned body. He has a heavy mustache but is clean shaved otherwise. I thought that he was very attractive and rather sexy. He said that he was fifty-three years old and that his interest was to find a true friend in his life. He appeared kind and calm. We had a simple conversation, telling each other who we were and our likes in general. The restaurant was packed with the Friday lunch crowd. I had my favorite fare, which is clam chowder and a salad. Hank went for a piece of salmon and fries.

After eating, he asked, Can I walk you home? I said that my stay place was only twenty-seven steps to the right. He smiled and followed me to the door. Not wanting to dismiss him so suddenly, I allowed him to come in and sit by me, on the love sofa next to the bed. He put his arm over my shoulders and said that he was very pleased to have met me. I replied that I, too, was indeed delighted that we got together and that I hoped to know him well, because I thought him to be quite a gentleman, just the type I liked. He pressed his body against me and brought his face next to mine. He then impulsively kissed me, and I did not refuse. In fact, I enjoyed every second of it. A few minutes hence, and I can’t recall how, I found myself lying on the bed and Hank straddled on top of me. He was kissing me intensely, caressing and touching my body over my clothing, and I returned every advance with a great deal of arousal. However, when Hank began to undress me, I stopped him and begged him not to do so, that we should wait for this until we knew it to be the right thing for our relationship, if there was to be a continued relationship at all. I was not pushing him away. In fact, I was still holding him strongly, with a loving embrace, closer to me than before. Hank was delighted with my gesture and said that he respected my desire and that he, too, would wait to know what might come next in our relationship. We got up from the bed, straightened our clothes, and exchanged phone numbers. Before he went we embraced and kissed again for the longest time. My heart and mind were by then full of joy and expectation for the next encounter. I decided to leave it up to Hank to contact me again.

Late in the afternoon on Monday, my phone rang. It was Hank asking me if it would suit my schedule to meet him after work at the Balcony club. I accepted, saying that I could be there by six o’clock. I walked to Eighth and Idaho and stepped on the escalator, up toward the Balcony. Hank was then coming out to gaze in the direction I was approaching from. I joined him and entered the bar. He already had taken a table. He too had ordered two beers and a bowl of popped corn. We sat across from each other, and he brought out of his briefcase a box of chocolates, which he gave to me as a present. I took it and looked at him. His deep-blue eyes were shining brightly when he held my hand and asked me if I wished to be his friend, his very special friend. I remembered that he had been impulsive before, but I dwelt not on that thought.

I truly liked the idea and said, Yes, my dear Hank. By now I had begun to think of Hank as a friend, and so I said to him. Hank confessed that he had been thinking of me pretty much continually since Friday. I said that it too had happened to me, that he was in my mind most of the time. We both smiled and gazed into each other’s eyes with a new intensity. All is well, I said to myself, but I was merely vocalizing my thoughts, and Hank assented with his head and added that he also thought so. As we drank beer and ate the corn, Hank said that he had tickets for the ballet. That a national company visiting Boise was doing their first presentation at the Esther Simplot Center for the Performing Arts this coming Friday. He asked me to accompany him, and I asked what was being played. He said that it was Fantasia, an American original. I told him with excitement that I saw the premier of Fantasia thirty-two years earlier in St. Louis, at Fox theater, when I was visiting that lovely city on a trip with some classmates from Eton, my high school in Britain. I added that there was a particular scene that impressed me the most, and it was when Fantasia receives a gift from the gods. I did say no more for fear of spoiling the picture that was forming in Hank’s mind. We agreed that we had a date for Friday night.

Hank corrected me by saying Friday evening, dinner and ballet.

After the beer, I suggested to go to Pollo Rey for a bite to eat. I said that rotisserie chicken was one of my favorite ways of eating the bird. Besides, I said, I remember going there frequently in the past. I bought a two-piece dinner with salad and juice for each of us. When he drove me back to my motel, we sat on the love sofa and visited for a while. Hank told me that he was a professor at Boise State University, in the school of engineering; he also said that he was an assistant to the dean and that it had crossed his mind that if destiny would have it, he could gain prestige and make more money with an advance. He said that he thought to submit his name as applicant for the dean’s job when he retired, as such was the plan for next year. I told Hank that I did not yet have a permanent home in Boise but that I was planning to buy a good house and settle here. By now we were beginning to feel quite comfortable with one another, and a little tender touching and kissing happened spontaneously. He then wished me a good night and left.

Two days later, on Wednesday, toward close of business, Hank appeared at the Y and expressed his desire to acquire a one-year membership to use the gym and the pool. I processed his application, took his payment, and gave him a tour of the facilities. I told Hank that I was also a trainer and a lifeguard. Hank was interested in setting up a training program to improve his shape and appearance. He said that he would arrange his schedule to start next week. I agreed and accompanied him to the door.

Before he took off, he whispered into my ear, I’ll see you Friday for our evening date. On Friday we had a delicious dinner at the Fork. While eating, Hank revealed to me that he was from northern Arizona but that he had come to Boise for college and stayed here since. He said that he would tell me more later. From the restaurant we walked the five blocks to the Simplot Center. He had parked his car nearest to there. At the show, Hank was watching the ballet with rapt attention.

When my favorite scene approached, I whispered in his ear, Watch this! Fantasia was aerobically dancing around the large box left at her door, and the box moving and opening, a muscular male figure emerged and began performing gymnastics for her beholding and tactile delight.

I smiled at Hank, and he put his mouth next to my ear, saying, Are you my gift from the gods? I blushed and giggled quietly.

I also tapped his knee with my fingers and said, Careful! The expression on his face was so cherubic that I was tempted to hold his chin with my hand and plant a kiss on his forehead. I made an effort and held back. That gave me an idea of the content of his soul. Hank was wholesome and pure of heart when liking something in the absolute. On the way back to my motel, he said that he would like to take a drive in the country with me the next day, starting in the early morning. I accepted. We determined to get going by 8:00 a.m.

Before falling asleep, I remembered the hours with Hank and discovered that each time we meet, I get to learn something new about him. I was beginning to be interested in knowing the man fully, And that will happen, I thought, without prying, at his own pace. I too was telling him about my own life, in increments, of course.

In the morning we headed northeast. The winds of April were blowing cold. As we gained altitude on the road to Idaho City, we could see how the Treasure Valley vegetation changed into the one typical of mountains, pine, and fir. Also, frost and snow appeared here and there. It was pleasant to breathe the cool, pure, and highly oxygenated air. We stopped to eat at a roadside restaurant—pancakes and eggs, coffee, and juice. After breakfast we drove on without pause to the Hot Springs. We parked the car and entered the office. Each of us paid the $16 admission fee and proceeded to the locker room. We both wanted to take a hot bath and have some relaxation. Nobody was around. It was still early in the day, about eleven, and we planned to go to Idaho City after the bath. Therefore, we thought we would be at the Hot Springs for about an hour or two.

When we undressed, Hank began looking at my bare body with profoundly admiring eyes. I too looked at him. That was the first time we had seen each other nude. We both became aroused. I saw a lightly hairy, very manly body that exuded masculinity. Similarly, I couldn’t help but notice that his fully erect male member was about 8.5 inches, I guessed, for it was nearly as long as mine but bigger around on the shaft and thicker yet at the base, with a well-defined head, and that his sac was substantially larger. He too was looking at my anatomy.

I exclaimed, Oh! What a package! That is the bulge I always feel when we embrace! Hank was also fully imbued with excitement but could not vocalize a thing. Instead, he commenced to mimic a Fantasia-like dance around me, not taking his eyes elsewhere. He was, I thought, checking me all over. In the midst of his dance, Hank began to touch very gently my arms, thighs, forehead, lips, and hands. He entered into a trance and started a frenetic run and dance so extraneous and vigorous that, at times, he appeared to be airborne, with an angelic expression of sublime happiness—his eyes bright like the sun, his lips shaped in a rictus of fascinated joy, and his face iridescent. There was an aura forming a diadem over his head. Then his hands joined like a child’s in prayer. In the room, there was a fragrance of french lilacs and the fluttering music of angels wings. I heard a murmur out of his mouth, which was a vocalized prayer of thanksgiving to the Highest, with sounds from his throat that became a song as he looked upward toward heaven.

Moments later he landed squarely in front, throwing his arms around me, when with tears of felicity and maximum solemnity, he declared, You are a gift to me from God almighty! Hank had been transformed into a celestial apparition. Such was the ineffable glory of his divine apotheosis!

When I found myself held strongly in his arms and there could not be a centillion of air space between our bodies, almost like by magic, through the PA system, there came a full rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus. I thought that for it to be so coincidental, so opportune, it must have been ordained from heaven. Then I remembered that tomorrow, April 5, was going to be Easter Sunday. We remained holding one another in a magnum embrace for quite some time, approximately something like fifteen minutes. No words were spoken. We just felt each other, body to body, skin to skin. I sensed that I liked Hank very truly. It was more than just a sexual gratification. It was that I had begun to care for him. I was totally delighted with his amorous demonstrations and expressions of affection. I thought that Hank was very happy having me in his arms. He too appeared satisfied when I dedicated my attention to him. I realize that he was indeed making me react the way he wished. Therefore, he was achieving his quest for my full attention. I wondered if Hank was simply experiencing a crush, or if he was elaborately maneuvering the art of seduction. Nevertheless, it was obvious that he too was beginning to feel for me something more than just admiration.

We’ll figure all of this soon.

Then we heard steps. Somebody was coming down the hall and unlatched the door of the locker room. Quickly we put on our swimming trunks and walked in the direction of the hot pool. Slowly we advanced toward the deep water, inching our way as we got used to the high temperature. I spotted a familiar face.

It was a woman who had taken swimming instruction from me at the Y.

She winked and said, Look at me! then started to swim across the pool, demonstrating how well she had learned the chest crawl I just taught her the day before.

I complimented her and said, You are very good, better than most!

She smiled proudly and pointed toward a man who was just coming into the pool.

This is my husband, and I am convincing him to also take instruction from you. I said that he too would be welcome whenever he felt ready. I took a second look at the man and realized that he was none other than David Bieter, Boise’s mayor. I smiled at him broadly and saluted with my hand. Seeing Dave face-to-face and in full body, I thought how much he resembled his father, Patrick, whom I had known during the 1980s and ’90s, when he had been elected to the state legislature. Pat had been a personal friend in his mature years, and that day, how delightful it was to see a younger, firmer version of my now-deceased friend from the past!

I moved toward the side of the pool where the hot water issued from the hill. I liked to enjoy the steamy mineral embrace. I let the hot current envelop my body, opening all the pores. It has a deep-cleansing and relaxing effect, and I took great solace in it. From that vantage point, I observed Hank’s swimming and noticed that his left arm stroke was very wide, wayward from his body, and out of synchrony with his leg-foot kick. That is something correctable, I thought. Otherwise, he cannot swim on a straight line. I also observed that his muscles were soft and that he had a bit of an enlarged belly. I was, of course, drawing a mental program for his soon to start training. I swam some laps across the pool. I did freestyle, back, crawl, and underwater. When I emerged on the opposite side, the ones gathered applauded. They had been observing and admiring my techniques. I bowed my head and gave all a hand salute.

Sometime later, I walked back toward the locker room with Hank following.

As we dressed, I said Gee! The mayor nearly caught us earlier in this very spot when we were so mushy with one another!

Hank gave me a complicit smile coupled with a slightly suppressed giggle and said, Hhmhm! We drove on to Idaho City. The ground was covered with four or so inches of fresh snow. The wooden sidewalks were inviting, and we strolled down the strip, looking around. We entered into a souvenir shop where we found antiques of the region. I bought a small bell, and the shopkeeper said that it was a sheep bell, from the time when Basque shepherds would go up and down these hills, herding their flocks of sheep and lambs, a century ago. I gave the bell to Hank as a present. He rang it several times and put it into his breast pocket, saying, Right here, next to my heart, so that when I hear it, I will think of you! I thought that he was so romantic! From there, we went to a restaurant for a late lunch or early supper, which I called a lupper. Hank enjoyed how I named the meal for its timing and smiled with childish delight. We ordered meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli, to be downed with a beer.

Late that afternoon, in the car, on our trip back to Boise, Hank startled me by opening his heart and revealing that, I am truly happy with you, but only with you! Otherwise, my life is pretty miserable! I’ll tell you more some other time. When he vocalized his last thought, he had a longing look on his face, and a tear nearly escaped from his beautiful eyes.

I took it all very serenely and said, Oh dear! I am ready to hear your story, whenever. He had recomposed himself by the time we arrived at my room. To make the moment light, I shook his shirt pocket, making the little bell ring.

Hank smiled and said, Well, now it is official. I am your big lamb.

I added, half singing, Yes, then, if Mary had a little lamb, then I too can have a big lamb! We both laughed wholeheartedly. I patted Hank on both shoulders and gave him a loving peck with my mouth on his lips. We wished each other good night and a happy Easter.

For the next five weeks, Hank was very diligently receiving his body improvement instruction from me at the gymnasium. I assigned him the hours of 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The sessions were divided into a half hour of calisthenics: stretching; sit-ups, push-ups, self-massaging and rotations of feet, ankles, joints, shoulders, and hands, coupled with deep breathing, rope jumping, and hula-hooping. After that, another half hour of arm and trunk rotations, swimming-like strokes, weight lifting, including fifteen minutes on the elliptical, and ending with one whole hour of swimming. I encouraged Hank to purchase an exercise mat to practice at home, whenever he could have some free time, but that it would be better to commence a routine of daily morning practice, right before starting with his day’s chores. Hank wanted to buy the mat right then. Therefore, that evening, after the gym we went to a sporting goods store on State Street, near the Collister Shopping Center. We also wanted to try Kind Cuisine, the new vegetarian restaurant. We ended up having a lovely evening. Hank was enthused with his body-improvement prospects and became a very good pupil. It was tough on Hank because he had never followed a structured physical-training program. However, the soreness of the first week gave way to a more normal feeling of muscles in development. I increased the intensity of each exercise and the poundage for the lifting. By the end of April, he had gone from ten to twenty-four pounds for the lifting, in counts of twenty repetitions for each set. Also, from five push-ups and sit-ups, he went to fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, and fifty. By early May, his lifting had gone all the way to thirty-six pounds with dumbbells. His swimming also improved. Now he could maintain a straight line and breathe correctly. He was happy and I was satisfied with the results.

Hank had mentioned that he would like to go to Jackpot, Nevada, for a weekend of relaxation and play. In the past, when I lived in San Francisco, I used to go to Reno each time I had a few dollars to spare and the desire to do something exciting. Therefore, the idea of Jackpot sounded good in my mind. We started our outing right after the gym on Friday, May 8. I never was much of a gambler, but I knew that there is more than that in casino towns. I was thinking that perhaps we could catch a fun show and have a good steak dinner. I was hungry for some respite. It was interesting to see the terrain changing from the mountains surrounded valley topography to a flatter, more desert land. Indeed, we were driving toward northern Nevada. All looked like big country, open range, and high skies. Less than one mile after crossing the state line, we reached our destination. Once in Jackpot, we took a room at the Cactus Pete’s, unloaded our overnight bags, and went straight to the casino. Hank liked to play the nickel-and-dime machines, and I sat next to him and put some nickels into the slot of my machine. I lost something like $2 in the effort. However, after two more tries, bells rang and down the pipe came tokens that landed into the cup tray, for the amount of $25.

I am beginning to be lucky tonight! I said and smiled broadly.

Hank was so excited that he screamed Huhuhuhuy! We kept playing, both losing a lot and winning some.

After an hour or so, we decided to go to dinner at the restaurant. The steak was sensational. We were also able to go to a cowboy show, with rock musicians and performers dressed in costume. Cocktails and laughter followed. At well past midnight, we went to our bedroom. When I closed the door, I noticed that Hank was trembling with anticipation. His hands were cold, his forehead full with pearls of perspiration, and I could hear the pumping of his heart.

I then palpated his chest and felt the throbbing so strongly that I said, Calm down. You do not want to have a fainting spell! All will be well! I thought to myself, I remember me feeling like Hank when I was fifteen years of age and had sex for the first time, but Hank is fifty-three! Never the less, I’ll make him feel good! After a while I suggested we sit and rest for a minute. I also said that perhaps we should take a shower before hitting the sack! I showered first and filled the tub for Hank. He went into the bath and I gently massaged his body all over, especially the parts I had taught him to do during calisthenics. He relaxed completely, and then we readied ourselves for the bed. By now I was certain that Hank did not have much experience in sexuality. Something worked in my mind to alert me to be especially gentle with this poor soul. I did not know what it could be, but I thought that he would tell me more in time.

I resorted to lying on the bed next to Hank and said to him, Well, my dearest, you take the initiative. I’m yours now!

Hank sighed deeply and began to touch me all over. He was, of course, shy at first. After a few minutes, his instinctual desire took over, and he kissed me intensely. He also performed masturbatory motions with his hands, smelled my body, and patted me in various parts, I guessed trying to find my erogenous zones. I realized that he was recreating whatever he may have seen in a sexual=education video, which I faintly recalled from my teenage years. He sat on the bed, straddled himself on top of me, kissed more, and had an orgasm, holding me very tightly. I corresponded with excitement to all his approaches. Hours passed and we both were tired. He seemed not to have had his fill yet by 4:00 a.m. He was truly acting like the proverbial kid in a candy store. He wanted to try everything and go back for more, over and over.

I woke up at about eleven, after seven hours of restorative sleep. Inches away, my glance met Hank’s beautiful blue eyes, shining intensely like the only two bright stars in a dark night. He was looking at me with a devotion almost of the religious nature. He was transfixed beholding my face and body. He had the look of somebody who had finally realized a long desired fantasy. Indeed, he was experiencing the joy of lovemaking for the first time in his existence, the skin on his face erupting with the magic of an all-encompassing smile and blushing with innocence. I thought to myself, This is what total bliss and happiness looks like! Then Hank’s hands lowered gently toward me and began caressing my face, neck, and shoulders.

He said suddenly, I had never spent the night with any man. I never made love to anybody before!

I was not entirely surprised and, with a smile, said, I am so glad to give you such happiness! He kissed more and held me as if he wished to start making love all over again. At Hank’s insistence I accepted to remain in Jackpot until Sunday. He was so hungry for love and I so desirous to give him satisfaction that it became easy for me to agree. I may say that those intimate times with Hank were a feast for the senses, a banquet of love that filled the two of us with joy. Little did I know that those two days and nights, with all the excitement and purity of soul, of true giving and sharing, of maximum emotion, were going to be the last days of happiness we would have for quite some time.

Chapter II

Hank’s Past Life

During our drive back, Hank revealed to me that he had been born and raised in Colorado City, Arizona, the land of rampant polygamy as he called it. His family professed the Latter Day faith, and he was not too close to his relatives. He did not even know how many siblings he had because his father married so many wives and procreated children with each of them before and after he left the compound for a new life. He also said that his mother died during his birth, perhaps from eclampsia or something like that. Therefore, he did not have any sibling by his mother but only by his father, with other women, whom he did not even know well or at all. I listened quietly without interrupting so that he would empty his mind of the load he was trying to extract from his memory.

After a few minutes, I asked, Did you ever go back to your first home?

He answered, Yes, but I always try to avoid it, because each time I go there, something very horrible happens to me!

I answered, Oh dear! Best not to do things you know bring bad results, for you will have no one else to blame but yourself! I felt a bit awkward with all his revelations and decided to keep silent for as long as he would continue to talk. It was, I thought, the respectful way to deal with the situation at that time. Hank added that he grew up very fearful of his father’s authority because he was a tyrant. He said that besides church activities and hard work at home and in the community, there was nothing else to do, no fun at all. He had only a few years of schooling, perhaps the equivalent of elementary and middle. He wished to escape the town by whatever means. He crafted in his mind a million plans to accomplish his desire, but nothing could come to pass, because each time he tried something like riding his bike on the road without permission, he was whipped mercilessly and had to go back and comply with all the rules, both at church and home. He said that his fear was so terrible that he thought that he could even lose his life at the anger of his father. He said that he remembers once when one of his father’s wives denied him sexual favors, he beat her so hard, kicking her even on her stomach, to the point that she suffered a miscarriage, and the church or anybody didn’t investigate, in part because the woman wouldn’t complain to the authorities. Hank also said that he remembered going to funerals for boys who died under mysterious circumstances, he thinks from beatings at home as punishment for misbehavior. Those boys may have been playing, being very much alive just a day before. He always questioned that in his mind, without finding an answer, but later he was able to conclude what had happened.

Anyway, life there was horrible, and abuse of all types and even crimes were committed with complete impunity, under the cover of faith