The Common Garden — Martha Moffett

A young couple finds a summer rental on a charming block of brownstones in Manhattan. In the back court, the fences have been taken down and the long, narrow patches of green have been turned into a common garden. Robin and Paul don't notice at first that now every back door opens into every other back door. And it takes them much longer to realize that the block association is not a civic but a sexual organization. * * * HE WOKE HER. A light blanket lay across her shoulders. He had turned on a soft light and put on a record. Outside, in the common garden, it was still raining. She could see a corner of the rain-washed stone fountain, gleaming like new marble in the evening air. He combed back her hair with his fingers and said, “Time for you to go home.” She looked up at him, listening to the song. “Are we going to … do this again?” she asked doubtfully, through her sleepiness and confusion. “Are we going to do this again?” The man laughed, mocking her. “You're funny -- and refreshing.” “Well, I thought -- ” she stumbled. Well, I thought you wanted to, she meant to say. I thought something was beginning between us, I thought it was the beginning of saying yes, of a wider life. She was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake in entering into this adventure with this man, in wanting more than she had in her life with her husband -- beginning to feel under fire, like a newly drafted soldier who finds himself in battle still debating the justification of warfare. She gathered her hair and held it in her fist, frowning up at him, trying to understand. “You've joined the club now,” he was saying. “Joined what club? I haven't joined anything,” she protested in rising alarm. “Oh, yes, you have, baby,” he smiled grimly. “And of your own free will. Nobody pushed you.” * * * THE COMMON GARDEN is a spellbinding tale of erotic evil, as irresistibly seductive as it is absolutely chilling.