Grave Promise

by David R Lewis

  “I want to go!”

  “You’ll be bored stiff.”

  “Let me come with you.”

  “You’ll spend hours sitting in a studio while I read a script in the booth. No fun.”

  “Crockett, I want to go with you. I want to be there with you. I want to hang around with you.”

  “A woman of simple needs.”

  “Please?”

  “Alright, but don’t blame me if the excitement level approaches watching moss grow.”

  She kissed his cheek. “Thanks for understanding.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  Marilee looked at the bags and boxes. “Now, what to wear?”

  Crockett walked into his side to find Clete and Ruby sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee.

  “You survive?” Clete said.

  “Barely. I’ve been in enough women’s shops to want to exfoliate.”

  Ruby walked to the sink with her cup. “Where’s Marilee?”

  “Deciding what to wear.”

  “For what?”

  “Going back out. I got a session at Audio Post at Four. A long one. Doing an AV. Including the dinner break, five or six hours at least. I couldn’t talk her out of going along.”

  Ruby stood behind Clete. “You won’t be here tonight?” she said.

  “Not ‘til late. I imagine I’ll stop for a bite after the session. Those things always make me hungry. Eleven, maybe midnight.”

  Ruby slipped an arm around Clete’s shoulders. “Looks like it’s just you and me tonight, Partner,” she drawled, “My last appointment will finish at four-thirty. How ‘bout I put together a light dinner for the two of us? Some shrimp, some bread, some cheese, a bottle of Shiraz. Just the essentials for a relaxing evening.”

  “Sounds good,” Clete replied.

  It sounded good to Crockett, too.

  For their evening out, Marilee wore a short khaki skirt, a dark blue short-sleeved cotton shirt, white tenni-runners, those little pom-pom socks, and a khaki ball cap with a Tweety-bird patch on the front. Her ponytail was pulled through the back strap and she’d applied make-up. She looked like a junior girl’s softball coach at the end of the year banquet. Torn between feeling like a proud uncle and wishing she’d been around when he was thirty, Crockett grinned at her when she stepped out of the closet.

  “What?” she said. “Is this okay?”

  Crockett glanced down at his chambray shirt and blue jeans. “Looks fine to me. You could always dress it up with heels and a rose in your teeth.”

  “No rose,” Marilee said.

  “Then we’ll muddle through. Ready for the big session?”

  “You bet.”

  “You are gonna be bored blind.”

  She wasn’t. When they broke for supper, Crockett took her back to D’Bronx on Bell and they split an onion and black olive pizza. All through the meal Marilee prattled on about how good Crockett sounded. How the work was so much different than the way movies were made, how neat it was to actually be in the studio and see how everything went together. The damn thing was, she actually meant it.

  After the session, they went to Chubby’s for a midnight snack and got home a little after midnight. On the landing, Marilee took Crockett’s face in her hands.

  “Thanks for letting me tag along,” she said. “When you don’t have a life of your own, it’s really nice when somebody shares theirs. When I get one, I’ll share mine with you anytime.”

  She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly on the lips, then went through Ruby’s door. Grinning and feeling tears in the bottom of his eyes, Crockett stepped into his living room. Clete was looking at him from where he was propped up in the corner of the couch.

  “Hey, Texican. I thought you’d be in bed. What’s up?”

  “Grab some coffee and siddown, Crockett,” Clete said, a strange timbre in his voice. “We gotta talk.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Ruby’s revenge

  Sensing the tension in Clete’s voice, Crockett grabbed a mug, filled it, and sat on the other end of the couch. Cletus was nervous and looked a little pale.

  “What’s wrong, Clete?”

  “Man, I been trying to figure out how to say this, so I’m just gonna say it, alright?”

  “Jesus, Clete! Spit it out! Is Ivy okay?”

  “Ivy’s fine, it’s nothin’ like that.”

  “Well, what’s it like then?”

  Clete looked at Crockett for a moment and drew a deep breath.

  “Ruby took a run at me,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Ruby took a run at me, goddammit!”

  As much as the information hurt, Crockett still had to restrain himself from grinning. It made perfect sense.

  “No kidding,” he said.

  “I don’t want there to be any bad blood between us, Crockett. I value you as a friend and as a co-conspirator way too much to let anything like that go down. Okay?”

  Crockett sipped his coffee and waved a hand in Clete’s direction. “No sweat. That’s not a consideration. Get back to you and Ruby.”

  “I mean,” Clete went on, “nothing happened. That’s not exactly true. That’s not true at all. A lot happened. I mean, a lot, but it was, like harmless. I guess that would depend on your definition of harm. I thought it started out harmless, but it really didn’t. It started out like, ah, the point is, Crockett, we didn’t go to bed together, me and Ruby. Well, that’s not true either. Actually, we did sorta go to bed, but we, aw shit! Help me out here, willya?”

  Crockett resisted the urge to stare at him and let Clete squirm a while, because it would have been too much fun.

  “Let’s cut to the chase, Clete. Did you and Ruby–”

  “No.”

  “Two consenting adults, alone together, wine, the way she’s been behaving, the fact she seemed glad Marilee and I were going to be gone, I should have seen this coming. You were set up, Clete.”

  “I gotta tell ya, Pard. Whenever ol’ Ruby crosses my mind, it ain’t always with sweet little feelings of brotherly love, y’know. That is one hell of a woman, Son. She’s damn near scary. Then tonight when she, uh, did what she did, I almost lost it.”

  Crockett smiled. “At your age, Texican, you shouldn’t even have it.”

  “Goddammit! You know what I mean!”

  “Relax. I gotta go somewhere with this, and grinning makes more sense than punching walls.”

  “I went in there for supper, and she had the shrimp an’ stuff on the coffee table, and she was wearin’ this little, off-the-shoulder, dark red velvet thing, an’ stockings, an’ these red velvet heels with all kinds a straps, an’ her hair was sorta messed up a little, an’ she had this red velvet ribbon tied around her neck, an’, oh, man! Anyway, we set down an’ ate some an’ talked an’ drank wine an’ I knew I should leave. I did. I knew I should leave! But, I swear to Christ, Crockett, that dress just clung to her, an’ you could feel the heat comin’ offa that woman from five feet away, ya know?”

  “Yeah,” Crockett said. “I know.”

  “A course you know. You, of all people, would know. An’ then, kinda before I knew it, she, uh, shifted into second, an’ then, in a few minutes, she was leading me up them stairs! And then we was in her bedroom, an’ then we were on the bed, an’ then clothes started comin’ off, an’ then, it just hit me! It hit me like fuckin’ headlights on a goddam gravel country road! I grabbed my shirt an’ my boots an’ legged it outa there like my hair was on fire! I didn’t say goodbye, kiss my ass, how’s yer mom an’ them, nothin’. I ran like a fuckin’ thief, Crockett. Like a fuckin’ thief in the goddamm night!”

  “You’re a strong man, Texican.”

  “I shoulda never let it get that far. I shoulda never let it get anywhere! You and me had talked about how she’s all screwed up right now! We’d talked about how she was goin’ through a bunch a shit. And here’s ol’ Cletus J. Marshal, diddy-boppin’ in there, dumber’n a bag a bat shit, like some gal just invi
ted him over for a friendly little dinner!”

  “Some gal did invite you over for a friendly little dinner.”

  “Yeah, but it was Ruby, goddammit. Ruby! And there I set on the couch, so fuckin’ stupid, flies are circling my head. And then all there was, was Ruby. Nothin else, just her. No walls, no floor, no up, no down, just Ruby. I swear to Christ, Crockett, that woman is a fuckin’ force! I don’t know how the hell I got outa there intact. I swear to God I don’t.”

  “Yeah, but you did,” Crockett said. “And even if you hadn’t, Ruby and I are not lovers. We cannot be unfaithful to each other. Plain truth is, if she wants to jump into the giggle grass with somebody, I have nothing to say about it.”

  “So it’s fine if she goes out and nails some ol’ boy?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Damn right you didn’t! She wouldn’t do that anyway.”

  “No, she wouldn’t.”

  “But why me?”

  “Partly to punish yours truly.”

  “What are you guilty of?”

  Crockett looked at him for a minute. “I don’t run away when she rejects me. I love her without condition. I value her as a person. I let her get as shitty as she needs to. I don’t live up to the stereotype that so encourages her to be, and remain, gay.”

  “That’s part of it, huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s the other part? To see if she could attract men? Christ, Crockett! That there woman would havta work her ass off not to attract men!”

  Crockett shook his head. “More specifically,” he said, “to compromise a man for whom she has respect and affection, who would be naturally resistant to that level of intimacy because of his relationship with her and the way he feels about me.”

  “So I was just a challenge?”

  “You were a challenge, alright.”

  “Some kind of experiment.”

  Crockett smiled. “More than that, Clete,” he said. “She was dead serious. Ruby starts leading you up the stairs, she’s not playing any kind of game. The brass ring was coming around.”

  “I never could grab them damn things,” Clete said.

  “I’m real glad you didn’t grab this one.”

  “Me too. Mostly.”

  “Thanks, Cletus.”

  “That’s it, then,” Clete said. “She wants to punish you, and see if she still has power over men.”

  “That and, as clinical and degrading as it may seem, you were a test fuck.”

  “Guess I failed, huh?”

  “Plus,” Crockett said, “she, whether she realizes it or not, is deliberately trying to force some sort of confrontation with me.”

  “How’s that goin’ for her ya think?”

  Crockett smiled with his mouth, but not his eyes.

  “Just fine,” he said. “This time, it worked real well.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Confrontation

  The next morning found Crockett in the kitchen, cranking out his less than world famous pineapple-blueberry cinnamon pancakes. He’d already had a short stack himself, and was working on enough for everybody else, when Clete came strolling in.

  “Well, if you’re fixin’ to feed me, I reckon I’m still welcome. Or is this my last meal?”

  “This is your next meal,” Crockett said. “Relax. Everything’s fine.”

  “Guess I’m just a little embarrassed.”

  “Yeah. Think how Ruby must feel.”

  “Oh, Jesus.”

  “You and I have no problem, Texican. Eat.”

  Clete shoveled three or four pancakes on a plate and added warm syrup from the pitcher Crockett took out of the microwave.

  “This is real maple syrup,” he said.

  Crockett flapped a jack. “Only the best for the Crockett guest,” he said.

  Marilee, wearing a maroon caftan, sauntered in from the closet. She gave Clete a hug and a quick kiss, then sidled up behind Crockett, wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face between his shoulder blades. She hung on.

  “Clete,” Crockett said, “would you check? I think I may have a growth on my back.”

  “You do,” Clete said. “A blond one, but it’s not very big and looks pretty benign. Sorry. Omit the benign. Make it just pretty.”

  Marilee squeezed and growled into Crockett’s spine, then released him and backed up.

  “Turn around, Crockett,” she said.

  When he did, she kissed him on both cheeks and rubbed noses with him.

  “Good morning!” she said.

  “Oh, for God’s sake!” Crockett bitched, kissing her chin. “Good morning. Fresh pancakes coming up.”

  She was halfway through her short stack when Crockett asked the big question.

  “Seen Ruby this morning?”

  “She hasn’t been over?”

  “Nope.”

  “I haven’t seen her or heard her shower, or anything. Want me to check on her?”

  Crockett rinsed the griddle and dried his hands. “That’s okay. I’ll do it.”

  “No fear, Son,” Clete said, and Crockett walked toward the closet.

  Ruby’s bedroom door was locked. Crockett knocked.

  “Go away.”

  “Open up, Ruby.”

  “No! Go away!”

  “Open the door, LaCost.”

  “I said no! Leave me alone!”

  The flimsy lock gave way with his first shoulder strike and Crockett lurched into the room, off balance and struggling not to fall on his face. Ruby sat up in bed and stared at him as he turned and advanced on her.

  “Who the hell do you think you are!” she shrieked, slamming her fists into the mattress. “You do not have my permission to be in here! Get the fuck out!”

  “Shut up.”

  “Goddamm you, Crockett!” she raged, leaning back into the headboard. “You get the fuck out right now!”

  Crockett grabbed the front of the sweatshirt she’d been sleeping in, pulled her off the headboard, clutched her hair to hold her head still, and kissed her. Hard. Ruby flailed and squeaked for a moment, then leaned into it and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  The kiss lasted about a week. It was tough and it was tender, it was sweet and it was harsh, it was demanding and it was giving, it was battle and it was surrender, and it was an entire conversation in itself. When it was over, Ruby sagged into Crockett and began to cry. The tears lasted much longer than the kiss, and when she began to hiccough and choke, he leaned away from her.

  “That’s enough,” he said.

  “No, it isn’t,” she sobbed, her face contorted around swollen eyes and a snotty nose.

  Crockett pulled a wad of tissues from her bedside table and began wiping her face. “Yes, it is. You’re gonna make yourself sick. Get a grip. This ain’t therapy. This is self-abuse. C’mon. Settle down.”

  She blubbered and wheezed into the tissues for a while, and finally rattled to a stop. Crockett went into the bath and soaked a washcloth in cold water, then returned to her bedside and washed her face. When he finished, he re-soaked the cloth and folded it over Ruby’s eyes as she lay back in the bed.

  “I am so stupid,” Ruby moaned.

  “Was,” Crockett said. “Past tense.”

  “And dumb.”

  “Was,” he said.

  “God. How can you stand me?”

  “I realize that, through this entire episode, you have been wrong and I have been right,” he said, “but even that is not sufficient reason to call me God. Omnipotent Master will do nicely.”

  Below the washcloth a smile appeared.

  “How’s asshole?” Ruby said.

  “Asshole will do nicely, too. Maybe even better.”

  She lifted the cloth and peered up at him through bloodshot eyes.

  “I have been terrible to you.”

  “That’s true, but not as terrible as you’ve been to yourself. As long as there’s someone being treated more badly than I, I can handle almost anything.”


  “I have been hateful and nasty. I have insulted you, thought awful things about you, belittled you–”

  “Is this confession necessary for your treatment, or are you just searching for pity?”

  Ruby laughed. “Both,” she said, then began to tear up again.

  “Oh, no. Not gonna happen. Get up. What time’s your first appointment?”

  “I have a nine-thirty.”

  “It’s nearly eight. You gotta get your shit together.”

  Ruby levered herself up and swung her feet to the floor, then bent over and began running her fingers through her hair.

  “Yuk,” she said. “I need a shower.”

  “Want me to wash your back?”

  “Yes.”

  “Whoa!” Crockett said. “That’s a different answer.”

  “And my front.”

  “Nope.”

  “No?”

  “Nope. You don’t have time for me to wash your front. You have a client in an hour and a half.”

  “Tease,” Ruby said.

  “My turn.”

  Ruby stood up and kissed him very tenderly. “Take all the time you need,” she said, “until tonight. I’m spending tonight at your place.”

  “My place?”

  “Yep,” she said, then headed toward the bathroom.

  “Let’s see,” Crockett said. “Wash your back, wash your front, spend the night at my place. What could all this possibly mean?”

  “It means you better get some rest today.”

  “Probably some vitamin E, too,” he said.

  It’s hard to click your heels together when you have only one leg.

  But not impossible.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  Abduction

  Ruby went directly to her office after she cleaned up, partly because she needed to collect herself and partly because she wasn’t ready to face Clete. Crockett went home and caught himself whistling as he exited the closet. Cletus and Marilee looked at him rather apprehensively as he strode into the kitchen.

  “You guys get enough to eat?” Crockett said.

  “Fine,” Marilee answered.