by Vicky Jones
Lucy stepped in and peeled the Band-Aid off Shona’s good hand, screwing it up and throwing it in the trash. Unwrapping a fresh one, she pulled out Shona’s damaged finger from the fist she’d made and fixed the new Band-Aid in place.
“There you go. Now, what’s the matter with you? Why are you angry with me?”
“Dorothy had some money taken from the canister on her shelf. She was real mad at me,” Shona snapped, watching her reaction.
Lucy’s face blanched. “What? She thought you took it?”
“Of course she did. I’m the only other person who lives there. She ain’t no flake, she’s as sharp as a tack. She knows exactly how much she had in there.” Shona clamped her teeth together so hard they almost squeezed through her cheeks.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry… I only needed to borrow it. I was gon’ give it back,” Lucy blurted out, the tears beginning to roll down her pale face.
“Why? Why'd you take it? If you’d only asked first, I could have tried to help.” Shona struggled to contain her rage.
“I needed it. I’m sorry…” Lucy sobbed.
“Did you think she wouldn’t notice? She may be old, but she notices everything. Believe me.” Shona stopped. “Needed it for what?"
Lucy looked up at her through tear-filled eyes. “I just needed it. I don’t think I wanna be around Frank anymore. I shoulda gone to live at college, like I was supposed to in the first place, but I gave away my dorm room when I first started, thinking I wouldn’t need it now I was with Frank. But it was a big mistake. Frank takes all the money I get from my parents and now he’s got me working in the bar and…” Lucy paused to look at Shona. “I don’t think I’m in love with him after all, Shona. I know we’ve only been together a few months but he’s got a nasty side, and he’s three sheets to the wind most days. Oh, I know he tries to be all charming to the other ladies in town but he’s jealous and bitter with me. Terrified I’m gon’ leave him, like his father did. I guess deep down he loves me, and I thought I did love him when we first met. But I just don’t feel… the same… anymore.” Lucy hesitated on the last sentence.
Refocusing her eyes on Shona, who looked just as mad as she did before, she continued, “I just wanted to get some money together. To give me some options. I’ve done too many bad things these last few weeks to go home. I just thought maybe… Maybe I could start over, like you have? I’m so sorry, Shona. Please let me explain to Dorothy that it wasn’t you… I owe you that much at least.”
“Listen, I of all people understand the desire to make a fresh start, but I just can’t believe you would come into an old lady’s house and steal from her. You must have known that she’d blame me. I thought we were friends?”
“What the hell is goin’ on in here?” Frank asked, looking furious as he stormed into the office.
Shona backed off and looked down at the concrete, her hands thrust deep in her overall pockets.
“Frank… where you been all morning? I didn’t hear you leave,” Lucy blurted out, wiping her eyes before casting them up over his newly polished boots, smart slacks and button-down shirt. His normally scuffed leather jacket also looked as if he’d had it cleaned. “You look real smart. Where you been?”
“It’s Tuesday. Another bus was due to get in today. Don’t you remember me sayin’?” Frank glared at Lucy. Getting no flicker of recognition from her, he threw his hands in the air in frustration. “Why don’t you ever remember anythin’ that’s important to me, huh? Look, never mind that now, I wanna know what’s goin’ on in here.” He chewed his gum, switching his glance between his weeping girlfriend and an angry-looking Shona.
"We just... had a disagreement. I had a tough morning," Shona said.
"Well now, that don’t give you cause to go upsettin’ my girlfriend, now does it? How about I tell my uncle… your boss, about how you speak to people? He don't need staff like that,” Frank snarled, stepping closer to Shona.
“Frank, come on, let’s go. I gotta get ready for work tonight,” Lucy whispered, pulling on the cuff of his jacket.
“You think about what I said. You speak to my girl with a bit more respect next time,” Frank warned.
Shona opened her mouth to respond but at the last second thought better of it. She’d already nearly lost the trust and respect of her best friend; she really didn’t want to risk her job too. All because of Lucy’s dishonesty. But there was just something about the look on Lucy’s face when Frank led her away. Lucy’s whole body seemed to freeze.
Shona knew that feeling only too well.
“What were you and that Shona arguin’ about, earlier today?” Frank asked, as he leaned against the bedroom doorframe watching Lucy get ready.
“What?” Lucy froze. “Oh, nothing. She just asked to, um… borrow some, um… money from me. I said no, but she didn’t like it so got upset,” she added, trying to make her lie sound convincing.
“Oh, right,” Frank replied. He ran the tip of his finger over the rim of his beer bottle. “Mighty rude to get angry about that, don’t you think?”
“Mmmm… I guess.” Lucy looked at his reflection in her mirror, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling as the atmosphere between them began to thicken. “I mean, it’s not even as if we’ve been friends for years now, is it?” she said, letting out a nervous laugh.
“See, that’s what I don’t get.” He walked up behind Lucy. Putting his bottle down on her dressing table, he began massaging her shoulders. “You say you don’t know her that well, but you went back to her house yesterday. Didn’t you?” His fingertips pressed into her collarbones.
Lucy spun around to face him. “What? How did you… Have you been following me?”
“I’m just curious to know why you felt the need to lie to me,” he replied.
“I just wanted to talk with her. I’m allowed to have friends, Frank.” She turned back to face the mirror.
Frank stood up straight, grabbed his bottle and took a step back. “You don’t need anyone but me. I don’t want you hangin’ around that garage anymore. It’s not the place for a lady of mine. You need to be concentratin’ on your job now, not gettin’ covered in oil and grease like that girl in there.”
“But Frank, I really like talking to her. That so bad?”
“Really? Hmmm… well, maybe I should put her on the payroll too? I got a couple of guys who’d just love to help her out with her cash flow problems.” He sniggered as he drained the last drops from his bottle.
“Don’t you dare, Frank.” Lucy whipped around and threw her hairbrush in his direction. Ducking as it clattered against the bedroom wall, Frank stared at her in surprise.
“Jeez… you’re really taken by her, ain’t ya?” he exclaimed, covering his mouth as beer dribbled down his chin. He shook his head as he left her to get ready.
Chapter 14
“Where is it?”
Lucy woke up with a jolt that Wednesday morning to find Frank leaning over her.
“What?” she slurred, burying her head in her pillow. “Where’s what?”
“The money. From last night? He did pay you, right?” Frank snapped as he rifled through her panty drawer.
“Of course he paid me. You think he’d get past Chuck?” Lucy squinted as she opened her exhausted eyes. “I put the money in the same place I always put it.”
Frank strode over to the mantelpiece and reached behind the clock. “It’s not here. Did you lock the door when you came back down to the bar?” Frank’s sweaty face was turning redder by the second.
“Of course I did,” Lucy said. Her head had been fuzzy from the pills Frank had given her last night. Suddenly she remembered that, in her haste to get her customer out and herself into the shower, she’d completely forgotten to flick the snip on the lock. Realizing her mistake, she sat bolt upright.
“Is it all gone?” she whispered to Frank who was standing with his hands on his hips.
“I told you, there’s nothin’ here. You ain’t stashed it anywhere else, ha
ve you? You don’t think too straight when you’re on those pills.”
“No. If it ain’t here, I’ve been robbed.” Snapping her head upwards, she glared at Frank. “Do you think it could have been Chuck?”
Frank creased his face. “Chuck? That knucklehead couldn’t find his ass with both hands, you think he’d have the balls to come in here and steal from you? Knowin’ what I’d do to him if I found out?” His expression changed. “How do I know you ain’t got a little secret stash somewhere? Are you stealin’ from me now? Or is it your friend Shona who’s rippin’ me off?”
Lucy froze. With every ounce of composure she could muster, she rose out of bed and stroked Frank’s arm.
“Could you please ask Chuck if he borrowed it? He might have thought he was doing me a favor by taking the money straight to you. He might still have it?” Her eyes implored him to alter his own line of inquiry.
Frank paused for a moment. “OK, I’ll ask him,” he said, walking towards the door.
Lucy’s smile faded as the door closed behind him. Her heart panged as she thought again about the missing money and the five dollars of it that she really needed back.
Groaning with exertion, Harry heard the welcome squeak of the bolt as it gave up its resistance after almost ten minutes of battling with it.
“Hey, you finally won your fight then?” Marcie joked, passing her husband a mug of coffee. “Maybe I should have brought you out a cold sweet tea instead, honey, you’re sweating like a sinner in church.”
Harry smiled at his wife. “This’ll do just fine. Thank you.”
“Your protégé has been a bit quiet this morning,” Marcie remarked, perching on the edge of the tool chest as she pointed over to where Shona was cleaning some engine parts. “She OK?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s been a breath of fresh air these last ten months. Picked up things quicker than I can teach her.” Harry paused.
“But?” Marcie cocked her head forward.
“Well… I just worry about the amount of time Frank spends hanging around here. That bar of his was struggling before Christmas and now it seems to have gone downhill again judging by the state of the outside of it, even though he had a good few weeks of earnings over New Year’s. Knowing Frank, though, that’s probably all gone by now. I can’t help but have the feeling he’s starting to eye Shona to be one of his dancing girls. Or worse…” Harry stopped, noticing the concerned look on his wife’s face. “Maybe I should try and put a stop to that. Ain’t no way I’d wanna encourage her to go over there after work if that is what’s in Frank’s plans.”
“She is a pretty one, that’s for sure. I think you should have a word with Frank. Let him know that Shona’s got more than enough work to keep her occupied here?” Marcie paused. “That is, unless Shona wants to do that sort of thing? Maybe that’s why Lucy has started to hang around her so much? Maybe Frank has asked her to butter Shona up?” She raised her eyebrow as she leaned over to take Harry’s empty mug from him.
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s just because Lucy needs a friend? I know Frank’s blood but he’s not the nicest person to live with. And since Christmas he’s just got worse. Beats me what she ever saw in him in the first place. Leopards don’t change their spots. Oh, that reminds me, I need to talk to him anyway. His damn mother’s been on the phone to me this morning again, bellyaching about his behavior. I gotta try and ‘pull him into line’, apparently.”
“When you gon’ speak to him?”
“When he’s calmed down,” Harry replied. “Senior wasn’t on that bus again.”
“OK. Well, I’d best get back to work, and you’ve got more bolts to fight with.” Marcie kissed the tips of her fingers and pressed them to her husband’s tanned forehead.
Watching her walk away, Harry reached into his overalls pocket and pulled out his handkerchief. As he ran it over his face and the back of his neck, the last sentence that Gloria had said to him on the phone echoed through his brain.
“He just wants his father back, Harry.”
“Harry, c’mon, you know I’m good for it. It’s only five dollars!” Frank exclaimed, eyes widened at his uncle’s reluctance to open his wallet yet again later that Wednesday morning.
“You say ‘only’ every time, Frank. I’m getting a little tired of you coming over here whenever you’re short,” Harry replied, putting his hands on his hips.
"I really need it this time."
“Well, alright. But I got my own business to look after here too, you know. I can’t keep bailing you out.” Harry took his wallet from his back pocket and slipped out the bills to give to his eager-faced nephew. “No gambling. OK?” he said, then released his grip.
Frank grinned and pocketed the money, then headed back over to the bar.
“Why do you do that?” Shona asked as she walked up behind Harry.
“I owe him.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Long story.”
“Hey Shona,” Lucy greeted as she strolled over at lunchtime to where Shona had seated herself on a tire to eat her sandwiches.
“Hi,” Shona replied.
“Can I sit?”
“If you want.”
Shona shifted her body over enough to let Lucy sit next to her. They sat there for a few awkward moments before Shona’s hostility waned.
“You hungry?” Shona asked, gesturing down to the lunch box on the ground in front of her.
“Oh, no. I ain’t gon’ eat your lunch. But thanks for the offer.” Lucy smiled as her eyes lowered to Shona’s sandwiches. “Nice box.”
“Thanks.”
“Doesn’t Harry get hot meals delivered here now? Why you eating sandwiches?” Lucy chuckled as they both watched the just-arrived lunch delivery being demolished by the other hungry mechanics.
“Dorothy likes to make them for me. I don’t mind. She cuts the crusts off, just how I like it.” Shona grinned and took another huge hungry bite.
“Did you tell Dorothy it was me who took the money?” Lucy’s tone became more serious.
“Yeah,” Shona replied. “She wants it back. I offered to give her it from my wages, but she wants you to be the one to give it her.”
Lucy frowned as she bit the corner of her lip. “That could be a problem.”
“How come? You ain’t spent it already, have you?”
“I got robbed. Someone came into my apartment while I was…” She paused. “I shoulda hidden it better.”
“Does Frank know?” Shona asked.
“Yeah, he had a fit when he found out. Called me an idiot for not locking the door. But I ain’t had anyone let themselves in to my place the whole time I’ve been there. Probably some stranger from outta town.”
They paused for a moment in thought. Shona put her sandwich down on her knee and reached into her top pocket.
“I tried to give the only dollar I had on me to Dorothy the other night, but she blew a gasket at me. This morning I got a couple of nice tips. But… Well, here.” Shona pulled out five one-dollar bills and handed them to Lucy. “Maybe Dorothy will accept it if she thinks it’s from you? And before you get all stubborn like her, it’s only a loan. You can pay me back when you get paid next, OK?”
Lucy looked down at the money, then back up to Shona’s calm blue eyes. “Are you sure? Why would you do that for me?”
“You’re my friend. And we all need to catch a break now and again.”
“Thank you, Shona,” Lucy whispered.
“No problem. I’ll take you over there after I finish up here, if that’s OK with you?” Shona stood up from the tire and brushed the crumbs off her overalls, then reached her hand down to help Lucy up.
“It’s fine. I’m working later on, but I can go over with you, say around five?”
“Good. I’ll keep hold of this for safekeeping until then. Just in case, you know?” Shona put the five dollars back in her top pocket and turned to walk back over to the bar.
George returned from work that evening holding t
he biggest bunch of flowers Gloria had seen in a long time.
“Well, my goodness, what on Earth have I done to deserve such a grand gesture?” she joked, taking them from him and receiving her usual kiss on the cheek.
“Can’t a man buy his angel flowers when he feels like it?”
“Honey, you can buy me roses every day of the week and I’d still appreciate it. You spoil me, George Wilson.”
“Well, I saved a client a lot of money today on his tax return. I got a nice lil’ bonus so we’re going out tonight. You’re gon’ have the biggest catfish they can find in the whole of the Gulf of Mexico.” He picked her up around the waist and swirled her.
“I can’t wait. I’ll go get ready. I just wish you could find some way of savin’ Frank a bit of money.” Gloria’s tone became more somber. “It’s runnin’ dry, that place, and I don’t mean the liquor.”
“I know, honey. I’m good at my job, but I’ll be honest with you, that place ain’t gon’ survive. I heard at lunch today that an inspector has had a tip-off about it. They’re planning a surprise visit soon.”
“What the hell game you playin’? You only left yourself half an hour to get ready!” Frank roared as he stormed into the apartment.
“What?” Lucy replied, shocked at his approach.
“I asked you to be home by five tonight, not past six.”
“I went for a walk, that’s all. I am allowed to, you know. You don’t own me, Frank, I’m my own person,” Lucy asserted.
“Well, if you don’t up your game and start lookin’ like you can actually be bothered to make yourself look worth it, we ain’t gonna make anythin’ out of these guys. And if that happens, then I’m gon’ have no choice but to get rid of some of the other girls. I won’t be able to afford to keep you all on.”
Lucy spun around in her seat. “Frank, you can’t do that. Some of those girls got nothing else keeping the roof over their heads. And you know Trish has got a sick son. What’s she gon’ do if you let her go?” She stared at him in horror.