by Vicky Jones
“Dorothy? You awake?” Shona whispered.
The blood in Shona’s veins turned to ice. Clenching her teeth together, she took in a deep breath to settle herself, then moved quickly over to the bed. Peeling back the blanket, she saw Dorothy’s pale face and, fearing the worst, began shaking her.
“Dorothy? Please no.”
The old lady burst into life and began flailing her arms. “What the hell’s… What’s up with you, girl? I ain’t dead.”
Shona fell backwards and landed in a heap at the end of the bed.
“I thought…” she gasped.
“I ain’t got time to be dead,” Dorothy exclaimed. “Believe me, I’ll know when I’m ready to go.”
Within seconds of staring at each other in shock, Shona and Dorothy were laughing, with relief on Shona’s part.
“Yeah, well, you just make sure it stays that way,” Shona said. “Breakfast’s on the table. I’ll see you after work.”
“If I make it to the end of the day, you mean?” Dorothy countered.
“Mostly walking in the hills up there, and just good living really,” Minnie Barker replied after Shona had asked her how she kept in such good shape at sixty-six years old. “And I have a little vegetable patch I tend, which keeps the knee joints moving nicely,” she added. “Here, I wanted you to have this. I know the price of vegetables has gone up these last few months and I got more than I need so here.” Minnie held out a basket of carrots, potatoes and collard greens to Shona, who took it from her.
“For me?” Shona replied, stunned.
Minnie nodded. “As a thank you for all you do for me with the truck. You won’t take money, so I brought you these. And I heard your sister’s having a baby and you two are coping alone with her husband out of town.” Minnie paused.
Shona gave her a knowing look. “Marion?”
Minnie nodded. “Oh, but don’t worry. I wasn’t asking questions, she just caught me in the line at the grocery store and began gossiping. I tried not to pay any attention.”
“That woman should be fired,” Shona said.
Minnie watched her. “You know, I’m always willing to listen, if you ever need someone to talk to. About anything.” Her eyes twinkled as if she were reading Shona’s thoughts.
“Why Shona, twice in one day?” Minnie greeted, finding Shona on her doorstep holding a cake box later that same afternoon.
“Well, I brought this over for you as a thank you for the vegetables. Thought you could share it with the judge when you see him tomorrow,” Shona replied, remembering Minnie had mentioned it that morning. “It’s cherry cake.”
“His favorite. You remembered,” Minnie said, ushering Shona inside.
They sat at the small table and chairs in Minnie’s garden. It was just before four o’clock, the shadows lengthening as the late winter sun began to lower.
“How’s Chloe doing? She must be fit to pop by now.” Minnie chuckled as she poured them both a glass of orange juice.
“Almost. She’s just over six months along. Not long to go now,” Shona replied, staring down at her glass.
“You know, not everyone in this town is as indiscrete as Marion. What’s troubling you, Shona?”
Shona put her glass down. “I don’t know how to say it. Oh Minnie, everyone in this town wants to know the story with us. I feel eyes on me all the time. No matter how much I try and ignore it, it’s always there, waiting for me to crack. I can’t stand it.” She looked up, tears in her eyes.
“You can confide in me, Shona. I’ve been married to a judge for the last forty years. There isn’t a secret in this town I don’t know about. What is it, sweetheart?”
Shona took a deep breath and told Minnie everything.
Chapter 16
Outside the bar, Bertie and Dee were sitting in the Monday afternoon sunshine sipping from beer bottles.
“I think you should lay offa that girl, Bert,” Dee began, nodding her bottle in the direction of the garage. “If she’s charmed Judge Barker’s old lady then she must be doing something right. Cranky ol’ goat.”
Bertie grunted, then turned her attention to peeling the label off her bottle.
“I mean, we don’t even know her. She may be real nice. She don’t look like trouble to me,” Dee continued, watching Shona go about her business.
“Yeah, she’s real nice to the cops who come in here and smash up this place while the sheriff’s out of town,” Bertie grumbled. “Then she expects me to keep her cozy little family situation a secret. Well, that ain’t really playing fair now, is it, Deirdre?” Bertie swigged her beer and smacked her lips.
“No, I guess not, Bertha,” Dee replied, folding her arms. “Guess I’m just jealous of what Shona and that Chloe have got going on. Hell, maybe you are too, Bert?”
Bertie scoffed but didn’t reply.
“Good luck to them is what I say. I miss being with somebody at night. And you can act tough all you like, Bert, but I know you do too. How long is it now since Sarah left?”
“Two years, six months and 28 days. Not that I’m counting,” Bertie added with a sardonic smile.
“Well, I’m sick of just being a one-night thing to girls around here just wanting something different from their boring housewife lives. I deserve more. We all do. And we should stick together, right? You taking out your anger on that girl over there ain’t gonna change what Sarah did to you. Shona can’t help looking like her.”
“Well, thank you for that rousing speech. Are you finished now?” Bertie drawled, rolling her eyes as she swigged her beer.
“You ever considered the possibility that maybe Shona’s just trying to make friends? Ain’t easy in a town like this. And helping the cops? Well, maybe she’s just trying to be nice.”
“Nobody’s nice without an agenda,” Bertie replied. “Anyway, she owes me.” She sipped her beer slower this time, her piercing blue eyes fixed on Shona’s back. “Maybe I will pay her a little visit again.”
Shona decided that she would go for a drink after work. It had been a few months now, since her last encounter with Bertie, but she couldn’t avoid her forever. It was a new start for Shona and the last thing she wanted was to feel as trapped as she had done in the past. A life without drama was one thing, but one without friends seemed too harsh.
Bertie’s was a world away from Chasers back in Mississippi, in more ways than one. It seemed like the sort of place she could relax in. About ten minutes after she’d ordered a Coke at the bar, a woman approached her. Shona looked up to see she was in her mid-twenties, red haired, wearing a white tee-shirt, blue jeans and a black leather jacket.
“Say, I ain’t seen you in here before,” the redhead began. “You new in town?” Her inquisitive brown eyes glinted with mischief as she chewed slowly on a cocktail stick and placed a booted foot on the bottom rung of Shona’s bar stool.
“Not really. Been here six months now,” Shona replied, looking back down at her bottle.
“Oh, right.” Several moments of silence went by before the woman cleared her throat to remind Shona she was still standing there. “Can I buy you a drink?”
“I already got one,” Shona replied, then remembered the reason why she’d gone in for a drink in the first place. “But thank you for the offer. You live around here?”
The woman sat down on the stool next to Shona. “Yeah, my name’s Susie. You’re Shona, right?” She leaned over and took a coaster from the bar, her arm brushing against Shona’s. Be friendly, Shona thought, but the conversation just wouldn’t come. She sat next to Susie for a few more minutes of awkward silence before Susie got the hint.
“Look, don’t think I was trying to hit on you, I was just trying to be friendly. We all know you’re with that pregnant woman,” Susie chastised. She leaned in with her parting shot, “and if we know it then you can be damn sure the cops will cotton on soon too. But maybe as you fix their cars for free they’ve turned a blind eye?” Whispering in Shona’s ear as she left, Susie added, “Just watch y
ourself. Sheriff Lawrence ain’t gonna leave you alone forever.”
“Friendly, ain’t they?” Bertie said, placing another Coke in front of Shona a few minutes after Susie had departed.
“Some are, some ain’t. I get that a lot,” Shona mused, staring at the bottle but leaving it untouched.
Bertie watched her. “Yeah, well I come in peace this time,” she said holding her palms up. “I wanted to ask you for something.”
“What?” Shona looked up to see Bertie’s eyes fixed on her.
“Help.”
“With what?”
“You’ve got influence around this town now. You’ve only been here a few months yet you’ve got those cops wrapped around your little finger already.”
“It’s because I pay them the respect they deserve.”
“And because you don’t want any trouble, right?” Bertie interjected. “You don’t want them sniffing around your place.” Bertie pointed at her. “Or your home.”
Shona clenched her teeth. “What goes on in my house is no one’s goddamn business, you hear me?”
Bertie leaned back, a sly grin creeping across her broad face. “Loud and clear. But I think the reason you come in here is to make friends. We understand your situation. I can guarantee you we will have your back.” Bertie paused again. “Some people walk in and out of your life, sure. I had it all my life with my family telling me I was no good, given my…lifestyle. But us girls in here? We’re loyal to the end.”
Shona started to feel guilty. Loyalty was a rare thing for her to receive, especially given the betrayals she’d faced in the past, and there was something about the intensity of Bertie’s stare that intrigued her. The last thing Shona needed was more trouble coming her way, but the fire burning inside Bertie was compelling. And her family history sounded all too familiar to Shona. Relaxing her shoulders, she smiled at Bertie.
“You say you wanted help? What help?”
“I wanna cause a little rumble in town. Nothing violent, just a protest against how the cops are treating this place. Like we’re criminals or something. I need you to stand with us, show we ain’t gonna accept being treated like this anymore. They seem to respect you, and they’ll take us seriously if you’re with us.”
“Well, why don’t we just go down to the police station and talk it over with them. Like you say, you ain’t doing nothing criminal. Maybe the promise of a few free drinks once in a while might smooth things over?”
“Talk to them? Are you out of your mind? They won’t listen to the likes of me. They’re animals, the way they come in here and trash the place. Since Everett left, it’s gotten so much worse.” For a split second, Bertie looked vulnerable.
“Look, we can at least try? I won’t get involved in any trouble, Bertie, but I will come down to the police station with you. We’ll sit with Lawrence and make him see reason, how does that sound?”
“It won’t work,” Bertie replied, folding her arms.
“Never try, never know,” Shona replied, hearing Dorothy’s voice suddenly in her head.
After Shona had finished up at the garage, she and Bertie walked across to the police station. They looked at each other and took a deep breath as they pushed open the door and went inside. At the far end, Barnes was standing behind his counter listening to a young blonde woman who seemed very agitated. Her face was streaked with tears, her palms flat down in front of him.
“He can’t keep coming home from the bar every night and doing that to me, can he? It ain’t right. I say no, but he just drags me into the bedroom and…” The woman paused to take a handkerchief out of her purse then held it to her nose as more tears fell.
Barnes let out a long breath and leaned into her. “Look, Mrs. Simpson, Sheriff Lawrence has already explained this to you. Cliff ain’t doing anything illegal. He’s your husband, you’re his wife. He has rights to that.”
“But he’s so rough. How can it be OK for him to do it anyway, even when I say no?”
Barnes shrugged. “Maybe you should take the advice Sheriff Lawrence gave you last week and treat your husband a bit better. Go home to your kids, Mrs. Simpson. Make Cliff a nice dinner. Then, maybe, he’ll be more tender with you.”
Mrs. Simpson sniffed and somehow composed herself. She picked her purse up off the counter and turned to leave, passing Shona and Bertie on the way to the exit. Shona met her red-eyed glassy stare and felt a pang in her belly.
“I’m so sorry, Jenny,” Bertie whispered as Mrs. Simpson drifted past. She didn’t reply, her mind seemingly elsewhere.
“Good afternoon, Shona, how can I help you today?” Barnes sighed. He spotted Bertie glaring at him.
“Hi Jerry, can we go in to see Sheriff Lawrence, please?” Shona replied.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll see if he’s free. Um…your friend can wait here.” Barnes looked Bertie up and down, taking in her unconventional look.
Bertie looked between Shona and Barnes. “We are literally dressed the same way,” she said, with frustrated sarcasm dripping from every elongated word she spoke.
“Yeah, I see that. But she’s politer than you,” Barnes countered, pointing at Shona.
“We’d both like to have a word with him if it’s all the same to you?” Shona’s deep blue eyes were convincing, melting Barnes into submission. It wasn’t often that Shona used her feminine charms on men, but this was a necessity with a man like Barnes.
“Well, OK then. Come through.” Barnes lifted the desk hatch and led them towards Everett’s office. “Someone to see you, boss,” he called out after he’d knocked on the door.
“If it’s that Simpson dame again, you tell her what I told you. I got better things to do with my time than to give a shit what happens in Cliff Simpson’s bedroom. He ain’t breakin’ no law, he can do what he wants.” Lawrence’s annoyed voice bellowed through the closed door. Pushing it open, Barnes led Shona and Bertie into the sheriff’s office. With his feet up on the table as they entered, Lawrence looked up and grinned.
“Well now, Miss Clark,” Lawrence greeted, chewing on his gum slowly as he took in Shona’s slim figure dressed in well-fitting jeans and a short-sleeved black shirt which revealed her neckline just enough for Lawrence’s mind to wander. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit here?” He leaned back in his chair and clamped his hands together behind his head. Seeing Bertie enter after Shona, Lawrence lowered his legs and sat up straight in his wooden chair. “What’s that doin’ in here?” he asked, pointing. The look on his face was of pure disgust, a look which Shona recognized only too painfully. For once, though, it wasn’t aimed at her.
Bertie chose not to respond, but the look on her face said it all.
“We came to talk,” Shona replied. “About Bertie’s bar, and if your men could cut them a little slack over there. They ain’t doing no harm.” Shona reached over to clamp a hand on Bertie’s rounded shoulder. “And Bertie here would be honored to offer your boys the first drink on the house after their long and tiring shift. In recognition of their outstanding service to the community.”
“Much as I’d love to take up your offer, Shona, I cannot guarantee my boys won’t take it upon themselves to instinctively carry out their sworn duty.” He leaned forward and gave Bertie a nasty smile. “We all know what your bar is, we just can’t prove it. Yet. I don’t want that filth goin’ on in my town, so we will do what we can to find the evidence to revoke your license.” Bertie’s face creased with compressed anger, the corner of her eye twitching. “Now, get this trash the fuck out of my office,” Lawrence snarled, looking at Shona but pointing at Bertie.
“Well, that was a total waste of time,” Bertie said as they reached the sidewalk outside.
“Just don’t give them a reason to think anything illegal is going on in there. Maybe invite more families in for a two-for-one on burgers or something?” Shona looked at Bertie.
Bertie’s shoulders sagged in her oversized shirt. “Is it so bad that I just wanted to run a bar people like me could go wi
thout being stared at?” she murmured.
“I know. But they’re staring now, Bertie. You gotta be smarter about it. You can’t beat cops with force, only compromise. To survive in this world when you’re like us is to fit in, not stand out.” Shona’s words came straight from the heart.
For a second Bertie seemed to ponder that thought until behind her appeared Dee, Lula and Edie.
“Hey girl,” Lula said, draping a lazy arm around Bertie’s shoulders. “You been over to stick it to that Lawrence? I just seen Jenny Simpson cryin’ her goddamn eyes out again. We need to stand up to this asshole.”
Bertie locked her now-fierce eyes with Shona, whose heart sank, knowing what was coming. Turning around to her friends, Bertie nodded. “It’s time, ladies.”
Shona returned home exhausted. After a full day of work, she’d then spent a wasted hour in the police station, then a further hour trying to convince Bertie and her friends why it was a bad idea to make enemies of the police. But all of her reasons fell on deaf ears and that night there was sure to be something bad happening in town. Bertie was so riled up by the time Shona had left her that she thought it best to stay home that evening.
“Hey guys, I’m home,” she called out after dropping her satchel by the door and walking into the living room. “Chloe? Dorothy?”
Shona walked along the hallway, finding Dorothy in her bedroom reading. Outside, she found Chloe lying on a bench fast asleep.
“Hey baby, you OK?” Shona whispered in her ear after bending down to kiss her on the cheek.
Chloe murmured and opened her eyes. Seeing Shona, she attempted to sit up, but her swollen belly made that movement less than fluid. “Oh, my, is it that time already? I meant to do the housework, honey, I’m sorry. I just felt a little funny so thought I’d get some fresh air. Must have fallen asleep.” Chloe half-laughed.