by K C Hart
Katy smiled as the girl began to remove the mascara from her lashes leaving a black ring around her eye socket that resembled a raccoon’s mask. “Sarah, I’ll pay you ten bucks for that sweet comment later. You know I’m not bragging. I just don’t have the inner drive to fool with all this stuff every day.” She looked over at Emma apologetically. “Not that I shouldn’t, mind you. My skin feels great and all. I just tend to get distracted with breakfast and making the bed and stuff in the morning.”
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of women like you.” Emma’s bright pink smile remained stretched across her pearly white teeth and her cheerleader tone never faltered. “They spend all their time on other things for their family, but very little time on themselves.” She leaned across the table and handed Katy a tiny plastic pouch containing a make-up sample labeled Ivory Dream. “Lucky for you, I don’t see too many signs of neglect on your skin yet, but they’re coming. You can only let yourself go for so long before it catches up with you.”
Katy took the make-up sample from Emma and waited for the instructions on how to apply it correctly which she was sure would follow. “Well, good grief. I wouldn’t say I’m neglecting myself. I do bathe and use lotion.”
“You just don’t take time to pamper and polish yourself the way a lot of women do.” Misty patted Katy’s leg under the table. “I certainly don’t see it as neglect. I think it’s more of an evidence of your giving spirit. You do for others instead of doing for yourself.”
Emma’s smile never faltered, but an edge of irritation began to ease into her voice as she handed Misty a pouch labeled honey beige. “Of course, that’s not a bad thing. I’m just of the mindset that when we look our best, then we feel our best, and this enables us to be a better person. Taking a few extra minutes every day to take care of your skin can take years off your appearance. Who doesn’t want that?”
“You may be right Emma.” Katy glanced around the table at the other ladies who were nodding their approval. She felt like she was in some kind of political debate over foreign policy instead of a girl’s night out. Emma took the skincare business seriously. “Obviously most women follow these simple guidelines to care for their appearance and I’m just out of the loop.” She rubbed her cheek with her fingertips. “I have to admit that my face hasn’t felt this soft in probably years.”
Emma smiled, pleased that her opponent had conceded the debate. “See what I mean? And you can feel this way every day if you want to. It’s just up to you.”
She continued around the table with the make-up samples. Each sample was delivered with an approving compliment of how glowing the customer’s skin now looked and how dewy fresh each person appeared after just one use of this wonderful line of skincare.
“Don’t drink the Kool-aide just yet,” Misty said, leaning over so only Katy could hear. “Wait until the price list is handed out for these little gems before you sing their praises too loudly. This is one of the most expensive brands of make-up in the independent beauty market.”
Katy nodded at her friend and began to massage the make-up pouch to blend the color beads as Emma was instructing from her post at the end of the table. “I feel like I’m being interrogated for the Kennedy assassination or something. This is serious stuff.”
Misty held up her little mirror and pretended to be looking at the skin around her eyes. “Just keep your mouth shut and do what you’re told and if you’re lucky, we may just make it out of here alive.”
Katy put her hand over her mouth and tried not to laugh out loud but was not successful. She coughed a couple of times to try to cover up her rudeness.
“Are you okay Mrs. Katy?” Emma waited for her to quiet down. “I can get you a sip of water if you need it.”
“No, that’s okay. I’m fine now. You continue with what you were saying. I’m learning a lot.”
Misty rolled her eyes at Katy from behind her mirror. “Kiss up.”
“Hush Misty,” Katy whispered, desperately trying to suppress the urge to giggle. “We’re going to make her mad and she won’t answer our questions later.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot the mission there for a minute. Sorry boss.”
Katy smiled one more time then turned her attention back to Emma and her lecture on the importance of upward strokes when applying foundation.
Chapter Twenty
Eventually, the presentation ended, and everyone oohed and ahhd at how gorgeous they’d all become. Emma shamelessly took credit for everyone’s transformation and assured them that it was in their best interest to obtain this flawless look daily. No price could be placed on fabulous skincare, but unfortunately, her company did have to pay for the all-natural products and these expenses had to be passed on to the customers. She assured them that they were getting products equal to those used by the professionals who did the makeup for the stars and supermodels at a fraction of the cost.
She passed out a glossy pamphlet to each lady with pictures of women of all ages scattered throughout the pages. They each had beautifully airbrushed complexions and had given a written testimony of how using About Face make-up and skin care had turned their lives around and placed them on the path to freedom. On the back page in small print was the price list.
Katy put on her reading glasses and almost laid an egg. “Seventy-five dollars for a tube of eye cream that’s the size of a pack of chewing gum?”
“I warned you.” Misty’s eyes sparkled as she pretended to study the pamphlet. “Look, you need this laser in a bottle. It takes ten years off your forehead in just ten applications and it is only one hundred seventy-five bucks.”
Katy frowned at her friend then continued down the product’s price list. She found something called cooling spritz for thirty-five dollars. That seemed to be the cheapest thing on the list and she quickly placed her order. She was flabbergasted as the women around her bought product after product and pulled out their cards to pay for bills reaching two and three hundred dollars. She knew for a fact that the younger girls in her band had incomes that she would not consider affluent, but they didn’t seem at all concerned about the amount of money they were spending.
After the orders were placed Emma began gathering her gear and passing out samples of some of the high-end products to everyone. Katy busied herself by helping Misty and Pickle prepare and serve the snacks.
After a lot of snacking, laughing, and talking, the party started to wind down. Misty, always the perfect hostess, was escorting everyone to the door, so Katy began picking up the dishes from the dining table, giving her a good excuse to remain in the room with Emma.
“You’re very good at this Emma. Do you make a pretty good income with these parties?”
“I do okay, but I wish I had more time to spend on it. My goal is to make enough to quit my bank job, but that’s down the road a year or two.”
“Wow, I didn’t even know that was possible. This has been a completely new experience for me?”
“You mean to tell me you’ve never been to a skin care party before?” Emma got a little glint in her eye that Katy could not exactly understand. “Well, Mrs. Katy you need to book a party for sure. You probably have tons of friends who would just love the benefits of my product.”
Katy seriously doubted that, but she didn’t want to just shoot Emma down before she could steer her in the direction she needed the conversation to go. “I may, I’m not sure about it though. Misty took me to the nail salon for the first time last week, and I have to admit that your friend Marissa really impressed me with my new nails and the eyebrow wax.”
“Yeah, Marissa knows her stuff. I’ve tried to get her to start selling About Face, but she says she doesn’t have time because of work and the band and stuff. She could make a fortune just selling to the people who come in to get their nails done.”
“I need to go back to see her again next week to get my nails touched up.” Katy glanced at her hands as she placed the few remaining homemade chocolate chunk cookies in a zip lock bag. “I hop
e those scratches on her neck have healed. Things get infected so easily nowadays.” She glanced to see if Emma would take the bait.
“They’re okay. I saw her yesterday and the scabs are already peeling off. I told her to put antibiotic ointment on them. You never know what people have under their fingernails.”
“Oh, did somebody scratch her?” Katy cleared her throat with a cough. “I wasn’t sure how she got them, but you’re right. Scratches from fingernails can turn nasty quickly, even if they’re not very deep.”
“Well,” Emma glanced at Katy for just a moment with a look of indecision. “Not a lot of people know this, but Marissa got into a little tussle with Jessa last Friday night after everybody left. After Joe left and the crowd had thinned down, Marissa jumped on Jessa for being so hateful to Joe when he obviously didn’t deserve it.”
“Oh really?” Katy continued to slowly cover the spinach dip with plastic. “I hadn’t heard that.”
“It was just me and Tubby there when it happened, and she asked us to keep it to ourselves. I shouldn’t be telling you, I guess. But I’ve already let the cat out of the bag, so I might as well finish it. They went at it for about three seconds, but Jessa got the upper hand really quick. Marissa realized pretty fast that she had bitten off more than she could chew.”
“Is that how she lost her nail?”
“You don’t miss anything, Mrs. Katy. I bet you’re one good nurse.” She wiped a cookie crumb from the corner of the table onto the floor. “Yeah, that’s when it happened. She pushed Jessa real hard. I think she was surprised when Jessa didn’t fall down. Jessa stumbled back, but I don’t think this was her first catfight. She jumped on Marissa and pinned her against the shed like she was a ragdoll. Marissa got in one good scratch, but that was about all of the fighting she did.”
“Wow,” Katy said, raising her eyebrows. “That night was a lot more interesting than any of us had suspected.”
“Aww, it wasn’t much. Jessa just told Marissa that she was running things and…let’s see…I believe her words were, ‘You’re becoming more trouble than you’re worth. Don’t make me get rough.’ That might not be exactly right, but it was something like that.”
“Did Marissa leave after that?”
“Yeah, she ripped and cussed all the way to her car, but she didn’t get close enough to start anything again. I think she knew she was no match for Jessa. After she left, we were right behind her. Me and Tubby don’t go in for all that fighting and stuff. We just want to hear good music and laugh and talk. If I was caught fighting like that, poor Tubby would just die.”
Katy lifted her tray now full of leftovers and balanced it on her hip. She looked around for something else to add to it so she could continue the conversation. “I’m the same way, Emma. I hate fussing and I don’t know what I would do if two grown women started fighting in front of me.” She wiped a few crumbs that were on the edge of the table into a napkin. “Uh Emma, did you tell Todd any of this?”
Emma stopped stuffing the unused make-up samples into the shiny gold zipper bag. “Marissa asked me not to Mrs. Katy. I haven’t told a soul. Todd didn’t ask me anything about Marissa, so I didn’t mention it. Do you think I could get in trouble?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know a lot about the law, but I would imagine that the sheriff would think this is important. He might think you are withholding evidence. I’m not sure about it, but I wouldn’t take any chances.”
“Oh my word.” Emma began to pick up her products and throw them into the tote at a much faster pace. “Tubby told me to tell Todd what happened, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to be involved. Oh man, I’ve got to go. I need to talk to Tubby and see if I can get in touch with the sheriff or Todd or somebody. I mean, Marissa is my friend, but I ain’t going to jail for nobody.”
Katy sat down her tray and began helping Emma place all her different make-up articles in the tote box at her feet. Before, Emma had wrapped each little mirror in a small piece of gold felt. Now she just raked them all into the box helter-skelter. She was upset.
“Emma, just go to them and tell them what happened.” Katy said, taking Emma’s hand. “Tell them what you told me about not wanting to get involved. You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
Emma stopped and suddenly reached over and hugged Katy. “I’m so glad you were here. I’ve been worried about this since last week, but I didn’t have anybody to talk to about it except Tubby.” Tears began to form in the young woman’s perfectly lined eyes. “I have to try to keep up a respectable appearance so people will invite me into their homes. If this gets out and people think I was somehow involved I won’t get any more sales.”
“Look, Emma, if you do the right thing and tell the police, everyone will respect you. Some people will talk, but some people are going to talk no matter what’s going on. You just need to give this to God and weather the storm.”
Emma sniffed and began to wipe the bleeding mascara from the corners of her eyes with a tissue. “This stuff is supposed to be waterproof. I’m gonna have to quit telling people its tear-proof.” She looked at Katy and smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Katy. I’m going home and calling Todd. You and Tubby are right.”
“I’ll pray for you tonight Emma.” Katy patted her hand one more time. “God will take care of you if you’ll let him you know.”
“Yes mam, I know.” Emma put the lid on the tote box. “Me and Tubby were both raised in church and we plan on starting back one day before we have kids and all. We just haven’t made time for it lately.”
“Aren’t you glad that God hasn’t put off watching after you until you have kids?”
“You’re right. I need to do better. Maybe God has been kicking me in the pants. I might just call my momma when I get home too. She will roll over and die when I tell her me and Tubby might go to church Sunday.”
Katy finished cleaning the table off and helped Misty with the dishes before she left. She checked her phone once she got in her car and noticed she had two missed calls. One from Magnolia Home Health and one from Trudy Mae, the nurse at Dr. Robert’s office. She would return their calls when she got home.
Chapter Twenty-One
John was waiting when Katy got home, a glass of iced tea for her, and a cup of coffee for him. His eyes crinkled with amusement as he reached for another chocolate chunk cookie, “You’re telling me that you paid thirty-five dollars for a bottle of water to spray on your face?”
“It sounds pretty ridiculous when you say it like that.” Katy took a sip of her tea. “But yeah, I guess I did.” She raised one eyebrow and stared at her husband. “You go ahead and laugh, but the party was a success. Emma Robinson was just a well of information. At first, I didn’t care for her. She seemed kind of pushy and superficial, but I think she’s just trying to look professional or something so she can sell that high-dollar make-up.”
“Honey don’t be dogging on the woman’s make-up. You’re looking more and more like a combination of Dolly Parton and Reba McIntire every day.”
“Oh please, give me a break,” she said rolling her eyes. “If I bought everything she put on my face tonight, I would have spent around three hundred dollars. I wouldn’t have bought the spritz stuff if I hadn’t been trying to get some information from the poor girl.” She stood and took his empty coffee cup. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s good stuff, but I just don’t have that kind of money to invest in my face.”
“Three hundred dollars does sound a bit pricey to me,” John said following her into the kitchen eating the last bite of his cookie. “I guess if you think you need it, I can sell the four-wheeler or the riding lawnmower. We can probably get enough for one of them to set you up in beauty stuff for a few years.”
Katy laughed as she put their dishes in the dishwasher. “Well, if you think it’s absolutely necessary, I’ll give her a call. I’m sure she’ll fix me up.” She paused, looking over her shoulder and batting her eyelashes. “I’m happy with the old me, but I�
�ll do anything for you dear.”
“Don’t do it on my account.” John draped his arm around her shoulders as they walked down the hall to the bedroom. “You know I don’t go in for all that make-up stuff. Some people like their cake with a lot of frosting. Not me, I’m a sponge cake and an angel food cake kind of guy.”
“So, what are you saying, I have a face like a sponge?”
John laughed and pulled his wife into a comfortable hug. “No dear wife of mine, I’m saying you have the face of an angel. Now go wash all of that junk off so we can get into bed.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Katy returned her phone calls after leaving the skin care party, she learned that Trudy Mae’s mother was out of the nursing home and would be admitted the next morning. She ran by the office that morning to pick up the paperwork and was surprised to hear from the office clerk that her new admission was Joe Phobs’ next-door neighbor. That explained why no one was home to hear him blaring Hank Jr. the night of the murder. Mrs. Simmons, Trudy Mae’s mother, was still at the nursing home that night having rehab. If the old lady had just been home, she probably could have cleared Joe of the murder charge, Katy thought. Oh well. No need to ponder what could have been.
At five after eight a black Tahoe pulled up in the trailer park next to Katy’s civic with Trudy Mae behind the wheel. Trudy Mae always came across as larger than life and today was no exception. Her broad shoulders and full figure were covered in a hot pink scrub top with turquois kittens plastered from front to back. Luckily the scrub pants were just plain turquoise without any further felines for distraction. Dr. Roberts’ dress code wasn’t strict. Of course, Trudy Mae had been working there so long that Dr. Roberts probably could have cared less what she wore. She ran his office like a naval base even if she did dress like a psychedelic battleship.