It's Bliss

by Alene Roberts

  “Not you! Oh darn!” came the muffled cry behind them.

  “Is that you, Miss Lemmon?”

  “It is!” she moaned, removing her hands, “and I have ants inside my clothes,” she gasped, “I gotta get home fast!”

  “Miss Lemmon, I almost ran into you broadside as I turned the corner!”

  he exclaimed angrily.

  “That was you?”

  “That was me. Don’t tell me you sat on another anthill?”

  “No, it . . . it was the same one,” she whimpered..

  The flustered young officer didn’t know what to do differently, other than what he did the last time. “Follow me, I’ll lead you home again. But we’re going to have to have a talk, Miss Lemmon.”

  “Th-thank you, Officer Bates.”

  -

  Ella Lemmon was feeling out of sorts with her daughter. She hardly ever saw her. Lately, she was in and out of the house acting quite mysteriously, and here it was after ten and she wasn’t home yet.

  The siren she heard off in the distance was getting closer and louder. She stepped out onto the front porch and saw a police car speeding down the road. Her eyes widened in disbelief. It looked like Lora following!

  “Not again! Stupid girl.”

  Twenty-Five

  Sunday afternoon, Lora stood before the bathroom mirror, sniffling and talking to herself, as she examined all the new ant bites which stood out glaringly on her face and neck. She had already dabbed medicine on her arms, legs, stomach, and as many bites as she could reach on her back.

  “I should get something out of this! First, I nearly die of ant bites, and then I nearly die from embarrassment when Officer Bates stopped me again. Ohh,” she whined. Her mouth compressed and lips pulled down in sudden petulance.

  “I should get something out of this. Yes! I should.” What she had seen last night through Billie’s window suddenly brought her to a decision, or at least the beginning of one. She smiled at her pathetic reflection, as she thought about it.

  “Yes. I’m going to go see Billie Bliss tonight. Tonight is the night.”

  She waited until 8:00 and told her mother she would be back in about an hour.

  “Are you going out in public looking like that?” her mother asked, aghast.

  “Yes, Ma. See you later.”

  Lora pulled her car into Billie’s driveway and parked. No more hiding in the bushes! She sat there a moment, feeling her bravado ebb away, but one look in the mirror immediately brought it back.

  She knocked confidently on Billie’s door. When Billie opened it and saw Lora’s condition, her sympathy was so sincere, Lora felt a wave of guilt.

  “Oh my, Lora, did you get stung by ants again?”

  “Yes.”

  “Come in and tell me about it.”

  “Thank you,” Lora mumbled.

  “Please have a seat. Can I get you a cold drink of juice?”

  Lora sat down heavily as a lump of clay. “No thanks,” she mumbled again.

  Billie sat at the table across from her. “How did it happen? Did it happen in as funny a way as last time?”

  “Funny? I almost died of humiliation!”

  Billie’s eyes were wide with curiosity. “Tell me about it.”

  Lora told her the whole story except where she got the bites. Billie reacted to every part of the story in a most satisfying way, oohing and gasping in the appropriate places. Lora found great relish in the telling of it.

  “Oh no, not Officer Bates again!” Billie exclaimed her hands over her mouth in horror.

  Lora was so caught up with it, she forgot why she had come. Billie started giggling, then Lora joined in, and soon both were laughing so hard tears were running down their cheeks. When they gained control, Lora remembered something.

  “I forgot to tell you. Officer Bates gave me a good talking to. He said that he should give me a ticket for the reckless U-turn, but since I was suffering with ants still inside my clothes, he would let it go this time. He then told me that if he ever caught me getting bitten again, he’d throw me in jail just to protect me.”

  Billie’s mouth dropped open, then they burst out laughing again.

  When they finally settled down, Billie said, “Officer Bates sounds like such a nice man.”

  “Yes,” she sighed “and he’s so-o good-looking.”

  “But you left something out, Lora. Where did you get stung? And why did you let it happen twice?”

  Lora’s heart sank. Could she go through with this? Billie was turning out to be a friend.

  “What’s the matter, Lora?”

  “Uh . . . uh, you’re going to hate me, Billie, but I just have to tell you after all I’ve gone through. I . . . I got stung by the ants in the bushes—right across from your window.”

  Billie looked blank. “In the bushes outside? In my backyard?”

  “Yes. I sat on an anthill in the bushes while . . . while watching you and Dr. Ackerman hug each other Saturday night.”

  Billie was so dumbfounded, she could only stare at Lora.

  “And what’s more, I’ve uh, been following you and Dr. Ackerman,” she blurted out.

  Billie’s head snapped back as though Lora had struck her. “Why?”

  “Because I was in the video store when he was renting some steamy movies and I just put two and two together.”

  Billie was horrified. “Oh no, Lora, that was a mistake. He doesn’t know anything about the movies today. So he unknowingly rented something inappropriate. He had no idea what he was actually getting.”

  “Well, is a professor supposed to be hugging his student like I saw Dr. Ackerman hugging you Saturday night?”

  “It wasn’t what it looked like, Lora.”

  “Uh, what do you think Dean Atwood would do if I told him?”

  “Billie struggled in sudden shock. She could see how Dodd’s actions might appear to others in their small community. A sudden protective wave swept over her. “Lora! You wouldn’t.”

  “I might, unless—”

  “Lora are you . . . blackmailing me?”

  “No. Well, I think so—sort of.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I . . . don’t know exactly,” she said, her face puckering up, on the verge of tears. “I just . . . just want to get out of my situation, and you, Billie, have so much.”

  “And you think this is the right way to get what you want?”

  “No, but . . .”

  “Lora, I want you to leave right now. I have to think about this. I’ll talk to you another time, and don’t you dare do anything until I talk to you again.

  Do you understand, Lora?”

  “Yes,” she said in a small dismal voice. She got up, walked to the door, and went out, feeling totally despondent. This wasn’t the way she expected to feel—but then, she wasn’t used to being a criminal.

  Billie walked back and forth, her feelings ricocheting from anger toward Lora, to a desire to protect Dodds at any cost. At the same time, she could not quite believe Lora could really do this kind of thing. Stopping abruptly, she ran outside across the small lawn to the bushes and looked in. Sure enough there was what was left of the anthill and ants were swarming around, trying to rebuild their home. The evidence was there, but she wondered—would Lora really do what she had hinted? She walked slowly back to the porch and sat down on the steps. For some reason, Billie didn’t believe she really would, but could she take a chance? What was she going to do?

  The evening was turning into a soft, muted twilight, casting golden hues upon the bushes—Lora’s hiding place. As Billie breathed in deeply several times, the sweet-smelling air acted to calm her frazzled emotions momentarily, but soon she covered her face and muttered, “What shall I do? What shall I do? I need Dodds.” She needed his strong, protecting arms around her as they had been last night.

  How she had needed those embraces and the hope that came with them—the hope that he might feel about her the way she felt about him.

&
nbsp; It took going out with Paul Atwood to help her focus on and understand all the strange emotions she had been feeling lately when she was with her professor. All she could do those four days with Paul, was compare him to Dodds, and as nice as Paul was, he always fell short. For the first time, she acknowledged to herself the true depths of her feelings for Dodds.

  And what Mr. Sheldon Dodds Ackerman didn’t know, she thought ruefully, was her tears last night were more over the fear that he might not feel as she did. When he held her again, her hopes had soared.

  She sat on the steps until long after dark, thinking. At last, she realized what she needed to do, what she had to do. Now, any hopes she had of something growing between her and Dodds were gone, dashed by Lora Lemmon.

  Twenty-Six

  At 9:00 Monday morning, Billie walked into the enrollment office of Fairfield University and formally dropped out of school.

  She entered the 280 class at nine-fifty to attend for the last time. Noticing a group of girls gathering around Lora, she stopped by the group momentarily and peered in. Lora, who had begun telling the story of the second set of ant bites, became tongue-tied when she glimpsed Billie’s face. Billie glared at her a moment, then turned and walked to her seat.

  “Go on, go on!” begged the girls.

  Lora’s muteness soon passed. Caught up in all the attention, she told the story in dramatic detail, creating in her audience the gamut of emotions from horror to laughter.

  This is how Dr. Ackerman found his class, all huddled around Lora Lemmon, but with Billie off by herself. This caused him a moment of reflection.

  “Will you please all take your seats? It’s time for class to start,” he said in a voice loud enough to be heard above the commotion.

  As the group dispersed, he saw Miss Lemmon, looking flushed and excited, her face and arms covered with a new set of red bumps.

  “Miss Lemmon, will you please come up to my desk?”

  “Y-yes Dr. Ackerman.”

  He studied her a moment and lowered his voice. “Don’t tell me that those are more ant bites.”

  “They are, Dr. Ackerman.”

  “Don’t tell me you sat in another anthill.”

  “No, Dr. Ackerman, not another one—the same one.”

  “The same one! Good grief girl, how come?”

  Lora Lemmon, stuttered, shrugged her shoulders, and turned as red as a pie cherry.

  He studied her, trying to fathom this ridiculous girl and her actions. Still smoldering over the incident in the video store, his jaw tightened. Through clenched teeth he said, “Please return to your seat.”

  Turning his attention to the class, he saw Bliss gazing at him intently.

  Their eyes locked. Something was wrong. He cleared his throat and began his lecture.

  The minute class was over, Billie got up, the first to leave the room.

  Stepping quickly over to Dr. Ackerman’s office, she shoved an envelope under the door, walked rapidly out of the building, got into her car, and headed toward her parents’ home.

  Sheldon felt great consternation over Bliss leaving so quickly, not even glancing in his direction. He wanted to talk to her.

  When he unlocked his office door, he noticed the envelope. He picked it up and saw his name printed on the front. Puzzled, he walked around and sat down at his desk, opened it, and looked at the signature. It was from Bliss! He began reading:

  “Dear Dr. Ackerman,” He frowned. Why the formality? he wondered. She was the one who wanted to drop the formality between them. He read on:

  It would be too difficult to explain this in person, so I’m writing it.

  First of all, circumstances have come up that make it impossible for me to remain in school and thus in Project Success. This is not of my own choosing, nevertheless, it is the way it has to be.

  I have moved back home because of these circumstances and I am asking you to please not contact me. It will be of no use, and it will be for the best.

  There is absolutely no fault on your part. You are not to blame in any way. Be assured of that. You have been so kind to me and as I have said, you have helped me greatly.

  Thank you for everything.

  Sincerely,

  Billie Bliss”

  Sheldon was stunned—unable to believe it, not wanting to. Why?

  He read and reread it. The first thought that came to his mind was he had offended her with his embraces Saturday night, but then, as he read it several more times, two things stood out. “This is not of my own choosing” and “There is absolutely no fault on your part.” These two sentences gave him a small measure of comfort.

  -

  Lora hung around the halls awhile, feeling despondent. All the excitement over, her life was back to what it was before she began her titillating detective work—drab and uninteresting. Also, her conscience was pricking her so unmercifully, she was about to go to Billie, apologize and tell her to forget it.

  But not quite. She had to hang on to her plan a while longer. She needed to think about it. Besides, she had to get home and get ready for work. She had missed so much lately, they had threatened to fire her.

  The old, tired feeling was back; she plodded out of the building to her car.

  -

  Sheldon stood on the Bliss porch at 4:00 that afternoon, ringing the door bell. Margaret answered it, and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her.

  “Hello, Sheldon,” she said, a look of concern on her face. “How are you?”

  “Not very well, Margaret. I guess you know about the letter Bliss wrote me?”

  “Yes.”

  “May I see her?”

  “She has asked us to tell you that she cannot see you.”

  “Why, Margaret, why?” His voice grew husky.” This comes as a great shock to me.”

  “I’m sorry, Sheldon, but I can’t tell you why. She has asked us not to.”

  “You know what’s behind all this then?” Sudden hope carried him a step toward her.

  “Yes.”

  “And you can’t tell me?” he asked, distress in his voice.

  “No, Sheldon, I’m sorry.”

  “But it’s not of her own choosing, as she said?”

  “It is something Billie would never choose.”

  “And,” he continued, “as she said, I’m not at fault?”

  “That is absolutely correct.”

  “Please Margaret, tell me what’s going on.”

  “I wish I could, Sheldon.”

  He looked down, his hands in his pockets, silent for a moment, then looked up, “Well, then, I guess I’ll be going,” he said, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Goodnight, Margaret.”

  Billie, heavyhearted, watched Sheldon walk slowly to his car and drive off.

  She wanted to run out to him and tell him everything was all right. But she had to protect him and his reputation at the university. She turned from the window to find her mother standing beside her.

  “I wish you would change your mind, Billie. He was so unhappy.”

  “He was?” Her heart begged to know why he was unhappy, but she only said, “I’m going to drive out to Lora Lemmon’s house now and talk to her, hoping I can find out what’s on her mind.”

  Billie looked up the address, went outside, and got into her car. While driving to Lora’s house, her mind was filled with questions. What was she was going to do now that her life was so cruelly and abruptly changed? Acute loneliness gripped her. Never in all her adult life had she been in love with anyone or even come close—until now. And she was in love with a man ten years older, who probably wouldn’t even entertain the idea of marriage, let alone marriage to someone so much younger! She blinked back the tears that blurred the road.

  She drove into Lora Lemmon’s graveled driveway, turned off the motor and studied the house and yard. The statement that Lora made, “you have so much,” came to mind. I do, she thought—so much more than Lora. Billie dreaded the encounter with her. She could hardly make
herself get out of the car. However, it wasn’t long before she found herself on the small porch ringing the doorbell.

  The door opened and a large, pasty-faced woman peered out.

  “Yes?”

  “Hello, I’m Billie Bliss, a classmate of Lora’s.”

  “Oh yes, she’s mentioned you. Come in.”

  Billie stepped into the darkened room, trying to adjust her eyesight.

  “I’m Ella Lemmon, Lora’s mother. Please have a seat. Excuse the room, my health isn’t good.”

  “Thank you,” Billie sat down on a chair next to the couch, now able to see better, but what she saw depressed her. Ella Lemmon, in a pull-over shift and dirty house slippers, went over to the television, turned it down, pushed uncombed hair from her face, and shuffled over to the couch. Billie noticed the number of bottles of medicine on the lamp table, the drawn blinds, the clutter.

  Ella saw Billie eyeing the medicine. “You see, I have migraines. I haven’t even been able to work lately. And Lora has skipped so much work, they’re about to fire her. I don’t know what has gotten into her.”

  “Is Lora here, Mrs. Lemmon?”

  “No, she finally went to work. Oh, she did say she was going over to see you first, though. Didn’t she?”

  “Oh, no. I’ve moved out of my apartment. She probably went there. I’ve moved to my parents’ home at 303 Maple Ave. Would you tell her this, Mrs. Lemmon?” she asked, standing up to go.

  While driving home, Billie’s brows crinkled in concern. No wonder Lora wants to get out of her situation! Nevertheless, she reminded herself, that is absolutely no excuse for her behaving in such a wicked and devious manner.

  -

  Sheldon walked into his condominium shaking his head. For some reason he found himself thinking about the movie, Pride and Prejudice, and in particular, Darcy’s gut- wrenching agony over Elizabeth. In a startling flash of insight, he realized that it was an agony that he could now fully understand.

  Caught up in the welter of conflicting emotions, he was struck by one thought as powerful as a cold blast of January wind—he would no longer be able to enjoy Bliss’ company! It was more than he could bear.