Tallulah Bankhead Slept Here

by Sam Lollar

  “I’m hoping to,” I said shyly.

  “So am I,” he said as he gathered me in his arms and kissed me. “I don’t know when I’ve felt this good. You are wondrous, Aaron.”

  “As are you, Rick.”

  That night was a repeat of the previous one. In fact, I began spending just about every night there.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Good-bye GTO, Hello Rolls

  Our torrid romance continued for almost a month before I noticed Rick had begun to distance himself from me. Although I had never brought my clothes and other items to Rick’s on a permanent basis, I did nonetheless feel like his place was my “home away from home.” Over the four-week period, Rick became more and more distracted. I didn’t spend every night with him as I had the first two weeks. He went days without calling me. I was becoming distraught.

  I was having dinner with Scott one night after the four weeks and just spilled all my anguish. “Scott, he doesn’t want me anymore.”

  “Aaron, remember when I told you that his activities didn’t constitute a marriage proposal?”

  “Yes. But, Scott, everything was going so beautifully.”

  “I know, sport, but I warned you not to fall in love with him. He’s always on the prowl for fresh meat. I wish I could have felt different about you and him, but I was fearful of this from the start. You know what they say, though. The best way to get over a man is to get a new man.”

  “But I don’t want another man, Scott. I want Rick.”

  “I wish I could make it all better for you, but I’m sure you know Rick just isn’t the settling-down type. And besides, you’re really too young to become permanently involved with anyone. I have a feeling this is going to be a good lesson for you. In years to come, you’ll likely have your heart broken again.”

  “That doesn’t sound too promising,” I said as I sobbed at the table, finally putting my head down and crying my eyes out. Scott was right, but I hated to admit it. I knew deep down I was infatuated with Rick but not really in love with him. After all, I’d only known him for four weeks—how could I be in love already? But whether I had that insight or not back then, I can’t remember. I’m sure I didn’t.

  Scott moved close to me and rubbed my back and neck. The waiter came over to see if everything was all right. Scott told him I had just gotten some bad news, but that everything was really okay. I cried for a few more minutes, then wiped my eyes with the napkin. Scott smiled at me. “You look so miserable. I wish I could do something to change things. Aaron, it will look brighter with every new day. Don’t despair.”

  Later in the week, Rick called and asked me to come over to his place. Since I had a class to go to, I mustered my strength and refused, suggesting we meet instead at a restaurant that evening. We arrived at the same time and sat at a table in the corner away from everyone else.

  We ordered, then he got down to business. “Aaron, I think you are the most terrific guy I’ve ever met…”

  “But?” I said, waiting for the inevitable.

  He stammered for a bit, cleared his throat a few times, and finally said, “Well, I’m afraid you might be falling in love with me. I am very fond of you, I cherish the times we’ve spent together—”

  I jumped in before he could say another word. “But it’s time we quit seeing each other?”

  “Oh, Aaron. Please don’t say it with such finality. I would love to continue seeing you, just maybe not so frequently.”

  “Rick, it would be easier for me if we didn’t see each other at all. Whenever I see you, I want to touch you and kiss you. It would be simpler if I just didn’t see you anymore.”

  He had tears in his eyes. “Aaron dear. You are so beautiful, but so young. I hope you realize that this hurts me deeply. I truly think it’s in your best interest if you disentangle yourself from me.”

  I cried a bit, he cried a bit, we ate some of our dinner, neither of us being particularly hungry. After a couple of hours of more talking and trying to reassure each other of how special the other was, we went our separate ways, he in his GTO, me in the Mercedes. Back at the motel, I locked myself in my room and cried harder than I’d ever cried before. I didn’t come out for two days, not even to go to school.

  I didn’t clean myself or shave, just lay about watching television, not eating, not doing much of anything. After midnight, I would sneak down to the vending machines and get a Dr Pepper and a bucket of ice when no one would see me. Otherwise, I was a real recluse. After a couple of days, people began knocking on the door. “Aaron? Are you in there? Are you okay?”

  On the third day, Bob knocked. “Aaron, if you don’t open the door, I’m going to use the passkey. We’re all concerned about you. Please open the door.”

  I was too out of it to even go to the door. “Aaron, I’m coming in. This has gone on long enough.” He opened the door with his passkey and entered the dark and dreary confines of my self-imposed prison.

  “Jesus, Aaron. What’s going on? You look terrible. Are you ill? Have you been eating at all? You look gaunt and none too healthy. Have you even taken a shower recently? You sure don’t smell like it. Obviously, you haven’t shaved.”

  Trying to speak for the first time in three days, I croaked out, “I’m all right, Bob. I just want to be alone.”

  “But, sport, you haven’t gone to class. You haven’t answered the phones. You haven’t eaten. I’m really concerned. Why don’t you go take a shower, and we can go get something to eat, just you and me.”

  It took a lot of coaxing and Bob had to threaten to call my mother in Dallas, but I finally got up and showered. I didn’t shave, though. Maybe I would grow a beard like Rick’s. I exited the bathroom, not even caring that I was naked. I sat in a chair, and put my head in my hands and started crying again. Bob pulled out some clothes for me to wear.

  “Here, kid, put some clothes on.”

  I sat a bit longer and finally took the clothes from the chair arm and dressed.

  “Let’s go, Aaron. I’m hungry for a hamburger.”

  I got in the red and white Lincoln with him, and he kept up the idle chatter until we got to a hamburger restaurant. As we sat down, the perky waitress tried to be helpful and friendly. Finally, I just couldn’t take it anymore and yelled at her to go away and leave us alone. She looked at me, startled, and then at Bob.

  Bob calmly apologized to the waitress. “Aaron, if she leaves, we won’t get anything to eat. What do you want?”

  I remained silent until finally he ordered for me. We sat in silence for a long time. We got our food, then she took the plates away even though I hadn’t eaten a bite. Bob finally started talking. “Aaron, what’s going on? Scott said you and Rick have broken up.”

  “Ha. You have to be going with someone before you can break up with him.”

  “I thought you two were going together. What happened?”

  “You mean Scott didn’t tell you?”

  “No, he’s been really reticent to talk about you at all the past few days. What’s going on?”

  I told him about my conversation with Rick and about the split. “The worst thing about it, Bob, is that I really think all he wanted from me was the sex. He didn’t care about me, just my various body parts. I feel so cheap and used. I feel dirty.”

  “I’ve never heard this kind of thing from a man before. From women, yes, but not a man. We men must be real bastards. Is there some way I can help?”

  “No, I’ll have to deal with this myself, I’m afraid.” I continued to cry quietly until Bob suggested we be on our way. He put his hand on my shoulder as he parked the Lincoln at the motel. “Aaron, I’m here for you, just call if you want to talk.”

  I continued my reclusive ways for another week. Every day Bob would be over with a meal at lunch and dinner. Sometimes I would eat, other times I’d just leave the food untouched on the tray. My beard began filling in and looked pretty snazzy, so I decided to keep it for a while. Try as I might, I couldn’t make myself shower regularly. Bob
remonstrated with me daily, urging me to bathe and clean up. Eventually, of course, I came out of it. I went to school and tried to make up whatever work I had missed, with mixed success.

  One afternoon I was back at work when a beautiful 1966 Rolls-Royce pulled under the porte cochere. Out stepped a very attractive mature woman, quite well dressed. She entered the lobby and came right to the front desk where I was standing with Bob. “Is this the Rancho Sonora Motel?”

  “Yes, ma’am, it is. Would you like a room?”

  “Perhaps later. I’m looking for Mrs. Schuster and another dear friend of mine. I’m told they are here.”

  “I’ll get Mrs. Schuster on the phone right away,” Bob said. Mrs. Schuster was in the lobby within a very few minutes.

  “Ruby. Ruby darling, it’s so good to see you. I didn’t know you were coming this way.”

  “To tell you the truth, Dollie, I had to deliver some news to LuLu and thought it would be fun to drive out. It’s only a day’s drive from L.A. Of course you have to drive a hundred miles an hour to do it.” They both laughed, and Mrs. Schuster told Bob to sign her up in the connecting room next to Miss LuLu.

  She turned to me. “Aaron, I’m taking Ruby up to my suite. Be a dear and drive her car around to her room and take her bags in.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said enthusiastically. Ruby gave me the keys, and I soon found myself piloting a Rolls-Royce. I was in heaven. Such a car! I was disappointed when I finally parked it at her room. Opening the trunk, I found a couple of suitcases and another hat box. Did all women everywhere except El Paso wear hats? I took them into the room and went back to the lobby, giving the keys to Bob.

  “How is it to drive that baby?” he asked.

  “Wow. It’s spectacular. I’d love to be able to drive it from L.A. to El Paso. I bet it flies like the wind.”

  Sometime later, I ran into Miss LuLu and this Ruby woman. “Aaron, this is my dear friend Ruby,” Miss LuLu said.

  “Hi Miss Ruby, it’s nice to meet you.” I wonder who she really is.

  “What a darling young man. I’m delighted to meet you as well. That beard makes you look very mature and distinguished. I like it.”

  “Oh, thank you,” I said, blushing slightly.

  “Aaron, I like it, too, now that you mention it. You look older and more sophisticated,” Miss LuLu said.

  “Thanks, Miss LuLu.”

  “You know what? Why don’t the three of us and Dollie go to that quaint Mexican restaurant I love so much in New Mexico? I’ve forgotten the name of it again, dear boy. What is it?”

  “La Posta. In Old Mesilla.”

  “It sounds like it’s in Old Mexico, LuLu,” Miss Ruby said.

  “Oh, but it’s not. It’s not like anything you’ve been to before, believe me. It’s where Billy the Kid used to hang out. You can almost hear the outlaws and Indians storming the doors. You’ll love it,” Miss LuLu enthused.

  “I’m fascinated, darling. What time shall we go?”

  “What would be a good time, Aaron?”

  “Since it’s Wednesday, probably any time is as good as another. It only really gets busy on the weekends. Whenever you say, I’m sure will be fine.”

  “Let’s make it for seven, then. Aaron, I’ll call you and let you know where we are. You’ll drive, of course?”

  “Sure thing. I don’t imagine anyone’s using the Lincoln.”

  “Lincoln? Dear boy, I didn’t get that Rolls so it could sit in the parking lot. We’ll drive it.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” is what I said, but I was jumping for joy inside.

  About six thirty that evening, Mrs. Schuster called to tell me to get the keys to the Rolls and drive over to her suite. Bob winked at me as I picked up the keys. “Enjoy that car,” he said. “I’ve never been in a Rolls before.”

  No wonder they were called Silver Clouds; it felt like being on a cloud. I picked up the three women, and we exited the motel parking lot. “Right here is where the accident occurred, Ruby,” Miss LuLu said as we entered onto Mesa Street. “We were so lucky to have escaped with our lives, dear girl. Only poor Aaron was injured. Just like a knight of old, he took the fall to save us poor damsels in distress.”

  “Did she tell you it totaled the Lincoln?” Mrs. Schuster asked.

  “But I thought you have a Lincoln now,” Miss Ruby said.

  “Oh, we do. But it’s a new one. The old one was so spacious and convenient when picking up people at the airport or train station that we wanted another one.”

  “How badly were you injured, darling?” Miss Ruby asked me.

  “Not too badly, just a broken leg and shoulder.”

  “Not too badly indeed,” Miss LuLu and Mrs. Schuster said almost simultaneously. Miss LuLu continued, “This dear child was hospitalized for the better part of two weeks and then spent another month in traction here at the motel. Add on the two weeks’ additional physical therapy, and you can see he was injured rather badly.”

  “Oh, Miss LuLu. I’m fully recovered now.”

  “Yes, and that’s the important thing. Why, I don’t think I could have lived with myself if you had been taken from us.”

  By the time we got to La Posta, the women were talking about old times and the problems that Miss LuLu faced with her ex-boyfriend.

  “He’s out for blood, darling,” Miss Ruby continued. “He’s very angry with you for taking all those jewels he gave you. He’s threatened to call the FBI to find you and get those stones back.”

  We eventually arrived at the restaurant and went inside. I think the three women had a wonderful time, the ladies talking about the jewels and former husbands and all. They included me in their conversations as well. All they really wanted me for was to act as chauffeur, of course. They probably would have preferred it if I had stayed in the car. But since I was there, they treated me nicely.

  We returned to the motel, me letting Mrs. Schuster out first and then taking the other two ladies to their rooms. Parking the Rolls, I told Miss Ruby how wonderful it was to drive it.

  “Thanks, dear boy. I know what you mean, I like driving it, too.”

  Each passing day of the semester was a bit easier than the last, I was finally getting over Rick, and I managed to get caught up in school work. Scott had asked me to go to one of the other bars in town, but I had refused, fearing I would see Rick with another guy. It would have killed me to see who had taken my place in his bed, if not in his heart. I still held out hope that he really loved me, a foolish teenage fantasy. In reality, I knew there was no room in that bastard’s heart for anyone except Rick himself. I thought him selfish, but he was in my fantasies at night.

  Miss Ruby had been on site for about two weeks when Mrs. Schuster came into the lobby one afternoon. “Aaron, we’ve got a proposition for you.”

  “What’s that, Mrs. S?”

  “Ruby and LuLu think it would be a kick to go to L.A., and Scott and I decided we would go, too. We were thinking how much easier it would be if you could help drive us there. Of course, we’ll pay for everything.”

  “Won’t that be crowded?”

  “Nonsense, dear, we’ll be in her Rolls.”

  “But what about school? It’s almost the end of the semester.”

  “Well, when does school let out for the semester?”

  “In two weeks.”

  “We’ll go in two weeks, then.”

  “How long were you planning on staying?”

  “A couple of weeks at most. This motel won’t run itself. And if I know Scott, he’ll spend money like water out there. So it’ll only be for a couple of weeks. What do you say?”

  “I’d love to go.” I figured it would help me quit thinking about Rick and get over the brutal semester I’d been enduring. Plus, who wouldn’t want to spend two weeks in Southern California?

  Chapter Twenty

  The Brand-New Thunderbird

  As I was doing my afternoon television checks, I was enjoying the style of a brand-new Thunderbird parked in front
of one of the rooms and feeling buoyant about the upcoming trip, but I got an unexpected visit from Rick. He arrived at the motel when I was checking for the televisions, and Bob told him where he could find me. Afterward Bob said he tried to keep Rick from finding me, but to no avail. I was around back when Rick caught up with me near Miss LuLu’s and Miss Ruby’s rooms. I saw him coming toward me and hoped one of them was still there. I casually walked to Miss LuLu’s door and knocked. She answered quickly.

  “Rick is coming up in about ten seconds. Can I hide in your room for a few minutes?”

  “Certainly, dear boy. Come in, quickly, quickly, I see him now.”

  I entered, and she shut the door behind me. No sooner did the door close than Rick began knocking. “Aaron, I know you’re in there. I just saw you. Come on out, we’ve got to talk.”

  Miss LuLu was so kind. She opened the door a crack and said no one was there but her. “Miss LuLu, I know he’s in there. I saw him go in. Please let me talk to him.”

  “Rick, I don’t think he wants to see you.”

  “Go away,” I yelled from the corner of her room. “I don’t want to see you.”

  “Aaron, please, babe. Come talk to me. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Just a moment, Rick, I’ll talk to him,” Miss Lulu whispered. She shut the door and came over to me. “Aaron, if you really don’t want to see him, I’ll get rid of him. But maybe you should see him. You’ve been trying to get over him for quite a while now. Maybe telling him once again how you feel will truly get rid of him.”

  “Yeah, Miss LuLu, but he may also get me back in the sack. I’m not over him at all. I’m afraid of him, of what he’ll do to me, how he’ll make me feel.”

  “How would you feel?”

  “Helpless and out of control. I know he just wants to use me, to fuck me. I want to go to bed with him so bad it hurts. But I don’t think it’s such a good idea. He’ll only hurt me again.”

  “Oh, dear. I hate being in the middle of this. I don’t know how to advise you. Maybe you should see him and maybe you shouldn’t. I just don’t know. But is it a good idea to try to run away from your troubles?”