by J. S. Peck
I looked at the clock and knew if I hurried I would have enough time to go to the employee lounge to reapply my lipstick. I air kissed Romano and gave him a little hug, which he returned. I raced down the hallway. When I opened the door to the lounge, I didn’t see anyone inside although I had the eerie sense that someone was in the room with me. I went to my locker and nearly fainted when I felt someone tap me on the back. I turned around and there was a child about 10 or more years old. She whispered something to me in a language I didn’t quite understand. The only word I could make out was “mother.” I felt at a loss when I realized she was trying to get my help and I couldn’t understand what she wanted.
“Are you looking for your mother?”
When she heard the word “mother,” she nodded her head. “Does she work here?” I asked.
Just then the door opened. It was Johnny who stood in the doorway. “I think she’s looking for her mother,” I said.
“What else did she say?” he demanded.
“I don’t know. I can’t understand what she’s saying because I don’t know what language she’s speaking.”
“I’ll take it from here,” he ordered. “Go! You’re late to relieve Bambi.”
I ran out having forgotten to even apply any lipstick. What was that all about? I wondered.
Bambi was generous as always in not being upset that I was late to relieve her. Nothing seemed to bother her. I wondered unfairly if she was on any drugs. I was surprised to see Thomas arrive and, true to his word, he asked me if drugs were available for purchase. “I don’t know about that, sir,” I played along.
“I was told this was the place to come. I want to see the manager!” he demanded. Johnny must be tending to the girl, I thought, for he was not up front as usual. Another security guard must have heard Thomas’ loud voice for he stepped from the smaller hall leading into the reception area to where we were standing.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“This gentlemen is asking about drugs. I don’t have the answer. He’s demanding to see the manager!” I responded.
“Let me get hold of Tony. Sir, you stay right where you are.”
Thomas nodded his head in agreement and remained where he was leaning on my desk. “Nice job,” he whispered.
“I’ll get him on my radio,” the security guard advised as he turned away from where we were standing to give him privacy. We could still hear him talking to Tony.
Tony came rushing out and seeing me there he looked perplexed. He had made no effort to introduce himself to me and looked as if he expected someone else to be at the desk. “It’s all right…” He couldn’t say my name because he didn’t know it.
Thomas stepped in to ease the awkwardness. “Tony? I’ve been told that I can purchase what I need here, if you know what I mean,” he said giving Tony a wink, “as long as I’m with one of the girls, of course. Is that right?”
I watched Tony smoothly push Thomas into the hallway leading into the bar area or beyond. I noticed that Thomas was wearing a baggy jacket. Guess, I’d find out later if he succeeded with getting his drugs.
It was just about time for Cindy to relieve me when Brian and Mike came in together. Johnny was back on duty in the front area and he eyed them as they greeted me. “Hi, Sunshine!” said Brian. I smiled at him, glad to see him.
With Johnny watching our every move, Mike stepped forward as my fiancé to welcome me with a kiss. I kissed him back pleased to be more than acting our parts and I saw Brian scowling as we pulled apart.
Cindy came round the corner and brightened when she saw Mike standing there. “Hi, handsome!”
He smiled at her and said, “How’s it going, Sweet Thing?”
I looked at Mike. I didn’t say a word for I hadn’t realized that he knew her nickname. He looked at me and his cheeks reddened. He said to me, “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to stay and have a drink with Brian. He’s falling for that cute little red head and can’t take his eyes off her,” he teased.
Bambi? Brian’s head whipped around to look at Mike at the same time Johnny’s did. Both wore a surprised look and soon to follow a murderous one. Obviously, Mike didn’t realize he was setting Brian up for real trouble from Johnny if he made the tiniest move on Bambi. Brian didn’t like to be played by anyone.
Cindy collected their money. I waited for them so we could walk down the hall together toward the bar area. As we rounded the corner, I pulled on Brian’s sleeve and whispered what I had learned from Romano about the big event tomorrow night. I told him that Thomas was here somewhere, too.
“Nice work, Rosie!” he said as he patted my shoulder in appreciation. “Go home, now. No worries. I’ve got surveillance watching the house.” He paused a moment before adding, “I know. You don’t need my help,” looking a bit peeved at my expression.
“Actually, I’m glad that you have that set up,” I said, surprising him. He looked at me in confusion and then pleasure for having said something right for a change. He shook his head back and forth a few times and said, “See you later.”
I walked through the bar and headed down the hallway to the employee lounge. Before I got there, I heard loud noises coming from the pool area and went to see what was happening. I peeked through the door that was propped open and could see several men lining up chairs in two rows facing a podium. That’s interesting, I thought. I wonder who’s going to be giving a speech. And on what subject? I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and quickly turned and raced back to stand by the entrance of the employee lounge as if I was just arriving there. I wanted to see who it was heading my way.
Mama rounded into view and was surprised to see me standing there. She looked at her watch, checking the time and said in a dismissive tone, “Time for you to go home. See you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Mama,” was all I said.
In the employee lounge, there were two dancers sitting at the table drinking coffee. Instead of gathering my purse and heading straight home, I sat down with them to drink a glass of water hoping I would overhear some gossip. Sure enough, I heard the first one ask her friend, “What the heck is going on?”
The second one answered. “Who knows? Mum’s the word. Mama is so uptight that she’s about ready to explode.”
“Oh, well. I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.” Both of the girls got up to leave. They smiled at me and said, “Have a good night.” In unison. We all looked at each other and chuckled. Then, each of us went our own separate way.
CHAPTER 31
When I got home, I could see Sweet Pea was upset. It was late and although food had been set out for her, she had no interest in eating without an audience to watch her. I guess dogs feel the same way we humans do about eating alone. I picked her up and carried her into the living room, holding her close and saying sweet things to her. Then, I put on some music and poured myself a glass of wine even though it was late. I sat at the kitchen table so I could watch Sweet Pea eat her dinner. I was so tired and keyed up, I hoped I would be able to fall asleep and sleep soundly.
Instead, I tossed and turned all night looking at the clock every hour or so. Part of me was waiting for Mike to come home so I would know all was okay. The last time I looked at the clock it was 3:15. I must have fallen asleep after that for it was Sweet Pea bouncing around on the bed that woke me up at 6:30. I couldn’t hear Mike moving around or smell coffee brewing either. Guess he’s not home ….
I got up, put on my robe, and checked the guest room. It was empty. I went down the stairs and began to brew a pot of coffee myself. As I walked past my shiny stainless steel refrigerator, I could see my reflection, and it wasn’t good. It looked as if I had the largest afro since Diana Ross. Hers looked good on her. Mine did not.
The doorbell rang and Sweet Pea went crazy. I peeked through the peep hole and there was the Bat Man/ Robin duo of Brian and Mike. Both lo
oked as bad as I did. Even so, I wished that at the very least I’d brushed my teeth and put moisturizer on my face. I was feeling so unattractive I was beginning to feel sorry for myself. I opened the door to let both in and, as tired as they were, they brightened when they saw my hair. I watched them struggle to remain straight-faced. They didn’t have to say a word for it was written all over their faces. “C’mon in. Coffee’s brewing,” I said, ignoring the look they gave each other.
We sat at the kitchen table drinking our coffee to review what had taken place. I was curious to find out about Thomas. “Did Thomas get his drugs?”
“Just some pot,” answered Brian. “Apparently, they vet their people before supplying them the heavy stuff.”
“Huh. I guess that’s a smart thing for them to do, isn’t it? How did you make out with Bambi?”
Mike started to laugh and Brian hit him hard on the upper arm. “Ouch! Don’t get mad at me! You should’ve known better than to step on any man’s territory!”
I could see it now. As handsome as Mike is, he doesn’t have the smooth moves of a man who has been around the ladies that much. I find that to be part of his charm. But if Brian showed even the slightest interest in Bambi, I knew Johnny would get back at him in some way. “What happened?” I asked.
“Brian tried to play up to Bambi a bit. After a while, I could tell Johnny was getting really pissed at us,” answered Mike. “Then he came to our table, dragging another young dancer behind him. He leaned down and whispered to us, ‘this girl is more your speed, fellas’. Apparently, she was new and didn’t really know what she was doing. It was embarrassing. Everyone was watching us. She was all over Brian and trying to do things that were…”
Oh my God! I thought. That must have been Shirley!
“Well, you can just imagine,” Mike finished. Both men looked at each other and began to laugh at themselves.
I watched them thinking, boys will be boys. Men don’t really grow up, do they? Then, I asked Brian, “What else did you find out?”
“You’re right,” answered Brian in a serious voice, “it appears as if something’s going down tomorrow night. You could feel the excitement in the air.”
“I think so, too,” I said. “Last night after leaving you two, I went into the pool area because I heard noises there. It looked as if they are expecting quite a few people the way they are setting up and arranging everything there. . .”
Brian interrupted me. “Well, we’ll be there at the Purple Passion tonight for sure. Maybe we can get into whatever’s going on. Can you see what you can do to make that happen, Rosie girl?” he asked.
“I’ll try,” I responded wondering how I could pull that off.
“Well,” said Brian, looking at his watch as he drained the last of his coffee, “I’m going to report into the station and then I’m going home to get a few hours of “shut eye” before we re-group. How about you Mike? Can you grab a few hours?”
“I’ll head upstairs as soon as I finish my coffee. What time are we meeting?”
“I want us all to meet at 1 o’clock in Thomas’ hotel room. Then, I want to make sure to get to the Purple Passion while Cindy is still at the front desk. Maybe she knows something she’d be willing to share with us. I’ll leave that up to you, Mike, since she seems so interested in you,” he teased.
“Right on,” Mike responded.
I felt a pang of jealousy. Brian didn’t really need me at the Purple Passion as long as Cindy was there. Nor Mike either. I chided myself for thinking that nothing could happen without me. Does jealously become a part of how girls change if there are men in their lives? If so, I was no different than they were. In addition, I needed to recognize the fact that I wasn’t actually dating Brian or Mike or were they “in my life” that way. Time to close the door on going down that path, I thought.
Brian left and Mike went upstairs to shower and nap. I began to dust and vacuum, putting away the few things out of place. Whenever I’m upset, I clean. Afterwards, I went into my office and finished up a column I was writing for Women Living Well magazine about the energy of jealousy, something I now was intimately familiar with at the moment. It turned out pretty good and helped me have a different perspective on my feelings. I’m just human, after all.
Mike was soon up and called for one of the men in Brian’s group to pick him up at the house. He said he had work to do before meeting Brian at 1 o’clock. He kissed me lightly on the cheek, mostly by habit now, and headed out the door, much to Sweet Pea’s dismay.
I was feeling sleepy and knew I’d have time to take a nap before I had to get ready for work. Believing we might be right about it all going down tonight, I knew it would be a long night for all of us and it would be a good idea to be well rested.
I cuddled in bed with Sweet Pea nestled beside me, and I immediately fell asleep. My dreams were wild and real. In one of them, my feet were as heavy as cement as I was trying to run toward the outstretched hand of the young girl I had seen at the Purple Passion Lounge. I could hear a parade of feet racing behind me running faster than I was going. They were getting closer and closer. The girl kept hollering, “Help me, Rosie! Help me, please!” I started to scream as I felt a hand grabbing me from behind. I abruptly woke up with Sweet Pea standing over me wearing a worried expression, and making small mewling sounds.
I sat up in bed and covered my eyes with my hands thinking about the girl. I’d read enough to know some of the ways drug cartels get drugs into the United States. One of them was to have a mother with a child accompanying them, who’d carry stuffed toys filled with powdered drugs. And even once, a potato head toy. I’d heard of young girls wearing sanitary napkins filled with drugs. Was this girl being used like that?
As I stood in the shower washing my hair with water pouring down my body, I couldn’t get the vision of my dream out of my head. I felt the girl had something to do with all that was happening at the Purple Passion Lounge. I wasn’t sure how it would all play out. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, I thought with a twist of my heart. If it came to the necessity of my protecting her, I would do so without a doubt.
CHAPTER 32
I was almost late for work. I was feeling sluggish after my nap and couldn’t decide what to wear. I pulled out another pair of flowing pants with deep pockets because I knew I needed to have my phone with me in case I had to get hold of Brian or Mike. The top I chose showed greater cleavage but had a larger amount of material that flowed from there giving the entire outfit a casual, sensual look. Perfect.
By the time I arrived at the Purple Passion Lounge, I was alert and ready for whatever the evening would bring. I was surprised to see Mama, not Cindy, at the front desk waiting for me. She was wearing makeup which did nothing for her other than make her look clownish. She was a bit disheveled and she seemed excited. “Oh, there you are!” she called out impatiently. “I need to talk to you. I have some important guests coming later and I want to make sure you don’t charge them the entrance fee.”
“No problem, Mama. Do you have their names for me?”
“No names. They’ll tell Johnny or you they’re here to see me. Johnny is the one who’ll bring them to me. If anyone comes in asking for me after Johnny has left with a guest, have him wait with you or Cindy until Johnny returns.”
“Okay. I understand.”
I must have had a questioning look on my face when I heard Cindy would be here with me. She added, “I want the two of you here at the front desk after your break. I trust that’s not a problem.”
I could feel my face brighten. “No problem, Mama.”
“All right, then. See that you follow my orders.” She left me wondering what exactly was going on. I still had my purse with me and when Johnny came into the front area, I asked him, “Would you mind watching the desk so that I can put my purse in my locker?”
“Take your time,” he said, without consid
ering what that could mean. That was so unlike previous times when he would order me to hurry. Yes, there definitely was something going on.
“Thanks, Johnny.”
As I cut through the bar, I saw Thomas sitting at one of the smaller café tables with one of the dancers. It looked as if Thomas was drinking something bubbly. Maybe even a sprite or 7UP. It looked like the girl had been drinking something stronger for she seemed to drape herself across the table as she was reaching to hold his hand. I ignored them both, I didn’t see either Mike or Brian. I hurried along until I was stopped by to say hello to Romano.
“My darling Rosebud!” he enthused as I passed by his kitchen. I turned around and stepped into his kitchen. We air kissed and he looked pleased to see me.
He hugged me, and whispered, “You are a breath of fresh air! Everyone is in such a dither around here; it’s just been crazy!”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing good for sure. You can count on that.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Mama puts on makeup, we’re all in trouble,” he responded with a distasteful look on his face.
“I saw the pool room yesterday; it looks like they are going to have a big meeting. Do you know what that’s all about?”
“No, but all the food is ready for them or will be in about an hour or two. I am to begin serving at 9 o’clock and I have strict orders that I’m the only one allowed in the pool area. I have to let my help go no later than 7:00 p. m. and serve the food myself. Can you imagine?” asked Romano with displeasure in his voice that rose in pitch at the end.
“Poor Romano. That’s not right, is it? You shouldn’t have to be the one to serve.”
“Ah, well. Life is not fair, my little flower.”
“So I won’t see you tonight then for my break. Well, good luck with…”
“Oh, no, my little Rosebud. You still come to me.”
“Are you sure?”