I could tell she was regretting it as soon as she said it.
“We’re cool Ann. I was just trying to help.”
“I know, you always do.” Her voice sad now.
After we got inside I fixed Ann a cup of coffee and sat across from her. I thought she wanted to talk about something but didn’t know where to start. Slowly tears began to fall. Her shoulders started to tremble, but still she didn’t say a word. So I waited.
Finally the crying stopped and her breathing became calmer.
I waited. When she was ready to talk then I would listen.
“I am just so tired of this. I am tired of busting my ass and being knocked down time and time again.” She was opening up but it was directed more at herself then at me.
“Every time I begin to get ahead I get knocked down. Always. Either I hook up with the wrong guy or I get stupid in some other way.” Still not focusing on me.
“The money I made last night was in the car so it’s gone. I am almost flat broke because I have been trying to pay off other bills. Now I have medical bills that I can’t pay. God knows how much I owe you for all this.” Looking up now but not at me.
“Before this I could always earn as a dancer. Sometimes the places weren’t so nice and there were problems, but I could always get by. I would sleep in my car when I didn’t have a safe place to crash. But now that’s gone. Even when the cast is off it will take at least a month before I am able to build up the muscle mass in my leg again. Even fully healed I will never be as good as I once was. I can’t even afford to pay you back for the prescriptions we dropped off. I can’t afford anything”
That’s it. I’ve had enough.
“So, as I understand it you are feeling down because you have no money. You have no car and no job you could do. Not to mention some broken bones and a pile of debt. Is that about right?”
She can tell I’m mad. It’s finally getting through to her.
“Well guess what? Stop crying and listen up sister! Instead of giving up maybe you should try looking at the ‘Sunny Side’, as you always tell me. When you are ready we can replace your car. When you are ready you can begin working again, doing something different.” Not trying to be mean but I need to snap her out of this.
“If there are bills we will handle them. Yes, that’s right, I said ‘WE’! We’re sisters, not just when it’s convenient, but all the time. When I was hurt by that scumbag Braun you jumped in like an avenging angel to nurse me back to health. So what’s wrong with me doing the same for you?” She looked at me. Shocked by my outburst.
“You forgot to mention my personal stalker.”
“Don’t worry about him. You’re too far away for him to get to you.”
“Far away?”
“You’re on the other side of me.”
The rest of the week went quietly. Beverly knows there is something on my mind that I am not ready to talk about. She is however giving me more routine accounts to handle. She also advised me to get more sleep. Evidently the strain of work, extra studying, school and constantly worrying about Ann is beginning to show. There is a house party at Phil’s and Cindy’s place on Sunday. It will do Ann good to get out and have some fun.
When we pulled up to their driveway Sunday afternoon the party was in full swing. Ann is annoyed by my constant hovering over her and I try to give her a little room. But I don’t know how else to be. This get-to-getter was just what we both need to chill out. Mostly Ann sat on a wooden bench in the yard. People were constantly over there to greet her and make sure her glass was always full. They also kept bringing her plates of food. Some of them even offered to wrap stuff up for her to take home when we left.
That was going a little over board I thought. I am perfectly capable of cooking her meals by myself. But they were probably just being thoughtful. I did notice that she never said ‘No’. She is very considerate of others feelings like that.
Phil said he had always wanted a pool table of his own so Cindy relented and let him have one in the garage. Obviously he is trying to make this into some kind of ‘Man Cave’. I am a lousy pool shot but I do like to play. Roland was there and doing a pretty good job of running the table on everybody.
He was also constantly smiling at me. Damn that man looks good right now.
Maybe it was just the booze I was drinking, maybe it was something else. Either way I decided to have a little fun with him. I waited until he bent over the table trying to make a difficult shot and concentrating totally on the game. I sneaked up behind him, softly blew into his ear then quietly whispered “I want you.”
He was caught completely by surprise and missed the shot entirely. People laughed their heads off. He took it pretty good and turned to me saying “When and where.” Trying to be macho.
“When and where what?” I really can pull off the innocent act when I want to.
“You know what.” Starting to look confused.
“I just said ‘Don’t miss’.” Doing my best not to smile. “It’s not my fault if you can’t close the deal when you have the chance.” With that I slowly strolled over to Ann. Knowing damn well what he was staring at as I walked away. I could hear the other guys razzing him. He is a definite possibility but without flirting first where is the fun?
Ann and Cindy were talking about work stuff and I stood there and relaxed with them. It is good to see some of the tension and worry lines soften and disappear from Ann’s face. This was turning out to be a pretty good Sunday.
* * *
With that thought newly born in my mind everything shifted in an instant.
“YOU BITCH!!!”
The three of us looked over to the side of the house by the road and there was Bobby. Ann’s worthless ex. His face was beet red. I would bet any amount of money that he was doing something besides beer and weed.
Ann was frozen in fear and crippled in her cast. I turned to Cindy and said “Get help.” She took off like a shot.
Some of what he was screaming didn’t make any sense. However I did understand the baseball bat he was swinging in his hand. I understood it quite well.
While things like this might stretch on in your mind, they only last about two minutes in real time. If I don’t stop him then two minutes is more than enough time for him to beat and probably kill Ann. All three of us knew that.
He was screaming at her. Time to refocus him onto me.
I slowly walked out to him. I need more space.
Everything I needed to do was playing out in my head as I was doing it.
“Bobby! Hey sweetie how you been?” smile sweetly.
“I missed you. You know I loved your kisses.” Pout lips, keep him off guard.
“FUCK YOU BITCH! I NEVER KISSED YOU!” That’s right, shift your focus to me.
“You did in my dreams. Don’t you remember us talking about it?” Easing the flick knife from my back pocket and opening it up one handed behind my leg.
He is looking confused for a minute. Keep slightly turned away from him. Don’t let him see the knife.
“FUCK YOU SLUT!!!” His words are getting incoherent.
“Come on honey.” Put some pleading in my voice.
“You know I miss you sweetie.” Pout lips, blow him a kiss.
He is swinging the bat back and forth. Like he thinks he is warming up for the major leagues.
Just a little closer. I need to get my own timing perfectly. There will be no second chance.
His swings with the bat are awkward. I am going to have to jerk back from the front swing then get under the return. If I can get close then I will be able to crawl up his body and put this blade somewhere at least half a dozen times before he can get me.
What happens to me next doesn’t matter. The important thing is that Ann gets away.
Steady.
Steady. Almost time.
&nb
sp; Just a couple more steps. Keep smiling sweetly.
Tilt my head a little to the side.
“Come on lover. Give us a kiss.”
The two of us are focused entirely on each other. There is nothing else. Only us.
That is when he was hit from the back and side by roughly half a ton of bouncers and security guys. He was knocked over and sent flying under their fists and boots. I was so wrapped up in my own little dance with this psychopath that I was as totally surprised as he was. But much, much happier about it.
Marie ran out and picked up the fallen bat. She was standing between him and us with it raised over her head. Ready to swing if by some miracle he worked his way loose. There were no miracles for him this day.
One thought was still in my mind.
I’m not done yet.
I watched the guys. Analyzing their patterns of movement. I saw an opening I could get into. It will be easy to bury this knife deep in his heart.
Beginning to move forward.
Slowly, just a little more.
“Sarah! Sarah help!!” Ann’s voice.
I spun around not knowing what to expect. I could see Ann hobbling over towards me. Not using her crutches, just trying to semi-hop to me. I rushed over and grabbed her.
“What are you doing? What’s wrong! Talk to me Ann!”
Looking around frantically all I can see is our friends surrounding us. What’s scared her?
She is holding onto me with a bear hug/death grip from hell.
“Help me back to the bench.” Suddenly Rico is there wrapping his arms around both of us. I let him take her. She was whispering something to him. Police sirens are wailing, coming this way. Rico grabs her purse for a minute and turns his back calling Marie over. He tells her to watch both of us and goes back to Bobby.
Bobby is lying there bleeding but still breathing. Damn. Rico says something to Roland who comes over to us. A couple of the other guests go out to the street to wave the cops down and show them where we are. Mixed feelings about that. Roland is standing there in front of us blocking our view, like a secondary line of defense.
It must have been a slow day, or they were expecting a mini-riot because four cars of Hamptons finest pulled up and blocked off the street. Somebody had even dispatched an ambulance for Bobby. Bastard, let him bleed.
With twenty witnesses there was little doubt as to what happened. Bobby was semi-conscious but still ranting and screaming how he wanted to “Kill those two sluts!” Such language. Tisk, tisk.
When they were checking him for other injuries the police found a surprise in his back pocket. It was an old style military looking gun. I know that gun. It was Bill’s and had disappeared the day he died. Now I know what happened to it. Now I know why Ann had Rico get something from her purse. I also know what that something was.
The only person who had seen me with a knife was Ann. Neither of us mentioned it to the police. After all what would be the point? We made statements to the cops then the same to the detectives. Then we were questioned by other detectives. When we began to ask questions of our own they were reluctant to say anything to us. They didn’t seem to think that as victims we had a ‘need to know’.
One of them did say that Bobby was on probation and would be going to jail in Richmond until his trial. He would be charged not only for attempted assault but for having a concealed weapon. They also said something that really caught my attention.
“There will be a tow truck out here in a couple of hours to impound his car and get it out of your yard.”
“Officer. What kind of car was he driving?”
“A red VW bug. Why?”
“No reason. Just wondering.”
Needless to say this brought everyone’s party mood to a close. I feel bad for Cindy and Phil but am glad that everything’s over. Well, almost everything.
When everyone wandered away, I sat next to Ann on the bench. I could feel the warmth of the wood where the afternoon sun had been shining on it. It felt good. It feels good to still be alive too.
I had one final question that needed to be answered.
“Ann honey. At the very end you were calling out to me for help, but there wasn’t anybody trying to hurt you. What was up with that?”
She had a very straight forward expression in her eyes. Not the scared look I had been seeing for the last week. “You were going to kill him weren’t you?”
“He wanted to hurt you.”
“Yes he did, but you kept that from happening. Now I know what you meant when you said I ‘was on the other side of you’. But he would have hurt me a different way. If you had killed him then you would have gone to jail for a very long time, maybe forever.”
Nothing to say to that. It was pure truth.
“You do everything you can to protect me. What I did was to protect you, especially from yourself.”
“Alright Sis, let’s go home.”
* * *
Rico and Marie were watching the two of them from across the yard. Marie’s hands were shaking and Rico had his arm wrapped around her, holding her close.
“That ‘sister’ of yours doesn’t have any back down in her does she?”
“Not that I’ve ever seen. That’s why she needs people like us around her to keep her steady.”
* * *
I thought Ann’s and my troubles were over, but maybe that was just a pipe dream.
Chapter Fourteen
After the Monday morning meeting I indicated to Beverly that I wanted to talk privately. We went into her office and shut the door. Sitting across from her I came right to the point.
“In a few weeks I will complete the last of the courses I need to have an Associate degree in Accounting. I expect to have a 4.0 course average and will continue onwards next year to complete my Bachelors.”
Working to keep my voice even. “Because you gave me this chance I am making something of myself. Much more than I was. But I am not as good yet as I am going to be.” I am nervous but keep going.
“I have always tried to be what I considered ‘The Perfect Employee’ to you. Do you have any complaints or comments about the work I have done here?”
“Sarah, if I had a complaint then you would have heard it long before now. I value your work very highly, you know that. You are not the kind of woman to go fishing for compliments so what is it you’re trying to say?” She is the only woman I know that has more of a flat ass stare then I do.
“I do not want to be just another employee any longer. I feel I have out grown that.” Her look at me says to ‘continue’. So I do.
“I want to be a partner. There is still much more I have to learn but we both know not only that I can do it. But that I will do it.” Deep breath. “What do I need to do to make this happen?”
“Sarah, I am glad you asked.”
We stayed in a closed door meeting the rest of the morning.
* * *
Damn, Thomas wished that red head was dancing again tonight. When he brought the latest truck load of cars up from Savannah he had hoped to see her again. When Thomas had first watched her dance in Florida he knew that he would never forget her. She was the only one from his past that he had ever run across again. That is why, when he had happened to see her working at Boston Blackie’s last May he couldn’t believe it. Tomorrow he would be back on the road heading home to Savannah. Shame she wasn’t here, maybe next time.
* * *
The next Sunday Ann and I drafted/bribed Rico, Roland and Phil to help us move into our new home. Cindy and I were loading our cars with kitchen stuff, mostly Ann’s. After all what else do we need to do when we have three big strong men to do the heavy lifting for us?
There was a recipe for making ‘triple chocolate scones’ on the internet so I thought I would give it a try. My idea was to use it as a way to reward the
guys for helping us do everything. Ann is not up to baking yet and I wanted to give her a break. Maybe using Butter Fingers candy bars instead of chocolate chips wasn’t in the menu. But, as I tried to explain to Ann after she smelled them burning, “It didn’t say not to either.”
No one can say I didn’t try. I was ready to give it another shot but everyone said that maybe Dunkin Donuts would be better for moving.
Whatever!!!
Salina and Maria from next door were there to say goodbye. I am going to miss them and their kids. I am going to miss everyone here. That is a strange realization for me. Always before when I left some place I simply left and never looked back. But these were folks I was going to miss.
When everything was finally off loaded and put where we wanted Phil and Cindy went home. Roland returned the U-Haul we’d rented. Marie, bless her heart, helped Ann arrange the kitchen the way she needed it to be so she could feel at home. Since Ann is the one most likely to do the cooking I let her have her way organizing things. I have my personal office the way I want it and Ann has her kitchen the way she wants it. Fair enough.
When I pulled up in my car and walked to the front door I saw two old friends. They were peeking out at me from the bushes. Ann had placed the garden gnomes from Bill’s house so that they were in a place of honor in our garden. Somehow it just feels right having them there.
Now I needed to put the final part of my property plan into action. I asked Rico if he and Marie could stick around a minute so I could show them a couple of things. They gave each other that ’Oh crap’ look. Ann was studiously ignoring everyone.
Really!!!
First we walked out to the free standing garage. Or, as I liked to call it, the ‘Car House’. We opened the side door to get in and look around. I could see Rico sizing everything up.
“Well big Bro, what do you think?”
“It’s a nice place. Plenty of built in tables for work benches. What’s in the small closet?”
“I have some personal junk in there. I was planning on renting the garage out as a work place for someone who might need to fix cars out of the rain and all. Know anyone who would like to rent it?”
Opening the Door Page 22