I was thankful I didn’t have a mouthful of Cream of Wheat or it would have come out my nose, I laughed so hard.
“Tex is a nut,” I said when I was done laughing.
“Tex is a nut,” Vance agreed.
“What’s on for your day?” I asked.
“Never know where the day’ll take me,” he replied.
I sighed and leaned into his knee. “That’d be nice.” I took another bite of Cream of Wheat.
“Jules?”
“What?” I asked with my mouth full (Auntie Reba would have had a conniption). Then I swallowed.
“Wherever it takes me, good to know in the end, it’ll lead back to you.”
Luckily I had swallowed because my mouth dropped open.
Vance watched me a beat and said, “If you fuckin’ freak out, I’m cuffin’ you to the bed.”
My mouth snapped shut. “Indy says that doesn’t work,” I informed him snottily.
He watched me another beat again openly surprised by what I shared. Then he laughed.
“That’s more than I needed to know about Lee’s relationship with Indy,” Vance said through his laughter.
Then a thought hit me. “Don’t tell anyone I told you that,” I demanded.
He grinned at me. “Why not?”
“Because it’s nobody’s business.”
“Indy told you.”
“Yes but she probably didn’t expect me to blab it to you.”
“Women talk.”
I turned away from him and put my bowl in the sink.
“Women talk! Ha!” I said. “You boys are the biggest gossips I’ve ever met.”
Vance jumped off the counter and leaned into me to put his bowl next to mine. “You ever do a shift in the surveillance room, you’ll understand. Gotta have something to break the monotony.”
I turned to him. “Well, break it with something else. I don’t want to make an enemy of Lee.”
His arms slid around me. “That’s not gonna happen.” His face came close to mine. “The cherry poppin’ conversation in your living room was the topic of conversation for days. Mace taped it and played it for the whole team.” I was back to staring at him with my mouth open and I think my heart stopped beating. “Look at this as your way of getting even,” he finished.
“That’s it!” I declared. “No cookies for Mace. I don’t care if he did beat someone up for me.”
I felt Vance’s body move against mine with laughter. Still laughing, he touched my lips with his own and said, “Gotta go.”
“Fine,” I grumbled.
He grinned, ignoring my grumble. “I get done in time, I’ll make dinner.”
“Fine,” I was still not over the fact that the cherry popping conversation was taped and used for the Nightingale Investigation Team’s amusement. Then another thought struck me. “If Dawn ever sees that tape –”
The laughter went out of his eyes. “Dawn is never gonna see that tape.”
At that, I smiled.
Vance smiled back, grabbed the cookies and then he was gone.
Then I remembered something and, probably too late, I yelled, “Don’t forget! No cookies for Mace!”
I heard the backdoor slam.
* * * * *
That afternoon still with no sign of my monthly visitor, who always came on time and was never late, I called Vance (though, not to give him a progress report on my monthly visitor).
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Hey,” I said.
“I was just gonna call you,” he told me.
“You making dinner?” I asked.
“Don’t think so, I’m in New Mexico.” My body went still and Vance kept talking. “I’m after a skip.”
I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t often that you were standing in your kitchen in Denver with someone, calmly eating Cream of Wheat in the morning and in the afternoon, without warning, they were in New Mexico.
“Jules?”
“I… okay,” I said.
“You all right with this?”
“Um, sure,” I lied. I was freaking out; do not ask me why I just was.
“Trail’s hot. It won’t take long.”
I didn’t want to sound like a clingy, stalker, psycho bitch-from-hell but I didn’t know what to say at that moment that wouldn’t sound like a clingy, stalker, psycho bitch-from-hell.
So I stayed silent.
“I’m off tomorrow. Do you want to spend the night at the cabin? I’ll meet you there.”
I shook my head and said, “No, I think I’ll call the girls, see if they want to go out after I talk with Heavy, Zip and Frank.”
“I’ll come to your place when I’m done with this.”
That at least made me feel better.
“Okay.”
It was Vance’s turn to be silent.
“Vance?”
“You’re not okay with this,” he said.
“It’s what you do,” I told him as if he didn’t know.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll get used to it.”
Silence.
“You just surprised me.”
More silence.
“New Mexico is only one state away. It isn’t like you’re all of a sudden in New Zealand.”
More silence.
“Though, I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand. I’ve heard it’s beautiful there and the people are nice.”
More silence.
“I should probably take Roam to a beach during my next vacation so he can learn how to surf.”
“Jules?” Vance finally spoke.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
I smiled.
* * * * *
I’d spent some time in the rec room with the kids and was walking down the hall on my way back to the office when I turned my head and looked in the window to the blue room. With the tutor Stu, sat Roam, Sniff and Clarice.
I kept walking a few paces and then stopped dead. Then I walked backwards and looked into the room.
My eyes were not deceiving me, sitting in the room with Roam, Sniff and the tutor was Clarice.
Before they could see me, I kept walking.
Clarice had never gone to a tutoring session. Andy was working with her but she was a no-go. Tough-as-nails and out on the street nearly as long as Roam had been. I thought she only came to the Shelter to watch television, get a decent meal and brag about her shoplifting escapades.
Now she was working with Stu.
That was a mini-miracle. And the mini-miracle worker was Daisy.
When I got to my desk, I flipped open my phone and called Daisy.
“Hey Sugar, what’s up?” Daisy answered.
“Vance is after a skip,” I told her. “He’s in New Mexico. Thought maybe, if you’re not busy, you might want to go out and get some drinks, maybe dinner.”
“I’ll have to check with my husband.”
“If you have to do something with Marcus, that’s cool, I’ll call –”
“What did you say?” Daisy cut in but she did it on a whisper. It was weird hearing Daisy whisper. I’d never heard it before. She was not a whispering kind of person.
“I said, if you have to do something with Marcus, that’s cool. I’ll just call –”
“You know?” Daisy broke in again.
“Know what?”
“Know… do you know who Marcus is?”
Finally I got it. “Yeah,” I said quietly.
“I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you. How long have you known?”
“Awhile,” I said, “Luke told me.”
She was silent a few beats then she asked, “Do you really know who Marcus is?”
“Yeah,” I repeated, again quietly.
“You don’t mind?”
Oh, I minded.
One thing I’d learned in life was that women could bitch about their men until they were blue in the face and you could listen and nod and offer support. But you never as in never said something bad a
bout a woman’s man no matter how much she bitched or how much he may deserve it. It always came back to haunt you.
“Just call me after you talk to Marcus,” I said instead of answering.
“All right, Sugar,” Daisy replied, now her tone was quiet, not a whisper but barely there.
“Daisy?” I called.
“Yeah?”
“Clarice is in with the tutors,” I told her.
Daisy was silent.
“Thanks,” I said.
Then I flipped my phone shut.
* * * * *
“Oh shit, I know who this is,” Zip shouted across his Gun Emporium as Daisy and I sauntered in. “No, no, no. Should I say it again? I think I fuckin’ will. Fuck… no!”
“Zip,” I said in a soothing voice as Daisy and I approached him. Heavy was standing in front of the counter opposite him. Both of them were scowling at me.
“No. You aren’t gonna get Marcus Sloan’s wife filled full of holes. That kind of shit hits the fan, everyone gets splattered. I do not want to be splattered with shit. Jesus, girl, you are loco.” He shook his head then narrowed his eyes and said, “I heard you were off the streets.”
“I am,” I said, stopping in front of the counter.
“What’re you doin’ here?” Heavy asked.
“Thought I’d come by, tell you in person. Then I thought maybe you guys might want to meet us for drinks later.”
They stared at me. Then they stared at each other.
“Shee-it. Crowe’s dumped her again,” Zip muttered.
Daisy giggled.
“Crowe has not dumped me,” I snapped. “And he didn’t dump me the first time. It was a misunderstanding!”
“Why aren’t you havin’ drinks with him?” Heavy asked.
“He’s in New Mexico, after a skip.”
The light dawned and both of them looked a lot less cantankerous.
“Where you goin’ for the drink?” Zip asked.
“Smithie’s,” Daisy replied.
“I’m in,” Heavy answered immediately.
“Me too,” Zip put in.
Smithie’s was a strip club. Daisy used to work there (as a stripper, pre-Marcus). Jet did too (as a cocktail waitress, pre- and start-of-Eddie but most definitely not now as Eddie wasn’t fond of the outfit the waitresses had to wear or the clientele). Jet’s sister Lottie (better known as Lottie Mac, Queen of the Corvette calendar) now worked there as a stripper and apparently the best one this side of the Mississippi, and that included Vegas. She was such a good stripper, Lottie was a local celebrity, even I had heard of her.
“We’re going to get something to eat, we’ll see you at Smithie’s after you close down the shop,” I told them.
“Later,” Heavy said.
As we walked away, we overheard Zip saying, “Loco, fuckin’ loco, what kind of women go drinking at a strip club?”
Daisy turned her head and smiled at me.
I smiled back.
* * * * *
“Oh my God,” I breathed after Lottie was done with her two song dance, “I want to be a stripper.”
Roxie giggled beside me. “That’s what everyone says.”
Lottie was gone, disappeared behind the stage. The crowd was wired, screaming for an encore. I was right with them on my feet shouting for her to come back.
She didn’t strip. I didn’t know what she did but it wasn’t stripping (though, she did dance around in fancy underwear and rip her bra off at the end).
The only way to describe it was a work of art.
We were sitting in the VIP section right up next to the stage.
When Daisy and I drove up in Daisy’s Mercedes, I thought we’d never get in. There was a velvet rope and a line clear around the building.
Daisy just walked up to the front of the line, said, “Hey Lenny,” to the huge black guy that was the bouncer and then swanned in like the place was named “Daisy’s” and not “Smithie’s”.
She went directly to a cordoned off area where Jet, Roxie, Indy, Ally, Tod and Stevie were all sitting.
Our asses no sooner hit the chairs when an older, heavyset black guy came trotting up to us.
“Smithie!” Daisy squealed with delight.
Smithie ignored her and pointed at me. “You!” he shouted even though he’d stopped not two feet away from me.
I went still and stared at him, mentally inventorying my purse for weapons. I’d so lost hold on my head crackin’ mamma jamma that the only things I could think of to use were my nail file or I could throw my panic button at him. Neither of these were likely to instil terror in his heart.
“Can I help you?” I asked, slowly standing again.
“You Law?” he shot back.
Oh shit.
I decided on silence.
“I want no trouble tonight. We’ve had our quota of bar brawls this year,” Smithie said to me.
“Smithie,” Jet put in placatingly.
Smithie’s angry gaze swung to Jet. “You were the cause of two of them,” he snapped.
“Was not!” Jet huffed. “Just one, the other one was a shooting.”
Smithie looked to the ceiling.
Jet looked at me. “No one got shot,” Jet assured me. “All the strippers jumped the shooter. It’s kinda funny if you –”
“It ain’t funny!” Smithie roared and everyone around us turned to stare.
“Smithie, Sugar, Law’s given up the street,” Daisy cut in.
“Yeah, right. Trouble follows you bitches around like the plague and more often than not, it traipses its tight ass and long legs in here. Not tonight. Got me?” Smithie declared.
“We’re just having a few drinks,” Ally said.
“See that you do.” He snapped his fingers and a waitress in a red, micro-mini and a black, skintight camisole with “Smithie’s” in red script across the front came tottering to our table on high heels.
Smithie’s eyes moved to me and he stared. I stared back.
Then he looked me up and down and asked, “You dance?”
“No!” Indy, Jet, Roxie, Tod, Ally and Stevie all said in unison.
“All right, all right. Shit,” Smithie put his hands up and then looked at me again. “Hear you’re Crowe’s woman.”
I nodded that, yes, I was Crowe’s woman.
At the thought, I grinned.
Smithie did not. “Shit. Those boys need to get their heads examined.”
Then he was gone.
“What can I get you to drink?” the waitress asked.
“I’ll take an appletini.” This was said from behind me and I turned to see Shirleen powering through to our table.
“Well, the night is complete!” Daisy hooted. “Shirleen, girl, good to see you.”
Shirleen, I was surprised to see, got hugs and cheek kisses from everyone while I ordered a cosmopolitan. Then again she was Darius’s aunt and Darius was Lee’s best friend so I guessed she was part of the tribe.
“Hey Law,” Shirleen said, eyes on me and sitting across from me.
“How’re things?” I asked.
“Goin’ well,” she replied, nodding then her eyes got intense. “Real well,” she repeated with meaning.
I smiled at her. She smiled back.
“You two know each other?” Daisy asked, looking between the two of us.
Everyone was staring.
“Law helped with a family problem,” Shirleen said.
Everyone seemed okay with that answer so I looked at Daisy and changed the subject quickly. “What did Smithie mean when he asked if I danced?”
Daisy nodded to the stage. “He meant stripped.”
My eyes went to the stage. The three women there were gorgeous, their perfect bodies oiled up and glistening, their nipples covered with sparkling pasties. They knew how to move and they had tons of money sticking out of their g-strings to prove it.
Still.
“Um…” I said.
“The word is,” Tod informed me, “yikes.”
<
br /> “Nothin’ wrong with strippin’,” Daisy said to Tod.
“Not for you but she’s a social worker,” Tod retorted. “Social workers don’t strip.”
Daisy turned fully to Tod and I felt her attitude hit our table like a bolt of lightening. “Why not?”
“Uh-oh, another white people fight and I don’t have my appletini yet,” Shirleen muttered.
I felt the tension in the air (hell, everyone felt the tension in the air) and to dispel it, I blurted, “I haven’t got my period yet.”
Everyone turned to me. My tactic worked, maybe too well.
Shirleen craned her head around, looking for our waitress. “Holy shit. This is heavy, I need my appletini.”
“How late are you?” Indy asked.
“I should have started today,” I told her.
“Not to worry,” Daisy said, cooling off her attitude when confronted with a girlfriend problem, “rule is, you don’t need to worry until at least a week.”
I shook my head. “I always start like clockwork late morning on the special day. I haven’t started yet,” I explained.
“I think I need to stretch my legs,” Stevie murmured, clearly uncomfortable with the conversational turn.
“What?” Ally said. “We’re talking about menstrual cycles. It’s the most natural thing in the world.”
Stevie glared at her. “I’m gay but I’m still a man. We don’t do periods. I could barely cope with the in-depth cherry popping trip down memory lane.”
“Okay, no more about periods,” Roxie threw in and looked at me. “Let’s just talk about cause and possible effect. How many times did you do it unprotected?”
“Too many,” I admitted.
They all stared at me.
“Girlie, I know you were a virgin but you got to take care of yourself,” Tod advised, not unkind but slightly impatient.
“What’s in Vance’s head?” Jet murmured. “At least he should know better.”
“I know what’s in Vance’s head,” Indy replied.
Jet and Indy looked at each other and their faces broke out in smiles.
Shit.
“You were a virgin?” Shirleen asked, wide-eyed.
Shit again.
I decided not to answer Shirleen and totally ignore Indy and Jet.
I’d had more than enough conversations about my ex-virginal status and cherry popping. One of them was even on tape.
“Word is, you’re with Crowe,” Shirleen went on.
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