Poplar Falls

by Arseneault, Pierre C;

  Her thoughts now of Charlie Baker, she smiled gently and closed her eyes. He was a great lover, yes, but he always held her afterwards and before he came along, she had not had that in years. They would often talk for hours after, before making love for a second time. Charlie got a lot of help from pharmaceuticals but it didn’t matter to Sadie. It was the perfect arrangement for her, as they were both getting what they wanted. Charlie wanted sex and she wanted intimacy. Falling in love with Charlie Baker was never part of the plan. It just happened. Sure, he wasn’t relationship material and she knew it. He was a womanizer and a sex addict who had ruined all his previous relationships. She knew because he had told her all about it. Charlie told her how his girlfriend caught him cheating and left him. He told her all about losing custody of his daughter. Charlie wasn’t afraid of opening up. He was deathly afraid of commitment but not of intimacy. Sadie fell in love with how Charlie Baker made her feel. Now that was gone, she thought. A fresh tear rolled down her cheek and onto her pillow as she drifted off to sleep.

  46

  An hour later, roused from a dream, Sadie sat up on the couch, covered in a cold sweat. She felt confused, flushed, and out of breath. Convinced the dream had been real, she felt her face with the back of her fingers and it was warm to the touch. She swung her legs off the couch, sat up, and looked at her surroundings. She sat in her own dark living room which confirmed it was only a dream; a very vivid dream, but a dream nonetheless. Sitting in the dark, she realized that she was sexually aroused. She reached for her dark chocolate, took a bite, and leaned back on the couch. She closed her eyes and thought about the dream in which her husband was making love to her while Charlie shouted directions and watched. In the dream, she and Vernon had paused in their lovemaking to look at Charlie Baker for his approval. Charlie had held up a score card which read 5.2 as he shouted words of encouragement at Vernon. Sadie woke just as Charlie had shoved Vernon off her and was telling Vernon to watch carefully, as he would show him how to please his frustrated wife.

  Now, alone on the couch, Sadie took another bite of her dark chocolate, tossed the rest onto the coffee table, and leaned back and began touching herself through the pants she was still wearing. But now, in her fantasy, Vernon was watching as Charlie made mad, passionate love to her.

  Vernon would find his wife still sleeping on the couch the next morning, naked under the blanket, with a smear of dark chocolate on her cheek and drool on her pillow.

  47

  Agatha sat at her kitchen table with Ester and Myrtle flanking her. Before her on the table was her new laptop, in the process of booting up for the very first time.

  “I’m going to show you the best sites,” Myrtle said with a smile.

  “I just want to see the one of Charlie and that Shaffer woman in my apartment,” Agatha replied as she impatiently waited for the computer to finish.

  “Boy, did that young kid at the store blush when I asked him if he could get good porn on the computer,” Ester said. She laughed and her dentures almost popped out in the process.

  “I knew we shouldn’t have brought you along,” Agatha replied as she blushed. “You said that on purpose to embarrass me. And you,” Agatha said to Myrtle. “You were almost raping him with your eyes.”

  “He was handsome,” Myrtle said as the computer came on.

  A frustrated Agatha unsuccessfully fiddled with the laptop computer and the wireless mouse, only to let Myrtle take it over to set it up.

  “Why did I let you talk me into buying this damned thing?” Agatha remarked impatiently.

  Myrtle turned the laptop slightly to face her as she set up shortcut icons on the desktop. She set up a web browser, explaining the basics of what the kids call surfing the internet. Agatha felt overwhelmed; learning to set her VCR had been a challenge back in the day. A few moments later Myrtle had most of what she wanted set up, with only one thing left to do.

  “Okay, so what do you want to use as a Wi-fi password?” Myrtle asked as she looked at Agatha.

  “A what?” Agatha replied.

  “What’s a why fry?” Ester asked.

  “It’s a password,” Myrtle replied. “Here,” she said as she typed and clicked away on the laptop while Agatha and Ester tried to keep up.

  “Should I write this down? I probably won’t remember this password you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, you will,” Myrtle replied. “Your Wi-fi password is Big Sweaty Balls,” Myrtle added, while Ester burst into laughter.

  “Oh, you,” Agatha replied before cracking up herself. Embarrassment aside, she had to admit it was pretty funny.

  A few minutes later, Agatha sat speechless as Myrtle navigated a pornographic website. Ester sat motionless, uttering many an Oh, my and adding more than one Holy Mary Mother of Jesus.

  48

  “There’s a cop here to see you,” the young woman at the reception desk said to Stella as she walked past the front lobby of the Magnolia Wellness and Rehabilitation Centre.

  Stella, who was back to work after completing part of her own rehab at the centre, was a recovering alcoholic. She found that working helped keep her mind off things that would make her want to drink again. Six years Stella had remained sober. A fact she had been very proud of and would often tell people, her way of reminding herself that she was on the right track. She also loved helping others find their own path. Stella loved what she did now even if she ran the accommodations side of the business and not the rehab side. And she might have never fallen off the proverbial wagon if the centre was for alcoholics only. But, alas, it was not. They also treated sex addicts and Stella didn’t have a sex addiction. But she was a red-blooded mature woman with needs and desires just like everybody else. And even if she had a few short-lived relationships over the years, Stella had managed to stay out of trouble as the manager of the centre. She avoided trouble fairly easily until Charlie Baker arrived at the centre for treatment of his sex addiction. In their very first meeting Charlie’s eyes wandered over her, which made her uncomfortable at first. She attributed it to his inability to make eye contact but when he kept staring at her bosom, she knew he would be a challenge for the centre. But the real problem was that Charlie Baker would turn out to be very charming.

  Stella justified her first sexual encounter with Charlie by repeating something Emma O’Brien had told her many times: We’re not trying to tell people to never have sex again. We’re merely trying to help them get control over their desires, so their lust doesn’t rule their everyday lives. Stella thought that Emma was very wise and so figured that having sex with Charlie Baker that first time, in a linen closet, would be perfectly fine. This is what she had told herself. The second time, a week later, she wasn’t so sure. She did think that he needed an outlet and had noticed him flirting with a lot of women at the centre. But their conversations were so engaging and he so charming. He made her laugh, and she would catch him staring at her bouncing bosom. At first she was put off by this. Annoyed, she quickly got over it and it made her feel desirable again. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Alcoholism has a way of taking center stage in one’s life. But soon she found herself wearing low-cut tops at work and seeking Charlie out so she could flirt with him. It wasn’t long before they ended up at Charlie Baker’s new apartment in town, where Stella would have some of the best sex she had ever had; mostly because Charlie had a way of stimulating her mind as well as her body. Sure, she’d had great lovers in her life but there was something about Charlie Baker that made the sex so much better. And the long chats afterwards were the reason Stella came back, many times.

  “Do you have time to see him?” the young woman asked, snapping Stella out of the daze she had been in all that morning. “Do you have time to meet with this cop? He asked for the owner, but I told him she wasn’t in and that I would get the manager.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Stella replied. “I’ll see him.”

 
Stella couldn’t help but wonder what the cops wanted from her now. Ever since the incident at the morgue, she had spilled her guts and they knew there was nothing more to the story. They had to know. She hadn’t called it love, but they knew she wasn’t the killer. She couldn’t be. She missed Charlie too much to have done something to end what they had, she thought. But there were rumours of the videos Charlie Baker had been making. At first, they were just that, rumours, but then the video of Lucy Shaffer surfaced on websites. If that video existed, the odds were pretty good the rumours were true. Stella entered her office with this on her mind.

  “How can I help you?” she said as she walked into her office.

  “I’m here on personal business,” Calvin said as he got up from the chair in front of Stella’s desk.

  Calvin’s face flushed with embarrassment, but he extended a hand and tried to muster his best smile. With his black eye the smile came off as a bit creepy, but Stella was used to seeing such forced smiles. She knew right away which addiction the young man before her was here about. Once seated she noticed eye contact was difficult for him, as he looked at his hands more often than not.

  “The normal procedure would be to book a counselling session with one of the therapists,” Stella stated, watching Calvin’s body language. “I’m no therapist. I manage the day to day side of things and not the actual therapy.”

  “I know, but—” Calvin paused, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants as he spoke. “I just want to make sure that my coming here would be confidential. I can’t have this getting out.”

  “I see,” Stella said as she leaned forward against the desk, steepling her fingers before her.

  “I could lose my job if this got out,” Calvin said. He made brief eye contact and then looked at his hands again.

  “We try our best to keep things as confidential as possible here at the centre. But with that said, you have to remember that Poplar Falls is not that big a town.”

  “I know,” Calvin replied. He lowered his gaze to the breasts resting on the desk before him.

  Stella noticed his gaze and leaned forward more to increase the way her breasts were being pushed upwards, emphasising her cleavage. She watched as Calvin squirmed in his chair.

  “You’re Calvin Crawford, aren’t you?” Stella asked.

  “I’m a porn addict,” Calvin blurted. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

  “We’re very discreet here at the clinic,” Stella said.

  “Thank God,” Calvin said, and he stole another glance at the cleavage resting across the desk from him.

  “Speaking of discretion—just between you and me, are the rumours true?”

  “What rumours?”

  “Was Charlie filming himself having sex with women?”

  Calvin’s lack of answer was more answer than any lie he might have tried to come up with. Calvin shifted uneasily in his chair and stole another glance at the busty woman who sat across from him. He felt small, like he was in school again, sexually crushing on his homeroom teacher.

  “Calvin? Have you seen me naked?”

  Calvin blushed fiercely. Stella smiled at him. Her smile was mischievous and Calvin suddenly felt his stomach churn. He really had come to the clinic for help and this was not what he had in mind.

  “Are you married? Girlfriend?”

  “No,” Calvin replied.

  “Is it true that there are videos of Charlie having sex?” Stella asked. “Am I in any of those videos? I’d hate for my momma to see those but she’s all confused now, living in Sleepy Meadows over in Carlton.”

  “You know I can’t discuss an open investigation, right?”

  “Look, Calvin. I can make you an appointment with one of our therapists under a fake name, if that’s what you want. I do it all the time, usually for rich folks who want to keep it secret.”

  Calvin shifted in his chair and resumed eye contact but didn’t speak as he listened on.

  “That or we can help each other out,” Stella added. “It’s no secret that I’ve been crazy lonely since Charlie died. And as you probably know by now, I fell off the wagon, hard. So I got a proposition for you.”

  “What are you saying?” Calvin asked as he swallowed nervously.

  “I’m thinking you and I should hook up,” Stella said as her eyes roamed over the young man before her. “That way, you can help me forget Charlie and I can help you forget about porn for a while. I mean, we’re both grown ups and I’m really trying hard not to reach for a bottle, but it’s difficult, Calvin. It’s very difficult, especially when I get lonely.”

  Calvin blushed and looked at Stella’s breasts, and made eye contact to see Stella smiling at him.

  “Are you… are you a virgin?” Stella asked. Her smile was replaced with an inquisitive look.

  “No,” Calvin replied. “No, I’m not.”

  The truth was Calvin had been a virgin until college, where he met a confused young woman whom he dated for a few months. His ideas about what sex was stemmed from porn, so their sex life was awkward and short-lived. Now Calvin found himself sitting across from a busty black woman who wanted to have sex with him and he didn’t know what to do about it. He knew she was probably right about one thing: If they had sex then it might help him with his porn addiction.

  “I can see you’re not too sure what to say to my proposal,” Stella said as she got up from behind the desk and walked to the office door.

  Calvin stood and followed, assuming Stella was ending their meeting. But Stella instead lowered the blind in the window of the door and locked it before turning to face Calvin. She undid a button on her blouse, exposing herself more as Calvin watched intensely.

  She smiled as she spoke. “Let me give you something to think about,” she said, continuing to unbutton her blouse.

  49

  Marci Grant stood in her tight-fitting business suit and heels on the porch of a small bungalow on Peach Street, digging through her purse for her phone. Tucked under her arm was a beige folder containing the signed documents for the house she had just listed under Red Realty. Marci needed to call her friend Dave, who was a woodworker and did all of her sign work as well. Soon, Dave would be installing a new sign on the front lawn of this very bungalow on Peach Street. As Marci dug through her large red purse, a thought crossed her mind to ask Dave about this new guy he’d been seeing.

  Just as Marci’s gloved fingers felt the familiar feel of her phone, it began the familiar song from the sitcom which she knew so well.

  Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty…

  “Hey, sexy,” Marci answered cheerfully. She was always happy after landing new customers, and a happy Marci meant a playful Marci.

  “Hey,” Trudy replied. “Is this a bad time?”

  “Not at all, I just signed a house,” Marci replied gleefully.

  “That’s good,” Trudy replied.

  Marci paused for a moment, expecting Trudy to say something, but got silence instead. “What’s on your mind?” Trudy sounded odd and this usually meant a fight brewing; although she sounded depressed and not confrontational.

  “I was thinking we should go away somewhere,” Trudy replied. “I know we talked about a cruise, but I was thinking maybe a trip.”

  “Where?”

  “Mexico. Just you and me. Just get away from it all,” Trudy replied.

  “But what about your daughter?”

  “She’ll stay at her dad’s while we’re away. I already asked him,” Trudy replied, apparently having thought it through.

  “I’d love to go away with you,” Marci replied. “But right now? I just signed a house and we’re in peak season for showing houses. I have six showings this week alone, not to mention the Blanchards left me a voicemail about the Turlington house.”

  “You’d say yes if you really loved me,” Trudy blurted.

  “I do love you and
you know that,” Marci replied firmly. “But you know how slow winter is in my business and so I’ve got to take all the work I can get when it’s there. I promise we’ll go to Mexico this winter, just you and me.”

  “You wouldn’t say no to the porn-making slut, Lucy Shaffer,” Trudy replied. Her voice sounded as if she was ready to cry, just before ending the call.

  “Hello? Hello?” Marci pulled her phone away from her ear and looked at it to see if the call had really ended.

  Soon after, Marci sat in her red Corvette and opened a web browser on her phone and tapped three words.

  Lucy Shaffer porn.

  A tabloid site popped up first, confirming what she had suspected. Charlie Baker had filmed himself with Lucy Shaffer after all. And now it was on the internet. Marci smirked at the idea of the Shaffer video being on porn sites. She wondered if the rumours she heard about the laptop they found were true. She had heard it was busted but that they had managed to fix it. Most likely the rumours were true. And if someone knew if they were true, it would be Dave. Dave gave new meaning to the term ‘getting wood’.

  50

  Many of the kids at Sunshine and Rainbows Daycare couldn’t leave without a hug from Sadie Cross. Lately most parents looked at Sadie differently, ever since the rumours of her affair with the promiscuous Charlie Baker spread throughout town. But the demure little woman hadn’t changed in the eyes of the kids she took such good care of. During her days at work, those kids were everything. Sure, sometimes Sadie might get frustrated but she never took it out on the kids. She loved them all, equally. Well, almost equally. Every once in a while, there would be one to test her, and recently it had been Anna, the little girl who always wore pigtails and fought with all the boys. But even though Anna was difficult, Sadie still had a place for her in her heart. It was almost as good as having children of her own, something she and her husband had never been able to do. Lord knows they had tried.