He smiled and started kissing her neck while pushing his hand under her top again. “That sounds good to me.”
She pushed him off her. “It sounds good to me, too. It sounds a lot better than the backseat of your Suburban. But I’ve already told you a dozen times that you can’t come to my parents’ house. They’re crazy religious. They would never allow a man to be there with me. They would think you were the devil. My father would go berserk and probably beat the both of us.”
“Well, we could go up to the Riley Motel.”
“With the prostitutes turning tricks? You really want people to think I’m a whore?”
“No, of course not—”
“Maybe that’s all I really am to you. A whore you can bang.”
“Babe, no, don’t say that. You know I love you. It’s just that you said you were going to get a place of your own. When you do we could go there, and we wouldn’t have to go to a motel where people would think less of you.”
Wanda fussed with her hair, trying to get it back into place. The parking lot outside the bar was empty except for her car and Ricky’s big Suburban, which he had parked out back.
“And you said that you were going to be filing papers to divorce her. You’ve been saying it for a month, now, that once you filed the papers she would be out and then I could move in with you. Why should I get a place if I’m going to be moving in with you?”
Ricky sat back. “Babe, you know I’m trying to handle it. My wife is giving me all kinds of grief. She’s a witch on wheels. I hate her. I wish she would just drop dead.”
Wanda stared at him, liking the thought. “So, you still haven’t filed the papers?”
“Well, no, not exactly. You know how it is. First things first. I’ll think of something. I promise.”
“What about the private detective? Hasn’t he gotten anything on her yet?”
Ricky hesitated. “He will, babe. I’m sure he will. In the meantime, I have to play it cool, you know? We have to be careful. If my wife caught us together she would be able to throw me out and she would get everything.”
“What do you have that makes that much of a difference? You don’t have kids. You have a job, she can get a job. You just split things up and each go your separate way. You pull down good money with your business. You can get another place. Then we’d be done with her and we could be together. That’s what you’re always telling me you want.”
“And I do want that, but she’ll take the house if I don’t get something on her, first.”
Wanda shrugged. “So what? You make good money. She’d be out of the picture and then we could get a new place and be together. That’s what matters.”
“But my parents left me the house. It’s paid off. It’s worth a lot. I don’t want to lose it. Our marriage has been over for a long time and I’ve told her we should split up, but she won’t go along with getting a divorce. She said that I should just go right ahead and leave her if that’s what I want and then she’ll get the house and a nice big alimony check every week. Damn, Wanda, she would get half of what my business is worth. You know how hard I’ve worked for what I have. She hasn’t done a damn thing for the business. She just sits on her ass, but she’d still get half of it.”
“And that’s what matters to you? Is that more important than us being together?”
“Well, no, but …”
“If you really loved me you’d get her out of your life—one way or another. You’re a big strong guy. You need to man up and stop letting her push you around.”
“I know, babe, but let’s talk about it later, okay?”
She pushed him away when he tried to get on top of her. “You’re pussy whipped. I have to go home and get some sleep and think about where my life is going. I thought it was going to be with you, but now you’re making me doubt that you’re man enough to do what needs to be done. Maybe I need to find me a real man.”
“Come on, babe, don’t be like that. You know I love you and all I want is to be with you.”
“If you really mean that, Ricky, then you would have the balls to do something about it. There are other ways to get rid of her besides divorce.”
He wasn’t getting the hint. She could see that sooner or later she was going to have to lay it all out for him. If she was going to have him and his big house in a nice part of town, she was going to have to take charge and tell him what to do. She knew how to make men do what she wanted.
“It won’t be much longer, I promise. I’ll call the detective in the morning and see if he has anything yet. I know she’s cheating on me. I just need him to catch her at it and then I can file for divorce and have her kicked out. Then we will have the house with her out of the picture and she won’t get anything.”
Out of the picture was exactly what Wanda wanted.
“How much longer is that going to take?”
He ran a hand back over his face. “Not much longer. I promise.”
Wanda knew that the whole detective thing was a dead end, but for the time being she had to play along. Once it fell through she would exert her control over him and then solve the problem once and for all.
Wanda opened the door. “It had better not, Ricky. I’m getting sick and tired of this. If you want to be with me, then you need to get rid of the bitch. The backseat of your truck isn’t my idea of how I want to be together with the man I love. I thought you loved me, too. Or maybe you just want to get laid?”
“No, no, I swear. It’s not like that. I do love you, I swear.” He tried to put his arm around her, but she twisted out of his embrace and stepped down to the pavement. She leaned back in.
“If you really mean that, then one way or another, you need to get rid of her, understand?”
He nodded. “Okay, I’ll think of something.”
Wanda had already thought of something.
CHAPTER 9
Wanda was in a dead sleep when someone pounding on the front door brought her half awake. She could tell by the light leaking in around the curtain that it was midmorning. When she came home from working late at the bar, she usually slept at least until noon. She knew it couldn’t be noon, yet. She groaned and rolled over, hoping the racket would end so she could drop back into the balm of sleep.
Then she heard a woman yelling. Wanda didn’t recognize the voice. Probably someone from their church, or maybe a neighbor. She heard her father saying something to try to calm the woman down, but he started getting angry himself.
Despite all his talk of God and the true path and seeking the Lord’s guidance, her father had a mean streak. His angry fits could last for hours. Afterward, he sometimes felt guilty and spent hours praying with Wanda’s mother, trying to smooth over the scene he’d made, asking the Lord for forgiveness.
There had been plenty of times when Wanda had been little when he’d flown into a rage and beaten her. She couldn’t remember having deserved it, but she could clearly remember the injustice of times when he accused her of things she hadn’t done and then whipped her with his belt.
A number of times he accused her of serving the devil and tried to beat the evil out of her. Her mother never lifted a finger to stop the beatings. When she had been in tears afterward, her mother not only never tried to soothe her, but treated her with cold indifference.
God might have forgiven the both of them, but Wanda never had.
She knew that her father wouldn’t dare lay a finger on her now. The last time he’d flown into a rage over some boy she had been seeing and yanked his belt free of his pants, she had leaned in and said, “Go ahead and do it. Then I’ll call the police. I’m underage. You’ll go to jail. Social service will take me out of this hellhole. What will people in your church think of you then?” That had wilted his fit.
When there was an urgent knock at her bedroom door, Wanda sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What!”
Her mother pushed open the door. Wanda could see her dark shape in the dim light of the hallway.
“Wanda, you had bet
ter get out here. There’s a woman out here demanding to see you.”
Wanda flopped back on the bed. “Whoever it is, tell her to go away.”
Her mother came to the bed and shook her arm. “Wanda, get out there, now!”
Wanda could tell by her mother’s tone that she wasn’t going to let it go, so Wanda swung her legs around and put her feet on the floor. She sat on the edge of the bed as she stretched and yawned. Her mother threw her robe at her.
“Here. Put this on. Hurry up.”
She didn’t know what her mother could be so upset about, but Wanda was getting angry. She didn’t like being woken up, especially by her parents. She was an adult. She didn’t want her parents coming into her room anymore. By the time she had her robe on, she was in a murderous mood.
She threw the robe closed and tied it as she hurried down the dark hall. All the curtains in the house were still drawn, so it had to be early morning. The front door stood open. Wanda saw a rather chunky woman in ugly jeans that showed off a bulging belly and a broad, fat ass. Her short, curly hair made her look twice what was probably her true age. She stood with her fists on her hips as she glared, watching Wanda come into the room.
Wanda’s father held an arm out. “This young woman would like to speak with you.”
Wanda frowned. “Who are you, and what the hell do you want this early in the morning?”
The woman charged right up into Wanda’s face. “I’m Ricky Sparling’s wife, that’s who the hell I am!”
Wanda shoved her back. “So what?”
“I heard you’re the whore he’s been screwing.”
“Who told you that?”
“It doesn’t matter who told me. I know it’s true!”
“And how would you know it’s true?” Wanda scoffed.
“Because when I asked Ricky if it was true he was screwing a cheap tramp named Wanda from the bar he goes to, he got that shit-eating expression on his face and he couldn’t look me in the eye. He couldn’t even come up with a lie. He knew he’d been caught, and I knew that what I’d been told was true.”
Before Wanda could say anything, the woman shook her finger right in Wanda’s face. “If you come sniffing around him again I’m going to strangle the life out of you! Got it, bitch?”
The woman didn’t wait for an answer. She stormed out the open door and down the walk to her car. The tires squealed as she sped away.
Wanda’s father quietly closed the front door.
With a grim look, her mother folded her arms. “Well?”
Wanda glared. “Well, what?”
“Is that woman’s husband cheating on her with you?”
“Why don’t you two mind your own business?”
“You’re living in our house, so it is our business!” her father yelled. “Adultery is a serious sin! It’s a sign that the devil works through you!”
“Fuck off,” Wanda said as she turned toward her room.
“Wanda!” her mother called after her. “We won’t have you speak to us in that way. You will show us proper respect.”
Wanda rolled her eyes as she started toward her room. Her father grabbed her by the arm hard enough to leave bruises. He yanked her back around. “You heard me. As long as you live under our roof, you are going to live a God-fearing life.”
“I told you, I’m going to get my own place, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“When? It had better be soon. We aren’t going to put up with you bringing evil into our home.”
“I’m leaving as soon as I get dressed. Is that soon enough for you? I don’t need any more crap from the two of you.”
“As soon as you leave, I’m going to have the locks changed. When you accept the Lord as your savior and renounce your sinful ways then we’ll allow you to come home again, but not before!”
Wanda was too angry to say anything, so she marched off and slammed the door to her room.
As she pulled out a suitcase she tried to think who could have told Ricky’s wife about them. Ricky had always said that they needed to be careful until he could get something on her so he could be the one to file for divorce. Who knew about them?
Wanda paused from stuffing clothes in the suitcase and straightened. She suddenly realized who it had to be. There was only one person who could have told Ricky’s wife that he was seeing Wanda. It couldn’t be. But it had to be true.
Wanda’s anger turned white hot.
CHAPTER 10
Wanda left her parents’ house as soon as she had packed a couple of suitcases and stuffed some shoes, hair products, and her makeup case into tote bags. Her parents were still in the living room, still ranting about Wanda’s sins. She ignored them on her way out. She could hear the front door being locked behind her.
She drove around for a while, seething over the betrayal, furious over what Ricky’s wife had said to her. The nerve of the woman had Wanda gritting her teeth in a rage and squeezing the life out of the steering wheel.
She had no place to stay and no one to stay with, so she got a room at the Riley Motel. The place was a dump, but it was by-the-week and cheap, which was all she could afford, and besides, she didn’t plan on living there long. She was sick and tired of waiting on other people to make the changes that needed to be made. It was time for her to take control and set things right.
Ricky wasn’t ever going to do what needed doing on his own. He didn’t have the necessary initiative. Fortunately, Ricky was pliable as putty. She simply needed to mold him to do what needed to be done.
It wasn’t her night to work. It was Angela’s night, though. Wanda was livid that someone had gone behind her back and told Ricky’s wife about them. It complicated things.
There was only one person it could be: Angela.
Angela was always reminding her that Ricky was married. Wanda had thought she and Angela were friends. It was hard to believe that Angela would stab her in the back like this. It had to be that she was jealous of what Wanda had with Ricky. Otherwise a friend wouldn’t go behind a friend’s back and double-cross them.
The more she thought about the betrayal the angrier she became. She couldn’t get it out of her mind. The way Ricky’s wife had barged in on Wanda was humiliating. All because Angela had betrayed her.
Once it was dark, she drove down the long hill and cruised through the parking lot of Barry’s Place. She saw Angela’s pickup parked there, but not finding who she was looking for she kept going, trying to think of where he could be. She drove slowly through the parking lot of a small nearby strip mall, but didn’t see him there, either. Since he seemed to hang around the bar a lot, she went back there, thinking he might have shown up by then. No luck. She drove slowly through a couple of neighborhoods known for drugs, but he was nowhere to be seen.
On her way back to the bar again she finally spotted him at a liquor store. He was leaning up against the wall on the darker side of the building, smoking a cigarette and drinking from a bottle in a brown paper bag. His pink bicycle was leaned up against the wall next to him. He was alone.
Wanda parked right in front of him and shut off the engine. He watched warily as she got out of her car, ready to bolt if it turned out to be trouble.
“Albert?”
He looked even more ready to run.
“Albert, I’m a friend of Angela’s. Your daughter. Remember? I gave you a twenty one night in the parking lot of Barry’s Place.”
He finally nodded that he remembered. “What do you want? I can’t give you the twenty back. I told you to get it from my daughter.”
Wanda smiled as she approached. “I know. Angela already paid me back for the money I gave you.”
“Good,” he said, still wary. “I told you she would.”
“I was wondering if you’d like to earn some more money.”
He used a thumb to push the bill of his leather ball cap up a little as he frowned at her. “What did you have in mind?”
“I just need some information. I’m willing to pay yo
u for it.”
“How much?”
Wanda shrugged. “Depends on how helpful you can be.”
He stood up away from the building and looked around suspiciously, fearing it might be some kind of trap.
“What could I possibly tell you that you’d pay me for?”
“You said that Angela is your daughter. She says otherwise.”
“So?”
“So, if you really are her father, it seems to me like you would know where she lives.”
He took off the cap and scratched his scalp as he thought. What sparse hair he had was gray and wispy thin. He looked up.
“I used to hang around with Sally, Angela’s mother. When Angela was young she often went to stay with her grandparents at their place out in the countryside. It was way out in the mountains. Could that be the place you mean?”
Wanda smiled. Angela had told her that her grandfather had built the house she lived in. “That’s the place. Do you know where it is?”
He squinted out into the darkness. He looked back at her.
“How much is this information worth to you?”
“How much do you want for it?”
“A hundred bucks.”
Wanda considered a moment. “All right. Tell me where it is and I’ll give you a hundred dollars.”
He scratched his cheek. “I grew up in Milford Falls, so I tend to know where everything is. I have the general idea of the area in my head, but I can’t remember well enough that I could give you exact directions. I’d have to drive around with you until I recognized the correct roads.”
“Okay. Put your bike in the back of my car and let’s go.”
He leaned back against the building and folded his arms. “You just asked if I knew. A guided tour of the back roads to find her place will cost you an extra twenty.”
Wanda leaned back in the car for her billfold and took out three twenties. Just by his facial features, she didn’t really believe that he was Angela’s father, but if he knew where Angela lived, that was good enough. She held the twenties out to him.
Crazy Wanda Page 4
