Ladies of Pagodaville

by Ellen Bennett

  “Not so fast. Where did you hear of this?”

  Alice swallowed. “I … well, you see. Um. Maybe we’d better sit down.”

  Anya sat on the edge of the love seat, eyeing Alice. “Go on.”

  “The other night, Lindy heard something going on in Doreen’s cabin. She, ah, actually heard the whole thing.”

  Anya shook her head and muttered, “Ay caramba.”

  ***

  En-route from the airport

  Lorna lifted her face to the sun. “Oh man, I really missed this.” She called out over the wind that swept through the interior of the car.

  Lindy agreed. “I know, isn’t this just the bee’s knees?”

  Lorna closed her eyes and reveled in the air that was Florida. Cleveland was cold and gray with piles of dirty snow shoveled and set back from driveways, walkways, and roads. She couldn’t wait to get on the plane. During the flight, Lorna had looked out her window to the land below. The patches of white eventually turned to brown and ecru, the architecture of the Earth gradually sliding into green. By the time she landed, she had felt like she could take in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  Lindy pulled off the highway and into a filling station. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop before picking you up. I was running a little late.”

  Lorna reached for her wallet. “Let me pay.”

  Lindy waved her off. “Now come on…”

  While Lindy held the gas nozzle, she asked, “So, do you want to get some lunch or something? You must be hungry. I know a great little hole-in-the-wall just north of St. Augustine. Their specialty is burgers. Any way you want it, with whatever you want. Their meat is always fresh.”

  Lorna thought about it for a moment. “Well, okay. But I insist you let me pay since you came all the way up to get me.”

  Lindy smiled and nodded, “All right, I’ll let you do that.”

  ***

  Miami

  Doreen went into Vinnie’s hospital room and sat by the bed. He was trussed up in all kinds of tubes and wires, the breathing machine, along with the IV drip and EKG machine, making whirring noises and clicks.

  Doreen watched as his urine bag, attached to a tube that ran underneath the covers, filled slowly with whatever output Vinnie could manage. The man in the bed was becoming a shadow of the man she knew. During the Christmas holiday, she had been keenly aware of his decline as he moved more slowly, his head and neck bent at uncomfortable-looking angles. She was saddened that his once booming voice had gradually lost its timbre. He was dying. And Doreen hoped he would go peacefully in his sleep.

  He had once told her he was afraid of dying without dignity, of becoming an invalid for everyone to care for. Betty would chide him. “Oh, you’re going to be around for a very long time making us all crazy.”

  A gentle knock on the door took Doreen out of her thoughts. It was Eddie. He tiptoed in.

  “You won’t disturb him. He’s still out,” Doreen quietly said.

  “Yeah, I figured.” He kissed Doreen lightly on the head. “Nothin’ changed, huh?”

  “Nope.”

  Eddie pulled another chair up close with Doreen’s and put his hand on Vinnie’s leg. “Poor guy.”

  “Actually, I think he’s probably pretty happy right now. Doesn’t have to deal with life.”

  Eddie shrugged. “It’s not so bad, really. We got good businesses, money’s comin’ in, and Richie and me, we take care of everything for him. Betty is always at his side.”

  “Yeah, but …” Doreen couldn’t explain how she felt about life now. Things were changing for her. Her life at the motel with Lorna, with her new family, the tenants.

  Eddie asked, “So, Georgie. What a fuck-up, huh?”

  “I don’t want to talk about Georgie.”

  “Vinnie was off the charts mad. I hope it wasn’t what caused the heart attack, ’cause if so, I’ll go find the little fucker and strangle him with—”

  Doreen interrupted. “Ssh., Eddie, leave it be.”

  Eddie looked sidelong at Doreen. He opened his mouth to continue talking, but Doreen put up her finger. “No.”

  ***

  Pagoda Motel

  Anya wrung her hands as she paced the floor of the lobby. “I cannot believe this at all.”

  Alice watched her pace. “I know. I hope Lindy didn’t spill the beans before Doreen has the chance to talk to her.”

  Anya huffed, “This is not good, not good at all.” She looked at Alice, “Did you tell Miss Lindy to maybe not say anything?”

  “I did. But she’s headstrong, you know what I mean?”

  Anya sighed. “This will be very bad for Miss Lorna.”

  “Why? I mean, it’s public knowledge. Well, not the money in the cabin, but the bones.”

  Anya turned to face Alice. “Miss Alice, what you don’t know about Miss Lorna is that she is a very special person, and we protect her first before anything else. When she learned of the bones, it was a very big story. One that Miss Lindy does not understand. And if Miss Lindy tells Miss Lorna about everything, well, it will upset Miss Lorna to no end.” Anya did not expound upon how detrimental it could be to Lorna’s relationship with Doreen.

  Alice stood up, “Well, I think I’ve done enough damage for one day. I’m going to head back to my cabin and hit the canvas.” She hoped Lindy would keep her big mouth shut.

  Anya nodded and watched Alice leave the lobby. She did not finish her dusting, but instead went to find Milton to warn him.

  ***

  Diner near St. Augustine

  After they ordered, Lindy got right to the point. “So, I was thinking about the new book. I’ve got several drawings to show you. And I’ve worked out a bit of a story line.” She had brought a small sketch pad, and she opened it for Lorna to see her progress.

  Lorna nodded. “Wow! These are amazing, Lindy. You really captured the group. What’s your story line?”

  “Well, first off, I have a couple of questions about the motel’s history.”

  Lorna sat up a bit straighter. She clasped her hands and waited.

  Lindy explained, “See, something happened the other night and I got a bit curious, so I went to the library to research the—”

  Lorna’s voice was clipped. She leaned in. “What happened the other night, Lindy?”

  “Well, it seems as though Doreen has a brother.”

  Lorna’s heart rate increased. She said quietly, “Yes, I know about Doreen’s brother.”

  “Well, you see, the other night I woke up to a lot of raised voices coming from Doreen’s cabin. Naturally I went outside to see what was happening. And, well, from what I overheard, apparently there was a lot of money buried underneath the refrigerator, and her brother and his girlfriend came by in the middle of the night to dig—”

  Lorna stood up. “Don’t say another word. We need to go.”

  “But what about lunch?”

  Lorna collected her purse and started walking toward the cashier desk. “Take it to go. I’ll be out in the parking lot. I need to make a phone call.” She hastily paid the woman behind the counter and stormed out of the diner.

  When the waitress came back to their table with the food, Lindy shrugged and said, “We have to get going. Can you wrap it all up?”

  The waitress harrumphed. “Whatever.”

  Lorna’s hand was shaking so badly she could barely slip the quarter into the slot. When she got the operator and her coin clunked down in the return cup, she ignored it.

  Anya accepted the charges again.

  “What the hell is going on, Anya?”

  Anya figured Lindy spilled the beans. “Ah, yes. Well, you see—”

  “Anya, I don’t have to tell you that this is very upsetting.”

  “I know, I know. It’s all been taken care of, Miss Lorna, and—”

  “You need to find Doreen for me. I don’t care how many numbers you have to call, but you need to find her for me.”

  Anya tried to calm her. “Now, Miss Lorna, plea
se try to stay—"

  “I’ll be home in thirty minutes.”

  “Ah, yes, Miss.”

  Anya hung up the handset and scrambled to find the number of the Miami Memorial Hospital.

  The nurse at the CCU desk quietly said, “Ma’am, we usually don’t do this kind of thing. I can get a message to her, but she will have to call you back on a different phone.”

  Anya said, “Yes, please have her call me as soon as she can. It is of the utmost importance.”

  The nurse took the information down and promised Anya she would relay the message when she got off the phone.

  Only, the nurse got involved in another, more urgent matter and left the piece of paper near her workstation.

  ***

  Lorna said nothing in the car for the duration of the trip.

  Lindy realized she had stepped on a land mine and tried to change the subject, cheer Lorna up a bit, take the pressure off.

  “I’m glad you like the sketches. Alice is almost done with the mural on the garage.”

  Lorna couldn’t decide whether she was seething mad or deeply hurt.

  Once again, people she trusted were not forthright.

  Lorna mumbled to herself as the wind rushed around her head, “And the past just keeps oozing up.”

  When they pulled into the turnaround at the motel, Lorna got out of the car, pulled her suitcase from the trunk, and said, “Thank you again for coming to get me. Please, feel free to share the food. I’ll eat something else later.”

  Lindy said, “Lorna, I am truly sorry if I said something out of turn.”

  Lorna looked at her. “I would appreciate you not saying anything to anyone else here. And maybe hold off on your story for a while. I have some things to sort out.” She turned and walked into the main building.

  The lobby was clean and quiet. The only sound was the rhythmic whir of the ceiling fan.

  She took her suitcase upstairs and stripped off her clothes. She needed a shower. She needed to talk to Doreen.

  She needed for all this to go away.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Miami

  January 6, 1981

  Vincent Anthony Regazzini took his last breath on this Earth at 2:34 p.m.

  Doreen was there by his side with Eddie and Betty.

  It was Vinnie’s wish that he was not to be resuscitated if things went south.

  Doreen left the room as the nurses clamored in to pull the tubes and prep him for transport down to the morgue.

  She went into the restroom and sobbed. She felt like she was coming unglued. She wasn’t ready to lose Vinnie yet. And the incident at the motel weighed heavily on her heart and mind.

  Betty came into the restroom and held Doreen, the two women crying on each other’s shoulder.

  Eddie called Richie and told him to close the station and come up to the hospital. Since Eddie was the eldest, it was his job to alert the attorney and set the paperwork in motion. He also had to make sure the funeral arrangements were in place. Vinnie made him promise that there would be a big party, nothing sad about it! Eddie assured him he would keep that promise.

  If there was ever a time Doreen needed her bike, it was now. She wanted the wind to calm her, to whisk the deep sadness away from her—if only for an hour or so.

  She remembered something Vinnie liked to say often: “Doe, when all the shit hits the fan at once, it’s the trifecta icing on the proverbial ‘fuck you’ cake, know what I mean?”

  Doreen closed her eyes and quietly intoned, “Vinnie, where the hell is that bakery?

  TWENTY-THREE

  Same day

  Every minute that passed without a phone call from Doreen added to Lorna’s frustration and concern. She felt like she was being hung out to dry—again.

  She would have liked to have known the details from the get-go, would have appreciated better communication from Doreen. She had known something was wrong with Doreen when they’d spoken on Sunday, and this must have been it. And especially in light of the events of the not-so-distant past.

  She went over to Doreen’s cabin and entered gingerly. It was quiet, smelled a bit like new wood and something vaguely resembling paint or stain.

  She went into the kitchen. Everything was where it usually was. She heard the screen door open and turned to see Anya approaching her.

  “Hello, Miss Lorna.”

  “Hi.”

  “I suppose you have not talked with Miss Doreen yet?”

  “You suppose correctly. Have you heard from her?”

  “No, Miss, I have not.”

  The women stood in silence before Lorna said, “You want to tell me what happened here?”

  “I think it would be best for Miss Doreen to tell you, really. All I can say is that Milton and I fixed the floor, you can’t even tell except that the boards look newer, but it’s under the fridge there and—”

  Lorna turned to face her. “Anya, I can’t go through another time like we did back in June. I just can’t.”

  Anya nodded solemnly but said nothing.

  Lorna turned on her heel and left the cabin. She felt as if her world was shriveling.

  When Lorna’s private phone line lit up fifteen minutes later, she jumped for the receiver.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi.”

  “It’s about time. Nice of you to finally call. You want to tell me what the hell happened here this past weekend?” Lorna couldn’t maintain her cool. She was furious.

  “Look, I had no idea about any of this.”

  “Please, do explain.”

  Doreen hesitated then said, “There was money buried underneath the floorboards in my cabin—the same cabin that Gino worked out of—and Georgie got wind of it.”

  “I thought he was in jail?”

  “He got released a week ago.”

  “Let me get this straight. Your grandfather buried money, and Georgie found out about it and made his way up here to dig it up and now … what?”

  “He took the money and ran.”

  “And how did Georgie find out about it?”

  “Vinnie.”

  “Vinnie …” Lorna nodded her head as if this made perfect sense. “This story has a lot of holes. Can you please fill in the blanks? I don’t have to tell you that I’m at my wits’ end here! Why didn’t you share this on Sunday when we talked? Am I that unapproachable? I had to hear about it from Lindy!”

  “Lindy?”

  “Yeah, you know, your next-door neighbor; she heard the whole damned thing!”

  Doreen hesitated. She was not aware of this. No wonder the shit hit the fan this way. She thought maybe Anya had caved and said something, but now she understood. “Oh, my God. And she told you?”

  “That’s not the point. All I know is yet another piece of your history has made its way above ground on my property.”

  Doreen felt her throat constrict. This was not how she had pictured this conversation going. But then again, the last few days were like a twisted horror movie for her. “I … I don’t know what to say. I am sorry, Lorna.”

  Lorna paced. She couldn’t hold back her anger. “Well, that’s not good enough. What other surprises are in store here, Doreen? Maybe when Vinnie recuperates, you can ask him.”

  “Yeah. Well, that’s not going to happen any time soon, Lorna. Vinnie died a few hours ago.” Doreen hung up the phone.

  Lorna said, “What? Hello? Doreen?”

  Her heart immediately sank. “Oh my God …” She tossed the handset on the desk and slumped down into her desk chair. “Oh god …”

  Heaving a deep sigh, Lorna put her head in her hands. Even though the situation was maddening, it had unfolded the way it did regardless of how either one of them had intended. She was sure of it. She knew Doreen well enough to know that the family history was a source of pain in her life and she wanted nothing to do with it. But Vinnie was her only link, the man who had raised her into her adult years after her father was gunned down. Now that Vinnie was gone, and with her mot
her being in Georgia and not active in Doreen’s life, Doreen was truly on her own.

  Suddenly, Lorna sat up and yanked the Yellow Pages from the desk drawer. She found and dialed the number for Delta Airlines, inquired about the soonest flight to Miami from Jacksonville, and booked herself on it. She had four hours to pull it together and get on a plane.

  She was not going to let this slip away from her.

  She called Anya, resting the handset between her chin and her shoulder while she gathered some papers. “Hi, can you take me to the airport?”

  “You just got home!”

  “I’m going to Miami. I have to find Doreen.”

  “What? Did you speak with her just now?”

  “Yes, Vinnie died a few hours ago. We had an argument. I was a heel, and she hung up on me. I’ve got to find her.”

  “Yes, we will take you. What time is the flight?”

  “In four hours.”

  “Oh, mi dios, you must hurry.”

  “I know. Thanks.”

  Lorna charged up the stairs and threw her clothes on the bed. She jumped into the shower, let the hot water sluice over her body and hair, washed, no scrubbed, dried off, pulled her clothes and personal items together again, and repacked her suitcase. She had just enough time to call The House of Vinnie before grabbing something to eat and heading back to Jacksonville.

  Betty picked up. “Regazzini household, Betty speakin’.”

  “Hello, Betty? This is Lorna Hughes.”

  “Oh! Hello!”

  “Hi, listen, I have to make this quick.”

  “Doreen is resting. Do you want me to wake her?”

  “No, actually. You’re the person I need to talk to.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m flying down. My flight gets in at 9:30. I’m going to rent a car. Doreen and I …” She paused. “… had a rather uncomfortable conversation a short while ago and …” She took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out. “I need to make it right.”

  “Oh? Well, she’s very upset about Vinnie, as you can well imagine.” Her voice took on a protective tone. “And I don’t want to upset her even more.”