by G M Barlean
“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I nodded. “Well, don’t worry. We’ll take care of you.” I hoped I could protect Mari from Naomi. She was poison poured into a tight pair of hip-huggers.
Mari smiled, but as we stood arm in arm by the sink, I began to do some serious worrying of my own.
Back at the office, I pushed away my piles of work. Mari’s situation and everything which had happened over the years had my brain spinning.
In the sixties, Naomi started her affair with Darby Pederson. Tanya had been the one who noticed it first. As far as I—and the rest of the town for that matter—knew, the affair still continued. Tanya said Darby still came to the bank every week to visit Naomi. Other people over the years had seen them together… in a dark parking lot, behind a building in an alley, that kind of seedy thing. Even I’d seen Naomi drive down a country road near Darby’s house.
What Naomi saw in Darby mystified me. He was a gap-toothed redneck with an arrogant nature and too much money. Everyone wished his wife would leave him, but she stayed loyal. She’d even caught him and Naomi right in their own bed. Of course, when Darby’s wife went to tell Doug about it, Naomi denied everything. Doug either ignored it, forgave it, or didn’t care. Darby’s wife even had phone records. But she forgave him in time, all the same.
How Doug dealt with his scandalous wife was one thing, but how her lover, Darby, would deal with being cheated on was another. Darby hadn’t only been Naomi’s side dish. He was completely infatuated with her. When she wasn’t with him, he was driving past her house, past her work, and he called her on the phone and sent her letters. Tanya had seen it, and so had many other people in town. Everyone talked about it. It was common knowledge.
What everyone didn’t know was Naomi must have become bored with Darby as of late because she’d begun to visit the law offices more often for closed-door sessions with Hank Meyer.
I would watch Naomi leave his office with sleepy eyes, smeared lipstick, and disheveled clothing. The woman didn’t even try to hide it. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out she and Hank were polishing the top of his desk. Did Doug know? Maybe he didn’t gave a rat’s ass.
The real question was did Darby know?
And it wasn’t even the best part. In my boss’s office one week earlier, I had opened a drawer of his desk to look for a pen and had instead found a pair of women’s underwear. And that was the magic bullet I hoped would stop Naomi Talbot in her tracks.
But I had a lot to learn about playing dirty. Naomi, on the other hand, was an old pro.
The Fourth came along, hotter than seven hundred hells. People still managed to drag their free-meal-asses to the celebration in the town square. Sweat glistened on every brow and sunburns glowed on children’s faces. The fire department opened a hydrant across the blocked-off street and children relieved their scorched skin. Squeals echoed in the air, but the joy of the kids’ noise didn’t make the adults any less irritable. Yet when I walked up to the food and drink tables, Mari had a smile on her flushed face in spite of the heat.
“Everything looks wonderful, Mari, including you.” I scanned the table filled with Rice Krispies bars and brownies, big bowls of chips, roasters filled with barbeque pork, and baked beans… a fine Fourth of July spread. “You pulled a feast together. Great job.” Children with rosy cheeks ran up, grabbed handfuls of chips and bars, and left, giggling.
Mari beamed with pride, but something caught her eye over my shoulder and her smile faded into a nervous twitch.
Judge Talbot walked up. “Hi, Betty,” he acknowledged me briefly, then turned his attention to Mari. “This looks great, Mari. You knocked the ball out of the park.”
I watched their gazes lock, and I began to look for Naomi. Was Doug’s goal to get Mari in trouble?
I didn’t have to look long. Naomi marched up with long, angry steps and a look on her face that could scare the habit off a nun. I cleared my throat as a warning.
“Well. I see old friends have gathered ’round the food table.” Naomi didn’t hold back her irritation.
Doug’s face converted into an expression I couldn’t quite identify. But he put on a smile, looked across the crowd, and waved. “Ah, there’s Bob Swanson. I need to talk to him. Excuse me, ladies.” He hurried away. Lucky bastard. He got to leave and we were stuck with his nasty wife.
Mari busied herself, stirring the food and straightening things on the table.
“The food seems adequate.” Naomi glanced over the arrangement with haughty eyes. “But the table is a disappointment. You didn’t dress the front of it with patriotic streamers or anything. Did you see Kathy’s face-painting table? It’s impressive. Too bad you didn’t make the extra effort she did.” Naomi glared.
Mari blanched. “I did it the way Connie asked. I guess I never even thought about decorations.”
“Obviously.” Naomi sneered.
I stood tall and glared at Naomi as I spoke up for my friend. “The food is wonderful, and Mari has done a lot of work to organize and take care of it.”
Naomi looked as though she would bring out her claws, but I disregarded her and tried to start a new conversation. “Mari, have you heard anything about Darby Pederson’s rental building? I heard he’s looking into selling it.” When Mari shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, I stared at Naomi. “Have you heard anything? I know you visit with Darby often.” I offered a wicked smile.
Naomi glared, then refocused the conversation to Mari. “Next year I’ll have to make sure to remind you to decorate the tables properly. It’s the little things that are so important.” She shot me a poison-laced glare, turned, and stormed away. She marched over to Doug, pulled him aside, and began waving her hands in the air.
“Oh, dear. I got Doug in trouble.” Mari watched Doug and Naomi with a worried expression.
“You did no such thing. He’s the one who came here. And Naomi makes problems where she wants to make them.”
Doug turned and walked across the street to the five-and-dime. “Wonder what that was about?” I mumbled.
“What was what about?” Tanya said over my shoulder.
“Oh, Tanya, I’m glad you could come.” Mari clapped her hands together.
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to be here working all alone. Where’s Connie or the other gal in your office?” She looked around.
“They were here all morning, setting up. I took over after the lunch rush. They’ll be back around five,” Mari assured us.
“Well, I’ll stick around and keep you company. So, Betty, what were you talking about when I walked up?”
“Oh, Naomi. She tried to start something with Mari, so I brought up Darby and she stormed off to yell at Doug.” I shook my head.
“I saw Doug scurry across the street to the dime store. Hard to believe a man in his position still has to kowtow to that biddy.” Tanya huffed.
“Say, is Debbie or Josie going to come?” I asked. “We should all sit together to watch the fireworks later.”
“There’s Debbie now.” Tanya pointed.
Debbie swaggered over, a large canvas purse slung over her shoulder.
“Hey, girls. What’s shakin’?” Debbie asked as she arrived.
Good old Debbie. Nothing much had changed about her. Still feisty, skinny, and chewing gum—but now a tinge of sadness had replaced the fire in her eyes.
She’d married Bud right after high school—drove off on his motorcycle to Vegas for a quickie wedding. They’d lived in Nevada right up until Bud had a head-on collision with a bunch of hippies in a bright red bus on a desert highway. The hippies were high and Bud had fallen asleep behind the wheel of the eighteen-wheeler he drove. The busload of people walked away with scratches and bruises, but Bud died and Debbie lost her best friend.
She moved back to Rosewood in spite of the bad memories her mom had made here. Debbie must have needed to get out of Nevada and be around old friends.
“We were wondering if
you and Josie were coming today,” Mari said.
“Not sure about Josie, but I thought I’d sit outside and enjoy the heat. Reminds me of Nevada… but with bugs and humidity.” Debbie grimaced.
They all laughed until the joy was sucked out of the air when they saw Doug and Naomi marching back toward them. Doug’s hands were full with a stars-and-stripes bunting, blue and red pinwheels, and a white plastic tablecloth.
“Doug, I’ll let you explain to your employee what I’d like to see done.” Naomi crossed her arms and looked amused as she watched.
He set the things on the ground and said, “Well, it might be nice to put a tablecloth on and other decorations up. To make it look festive, I guess.” He shrugged, then looked over at his wife. Emotion burned in his eyes, but I couldn’t tell if it was hate for Naomi or self-loathing.
“Yes, Mari. We decided you need some help. It’s my nature to take care of these kinds of details, and you’re obviously not as good at it. It’s not your fault.” Naomi linked her hand in the crook of Doug’s elbow. He stiffened. She turned and sashayed away, triumphant, Doug moving with her without resistance.
Mari shifted from foot to foot, her face flushed red and her shoulders sagging. She stared at all the food… the large roasters and big bowls. She would have to move it, decorate the table, and put it all back.
I inhaled deeply. This was it. I’d had enough. Time to have a visit with the wicked witch of Rosewood.
“I have something I need to deliver to someone,” I said, then stormed away and left Debbie and Tanya to help Mari.
I caught up with Naomi by the grandstand, checking on the girls who would put on the first show of the evening. Mothers were primping their daughter’s hair and pinning up costumes. People milled around.
I came up behind Naomi and grabbed her by the upper arm. “Come with me.”
Naomi jerked her arm away. “Take your hand off me. I don’t take orders from you, Betty.”
She began to turn away, but I said, “Naomi, I know what you’re doing with Hank Meyer.”
She glared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I think you do. And I have proof, too.”
“What kind of proof could you possibly have?”
“You come with me and I’ll show you.”
Naomi gave a stare hot enough to melt cold butter. “Fine,” she said through gritted teeth.
We walked away from the stage and went behind the grandstand. I looked around for listeners and when I saw none, I began, “Naomi, you’re trying to humiliate Mari and I can’t for the life of me understand why. Haven’t you done enough? You don’t have to worry about her. She’d never try to take Doug away from you.”
“Like she could take anything away from me. That’s a joke.” Naomi huffed and folded her arms across her chest.
“Then cease and desist. It’s pointless.”
“Listen. I’m in charge of this celebration, and if I think the food table needs to represent the theme, it will. And if I have to make someone do what they should have done to begin with, it’s what I’ll do.” Naomi offered a stiff chin.
“Okay, Naomi. Then I guess I’ll have to do what I need to do. I’m sure Doug will be quite surprised to find out you spend a lot of time with Hank Meyer behind closed doors.” I did it. Crossed the line. It felt good and horrifying all at the same time.
Naomi looked like her head might explode. Her face turned bright red. She pursed her lips and breathed heavily through her nose.
“That’s nonsense. No one would believe it.”
I smiled and opened my purse. Naomi’s little black panties lay right on top of a pack of Juicy Fruit and a few wadded-up tissues. “I wonder if I should take these to Doug and tell him where I found them.” I smiled as evilly as I could.
Naomi made a grab for the underwear, but I snapped the purse closed. She pulled her hand back and hissed, “Go ahead. Show them to Doug. He won’t believe you. I’ll tell him you’ve blackmailed me.” Naomi laughed.
“Okay. How about I take them to Darby Pederson and tell him where I found them? Maybe your husband won’t care, but your lover will. And I’ll even bet he recognizes them.”
Naomi smoldered for a moment but composed herself and took a deep breath. “You won’t do it. You don’t have the spine.”
“I will to protect my friend. You’ve been bullying all of us since high school and I’ve had it. It has to stop.” I stood tall.
For a while, Naomi paced and rubbed her chin, then she turned to me, her expression calm.
“I suppose I am being silly. You’re right. Mari is no threat to me. And even though you’re wrong about Meyer and me, and Darby, I wouldn’t want you to spread rumors. It could be damaging. I guess I have no choice but to succumb to your blackmail.”
Blackmail. The word made me feel dirty. I didn’t like how Naomi had turned this around to make me look like the villain, but I’d stand up to it. People knew me and they knew Naomi, too.
“Would me going to help Mari set up make this right?” Naomi attempted to look sweet.
“It would be a good start.” Could it be this easy to make her do the right thing? I doubted it.
“But you have to give me back…” Naomi pointed toward my purse.
I hesitated. If I held on to them, I could hardly hide from the ugly word of blackmail. Did I want that on my conscience?
I handed the panties to Naomi. As she reached to take them, I almost pulled back, but the idea of holding them over her head left such an unsavory taste in my mouth. That’s not who I was.
Naomi snatched them from my fingers and stuffed the panties in her pocket, then donned a wicked smile. “What an idiot.” She laughed and turned to walk away. “The day I do anything for you or your ridiculous friends will be a cold day in hell.”
“You, bitch.” I lunged at Naomi and grabbed for the contents of her pocket, but she turned around and slapped me hard across the mouth. I reeled back, then Naomi came in and slapped me again, harder still. My lip split open and blood dripped down onto my white blouse.
I put my hand up to my throbbing lips, pulled it away, and looked at the red stain on my fingers and the red blot on my shirt. “I can’t believe you did that.”
I wanted to pummel Naomi with my fists. It was my own fault. I shouldn’t have resorted to blackmail to begin with. I should have known I couldn’t match Naomi’s wickedness. My mouth ached under my touch. I felt the blood… more than there should have been. Then I realized something dangled in my mouth. I dug into my purse and pulled out a mirror. I gasped at my reflection. Naomi had split my lip and knocked my front tooth loose. “You busted my tooth.”
“You attacked me. What was I to do? I had to defend myself.” Naomi smirked.
I put up my hands in defeat, then hurried away and didn’t look back. If sense could ever be talked into Naomi Talbot, it would take all of us to do it. Right now, I had to get ice on my lip and some cold water on the bloodstain. I put my purse in front of my shirt to cover the red blotch and a tissue over my mouth to hide my dangling tooth. I couldn’t let anyone see me. I felt so ashamed of my behavior. I’d rolled in the mud with a pig and got plenty dirty.
Chapter 15
Gloria tossed and turned for an hour before she decided to give up and get out of bed. She trudged to the kitchen. If she was going to stay up all night and think about Naomi and the others, she might as well be productive.
Sure. Why not clean my stove at one in the morning.
The more she scrubbed at the gunk-plastered bottom of the oven, the more she realized how angry she was. She sat back.
I’m pissed at Naomi. I hate the woman. Even I want to kill her at this point.
Not good. A reporter is supposed to stay detached from the story.
But these women: Betty with her brave face, Tanya always trying to be nice, Josie thinking about what was best for the boy, and even Debbie. Poor thing. Lost her Bud.
It all pissed Gloria off.
&
nbsp; She threw the rag down on the floor and went into the bathroom. The mirror above the sink reflected a woman with bed-head and a ratty old T-shirt, clinging to the last years of her thirties. Her biological clock ticked on. She sighed, decided to brush her teeth again, and hoped the sweet taste might quell her hunger pangs.
It didn’t.
In the kitchen, she found a bag of chips out of the cupboard. Plopping in the overstuffed chair in her living room, she tucked her legs under herself and proceeded to eat those salty snacks like it was her job. Damn potato chips. You really couldn’t eat just one.
Naomi sounded like the human version of a Venus flytrap. She had not only married well, but had two men on the side. Damn black widow. She couldn’t eat just one, either.
And Gloria couldn’t manage to find even one man. Maybe she should tell Mabel to call her nephew, Ronnie. She groaned. Almost forty, she spent most of her time with old people and here she sat at one in the morning taking a break from cleaning her oven while she ate barbeque chips. Worse yet, she now entertained the idea of going on a date with a guy who, for all she knew, had a third eye. Not one of her better moments in life.
Thursday, Gloria asked, “So who’s going to talk today?” Gloria crunched into a snicker doodle.
Josie raised her hand. “My turn. If it’s okay.” She looked around at the others.
They shrugged. “You might as well.” Tanya took a sip of coffee, then reached for a cookie. The story began.
Josie Remembers the Fourth of July—1974
I walked down the sidewalk in front of the shops along Main Street. Children ran up and down the closed-off street, their faces painted and their balloons bobbing in the hot summer breeze. I looked up and saw Betty hurry into the alley between the hardware store and the pharmacy. The way she was running left me worried—her purse over her chest and a handkerchief at her mouth. When I reached the alley, I looked for her, but she was already gone.
What was that about, I wondered.
Mari, Debbie, and Tanya were on the courthouse lawn. I crossed the street.
