“I’ll be glad to take you to the airport, Mrs. Bryson,” Billy said, “I just wanted to give this to Paul. He must have dropped it, getting out of the car.”
Whatever it was, her mom must have made a grab for it because her daddy hollered, “Not, this time, find someone else’s money to spend in New Orleans.”
His money envelope - It really wasn’t like him to misplace something that important.
Lizzie tried to make a dash for her room when she heard him coming up the stairs, but he caught her listening.
“Here Pumpkin.” He opened up the envelope and handed over a couple of hundreds. “Buy yourself something nice the next time you go shopping.”
That was more money than she made in almost a month of typing. Talk about an obvious bribe. There was something going on that he didn’t want her to know about.
“Daddy, what does kayfabe mean?”
“It means that when I come back from New Orleans, your daddy won’t be living here anymore,” her mother shrieked from the bottom of the stairs. “I want a divorce.”
“You’ve got it babe,” he yelled right back at her.
“This is absolute nonsense.”
Gran was right. All their fighting was just ridiculous, especially in front of Billy. Lizzie had finally had enough. “Why do you stay married when all you ever do is fight?”
“What choice do I have?” Daddy looked at her like it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. “Nothing is ever good enough for her. She gets off on making me miserable.”
“Maybe if you kept your dick in your pants,” her mother screamed from the kitchen.
“Lois, watch your mouth.” Gran interjected. “That’s no way to talk in front of your daughter.”
“Stop it, just stop it!” Lizzie grabbed her Daddy’s arm and pulled him down the stairs. “All of you need to stop treating me like a little girl. I’m twenty-two years old and I’m far from stupid.”
“Lizzie, darling.”
“Daddy, don’t coddle me.” Lizzie took one look at the overwhelmed expression on Billy’s face and knew she could finally say it. “If you’re both so unhappy, why do you stay together? Just do us all a favor and end it. Get a divorce. I don’t care. You don’t have to stay married for my sake.”
Lois sat down at the table like Lizzie’s words had knocked her off her feet. Paul turned his back on all of them and poured himself a cup of coffee as if he hadn’t heard a word she said.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, Billy,” he said, sitting down across from Lois just like he had forgotten Lizzie was even there.
“I’m gonna go wait out at the car.” Billy backed toward the door.
“Your daughter is the one you should be apologizing to.” Gran looked like she wanted to pop Paul upside the head. “I’m sick of all this bullshit. I know you’re in love with that woman in Raleigh. You know it. Lois knows it. Even Billy knows it and he’s only done one loop with you.”
“Julio is more of a man than you’ll ever be.”
“Who the hell is Julio?” Daddy and Gran said in unison.
“The tennis pro at the country club and the best lover I’ve ever had.”
Paul snorted incredulously, “Considering how much money you spend on all those damn tennis lessons, I suppose it was considerate of him to give you a sympathy fuck or two.”
“He’s going to New Orleans with me. I used your credit card to book our escape.”
They sat in a stunned silence until Gran finally said, “well, I’ll be damned.”
“You and me both,” Paul shook his head in disbelief. “So where do we go from here?”
“How about an amicable divorce settlement.” Gran made it more of a statement than a suggestion.
Chapter 6
“Mmmmm… oh my God, this is scrumptious.”
Billy couldn’t get over how cute Lizzie looked sitting there across from him, sipping on his chocolate malt like it was the best thing she had ever tasted.
“You want me to order you one?”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be such a pig.” Her face reddened, “That thing is loaded with calories, and as Mom always says – a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.”
“There ain’t a thing wrong with your hips.” He pushed the malted across the table. “Drink up.”
“Billy.” She giggled.“You’re too sweet.”
“Must be all them cookies of yours I ate this morning. I got so much sugar in me it’s a wonder I’m not bouncing off the walls. I’m going to be a whirlwind in the ring tonight.”
“I wish I could go watch you wrestle.”
After one trip with Paul, Billy knew exactly why he didn’t want Lizzie around the business. With what all he’d seen, he couldn’t say that he blamed the man.
“It ain’t like I’m a big star like your daddy.”
“To me he’s just Daddy.”
She put down her spoon and gave Billy a look that made her seem a lot older than her twenty-two years.
“He’s carrying on again with that woman in Raleigh, isn’t he?”
Too bad Billy hadn’t done the same with his spoon because that tomato soup splattered all over his shirt instead of making it to his mouth.
“Damn,” he said, over both the stain and her knowing something she shouldn’t.
“He always bribes me with cash or presents when he’s feeling guilty about something.” She tilted her head, chewing on her lip, probably a little surprised that he didn’t try to defend Paul.
“Gran told me about it the first time he got caught. Mom went up to Raleigh with Dinera, left me to babysit that bratty kid of theirs, and she caught him with a woman in his motel room.”
“Glenda told you all that?”
“Gran’s a straight shooter.” She dabbed her napkin in her water glass and handed it to him. “It will wash right out.”
While he wiped on the shirt, she keep right on talking as if knowing about Carol Ann really wasn’t any big deal.
“Mom came home, packed her bags and said she was going back to New Orleans with Dinera. The next day Daddy came and got me out of school and handed me the keys to my new convertible. He got me a brand new Fiat Spider. Talk about feeling guilty.”
Billy remembered drinking the Jack in Carol Ann’s Fiat and wondered if Paul had bought his mistress the same car.
“Saturday morning, he let me drive to Gran’s all by myself and he came with my things the next day. I finished out my junior year at her house up in Asheville and stayed with her all summer. Mom came back in July and spent a bunch of money remodeling the kitchen. She doesn’t even cook. She just did it to make Daddy upset over her spending all that money. She can be a real bitch like that.”
By this time Billy was glad to have already given up on the tomato soup.
“Then she donated their bedroom suite to some charity. She had this antique furniture shipped from New Orleans and got a crazy expensive mattress. Put a lock on the door and made Daddy start sleeping in the guest room when he was home. He was in Raleigh every week for Dorton Arena on Tuesdays and TV on Wednesdays. I don’t blame him for getting a girlfriend. Mom is not an easy person to live with. I don’t know what I would have done without Gran.”
The Bryson’s took the meaning of kayfabe to a whole new level.
“I hope this time she really does stay in New Orleans. Daddy is a lot better off with her gone. Did your parents?” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot about your mama getting killed. Did your daddy remarry?”
“Can’t say as I know, never met him. He split before I got here.”
“Don’t you miss them?”
“Kind of hard to miss what you can’t even remember or never knew.” Billy shook his head letting his emotions get the best of him. “Now my Granny, losing her was hard seeing as she raised me. I don’t think she wanted me to be a wrestler. To her ‘rassling took her only daughter and her husband. Pap died taking down the ring after a show, heart attack.”
Lizzie reached over and took his hand, rubbing her fingers over his battered knuckles. That gesture meant more than any words she could have spoken.
“I was a big kid so I just took over hauling the ring around and working squash matches. I got real good at losing, but at least I made enough for me and Granny to get by.”
“How old were you?”
“I’d just turned sixteen.”
Those blue eyes widened in amazement.
“How did you do all that traveling and keep going to school?”
“After they let me start working, I never went back.” Now it was Billy’s turn to hang his head. “I never was one for book learning.”
“At least you didn’t waste four years and all that money Daddy spent to send me off to college. I knew how to type and answer a phone before I went to Mars Hill.” She sighed and glanced at her watch. “That’s all they let me do at that office. I took the exams and got my realtors license and they still treat me like a glorified secretary. I want to start selling houses all by myself.”
“Someday when I get some money saved up I’ll be proud to let you pick out my house.”
“My first client.” She grinned.
***
Billy didn’t lie or try to cover up for her Daddy. Just like Gran, he laid it all on the line. He wasn’t like those silly college boys. He was a real grown man. A man who wasn’t intimidated by the legendary Paul Bryson.
Wow… without her parents around, when it was just her and Billy, she wasn’t nervous or scared. She didn’t have to pretend to be anything she wasn’t. It all just felt so right… so right that…
“Are you going to the Crockett’s party tomorrow night?”
“Yep.” He laughed. “Guess who’s my date?”
Lizzie so wanted it to be her.
“Glenda - I’m going to escort your Gran. She said I only had to stay long enough to do a little hob knobbing with the boss.” He flashed her a mischievous grin. “With your mom gone and Paul out of town I was hoping that maybe we could ring in the New Year together?”
“I could sneak up to your apartment.”
“I’ll get a bottle of champagne.”
“I want you to kiss me at midnight.”
Did she really just say that?
***
Forget about waiting until midnight. Billy wanted to kiss her right then and there. He wanted to take her back to that apartment, lay her down on that quilt, and kiss her from head to toe and right back up again. It was hard to get over how different she was when she wasn’t under the watchful eyes of family.
He was feeling like a rather important man as he walked with her to the lunch counter to pay for their grilled cheese and soup specials. She looked ready to go sell a house in her working dress, matching sweater and sensible pumps. Her face still looked angelic, even with those beautiful red curls twisted up into a knot on the back of her head.
After he paid, she took the change right out of his hand and gestured at the photo booth near the front of the drugstore.
“Let’s take a photo together. You never know, someday we might be showing our grandkids photos from our first date.”
There was no way to say no to that grin on her face. Billy sat down on the bench inside the booth and much to his pleasurable surprise she plopped right down in his lap. Close enough to get a whiff of the sweetness of her perfume, reminding him of those cookies of hers.
She leaned over and popped a coin in the slot and pressed back against him to pose for the four shots. On the forth shot she turned and kissed him smack dab on the lips.
“We’d better take another one since we might wind up with a lot of them grandkids wanting copies of our pictures.” Billy gave her another quarter to keep from having to let her go.
She giggled and popped in the coin, squirming around on his lap just in time for them to pose again. This time he was the one kissing her at the last flash. Her innocent kisses topped any parking lot blowjob.
They made out until the photos slid out of the slot with a buzzing signal that brought them back to reality.
“When I get off work, I’m going to come back here and get a frame,” she took the first strip and handed him the second.
“Get me one, too.” He gave her the dollar he’d scrunched up holding in his hand while they were kissing in that booth.
“I wish I didn’t have to go back to work.” She sighed, clutching his hand when they got to where she had parked her car. “Thank you for lunch.”
“The pleasure was all mine.” Billy thought about kissing her again until he saw a familiar Cadillac stopped at the light. Gene Anderson, one of the territory’s toughest wrestlers, behind the wheel with a donut in one hand, a cigarette in his mouth, and most likely a beer between his knees.
She saw him too and waved before smacking her hand to her lips. “I hope Mr. Anderson doesn’t tell Daddy he saw me with you.”
“He’ll probably just break my arm,” Billy said with a nervous laugh. “He’s giving us a training session in the ring before the show.”
“He’s actually very nice. I’ve babysat for him a few times. Brad is just the cutest little boy and no trouble at all.” Lizzie’s grin immediately put him at ease. “I was scared of Mr. Anderson until Daddy told me the matches are predetermined and they are working together in the ring.”
“Ain’t that breaking kayfabe for the lead face’s daughter to be watching one of the top heel’s kids?”
“Oh, Gran is friends with everyone.” She giggled. “I didn’t take Brad to a show and it wasn’t like there were any fans gawking at us in their living room.”
“I’m just kinda surprised they smartened you up.”
“It wasn’t Daddy’s doings, it was all Gran. She couldn’t stand to see me get all upset when Daddy got beat up.” She shook her head, those blue eyes sparking in the cold afternoon sun, “Just don’t ever say it’s fake in front of my Daddy or Mr. Anderson either. I bet they would really hurt someone for saying that.”
“I know they would.”
“And don’t you dare tell Daddy we talked about this. He got really mad when Gran told me all that. He sat me down and made me swear to protect his business and not ever tell anyone that I knew the matches weren’t on the level.”
“The secret’s safe with me.” Billy made like he was zipping his lips.
“Seriously, he took that harder than when I stopped believing in Santa Claus.”
She looked so damn cute protecting kayfabe that Billy gave in and gave her a polite little good bye kiss.
Right there in front of the whole world.
Chapter 7
Wow… just wow!
Not even going back to that crappy office could dampen her mood. Lizzie felt like her feet were floating ten feet about the ugly beige carpet. At least until she turned around to find Gran pacing in the foyer.
“Lizzie baby, I need you to come home with me.”
“I can’t leave work in the middle of the day.”
“It’s alright, go on home,” Mr. Kaplin appeared out of nowhere, “Go ahead and take the rest of the week off, paid of course.”
“What’s going on?”
“Let’s wait until we get home,” Gran insisted, almost shoving her towards the door.
Instead of walking to her car, she wanted to run into the Park Center and find Billy. Lizzie just knew her Daddy had found out about them having lunch and he must be really mad to possibly risk her job.
The short drive home was a total blur. Gran’s silence made it all the worse. She couldn’t ever remember seeing Gran at a loss for words.
Her Daddy met them at the door with a drink in his hand. He didn’t seem angry at all. He appeared to be eerily calm, downing Vodka like it was ice water in the middle of a hot summer day.
They sat down together on the couch, his free arm wrapped protectively around Lizzie’s shoulder
“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s your mother.
” Gran sat down on my other side, pinning her between the two of them.
“The plane crashed.” He downed the drink in one huge gulp. “It doesn’t look like there were any survivors.”
They both looked at Lizzie trying to judge her reaction. She didn’t know what they were expecting her to say or do.
“She’s gone.” He hugged her to his chest like he had been expecting an outburst of tears.
She remained dry eyed – feeling nothing, completely numb. If she hadn’t looked up to find him struggling to hold back a smirk she would have said the same thing about him. She knew how much he resented being married to her mother. Even so, his lack of empathy brought the tears spilling down her cheeks.
Gran got up to answer the phone, leaving them alone together in icy silence.
“Paul, it’s the TV station wanting a comment from you.”
“Certainly,” he went into the kitchen to take the call - Like he’d rather talk to the press than his own daughter.
Gran clicked on the TV to watch her soaps. Lizzie curled up with an afghan from the back of the couch making herself into a tiny little ball. None of this seemed real. Just as General Hospital ended her daddy came back with his bag.
“I’m going to head on over to the building to do an interview for the six o’clock news.”
“You’re still going to wrestle tonight?” Lizzie asked in disbelief.
“Yes.” He bent to kiss her cheek. “Sitting here won’t bring your mother back from the dead.”
“It’s just his way of dealing with the stress,” Gran said, her eyes following Paul toward the door.
He stopped and turned to face them with that icy smile, “Let’s wait and do the funeral on Sunday so I don’t have to miss any matches.”
Out the door sounded like a good place to be, so Lizzie changed into some sweats to go for a walk. The walk turned into a run. She ran until she was out of breath and had a stitch in her side. Then she walked and ran some more, doing the same routine up and down Providence Road until way after dark.
Desire Page 4
