To make matters worse, the thirty-something realtor asked her to lunch when they stopped off to return the keys to the beach house. An obvious set up attempt by her daddy. Next time, he could drop off his own keys.
She couldn’t wait to get back to Charlotte to start enjoying a Daddy free three weeks. The only thing standing between her and her own bed was trying to help PJ figure out what to do about Rita.
***
A dog started snarling and barking as soon as Paul turned the key in the lock of the run down motel room. A little mutt, no more than 20 lbs. stood in front of where Rita sat huddled up under the covers. She looked about twelve swallowed by Paul’s sweatshirt.
One look at Rita told Lizzie that if anything, PJ had downplayed how bad she had been beaten up. You could still see the markings on her neck where someone had tried to choke her. There was a deep purple bruise covering half her face, and her lip was split. Lizzie cringed when Rita pulled up the back of her shirt to show the welts, gashes and bruises that ran from her back down to her shins. Someone had really taken a belt to her backside.
“It’s okay, Dixie,” Rita said in a tiny voice, rubbing at the dog’s back until it settled down by her side. “I found her outside when I went to get breakfast. She followed me back here and I couldn’t kick her out.”
“She is kinda cute.” PJ reached out a tentative hand for the dog to sniff.
“You should have seen her before I gave her a bath. I had no idea she was tan instead of brown until all the dirt came off, and she was so good. She sat there in the tub as pretty as you please. Can we keep her? Please can we keep her?”
“I don’t know if Boo will like having a dog around.” Lizzie knew right then that she was going to have to take in both Rita and the puppy.
“Boo?”
“He’s my roommate’s cat and he’s kinda spoiled, but I guess you and Dixie can stay in the basement, at least until you find an apartment.”
“You’re really going to let me stay with you just like that?” Rita’s eyes widened in appreciation.
“Paul tells me you have some office experience. Can you type?”
“60 words a minute and I know basic shorthand too.”
“You’re hired.”
“Really?” This time Paul was the one to look at her in amazement.
“Martha and I have been thinking about getting a girl to help out around the office. It’s nothing fancy, just answering phones, greeting clients, and a whole lot of typing up contracts.”
“That would be so awesome!”
“Don’t you even want to know what we do or how much the pay is?” Lizzie couldn’t believe her enthusiasm.
“I don’t care as long as I can make enough to take care of me and Dixie and keep Paul on track for medical school.”
“I’m a realtor with Kaplin and Greenbrier Realtors.”
“Ooh, I know all about typing those contracts, I was working part time as a typist for a realtor’s office back home.”
“Then you’re definitely hired.”
“Thanks so much, Lizzie.”
“I should be thanking you. Martha is the slowest typist ever so she’ll be thrilled to have someone to relieve her of that headache.”
Problem solved.
If only it was so easy to fix the rest of Lizzie’s messed up life.
Chapter 34
“Can I please get your autograph?”
“Why sure.” Billy took the program from the kid still amazed that folks wanted his signature. “What’s your name?”
“Bobby,” the little boy’s eyes still gleamed from the excitement of a live show.
“Thanks for coming out to see us wrestle tonight, Bobby.”
“Look,” he pointed at the stats by Billy’s photo. “We have the same birthday – June 2nd”
“Ain’t that something,” Billy had forgotten all about today being his twenty-first birthday. “Happy Birthday kiddo. How old are you?”
“Seven.” The child held up seven stubby fingers.
“Bobby, come over here. My friend Vlad is going to let you get in the ring for a minute.”
“Cool!” He dashed off towards the ring.
“Billy?”
He turned around and was face to face with Wren. “I didn’t know you were a wrestler.”
“Howdy, Wren.”
“Amy… it’s Amy… that’s my real name away from work.”
Wren, er… Amy looked so different he hardly recognized her without all the gaudy stripper makeup. She looked like another other young fresh faced mom with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“That your kid?”
“One of them, his brothers are over there with Vlad,” she pointed towards the ring. “He was nice enough to get me tickets as Bobby’s birthday present.”
“You got three boys?” That was a surprise.
Billy noticed her ring finger was bare. In fact she wasn’t wearing any jewelry or make up at all, just a pair of faded jeans, a simple blouse and sandals. The look suited her much better than her normal work appearance.
“Yes, eight, seven, five, and a ten year old daughter at home with my mother-in-law.”
Four kids. No wonder her body looked the way it did.
“Did your husband come to the show with you?”
“He’s dead.” She stated without any trace of emotion.
That explained a lot about those eyes of hers and why she was busting her ass in a strip club trying to make ends meet.
“Hate to hear that.”
Billy should have been helping Vlad tear down the ring, but with all the kids still running around after the show he couldn’t break kayfabe. The good guys and the villains weren't supposed to be seen together in front of the fans. Normally, them riding together in the ring truck wasn’t any big deal. They were usually the first ones to get there and by the time they got the ring broke down, the last to leave.
“Do I need to get the kids on out of here so you can help Vlad?” She asked, obviously understanding while he was still waiting around.
“Naw, let them have some fun and save me some work.”
“Your match was really good. If I didn’t know you and Vlad were friends, I would have sworn you guys were really beating the crap out of each other.”
“Thanks, that’s why we call it working.”
“Just like what I do at the club. Pretend to be something I’m not.”
“Exactly.”
“The boys and my in-laws think I’m a waitress.”
“The way I see it, you’re just trying to make a living and support your kids the best you know how. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.”
“I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me about, you know, being in that place.”
“Mom!” One of the boys raced up to Amy, “Vlad says he can give us a ride in the ring truck. Can we ride home with him?”
“I don’t know,” she hesitated.
“Vlad loves kids. He’ll take good care of them.”
“Well, alright.”
“Yippee.” He took off to tell his brothers the good news.
“The only thing is that leaves me needing a ride. If I buy you dinner could you give me a lift?”
“I am kinda hungry,” she actually gave him a real smile. “And since I was planning to go in to work for a few hours, I’ll be glad to give you a ride.”
***
There wasn't anything romantic about what happened after Billy took Amy out to dinner. Their hookup was nothing but the animalist urges of two people who had gone too long without enjoying the comforts of another person’s body. Amy tore into Billy like she was starved for affection and he didn’t really mind one bit. He hadn’t even jacked off since that week with Odessa.
It was far from pretty and no one saw any stars, but they got the job done before collapsing in an exhausted heap on the floor beside that tiny little bed. As soon as he got off her, she started grabbing for her clothes like she was in some type of hurry t
o get away from him. The thing was, Billy didn’t want to be alone and he didn’t think she was in any shape to go downstairs and start taking her top off for likes that frequented Kat’s.
“What’s the rush?” He asked, handing her the blanket off the bed.
“I really should get to work.”
“How about joining me for some Jack and Coke? I got a bottle in the fridge.”
“I can’t drink before my shift." Instead of taking the blanket she started buttoning up her shirt. "I certainly can’t drive home intoxicated.”
“Who says you have to leave?”
Billy went ahead and poured them both a glass. Short on the Coke and heavy on the Jack, just the way he liked it.
“What about Vlad coming back?”
“That’s why we’ve got this handy contraption.” Billy pulled the sheet around the bed giving them some privacy. “It ain’t the Ritz Carlton, but at least it’s cozy.”
“I share a one bedroom apartment with four kids so I’m used to tight quarters.”
She took the drink and curled up against the headboard like she didn’t want him touching her again anytime soon. At least she was staying instead of bolting, so Billy considered that progress.
“If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you? I’m just saying you don’t look old enough to have all them kids.”
“Twenty-six, I was sixteen when I had the first one.”
Billy thought of his little brother firmly tucked under Paul’s wing and then of his own life at that age.
“How old are you, Billy?”
“Twenty-one, as of tonight," he said refilling their glasses as a birthday toast to himself.
“You make me feel ancient.”
After a couple more drinks, she loosened up and started coming out from behind that wall she threw up when she wasn’t lost in a dance or caught up with what they had just done.
“You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been anywhere close to this place and not had a huge knot coiled up in the pit of my stomach.”
“Must be the Jack.”
She leaned back against the wall with an actual smile on her face. “Or maybe it’s the company.”
“If it gets to you that bad, why do you keep coming back?” Billy asked. “I hardly ever see you take a night off.”
“What else could I do that would let me to be with my kids during the day and come home every morning with that much cash?”
“I’m just saying there’s more to life than money.”
“Maybe for you, it’s not like you’ve got all these little people sucking the life right out of you.” She shook her head defensively. “Every time I turn around, one of them has their hand out needing something else.”
Speaking of an outreached hand, she held her glass up for Billy to pour out the last of the Jack.
“I quit school when I got pregnant. We got married and he joined the army and we were moving all the time. Then I started popping out babies. Luke was Catholic and didn’t believe in birth control and it seemed like I got pregnant every time I spread my legs.”
She leaned over and picked the hastily discarded condom wrapper up off the floor, rubbing the foil between her fingers. “I’m glad you don’t believe in all that religious go forth and multiply bull shit.”
Of course that got him thinking of the baby Lizzie had lost before he even knew it was there. Billy gulped down the last of his drink, wishing there was more where that came from.
“I can’t rightly say what I believe in anymore.”
“I don’t believe in shit. If there’s a God, he’s certainly never done anything to look after me. When things were really bad with my marriage – him smacking me around and drinking all the time – I prayed for it to all just end.”
She swiped at her nose with the edge of the blanket and with an angry little snort said, “He didn’t have to go over there. He had enough rank and with four kids he could have gotten out of it with a cushy position here in the states. But, no, he went just to get away from us and then the bastard got himself killed. His prayer got answered. Not mine.”
“It might not have been the answer you wanted, but it was still an answer nevertheless.”
“More like a death sentence.” She shivered, pulling the blanket around her chest. “Some of the girls do a lot more than dance for the customers. They… you know… in Kat’s office.”
Was she was expecting him to pay for the sex?
“If I did that… nasty stuff… I could make a lot more money.” She shook her head so hard he thought it was going to snap against the wall. “But I can’t. I can’t let myself sink that low.” She laughed sarcastically. “I might be a stripper, but I ain’t no whore.”
“I never thought you was.” Billy reached out and stoked her leg, keeping his hand on top of the covers so as not to startle her. “When you’re down there, you don’t act like the rest of them girls.”
“By the end of the summer I’m going to have enough saved up to move us back to my mom’s in Florida. I can’t take another winter up here and Luke’s family just hates me anyway. The further I get my kids away from them the better for all of us.”
Billy felt the same way about putting an ocean between him and Lizzie.
“Someday I’m going to go back to school.” She said all dreamy like.
“Why not now?”
That reminded Billy of the paper he’d picked up at the show about adult education classes at that high school. He went and got it out of his bag and sat down beside her to where they could both read it under the light of the lamp by the bed.
“Let’s both sign up for this class,” he said. “We could swing Tuesdays and Thursdays one – three for a couple of months. Then we could take the test and get our GEDs.”
“You didn’t finish high school?” She looked at him like he was using the class as an excuse to hit on her.
“I had to drop out to support me and my Granny after my Pap passed. I started wrestling when I was sixteen.”
“Wow, I never would have known.” She studied the paper with new curiosity. “It costs $10. That’s a lot of money to spend on myself.”
“That includes the textbook.” Billy pointed out as if he knew all about taking classes. “If you’ll go with me, I’ll pay for both of us. We can be study buddies.”
“You would really do that for me?” She said incredulously, “No strings attached?”
“Just you helping me with the homework if it gets too hard.”
“You’ll probably be the one who winds up helping me.”
“So we’re going to do this?”
She answered with a kiss that led to another roll in the sack.
***
“Oh Billy, I’m too tired to get up and get dressed.” Amy said from her spot almost completely buried underneath the covers.
“Go on and sleep for awhile. I don’t mind if you stay.”
“I need to be there when the kids wake up.”
“Here, set the alarm.” He handed her the clock off the nightstand. “I bet they will sleep in until at least eight seeing as how they just got out on summer vacation.”
“It would be heavenly to sleep in a real bed. I’ve been sharing a lumpy sofa bed with my daughter.”
Billy opened the door and saw that the ring truck was out back. The lack of noise told him the club was shut down for the night, “Looks like Vlad went home with Horse…” He caught himself before finishing that thought.
“You’re right, Franny does have a horse face,” she said with a little laugh.
“Don’t think I’m rude or nothing,” Billy said, getting into Vlad’s bed. “It’s just these beds are too small for a dude my size.”
She was already buried under the covers and from the sound of her steady breathing, out for the count.
***
Billy. Billy, wake up.” Amy shook him into semi-consciousness.
“What?” He rubbed at his eyes before looking around to try to get his bearings.
“Who’s Lizzie?”
“Why?” He asked, rubbing at his eyes.
“You were crying for her in your sleep.”
“She’s my…” his mouth struggled to spit out the word, “sister.”
“It sure didn’t sound like you were thinking of her like a sister.”
“It’s a long story.”
She sat down beside him gently rubbing the tension out of his shoulders. “I’ve got all night, or what’s left of it anyway.”
Billy broke down and told her everything. How he’d found out Lizzie was his sister after her losing the baby. How he slept with William’s girl. All the awful things he’d done to ruin his life.
It felt good to be able to talk about Paul to someone who didn’t have any idea of who he was. Someone who didn’t put him on a pedestal. Someone who just sat there listening quietly, taking it all in without making any judgments. She just kept on rubbing his back and letting him spill his guts until there was nothing left to say.
“I don’t believe he was telling you the truth,” Amy said after Billy finally got it all out. “Why didn’t he tell you as soon as he caught you guys together like that?”
“I don’t know. I reckon maybe he thought Lizzie would smarten up and see me for the loser I really am.”
“Billy, you are the most incredible man I’ve ever met.” She got right in his face where he was looking into the bottomless pit of her sad eyes. “You shouldn’t have left Lizzie like that.”
“I did it because I was too big of a coward to be around her knowing I can’t love her the way I want. I just couldn’t face her.”
“Leaving her without any explanation was cruel. I know she’s probably driven herself crazy wondering what she did wrong. What she did to cause you to take off and leave her. You really need to talk to her and tell her the truth.”
Desire Page 23
