The Sassy Belles

by Beth Albright

  The questions kept coming, like missiles, and I dodged and defended as best I could. A reporter from Sports Illustrated yelled, “Any word on who might be the replacement in the booth if Mr. Heart doesn’t make it back for kickoff?” I was beginning to fidget at the podium. Sonny stepped closer to me and I could feel his body like armor around me.

  “We believe Mr. heart will be found and back in the booth for the season. We have no reason to believe otherwise at this time,” I managed to say. Uh, yeah, except a few body parts and his clothes from the river. Yep, no reason to worry.

  “Ms. Heart, with you being Mr. Heart’s brother-in-law, doesn’t that put you in an awkward situation? I mean who are you speaking for here, Mr. Heart or Ms. McFadden?” Dallas asked, just trying to get me upset. Nothing would make her happier than to see me lose my cool and get that on camera for the six o’clock news. I was ready to fire missiles back myself. I pressed my lips together, took in a deep breath and glared at her. “It is true that I am Mr. Heart’s sister-in-law and Ms. McFadden’s co-counsel. That puts me in the perfect position to speak on both of their behalves. We believe Ms. McFadden will be important in helping us locate Mr. Heart.” I cut her off before she could go any further. “Next question, please.” I was feeling my power, but Dallas just couldn’t seem to get enough attention.

  “I have decided to establish a Find Lewis Heart campaign,” Dallas announced, partly to me but mostly to the other cameras and reporters. “As a citizen of Tuscaloosa, I feel it is my duty to join in the efforts to bring Lewis home. I’m sure y’all are working really hard with this case, and I want to volunteer my assistance.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. On one hand, it seemed like a generous and caring offer. But I knew Dallas, and that meant she had some kind of ulterior motive for taking on this cause.

  “I’d like to set up a hotline for anyone who may have any information whatsoever regarding the whereabouts of Lewis Heart, our dear Voice of the Crimson Tide. If you’ve seen Lewis or spoken to him lately, if you know anything at all about where he could be, please be in touch with me through email, text or phone.” All the cameras had swung around to her, exactly like she must have planned. Her glossy lips and whitened teeth sparkled in the light of the camera flashes.

  Sonny stepped up to the mic in an attempt to control the damage.

  “All information must come into the police department. We have an investigative unit set up with a hotline. I encourage anyone with any details to call the hotline at the police headquarters. It will be answered twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. While I appreciate your help, Ms. Dubois, this matter cannot be taken lightly.”

  “Officer Bartholomew, we are just trying to help. Of course we will send you all of our info as it comes in,” Dallas said while her cameraman was rolling on her. It was so typical that she would make herself the center of attention. It was her specialty.

  Harry stood shaking his head. I saw Dan the man talking on his cell. It would be very hard to distance Harry from this new segment for the TV station. And I knew Dan had a whole new heap of it to keep Harry from stepping in. I began to wonder if there would be a shovel big enough for Dan to use, ’cause he was sure gonna be shoveling it now.

  The reporters kept the questions coming, all shouting over each other with their mics outstretched. I could not make sense of any one question in particular, until one reporter from the Birmingham news hollered over the noisy crush, “Ms. Heart, is it true that clothes washed up on the shore of the Warrior River this morning that belong to Mr. Heart?”

  The cameras all swiveled back to face me. I nearly threw up. Everyone was suddenly quiet, waiting on the answer. I hate those damn police scanners. I looked at Sonny immediately. He leaned over and was about to speak. I knew he wanted to protect me, but I wanted to make sure I handled this myself. “It is true that what looked to be clothes did wash up on the banks of the river,” I responded calmly, “but no test results are back at this time. The items recovered could belong to anyone.”

  Sonny stepped forward, pressing against me, and took the mic. “That will be all for now. Thank you to everyone for coming.” At least that last question had gotten the attention back on the press conference for Lewis and off the Dallas Dubois show.

  Turning off the mic, Sonny leaned in and whispered to me, “Good job.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “Glad it’s over. Can you believe that Dallas?”

  “Unfortunately, I can. Nothing she does ever surprises me,” Sonny said. “But this time, she better step softly. I don’t want any interference on this investigation and search. That hotline’s gonna be real busy for the next week or so till all the excitement and shock dies down. That’s when we’ll get our best leads.”

  “Thanks for everything,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d, uhm, I mean, we’d, do without you.” He smiled at me, realizing what I had said. With Vivi in the eye of the storm, and Harry caught up in his world of politics, I suddenly felt it was Sonny and me, alone in the search for Lewis. I squeezed his arm and turned to Vivi. “You did great. And now, I’m gonna go pop that skank’s balloon. She will not make this investigation all about her. I’ll see to that.”

  “Well, good luck, Wonder Woman. It’s gonna take more than a caped crusader to stop that egomaniac. She better not mess up this hunt for my Lewis.” Vivi looked stronger. Angry. I liked seeing her this way. Vivi wasn’t about to take Dallas’s limelight-lovin’ hot air lying down. She’d fight for her Lewis. And that was the Vivi I loved.

  “Don’t you worry, I’ve got on my cape and my lasso of truth and I will tie her up one side and down the other with it if I have to,” I promised. “I will see you in a few. I’ve got a media queen to talk to.” I smiled at Vivi and she smiled back as she removed her oversize sunglasses and winked at me.

  Before I made my way to Dallas, I walked over to Harry. He had left the steps of the chimes and was standing in the wet grass with Dan.

  “Hey, there, Blake, you were awesome up there, a regular pro. You’re gonna be great this fall on the campaign trail,” Dan greeted me as I approached them. His comment made me feel like I had been dropped from a roller coaster. I had forgotten what would be expected of me as the hopeful senator’s wife. Mostly standing next to my man, nodding away and smiling and waving. I had to shove that thought aside for the moment and deal with the crisis at hand: Dallas and this campaign of hers.

  “Hey, Dan,” I said, reaching out for a hug. “This guy keepin’ ya busy these days?” I chided as I reached over and patted Harry’s chest.

  “Yeah, but we got it all under control, Blake.” Dan was from New Orleans and had the thickest Southern accent. He was a good guy and great at handling Harry. And Harry needed a lot of handling.

  “You know this guy’s a winner if I can keep him outta the frying pan, so to speak. No problem at all.” Dan was always so sure of himself. And Harry. He had become the brother Harry no longer had in Lewis since the family breakup years ago.

  “Okay, well, y’all make your plans. I am going to visit our local attention hog,” I said, gesturing to Dallas who, get this—was now holding her own impromptu press conference talking all about the Find Lewis Heart campaign.

  “Looks like you might be the one needing Dan this afternoon,” Harry said with his eyebrows up.

  “No,” Dan said with a smile. “She just handled the entire sports and investigative media from all over the country, I think she can handle a local reporter.
She’s just fine.” Dan gave me his vote of confidence. I turned and saw that even though Sonny had ended the press conference, the journalists continued to shout questions and shove their mics at all of us wherever we walked. The unpleasant accusations seemed to hurtle through the air at us like softballs at a carnival dunking booth. Eventually, one would hit and throw us all, with Lewis’s clothes, into the muddy Warrior River.

  Campus security inched back the reporters, who eventually began putting away their equipment and trotting through the wet grass back to their station cars. Everyone except Dallas. She just kept right on slinging her long golden locks as she spun around to first one then another of the male reporters. I don’t think they were exactly listening to her as much as they were just watching her move that Penthouse centerfold body of hers. She hung around just beyond the security line, buzzing around like a wasp that had spotted her prey, biding her time for just the right moment to sting. She saw me coming toward her, as I made a beeline toward my wasp.

  She acted like she didn’t see me, hovering around the last security guard, batting her fake eyelashes and talking over her shoulder. My pumps were spiking into the wet ground as I walked, but I was full of determination to get this awkwardness behind me. I had nearly lost my focus once, and if I didn’t go speak to Dallas now, I’d be stuck in this mud-wrestling match with her, and there was no time for that.

  “Well, well…if it isn’t Miss Law School Queen, in the flesh. Hey, honey.” Dallas leaned over and gave me a meaningful air kiss. “My, my, sugar, you sure do look like life is treating you nice.”

  I swallowed a catty response. Dallas was always so genuine.

  “How are you, honey?” I said, returning all of her sincerity. “You look great yourself. I like the blonder hair. I’m sure it really works for you.” Or helps you work, I thought to myself.

  “So,” Dallas said, “aren’t you in quite the little situation?”

  “Whatever do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, sweetie, everyone knows Vivi has always been, shall we say, a convenience for Lewis? And vice versa? I mean, Blake, for God’s sake, her life has always been an open book.”

  “Your point?” I gritted out between clenched teeth.

  “Blake, honey, I know I don’t have to draw you a picture. I mean if it walks like a duck…”

  “What are you saying, Dallas?” I cut in. “That Vivi is somehow at fault for Lewis’s disappearance because she had sex with him? Well, sweetie, I guess that makes you guilty, too, now doesn’t it?”

  Mission accomplished: I had stung her first. I knew Dallas had been a “convenience” for Lewis, too, years ago.

  Silence followed. The wasp had retreated. I’d put her in her place.

  “Anything else I can help you with, Dallas?” I said with a smirk.

  “Yes, honey. I had just one more question. How can you defend Vivi when Lewis is your brother-in-law? Just because he and Harry have been on the outs doesn’t mean he’s not still family. I mean, you must be colder than I even thought. I used to tell your boyfriends to watch out, if they kissed you real quick, they’d get an ice cream headache.” She bent over sexily to pick up a microphone, laughing at her own joke.

  “Dallas, we both know Vivi. She’s no threat to anyone. I can defend her even though Lewis is my brother-in-law because I know she’s completely innocent. And besides, she’s always been like the sister I never had.” Ooh. Sting number two.

  “Yes, well, we never really were very good sisters, were we? But, Blake, honey, you never needed anything but achievement to keep you happy. As long as you had all your trophies in bed with you at night, there was never any room for anyone else. I hope you at least pulled a couple to the side to make room for Harry—or do y’all sleep in separate rooms?”

  “Dallas, you are still so transparent,” I said, “looking to be famous just like always. Wow, some people never change.” Dallas had entered every single beauty pageant from here to North Carolina and never got that coveted crown. Eventually she decided to become a TV reporter and then at least she could sign autographs every now and then. While Vivi and I grew up and went on with our lives, somehow Dallas got stuck in her own little selfish desires. Her drive every day came from one question deep in her soul: What can I do to be famous? She was the very definition of narcissist. That’s why I knew this little Find Lewis campaign would be huge. And believe me, it wouldn’t be all about finding Lewis, it would be all about promoting Dallas.

  “Oh, Blake,” Dallas said, “you know this will help the police. If I get involved and my fans help out, we may just dig him right up before kickoff. Sure can’t hurt, since no one you know seems to have a clue where he might be. If I get a good lead, I’ll be just as happy as can be to call Sonny. And you know, I’ll make sure we get lots of publicity about our search. I have already called the news director and he loves the idea. Says he’s gonna make it a whole new special report segment on the news every single night till we find Lewis. Now what could be better than that?”

  I could think of a multitude of things, even cleaning toilets after burrito night, but I tried to be polite. She wished she’d had just one trophy. She didn’t even have a crown. Dallas was still looking for recognition. That was confirmed when she looked up at me after grabbing her (fake) Prada bag and said, “I don’t know, Blake. I think I smell Emmy Award all over this one.”

  “Oh, Dallas,” I said, shaking my head. “I want you to know there is no story here. Nothing has been identified. Vivi believes she was the last one to see him, but we don’t know for sure. This is still all very new. So you have no story—and you certainly don’t have one that could hurt Vivi. And this little news segment of yours will just fall flat when people see you are just being as shallow as usual.”

  “Blake, you always think you have the upper hand don’t you? Well, maybe not this time.” She smiled.

  “Are you saying you have some kind of information?” I pressed.

  “What if I do?” she responded smugly.

  “Well, honey, I can subpoena you, for a start.”

  “I received a phone call this morning,” she began, clearly trying to tease me and get me interested.

  “And?” I said.

  “I am a reporter, Blake. It’s confidential.” She had her eyebrows up and was smirking.

  “Dallas, do you know something?”

  “I may have received an interesting tip already,” she finally gave in, “and I cannot tell you anything more.”

  “Well, like I said, I can subpoena you.”

  “You can’t.”

  “What? Of course I can. You know that much, I’m sure.”

  “I received a phone call this morning,” she repeated. And I knew it would be about all I would get. But I kept pushing.”

  “And?” I said.

  “Don’t you always win the argument, Blake?” She was clearly enjoying this banter.

  “Dallas,” I pushed, “what do you know?”

  “I have a source,” she finally admitted. “I don’t know who it is. I can’t even make out what sex the person is. But this person called me and said they thought they spotted Lewis near a bank in Birmingham, after he had already been reported missing. That’s where I came up with the brilliant idea of hosting a search. Maybe lots of people have spotted him.” Dallas pulled her suit jacket back on and straightened her skirt.

  “What else?” I asked. I had to admit she had me interested.

  “I couldn’t get that out of them. This
person said that they thought this might make a good story with spring training going on and Lewis may be about to do something big. Then next thing you know he disappears. And I know he has owed Harry money before. Sounds like he’s in another mess to me.”

  “Look, Dallas, we have this under control,” I told her, “but it sounds like you’re determined to be involved come hell or high water. Just make sure you get Sonny every single detail that comes in. He’s in charge, along with the rest of the police department. Not you and certainly not the rest of the TV stations.” I smirked and turned toward Vivi and Sonny back at the chimes. They were still talking with Harry and Dan. I knew that from this moment forward we’d be seeing a lot of Dallas Dubois. Like it or not.

  9

  Late that night I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, thinking about Dallas. She had the opportunity of a lifetime in her hand—she could drag Alabama’s star announcer’s name through the mud, and gain prestige and power while she did it. It didn’t matter to her who she’d leave in her self-absorbed wake. Vivi, Lewis, me, Harry—we’d all be awash on the wrecked shoreline of Hurricane Dallas. All of us collateral damage. This is why we’d been enemies for as long as I could remember. She was the same way in high school, doing whatever she had to do to win. Especially when she was competing with me.

  I remember when Mother announced to me when I was sixteen that she was marrying businessman Sweeney Sugarman and my first thought was, Oh, dear God, why? I’d known that family my whole life. LuAnne, Dallas’s mother, was a joke till she left and was still one when she got back after Hollywood had eaten her up and spit her back out. After she returned she had nothing to do with Dallas anymore. She soon left Tuscaloosa and wound up in Birmingham and sang in a bar for a while.

  After our parents’ wedding, Dallas and I were friends for a very brief time. We were around the same age and seemed interested in similar things, so Vivi and I decided we should try to welcome her into the fold. But it wasn’t long before Dallas blew into my house and began stealing my clothes, along with my boyfriends. When she got caught doing something stupid by our parents, she’d try to pin the blame on me. And even at school she wouldn’t let things be—starting ugly rumors about Vivi and me to anyone who would listen to her.