by Mary Monroe
I gulped. “Lola, I don’t know how you do it. I could never be as calm about things as you are. You have the patience of Job, and not just with Bertha’s kids.”
“If you’re going to mention that I’m still working for a low salary after all these years again, don’t go there. I—”
I cut Lola off. “Let’s talk about Calvin.”
“Huh? Why? The way you roll your eyes almost every time I bring up his name, I’m surprised to hear that you want to talk about him.”
“He’s on your mind seven days a week, right?”
Lola nodded and gave me a tight smile. “He sure is, and I can’t do anything about it.”
“You don’t want to,” I accused.
“Yes, I do. And I probably will eventually. After all that’s happened lately, I realize just how short life is. We should never sit around again and wait for what we want to come to us. We should go after it.”
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing all these years?”
“Not really. We’re having fun in the club, but what are we going to have when it’s all over?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer Lola’s question. I said the first thing that came to my mind. “We’ll have some good memories.”
“Will that be enough to keep you happy for the rest of your life? Do you want to grow old alone?”
“Hell no. And I’m not going to. My only regret is that I’m as old as I am now and still frustrated.”
Lola gave me a puzzled look. “What do you mean by that?”
“I should have left Reed years ago.”
“What if you had and he’d committed suicide like he kept threatening? Then you would have had to deal with the guilt.”
“I would have grieved for him, but I would have recovered. And I would not have spent almost all of my adult life being so miserable. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everybody let somebody control and manipulate them by threatening suicide? I saw a movie about a woman who threatened to kill herself if her husband left her. He stayed with her for twenty years, miserable as hell. One day she got depressed about something unrelated to her marriage, stole a gun, and blew her brains out.”
Lola blinked a few times and pursed her lips. “I think you’re trying to tell me that I shouldn’t have let Bertha control me, right?”
“I’m not trying, I am. You were so weak, you did almost everything she wanted you to do and look what it got you. I was just as weak. Reed manipulated me and I did almost everything he wanted me to, and look how I ended up!” I stood up and glanced around the room. “Damn! What I wouldn’t give for a strong drink!”
“I can fix you one.” Lola got up, yawning and stretching her arms. “I could use one myself.”
I shook my head and sat back down. “I have to drive so I’d better take a rain check.”
“Joan, this will probably sound corny, but I’m going to say it anyway. I’m glad I was the way I was with Bertha. I think that in the long run, you’ll be glad you tried to please Reed. We both got screwed over, but it could have been a lot worse.”
“That’s for sure. Oh well. It is what it is. From now on, I’m not going to put off doing the things that might make me happy. I’m never going to allow another man to control me. If I’m not happy with the next man I have a serious relationship with, nothing is going to make me stay with him. If I see something or somebody else I want, I’m going to go for it. I’ll worry about the consequences later.” There was a curious look on Lola’s face. “What I just said shocked you, didn’t it?”
“Uh-huh. It shocked some sense into my bone head. I feel the same way you do. I’m going to go after what I want and not worry about the consequences.”
I turned my head to the side and gazed at Lola from the corner of my eye. “Something tells me you’re talking about Calvin again,” I said.
“So what?” She pressed her lips together and gave me a defiant look. “You’ll probably think I’m crazy, and don’t bother trying to talk me out of it, but I’m going to let him know I’m in love with him as soon as possible. It’s time for me to find out exactly where I stand with him.”
Chapter 51
Joan
I LEFT LOLA’S HOUSE AT A QUARTER TO TEN. WHEN I GOT BACK TO the condo I saw that Reed had taken everything else he owned, even the unsweetened grapefruit juice nobody else drank.
I sat in the living room on the couch in the dark for fifteen minutes just thinking about the mess my life had turned into. Half an hour later, my cell phone rang. It was a club member who I had promised to spend time with on Saturday. I had forgotten all about him! Lawrence Thomas was a thirty-five-year-old tennis pro from New York. We’d had three encounters in the last four months. He had previously made several attempts to see me again during his frequent trips to California, but each time I had already made plans to see other members on the same dates. I was tempted to let his call go to voice mail, but I didn’t. I was suddenly glad he had called. I was feeling pretty lonely and wanted to talk to somebody. With his bowl-shaped haircut and horn-rimmed glasses, he reminded me of an adult Harry Potter, but he had a great sense of humor. The corny jokes he had told on our previous dates and watching him dance around the hotel room with my panties on his head had kept me in stitches. I was glad that he had finally requested another date when I had no other plans because I could definitely use a few laughs now.
I called him immediately. “Hello, DickLicious,” I greeted. He liked to be called by his screen name. “I was going to call you.”
“That’s good to hear. I sent you two text messages, an e-mail, and left a voice mail since I got into town six hours ago. I’m in a lavish suite in one of the poshest hotels in town and I’ve already stocked the bar with your favorite champagne.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“HotChocolate, you don’t sound too happy. Is there a problem?”
“Yeah, there is,” I muttered.
“Oh hell! I was so looking forward to seeing you again, so I hope you’re not going to tell me I won’t. I even rescheduled one meeting and canceled another so I’d have some free time to spend with you. Now what’s the problem?”
“My husband left me today and I’m feeling kind of down in the dumps,” I blurted.
“Oh. That’s a real bummer. Do you want to talk about it?”
I swallowed hard and continued. “He left me for a teenager. And she’s one of the prettiest girls in town. I guess I’m feeling kind of old and homely. . . .”
“Pffft! You? Old and homely? Not by a long shot! Sweetheart, you have nothing to worry about. You’re one of the hottest women on the planet and one of the most popular ones in the club. I am sure that that teenybopper your husband left you for is not even in your league!”
“Thanks,” I said in a more cheerful tone. “I really needed to hear something like that.”
“You’ll hear a lot more when you get here tomorrow. I only wish you were here now.”
“You do?”
“Hell yes! Otherwise, it will be self-service for me tonight. And I’ve never enjoyed pleasuring myself even when I was a teenager. I’d give my left ball to have you join me tonight.”
I laughed. It felt so good I wanted to keep it going. “I’ll be there in an hour or less,” I said.
The bombshell that Reed had dropped on me didn’t feel so painful now. I knew if I kept busy, I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking about it. Right after I got out of the shower, my cell phone rang again. It was Lola. “I was just checking on you,” she said, sounding extremely concerned. “How are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine. I’m going out in a few minutes. I was going to send you a text to let you know.”
“Good! I don’t think you should be alone tonight. I was calling to see if you wanted to spend the night at my place. Are you going back to your mother’s house?”
“Uh, remember that Harry Potter–looking tennis pro from New York?” I didn’t give Lola time to answer. “He’s in town again and I
’m going to see him tonight. I’ll probably stay with him until morning.”
“Hmmm. I’m glad to hear that Reed didn’t slow you down too much. I was wondering when you were going to hook up with DickLicious again.”
“Bye, Lola.” I chuckled. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
* * *
Lawrence’s lovemaking was better than it had been the previous times, but it wasn’t doing me much good. He couldn’t have turned me on with twenty thousand volts. However, I had had so much “acting” experience in the bedroom—thanks to Reed—I was able to fake it so convincingly that Lawrence couldn’t have been more satisfied. “Attention! You are too incredible for words. We both salute you!” He stood up in bed and saluted me with his hand and wagged a “salute” with his dick. I laughed and we made love again. I felt so much better, I spent the whole night.
We got up Saturday morning at eleven, yawning from exhaustion. “Let’s order up some grub and before you leave we’ll have a quickie to hold me over until we get together again,” Lawrence suggested. I passed on the breakfast, and when I declined another lovemaking session, he pouted so much, I gave in.
I had enjoyed Lawrence’s company, but by the time I got home at a quarter past two, I had slid back down into the doldrums. I had messages on every device. Mama had left one on my cell phone, chastising me for “acting a fool” in front of her house last night. One of her neighbors had witnessed my brawl with Reed and had called the cops! I was thankful that I had left before they showed up and even more thankful that the neighbor didn’t know my address. I decided to avoid Mama and the rest of my family for a few days. I even sent her a text and explained that I needed some time alone and would call or visit when I felt better.
Kandy had sent me a text an hour ago. She told me that Reed’s mother had returned to the beauty salon again earlier in the morning to get her toenails silk-wrapped. That old crow had bragged about how her “baby” was going to marry a psychologist’s daughter. Two of my other regular club dates had sent messages to my e-mail address requesting dates for later in the month. The only person I wanted to communicate with was Lola.
I called her a few minutes after I’d checked the rest of my messages. I was glad she sounded so cheerful. “Good afternoon, Miss Thing. How was your date?” she said.
“Lawrence was a sweetheart and as funny as ever. But . . .”
“But what? Didn’t he distract you enough to keep your mind off Reed?”
“He distracted me, but I kept thinking about that damn fool anyway. It’s going to take some time for me to really get back into the swing of things. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m not going to accept another date for at least a couple of weeks. I don’t want to be by myself the next few days, but I don’t want to be around my family either.”
“I’d love to have some company, and you can stay with me as long as you want. I went to Sears this morning and picked out a bed, but they can’t deliver it until next Friday. So if you come, you’ll have to sleep in the couch bed with me, or in that Spider-Man sleeping bag.”
“Let me chill here in the condo for a day or so. I’ll let you know by Sunday if I want to take you up on your offer.” I cleared my throat. “But I don’t want you to change or rearrange your schedule for my benefit. Unless it’s for Calvin.”
“I sent him a text an hour ago. I told him I have to talk to him in person about something very important.”
“Has he responded yet?”
“Yeah, he did. That man’s work schedule changes like the wind! He’s got back-to-back runs for the next five or six days, but he’s pretty sure he’ll be back in town by Thursday or Friday. I texted him again and told him that I have to talk to him as soon as possible. I’ve waited long enough, so I insisted on it being no later than Monday. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say when I tell him I’m in love with him.”
“I can’t wait to hear what he has to say myself. I’d give anything to be a fly on the wall—”
Lola cut me off so fast, I got dizzy. “Be serious! Don’t you know how important this is to me?”
“Of course I know, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to tell a man you met in a sex club you’re in love with him. If he tells you that he wants to keep seeing you only for sex, will you settle for a relationship like that?”
Lola took her time responding. “I guess so,” she muttered.
“You ‘guess so’? You don’t sound too happy about that.”
“I’m not. The way things have been going for me with men, it may be the only kind of relationship I’m ever going to have.”
Chapter 52
Calvin
MOTHER’S DAY WAS COMING UP IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. BECAUSE my estranged mother had passed before we could reconnect, this was the one holiday I dreaded the most. I was feeling sad about it, so I focused on other things to occupy my mind. I drank a few beers and watched a couple of TV shows Friday night. Before I went to bed around ten p.m., I read the latest text from Lola five times. I couldn’t imagine what was so important that this beast needed to talk to me in person on Monday. Disturbing thoughts danced around in my head. What if it was something that would derail my plans? Maybe she wanted to tell me that she was no longer interested in seeing me! With all the negative things going on in her life lately, maybe she was going to relocate. If she moved to another city or state, it could take some time and a lot of effort for me to track her down. I couldn’t put it off any longer. I had to kill her before Monday. . . .
One of the many mundane, idiotic things Lola had babbled about during our last hotel date was some shit about going to the Philippines to look for her uncle’s ex-wife and her cousins. The most ridiculous thing she had told me was that she wanted to reconnect with one of her dead daddy’s sluts. That sloppy whore had been brazen enough to move in and carry on her affair right in front of Lola and her mother. And Lola wanted to reconnect with an enema bag like her? That was the moment when I realized she was straight-up crazy. No sane woman would want to have a relationship with a woman who had disrespected her and her mother in such an unspeakable way! But when I gave it more thought, it made sense. Like attracts like. Lola was just as much of a slut as the slut who had fucked her daddy. And most of the others I had encountered. Were all women as bad as my ex-wife? I asked myself. Were there no decent women left? These were questions I didn’t think anybody could answer. But I could answer one very important question: Was I doing mankind a favor by getting rid of so many whores? The answer was yes. Sadly, I could not do it all by myself, but I felt good knowing that I had already done more than my share. According to the statistics, there were dozens more, maybe even hundreds, like me at any given time, and for that I was grateful.
Because of that mess in Vegas with that Korean bitch and the meddlesome FBI’s involvement in the murder of the racist hitchhiker, Melanie, I needed to quit while I was ahead. If Lola wanted to talk to me on Monday about ending our “relationship” or her moving away, it didn’t really matter, because I’d never know. She wouldn’t live to see Monday, so whatever it was she needed to talk to me about, she’d take it to her grave.
I couldn’t kill Lola tonight because I was going to play poker with Robert next door and some of his buddies. And I couldn’t do it Saturday. I had agreed to have dinner with Sylvia and some of her relatives at her place. Those people were not only excruciatingly annoying, they were the most long-winded people I knew, so there was no telling what time I’d be able to escape from them. If I could get away before too late, I’d kill her Saturday night after all. Otherwise, I’d have to wait and do it on Sunday. It would serve that beastly bitch right to die on Mother’s Day. She had no right to even be thinking about having children! The bottom line was, Lola Poole had less than forty-eight hours to live.
I was sorry that I was not going to be able to have sex with that miserable heifer one more time. Especially since my lovemaking made her so happy. However, I’d give her a few “happy” moments in the last hours of her life
by texting her back and saying something I knew she’d love to hear:
Will see you on Monday at same café where we met the first time. I’ll call Sunday to let you know what time. Hope whatever it is you need to discuss, it’s not something that will cause you (or me . . . ) any discomfort.
Saturday was one of the longest and most boring days of my life. I woke up around nine a.m. with a headache that was so severe, even my neck and shoulders were in pain. I took some Advil, stretched out on my living room couch, and remained there for the next hour. I ignored Sylvia’s noontime call, but I couldn’t ignore a call from my boss, Monty, that came in less than five minutes after Sylvia’s.
“Hey, Monty! What’s up?” I greeted.
“Too much,” Monty said as he cleared his throat. From his flat tone, I knew he had something to say that I didn’t want to hear. “Cal, I hate to do this to you at the last minute, but would it be possible for you to do a run to Long Beach tomorrow? Morgan just called me from the hospital to let me know his wife went into labor early. Things look pretty complicated, so he needs to be with her until it’s all over. This is their first child, so you know how important this is to him and his wife. Even if she delivers today, he wants to stay with her until she’s out of the woods. We have a shitload of furniture that he was supposed to deliver to one of our most important clients. They’re having a big sale next week. The furniture has to be in their warehouse by five p.m. tomorrow so they can inspect it and do all the paperwork. If you can help us out, you’d really have to get an early start.”
“Dude, I would love to help, but I have plans for tomorrow.”
“Is it something you can postpone? Cal, I’ve called up three other drivers and couldn’t reach a single one. You’d be doing me a huge favor if you can help us out. If you’re not too tired after the delivery, you can do a quick turnaround and be back home in time to enjoy the rest of Mother’s Day with Sylvia and her mom like you do every year.”
