by Nick James
“At home, out all night, again. God knows when she got in, let alone what condition she was in. My friends are on the way, but I really hate to ask them to deal with this.” She let that last statement hang out there for a long moment until he had no other option but to respond.
“Would you like me to go back there and see what the problem is?”
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all. Happy to be of service,” he lied.
They walked out of the room together, Cori giving Bobby the key to the front door as she cast a casual glance toward Denton’s coffin. “Oh no, carnations? I distinctly ordered lilies. Those won’t do.”
“You sure? I mean, I think they look great.”
“But it’s not what I ordered.”
“Everyone likes carnations, and it’s almost time to…”
“No, it’s not what I ordered.”
At that precise moment he actually envied Noah Denton. Free at last, he thought. “Let me take care of it. But, let’s leave the carnations there until we get the lilies here. Okay?”
“Thank you, and you won’t forget Addison?”
‘How could I?’ he thought, then said, “No, we won’t forget. In fact, we’ll stop to get her before we go to the flower shop.”
Chapter Forty
Jesús had them there in a little more than fifteen minutes. He pulled into the driveway and parked next to Addison’s pickup, then all three men walked up to the front door. Miguel and Jesús were checking out the house and the well cared for lawn as they approached. One of them said something in Spanish and the other grunted a reply. Bobby rang the front doorbell, waited about thirty seconds then thought, ‘fuck it’, and unlocked the door.
The three of them made their way up the staircase then down the hall to Addison’s room. Bobby knocked on the door and waited about five seconds before he opened the door and stepped into the darkened room. The room had a blue cast from the flat screen tuned to some channel with the sound turned off. He hit the light switch. Addison lay in bed, asleep with an eye mask over her face. The polished oak floor was covered wall-to-wall with slacks, blouses, thongs, socks, bras and jeans. Four or five skirts were piled on a stuffed chair. Three plates sat beneath the bed with half-finished meals next to an empty wine bottle. The room was stuffy and smelled of sweat and dirty laundry.
He nodded at the window shades and said, “Pull those up,” to Miguel. Then he stepped forward, grabbed hold of Addison’s foot beneath the bed covers and shook it, hard.
She groaned, tried to roll away to the far side of the bed, but he hung on tight. She kicked a couple of times, managing to miss his hand and groaned again. Finally, she tore off her eye mask and screamed, “What the hell do you think you’re… Oh, hey, Bobby. Whoa, and friends.” She suddenly sat up, exposing her breasts, oblivious. “Probably have to get in line,” she said giving Miguel and Jesús the once over. “There ain’t gonna be room enough for all of you in here at once.”
“Time to get up, Addy. Your mom wants us to bring you to the wake.”
“God, she’s always obsessing. I told her I’d be there.”
He looked at the digital clock on the bedside table, “It started twenty minutes ago.”
“What? Why the hell didn’t she get me up?”
“Amazingly she thought you’d be responsible. Come on, get your ass out of bed. We gotta get going here.”
“Give me some time to wake up. I just…”
He turned round to Miguel and Jesús “Pull her ass out of bed and throw her in the shower.”
“Don’t you fucking dare…”
Miguel ripped the covers back and she attempted to kick, but he caught her by the ankle and dragged her across the bed, laughing. He grabbed her by the hair, then caught her arm as she swung at him and hoisted her to her feet. “Hey you’re, ouch, God, you’re hurting me. Ow, ow, ow.”
Bobby stepped into the bathroom and flicked on the light then walked over to the shower and turned the water on. The marble sink was covered with a couple hundred makeup containers and brushes, three or four dirty towels, an overflowing ash tray, and a beer can.
Miguel marched into the bathroom, chuckling. One hand pulled Addison’s hair back, tight enough to lift her chin, the other twisted her arm up behind her back. Bobby stepped aside as Miguel pushed Addison into the shower, slapping her hard across her rear and laughing as he did so.
“Ahhhh, God that’s cold, it’s cold, it’s cold,” she screamed stomping her feet like a child.
“Then turn the knob and make it hot.” Bobby said just as Jesús stepped into the bathroom. “You two watch her. She’s got five minutes then she’s out of there and getting dressed. You hear that, Addy, five minutes. Then you’re out.”
“Fuck off,” she said and turned her back to them.
Bobby left the three of them in the bathroom. He could hear Spanish echoing off the tile walls. Based on the tone and the laughing, he had a rough idea of the comments. He spied a pink vibrator on the mattress down by the foot of the bed as he walked over and turned off the TV.
He spotted her purse on the floor behind the chair and opened it up. Her phone was in there on top and he pulled it out and turned it on. Then he went through her billfold, found thirty-six dollars and stuffed it into his pocket. He rifled through the rest of the purse, but couldn’t find anything worth taking. He’d just set the purse back on the floor when he heard her screaming from the bathroom and Miguel and Jesús laughing. A moment later Miguel pulled her out of the bathroom dripping wet. Jesús was right behind him and tossed one of the dirty towels into her face.
“Get dressed, Addy. You got ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes, you gotta be kidding me? You can’t do this. I’m going to…”
“It’s already done. Now be a good girl and just get dressed. We gotta get moving.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I’m gonna tell my mom, think about that, you…”
All three men laughed. She scowled then opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a thong.
Chapter Forty-One
Addison was sitting in the back seat between Miguel and Bobby when they pulled up to the flower shop. She’d been applying makeup as they drove. A pale sort of blush to her face, wine red lipstick, dark eyebrows and then black eyeshadow that extended almost a half inch beyond her eyes. She looked downright evil. She was in the process of edging her lips with some sort of black pencil when the car stopped.
“You guys just wait here, this won’t take long.”
Bobby walked into the flower shop and up to the counter. A high school girl smiled sweetly and said, “How can I help you.”
“I picked up an order earlier this afternoon, turned out to be the wrong flowers. At least it wasn’t what was ordered.”
She sized Bobby up for a moment, then nodded and said, “Just a moment, please.” She opened a door, stepped into a room behind the counter and called, “Hey, Danny,” and then closed the door behind her. A minute later the door opened up and the same guy who’d brought the carnations out to the car stepped behind the counter. His eyes grew wide when he recognized Bobby.
“Oh, my, Mr. Denton.”
“No, actually, but this is in regards to that order. You’re Danny, right?”
He nodded.
“Apparently the Denton order was for lilies and you gave me carnations.”
“Oh dear, if you’ll give me just a moment, I’ll check.”
“I’m really sorry, I don’t have a moment. What I’d like is for you to do up the lilies, and deliver them to the funeral home. I’m already late and I have to get back there.”
“I’m not sure I can do that. You see…”
“Here’s the deal. They ordered lilies, you gave me carnations. Look, it’s a stressful time for the family. I’m sure you can understand. Just do up the lilies, get them over there, and that will keep everyone happy.”
Danny sort of made a moti
on like he was having difficulty swallowing, then said, “I’ll have to charge the account.”
Bobby was about to say he didn’t care, then remembered it was his account. He was tempted to bring the carload of misfits in here to help persuade Danny, but Danny had his credit card information and would be able to call the police. “Tell you what, just charge it to my firm,” he said taking out a business card and tossing it across the counter. “We’ll take care of any additional cost.”
Danny looked at the card, then smiled as he read the firm name. “Oh, yes you have an account with us. I can certainly do that.”
Bobby gave him the name of the funeral home, then pulled two small sympathy cards from a rack on the counter and said, “Add these to the cost.”
“Thank you, sir,” Danny said all smiles.
“Appreciate the help.”
“So, where are the flowers?” Addison said looking like something out of a Zombie movie.
“They’re being delivered. I need you to fill out this card,” he said handing her the sympathy card. “Write something nice and sweet.”
Chapter Forty-Two
By the time they got back to the mortuary, the parking lot was full and they had to park on the street a half-block away. “I don’t suppose it occurred to any of you to just drop me at the door so I wouldn’t have to walk all the way back in these heels.”
Jesús looked in the rearview mirror and scoffed, “Perra.” Miguel nodded and although Bobby didn’t understand exactly what had been said, he got the gist of the comment from the tone and figured he probably couldn’t disagree.
Once inside, Addison said, “I’m going to find my mother and let her know exactly what you did.” Then she marched off in a huff like a twelve-year-old.
Miguel and Jesús both looked at Bobby who just shook his head and held his hands out in a form of surrender. “She’d be more work then I’d ever want to put up with.”
Jesús made a fist with his right hand and slammed it into the palm of his left. Miguel nodded.
“Keep an eye on her, Jesús, and Miguel you come with me,” Bobby said noticing the grin spreading on Miguel’s face.
There was a growing line forming to sign the guest book out in the hallway. It was after five and the crowd was probably more reflective of the end of the work day rather than any specific draw that Noah Denton provided. Thankfully, people were just writing their name and address in the book with the pen provided. No black marker, no pink lipstick or cigarettes rubbed out on the page. The room where the actual visitation was held looked jammed.
Bobby scanned the crowd and saw a lot of people he recognized, but no one from the firm, including any of the partners. He got a couple of nods from other attorneys, but that was all. Even after serving four years of his sentence, paying his debt to society, he was clearly still hands off. No one was going to engage him in any sort of conversation and he knew it.
He walked toward the front of the room where Cori was standing, not far from Denton’s closed casket. There was a long line waiting to express their condolences. Bobby had lost track of the number of wakes he’d been to over the years, sad occasions, the loss of a loved one. People shaking their heads, talking in hushed tones, puffy eyes, red faces, a lot of dabbing with a tissue in the hand.
That certainly wasn’t the case tonight and Cori seemed to be leading the charge. As Bobby worked his way through the crowd toward the front of the room, he could hear Cori laughing. She wasn’t the only one. Everyone seemed to be wearing a smile, laughing, joking, slapping one another on the back.
“Just wanted to make sure the bastard was really dead. Hell, I’m tempted to take a peek inside the coffin,” some guy said as Bobby squirmed past. The comment brought roars of laughter from the group around him.
He finally made his way up to Cori and gave her a nod.
“Pardon me for a moment, Joan,” she said, then stepped away from the woman she had been talking with.
“Addison is here somewhere.” Bobby said.
“Everything go all right?”
“Mmm-mmm, she wasn’t too excited about waking up, but she’s here.”
“Do you mean to tell me she wasn’t even up yet?”
“‘Fraid so. Look, she’s here and I’ll try and keep an eye on her for you. We stopped at the flower store. Those lilies should be arriving shortly. Oh, and here’s a card for you to sign,” he said and pulled out the small card from the flower shop.
“Oh, I completely forgot. Thank you. Now, if I can just find a pen.”
He pulled one out of his suit coat and handed it to her.
“You didn’t happen to pick a card up for Addison, did you?”
“As a matter of fact I did and she’s already filled it out. I can put these in with the carnations or wait until your lilies arrive. It’s up to you.”
“Oh, go ahead and put them in with those carnations. No telling when the lilies will eventually get here.”
“Okay, I’ll let you get back to your guests. Anything else you need?”
“Maybe a water, when you have a chance, and just make sure Addison is still here.”
“I’ve got one of my friends watching her as we speak. She’ll be fine.”
Cori shook her head, “I wish that were true.” She flashed a smile then stepped back toward the line. “Joan, sorry about that. Thanks for your patience, and thank you so much for coming, it means a lot.” The two women kissed and hugged as Bobby disappeared into the crowd.
He found Addison in the ‘family only’ room, sitting at a table with a tray full of vegetables and a dip. She was slumped in a very unladylike pose, thumbing through text messages on her phone. Jesús was standing behind her, leaning against the wall. As Bobby walked in he simply shook his head.
“Hey, Addy, come on, let’s go. Your mom can use your help right now,” Bobby said then reached in an ice chest and pulled out a bottle of sparkling water.
“Whatever,” she said, but made no effort to move.
He leaned down close to her and said, “I don’t think you heard me. Your mom could use your help right now with all these people. Here, you can take this water up to her.”
“Maybe I don’t feel like it. Maybe I’m just going to sit here on my ass.”
“That’s okay, but then you won’t be able to attend the very private party we’re planning to have later tonight.”
“Private party?” she asked pulling away from the cellphone screen.
“Yeah, my place. You want to miss out on the fun, that’s okay, I guess.”
She grabbed the bottle of water, switched off the phone, and stood up. “So where is she?”
Chapter Forty-Three
By seven, the crowd had thinned to the point that there was just Cori and her three collage friends sitting on a couch and chairs, chatting. Addison sat just a few feet behind her mother, nodding and smiling at Bobby whenever he glanced in her direction.
Fifteen minutes later, Cori looked at her watch and said, “Looks like we got off easy, it’s apparently ending early.”
“I could do with a glass of wine,” Betty said.
“There’s a change,” one of the other women said and then they all laughed.
They waited another five minutes and then Cori said, “Oh my God, come on, we’re going to my house.” With that she got up and walked out of the room, with her three friends following.
Addison glanced slyly at Bobby and smiled. “Party time, right?”
* * *
Miguel had them wait just inside the doors to the funeral home while he walked the half-block to the SUV then drove through the parking lot twice before pulling up in front of the side door. Jesús switched places with Miguel and climbed in behind the wheel. Miguel walked around the side of the vehicle and held the door for Bobby and Addison.
“So, are you like some hot-shit important fuck?” Addison asked.
“No, I’m just a real nice guy.”
“Okay if I ride in front?” she asked Miguel.
When they pulled into the underground parking for Bobby’s building he leaned over to Miguel and said, “I’m pretty tired. I’m going to hit the sack, read for a bit, and then sleep.”
Miguel nodded.
“Busy day tomorrow. So nothing too crazy tonight. She has to be in front of everyone with her mother,” Bobby said and nodded at Emily.
A small smile seemed to cross Miguel’s lips and Bobby thought he might have caught just the hint of a flash from Jesús eyes in the rearview mirror.
He brought a glass of wine into the bedroom, read for a bit, never touched the wine and drifted off to sleep. He woke a little after midnight, turned on his computer and clicked onto his monitoring devices. The three of them, Miguel, Jesús, and Addison were in the living room. Miguel and Jesús were seated on the leather couch. Addison was naked and on her knees, her head bobbing up and down on Jesús's lap.
Miguel, seemingly oblivious, sat next to them. He was in the process of arranging lines of what looked like cocaine on the coffee table. He used a credit card to form the lines and glanced over at Jesús who smiled. Miguel grinned back and nodded.
Bobby watched for a while then clicked on the monitors at Emily’s, returning to the view of his own living room after just a few seconds when Emily’s monitor produced dark and empty rooms.
At four in the morning he checked the living room monitor and the room appeared empty. He tiptoed down the hallway to use the bathroom. Based on the noise coming from the guest room he figured all three of them must have gone in there. At nine the following morning he knocked on the guest room door and told everyone to get up for breakfast. Miguel and Jesús were dressed and standing in the kitchen sipping coffee ten minutes later.
