Pipe

by Winter Travers

  “Because that’s all I need from you, darlin’. Mazie takes care of all of my other needs.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and from the way he moved, it looked like he was trying to do a two-step shimmy.

  I gulped and closed my eyes. “Jesus, Bos, I’m never going to be able to wipe that from my mind.”

  “That ol’ Mazie could teach you young guns a thing or two.”

  While I headed over to the table at the far end of the restaurant with their hash, I tried to imagine what Mazie could teach me. Except I was picturing Bos on the receiving end.

  Sweet Jesus. That was not pretty.

  “Here ya go,” I mumbled as I set the plate down. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  “Um, I think I’m good, Nikki, but there is a question I have.” Richard shifted uncomfortably in the booth and ducked his head.

  “What’s up?” I chirped. Richard came in every Monday and Wednesday like clockwork. He sat in the same booth and ordered the same thing. Except for today, he had added on the hash last minute. I was rather shocked when he had called me over to add it to his usual.

  “I uh, I was, well, I was wondering if you were seeing anyone.” His cheeks flushed deep red, and his eyes were still pointed down at his lap.

  “Well, not really. Not since I moved to Kales Corners. I’ve been kind of busy just settling in and working.” I knew where this was headed, and I was scrambling trying to figure out how I was going to let him down easy without hurting his feelings.

  “Well, you’re doing a really good job here. Way better than Alice ever did.”

  I hesitantly smiled at his compliment. Putting down Alice wasn’t really a wise choice. “Alice taught me everything she knows. I would be a mess without her taking me under her wing.” When I had decided to apply at the diner for work, Alice had been my saving grace. Bos had been the one to interview me, and I could tell he had written me off the second I told him who I was. Alice had bustled out of the kitchen, tying her apron behind her back and told Bos to cut the bullshit and give me the job.

  Back in Weston, Karmen and I had worked at the nursing home, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to work at another place like that without Karmen. We were a team, and as much I told myself moving here was the best choice, I still missed her something fierce.

  Richard cleared his throat, knocking me out of my thoughts. “So, I was wondering if maybe we could go to the movies Friday and see a movie at the movie theater.?”

  I couldn’t help but smile at his bumbling. Richard was a nice guy, and only a few years older than me, but he really wasn’t my type. Thankfully, I didn’t need to make up an excuse why I couldn’t go out with him. “Actually, my best friend from Weston is coming over Friday and staying with me all weekend.”

  “Oh,” he mumbled. “Maybe we can do it some other time.”

  “Yeah, maybe we can.” There, I didn’t crush his hopes, but I also didn’t agree I would go out with him. “I’ll let you get back to eating before your food gets cold. Make sure you tell me how that hash is before you leave. Bos makes some of the best.”

  Richard nodded and tucked into eating.

  I moseyed back to the register, wiping down tables as I went.

  “Heard you got a date for Friday,” Bos said quietly.

  I rolled my eyes and slapped my rag down on the counter. “You might not want to eavesdrop, Bos. You might hear something you don’t like.”

  He rolled his eyes and leaned against the pass thru window. “Just be careful with Richard. He’s a nice guy, but he’s a bit strange.”

  “What does that mean?” I glanced over at Richard, and he looked like your normal, average guy. “Does he have six toes or something?”

  Bos shook his head. “No, not that crazy. I mean his marbles aren’t all where they are supposed to be. He’s always been a strange one, but I’ve heard some not so nice things from the women he manages to get dates with.”

  “Well, dang, Bos. It sounds like you actually care about me.”

  “Don’t read too much into, darlin’. I just don’t want to have to read your obit in the newspaper and have to find a new waitress. Stay away from Richard,” he warned.

  I saluted him and grabbed my rag off the counter. “Can do, because I had no plans on dating him anyway. But your overwhelming concern for me has truly touched my heart.”

  Bos flipped me off and lumbered over to the storage closet mumbling about smart asses and women who are full of piss and vinegar.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” I hollered to his back.

  After Richard finished his meal, he left me a huge tip which I regretfully pocketed, then Bos and I closed the doors and cleaned up.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as Bos followed me closely out the door and grabbed my arm to keep me close to him as he locked the door with his other hand.

  “Just humor me, young gun.”

  “Young gun?” I scoffed. What in the hell was this man up to?

  “I know you didn’t notice, but I have for a while. I was hoping he was harmless, but tonight cemented my thoughts. Richard is after you.”

  “After me? What in the world do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t have a good feeling about him. I’m walking you to your car, and then I’m going to follow you home.”

  I batted my eyelashes and fanned myself with my hand. “Well I do declare, Bos, I thought you had Mazie to take care of all your primal needs.”

  “Fucking smartass,” he mumbled. “Just humor an old man, okay?”

  “Whatever you say, Bos.” If it made him feel better to follow me home, then so be it.

  “How much of a tip did he leave?” he asked as I unlocked my car doors.

  I glanced over my shoulder or him and gulped. “Fifteen.”

  He ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “Nikki, his damn meal didn’t cost more than ten dollars. You don’t think it’s odd that he left you a hundred and fifty percent tip?”

  “I don’t know, Bos. I guess I didn’t really think about it.” I looked around nervously. “You don’t think he’s watching us right now, do you?” Now I was freaked the hell out.

  Bos shook his head. “I saw him take off. You’re good right now. I don’t think he’s going to do anything, Nikki, but you need to just keep your head up.”

  He opened my door for me and glanced over his shoulder. “Where are you parked?”

  “Out back.”

  Now that Bos had freaked the fuck out of me, there was no way in hell I was going to let him out of my sight. “Well, hop in, and I’ll give you a ride to it.”

  Bos rounded the car, and I slid into the driver’s seat. “So, are you going to tell me crazy stuff you heard about Richard?” I slowly drove around the restaurant and stopped next to Bos’ beat up Oldsmobile.

  “It’s nothing I’ve actually seen myself, but it’s just when he gets attached to a chick, he becomes obsessed with her.”

  I slowly turned my head to look at him. “Gee, that makes me feel so much better. He asked me out, and I told him I had plans this weekend.”

  Bos patted my shoulder and opened the door. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but I just thought you should have a little heads up. Don’t stress out over it.”

  “Bos, you scared the living shit out of me.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “That’s not what I meant to do. Look, I’ll follow you home, and you’ll be fine. Everything I’ve heard could just be rumors.”

  I took a deep breath and nodded my head. “Okay, I’ll put my freak out on hold for the time being. He seemed fine when I told him I was busy.” This was Richard we were talking about. I had never gotten the vibe from him that he was a psycho. I was going to be fine. I just needed to keep repeating that over and over until I believed it.

  Bos gave me a reassuring smile. He slammed my door shut, got into his car, and motioned for me to go.

  Only I could move to a new town and get a creepy admirer who might want to make a meat-suit out
of me.

  The five-minute drive to my duplex felt like it took forever, but I finally made it home, and everything looked normal.

  Well, except for the fact the “for rent” sign in the yard of the other side of the duplex was gone, and there was light in all of the windows.

  I pulled into the driveway, and Bos pulled in behind me.

  “Looks like you’ve finally got a neighbor,” he called from his open window.

  “Yeah, I guess so.” It had been nice the past month not having anyone directly next to me. Now it looked like I was going to have to be neighborly. There wasn’t a car in the driveway, but they might have parked in the garage. “You hear anything about someone moving in?”

  He shook his head. “Not a word. Although Mazie hasn’t been over in a couple of days, and she’s who I get all my gossip from.”

  I held up my hand. “Stop right there. I don’t want to know any more about Mazie.” Dirty old man.

  Bos chuckled and shifted his car into reverse. “Get in the house so I can head on home and wait for Mazie.”

  “Say no more!” I jogged up the front steps, stabbed my key into the lock, and pushed open the door. I didn’t want to hear one more word about Bos and Mazie. I was going to have nightmares.

  Bos waved as he backed up, and I slammed the door. I twisted the deadbolt and hooked the chain. No one was going to get in.

  Even though part of me felt Bos was overreacting, another part of me knew it was never a bad thing to be cautious.

  I eyed the clock as I flipped my shoes off and unbuttoned my top. Kales Corners was completely stuck in the past, and my waitress uniform was a testament to that.

  Sky blue, skirt to my knees, button up top, white bobby socks, and white tennis shoes. I was amazed Richard was able to see past the dreadful uniform when he looked at me, let alone actually want to date me.

  I dropped my clothes as I walked to my bedroom.

  Confession time. I was a horrible housekeeper.

  When everyone had come over last weekend, they were lucky I had just done laundry and did a half decent clean that day. Even now, only four days later, my disaster of a duplex was growing. I was going to have to clean again before Karmen came over on Friday.

  I had managed to grab a burger during work, so all I wanted to do now was take a quick shower, slip into some leggings, and fall asleep.

  My phone beeped with a new text message as I stepped out of the shower, and I quickly wrapped a towel around my head.

  What are you doing? Leave it to Karmen to text me all creepy after Bos scared the hell out of me.

  Just got out of the shower.

  Does that mean you just texted me while you were naked? And she just reached a whole new level of crazy.

  No comment. I shimmied on my panties, pulled my baggy shirt over my head, and grabbed the phone to see what craziness she was up to.

  I’m not sure how I feel about you texting me while your naked.

  I rolled my eyes and tapped out a quick reply. Then don’t think about it. What do you want? I pulled a brush through my hair, opting not to blow dry it because I was too damn tired for that shit, and headed to my bedroom to grab a pair of leggings.

  Here was another confession.

  I was a full-blown leggings whore.

  With over seventy pairs of leggings in my closet and dresser, I could go almost four months without wearing the same pair twice. It was an addiction I was okay with. I mean, I could be addicted to drugs or something instead of leggings.

  My phone echoed from the bathroom with another message from Karmen, and I grabbed the first pair of leggings my hand touched. Butter soft, covered with flowers, and to be honest, a bit gaudy. Good thing I had no plans of leaving the house in them.

  I grabbed my phone from the bathroom, flipped off the light, and scrolled to her message. I’ll be there at seven Friday. Cora is coming with me.

  Awesome. I had hoped Karmen was going to bring her. Sounds like a plan. We can go out to dinner when you get here.

  You mean breakfast.

  Huh? I thought we could go out when you got here, but if you want to wait till Saturday morning, that’s fine. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and collapsed on the couch. I flipped on a rerun of some cop show and grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch.

  We will be there at 7am.

  What in the ever-living hell? She was going to be here that early in the morning? She was completely whacked in the head. Uh, do you plan on watching me sleep until nine? Karmen damn well knew I was not a morning person.

  If that’s what you want.

  You’re so weird. I texted back.

  You like it.

  Karmen was a nutjob. I plead the fifth. I’m about to pass out. See you Friday.

  Can’t wait.

  I tossed my phone on the couch and laid back. I was exhausted. Thankfully, I only had one more day of work, and then I had off for three days. But from the sound of it, Karmen planned on taking up every single second of those three days.

  My eyes closed and a light sigh echoed from my lips.

  I started to mentally make a list of everything I needed to do the next day and drifted off with the TV playing in the background, and thinking of not answering the door when Karmen knocked Friday.

  *

  Chapter 11

  Pipe

  This place was a fucking hell hole.

  From the outside, it looked like a well-maintained duplex, and from what I had seen from Nikki’s side, hers was well kept. My side was a different fucking story.

  This is what happens when you decide to rent a place sight unseen. There was a deck off the kitchen, and I knew that was where I was going to end up spending most of my time.

  It had the same layout as Nikki’s, but nothing was updated, the carpet was a crunchy beige, and the walls were gray, but I think they had started out white. Four of the kitchen cabinets didn’t even have doors, and the kitchen faucet leaked, bad. The bathroom and bedrooms were just carbon copies of the living room and kitchen.

  Thank God I planned on wooing the hell out of Nikki, and I hoped to be out of here in a month tops.

  I hadn’t packed much in the way of furniture, but I at least had a bed and a couch. Maniac had been cool enough to drive a cage up to Kales Corners and drop off my shit. He was making another trip today, dropping off other shit I needed. Other shit that included a coffee maker, cups, plates, and silverware. This moving out on your own shit was hard. Probably something I should have figured out in my twenties, not when I was thirty-four.

  Right now, I had a bottle of water, a half pack of cigarettes, and that was it. It was at least the essentials.

  Last night, I had watched Nikki come home with some old guy following her. I had to fight back the urge to go out to make sure she was okay, but I knew I couldn’t come charging out of the house. She had run from me before. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes; so for right now, she wasn’t going to find out I was here until I wanted her to know.

  Grabbing the keys to my motorcycle, my cigarettes off the counter, and headed out the door. My first mission today was to get an ally on my side.

  Nikki had mentioned Alice worked at the diner in town, and I knew if I wanted to get Nikki, I was going to have to get her friends on my side. I knew Karmen liked me, although the past couple of days she had given me the eat shit look. I had to assume Nikki had told her what had happened between us. That was fixable.

  I pulled up to the diner, saw four cars in the parking lot, and parked next to the door. Four bay windows lined the front of the restaurant, and I noticed everyone sitting by the window turned to watch me, Alice included. There went my idea of walking in under the radar.

  “You have balls of steel,” Alice hissed at me when I sat down at the counter.

  I dropped my keys and cigarettes on the counter and flipped over the coffee cup in front of me. “Give me five minutes before you start laying into me, Alice. I haven’t had any coffee yet.”
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  She grabbed the coffee pot from behind her and filled my cup. “You have two minutes.” She flounced off, moving around to the other tables refilling coffee cups and checking on everyone.

  Two minutes were better than none.

  I sipped the hot coffee and looked around the restaurant. I felt like I had been teleported back to the nineteen fifties, and at any moment, the Fonz was about to walk through the door.

  Black and white tile on the floor, red and black booths, and a long counter that stretched the length of the restaurant with swiveling chairs lined in front of it.

  There was a guy behind the counter, and through the window into the kitchen, he was not so secretly staring me down. This was the kind of welcome I knew I was going to get. After spending only a few hours in Kales Corners last weekend, I knew an outsider was not going to fit in easily. Especially one who rode a motorcycle and looked like me. I had left off wearing my cut today, but I knew I was still intimidating.

  “What in the hell are you doing here?” Alice hissed as she sat down next to me.

  “Hey, you’re on the clock, Alice,” the old guy in the kitchen called.

  “I’m also on break, Bos. I’m entitled to those, you know.”

  He waved his hand at her and disappeared to the left of the window.

  I sipped my coffee, and Alice watched me.

  “Look here, big motorcycle man. What in the hell are you doing in Kales Corners? It better not be to see Nikki.”

  I looked over at her and shook my head. “I don’t have a coffee maker.”

  “So you just thought you would drive an hour to get some of our sludge to drink? Are you insane? All that handsome wasted,” she tsked.

  I set down my cup and swiveled toward Alice. “I didn’t just drive here for a cup of coffee. I moved here.”

  Alice sputtered and uncontrollably blinked her eyes about twenty times. “Come again?”

  “I moved here. Specifically in the duplex next to Nikki.”

  She lifted her hand to my forehead and frowned. “I thought for sure you would have a fever because that is the only thing that would explain what the hell you just said.”

  I lifted her hand off my forehead and shook my head. “I feel fine. I’m here because I fucked up before, and this was the only way I could fix it.”