We ended up borrowing Delilah’s car. She didn’t ask any questions and just handed over the keys. Her car was a 1972 Ford Galaxy. It smoked something terrible and made horrible noises.
We got to the nursing home in time for visiting hours and were sitting in the parking lot when I remembered something we hadn’t thought of.
“How are we going to know which visitors coming out are the one or ones that visited Henrietta?”
“We’re just going to ask them.”
“What if they won’t tell us?”
“Vicky, quit worrying, it’s going to work out. I have a feeling about this.”
“Maybe that’s why Delilah loaned us the car. She had a feeling,” I murmured.
The first person to come out was a tall thin man with glasses. His hair, what there was of it, was light brown and looked like he combed it with an egg beater. Jesse jumped out of the car and threw her shoulders back. She sashayed over. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked like she was shamelessly flirting with him. When he walked away, she looked after him for a few seconds and then returned to the car.
“He works here. He’s a male nurse. He said that the only visitors she ever had was her daughter, who is a middle aged woman with dark hair and eyes, and a bit overweight, and sometimes her grandson who comes with his mother. Her grandson is tall with blond hair, but he hasn’t been here in awhile.”
Visiting hours came and went and we still sat in the hot car.
“God! I sure wish this car had AC. I’m dying up in here,” Jesse said.
We kept waiting and waiting. Just as we were about to give up, we noticed a woman that matched the daughter’s description come out. I was just beginning to comment that I thought it was terrible that not a single person had come today on visiting day, to see anyone.
“Look Jesse, that’s got to be her,” I said and pointed.
Again Jesse jumped out and ran up to the woman. As soon as Jesse started talking to her she started shaking her head and walking away. Jesse tried to follow.
The woman screamed, “Leave me alone!”
She turned and actually ran away from Jesse.
“She claims she’s not Henrietta’s daughter and that she came to see someone else. And I know that’s her and something weird is going on. I’m gonna follow her,” Jesse said while getting into the car.
The woman got into a green Volvo and took off at great speed. I noticed that her license plate had so much mud on it that you couldn’t read it. Our car had a hard time getting started and Jesse was cursing it, until it finally caught and started.
“Which way did she turn at the end of the drive, Vicky?’
“Right, Jesse, go right!”
The woman was drove recklessly, weaving in and out of traffic and she almost hit the front bumper of a Toyota. When a red light caught her, she glanced nervously in the rearview mirror. She must have recognized us because she ran the red light and a Ford pickup truck almost hit her. The driver blew his horn and gave her the finger. It seemed like we chased her a hundred miles until she started across the Huey P. Long Bridge. That was where Jesse stopped.
“No way am I driving on that bridge. No way in hell,” she said shaking her head.
The bridge looked rusty with railroad tracks running down the middle. I was glad to not be going over it.
“Now what are we going to do, Jesse?”
She sat there thinking, and then hit the steering wheel, “looks like I have to get close to the male nurse. Tomorrow, I go alone, on the bus. Don’t you worry, sugar. We gonna figure this thing out.”
When we got home, Dave was fit to be tied. “Where the hell you girls been? ”he said, “Vicky, you missed your delivery, and Jesse, you know that Jonesie always comes to see you on the second Wednesday of each month. Marty had to make the delivery for you Vicky and she was madder than a wet hen. I just don’t know what I’m gonna do about her. I don’t need all this trouble. And Jonesee was not too happy to have Rhonda. The poor son-of-a-bitch, if he hadn’t been so horny he wouldn’t have taken the substitute. So, where have you been?”
Jesse looked at me for some time and then seemed to make up her mind about something. She told Dave the whole story about the nursing home and Henrietta’s daughter.
She finished with, “We accomplished more in one day than your private detective has in months. I’m telling you Dave, that guy’s ripping you off. I don’t know what he’s doing with his time. I think you ought to fire his ass.”
“First off, it’s not up to you to decide whether I need to hire or fire this dick. But, on the other hand, I think I will fire him. So, what did you plan on doing next, Jesse?”
Jesse told him her plans.
Dave said, “Invite him for dinner. I have an idea.”
The very next day, Jesse rode a bus to the nursing home and came back with Tom, the male nurse. I watched from my window as they got out of his car. He acted like a real gentleman, going around the car and opening Jesse’s door, and taking her elbow to lead her to the house.
When I came downstairs, Dave was shaking hands with him. “I’m so glad you are able to join us for dinner tonight. After dinner, we can talk. Ah! Here are the rest of the girls.” He introduced us and we started into the dining room.
Dave seemed to be especially nice to Tom during dinner. He kept telling Delilah to fill his wine glass. He kept telling Tom how he was so glad to meet him and that he thought they would be good friends. Dave was sitting at the head of the table, like he always did, and tonight Tom was sitting to his right.
At one point, Dave leaned over and whispered something to Tom and both men looked at Rhonda and laughed. Rhonda didn’t notice. She was telling me about a new purse she had bought and wanted me to see after dinner.
Both Rhonda and Jesse had been nice to me but Marty and I never seemed to hit it off. In fact, lately she acted like she couldn’t stand the sight of me. So, I was trying to pay attention to Rhonda, but I was also trying to see what Dave and Tom were up to.
At the end of the meal, Dave didn’t linger and talk to us girls like he usually did but pushed back from the table and stretched.
“We have some things to discuss in private, Tom. You girls do whatever you want to occupy yourselves,” Dave said as he stood and stretched.
Tom and Dave went into Dave’s office. I wanted so badly to listen at the door, but knew I couldn’t get away with it. After going to Rhonda’s room and looking at her new purse and chatting a few minutes, I went to my room and finally went to bed at about 2:20. Dave and Tom were still in Dave’s office.
The next morning when I went down to breakfast, around 10:30 a.m., Dave was eating his usual enormous breakfast of bacon, eggs, cheese grits, biscuits with red-eye gravy, and French Market chicory coffee. I really couldn’t figure out how he stayed so thin.
He was arguing with Marty, but I couldn’t tell what it was about.
All I heard was Dave saying, “…if you don’t, you’re out of here, no more discussion.”
He dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
When Delilah came into the dining room, I told her I wanted a sausage biscuit and a cup of café au lait (which I had learned was coffee with cream and sugar). I sat there hitting my thigh with my fist, when Dave turned to me with a wide grin on his face,
“Why don’t you just ask, Vicky, instead of beating yourself up? In fact, you don’t even have to ask, I’ll just tell you outright. I never thought I’d live to say this about a nerdy looking guy like Tom, but we really did hit it off. The bottom line is that he’s agreed to work for me, if compensated, of course.
“But, I figured out how to make some money out of this too. So, he’ll be spying for us at the nursing home and you will have more runs to the park to make. Everyone wins all around. The other thing is, he’s head over hills in love with Jesse. I tried to talk him out of it and even offered him Rhonda at one point. But he wants Jesse. That’s the only thing that worries me about this whole setup. Bu
t I think Jesse can handle herself all right.”
I thanked him and we ate the rest of the meal in silence. Later Jesse and Rhonda came down for their breakfast, and there was a lot of talking and laughing. This was the closest thing I had had to a family and I felt very happy, until I caught Marty’s eye. She was looking like she could kill me. I looked away quickly, because I didn’t want to have anything to do with her. I was scared of her.
CHAPTER 7
It was the middle of June before we started to see any results of Tom’s spying. One evening he showed up as we were finishing dinner. His eyes went straight to Jesse and she gave him a dazzling smile. When Dave turned around and saw him, he excused himself and took Tom into his office.
They were only in there for about fifteen minutes, when Dave called Jesse in. In just a little while, Jesse left with Tom, who was practically drooling. Dave came and motioned for me to follow him. But, instead of taking me into the office, he took me out on the front porch.
We sat side by side in the swing for awhile before Dave started pacing and finally swung around to face me.
“Here’s what Tom said, Vicky. Henrietta’s daughter didn’t come back in to see her mother again until today. Tom had tried calling and going by her house but she had given the nursing home a bogus address and phone number.
“So, today when she came by for her visit, he tried to catch her on her way out. At first, she was friendly, but when he asked her about her address and phone number, she took off. He tried to chase her, but he couldn’t follow her far. He had to stay inside the home since he was on duty. Poor son-of-a-bitch, he couldn’t wait to give me this little bit of information, so he could ask to take Jesse out. He’s got it bad!”
“So, we’re at a dead end?”
“Well, not necessarily. I think between them, he and Jesse can come up with something.”
He looked off as if studying the streetcar that was making a U-turn at the end of the street. When he turned back to me, he looked almost sad.
“The other thing I want to talk to you about is this Vicky. I don’t think Mark is coming back.”
When I started to protest, he held up his hand, “It’s been four months, Vicky; he hasn’t even sent me a check yet this month. It happens all the time, some dude promising to take one of the girls off with him. He could have just taken you with him if he was serious about it. So, I think we have to face facts. Besides, aren’t you happy here with us? You seem happy.”
“I am happy here Dave. I really am. I just thought… I’m sorry” I said as I began to cry.
Dave sat down beside me and pulled me to him. I cried on his shoulder.
“That’s okay, Vicky,” he said, sensing my discomfort, “I’m not trying to put the moves on you. I just wanted to comfort you.”
He held me and let me cry for awhile, then took his handkerchief and dried my tears.
“There’s one more thing I wanted to talk to you about,” he said. “We’re having a party tonight and there are not enough girls to go around.”
I just sat there and stared at him in horror. Surely he wasn’t asking what I thought.
He looked at me and said, “What? You thought you could just go on with the deliveries and not do what the other girls are doing? Wake up, Vicky, The others don’t think it’s fair that you only do deliveries and they’re pissed off about it, especially Marty. And frankly Vicky, you’ve had it pretty easy. So here’s what’s going to happen.
“Tonight at about ten o’clock, our guest will be arriving. Wear something simple but mature looking. You’ve been buying some nice things lately and you have good taste, so I’ll trust you on that. His name is Bill. He’s not very tall but built like a weight lifter. I think you’ll like him. Actually, it was Mike, Marty’s date for Mardi gras who referred him. He should be safe, because you know I only take people referred by people I know. Make sure he wears a rubber and ask for the money up front. I’ll give you a price list later.”
This conversation was embarrassing me and I could feel my face turn red. Dave laughed and called it endearing. But I didn’t care about being cute or endearing, so I jumped up and ran upstairs.
At nine o’clock, I took a shower and sat down at my vanity to put on my makeup. I was shaking. I jumped up ran down the hall to Jesse’s room. When I told her what was going on, she went to her dresser and opened a cookie tin and got out a baggie full of pot. She rolled a joint for me and told me to go back to my room and smoke the whole thing by myself to “mellow out.”
I tried to keep the smoke in my lungs a long time like I had seen Jesse do, but I kept coughing. I was finally able to get enough because, when I went downstairs, I was laughing so hard, I was crying.
Dave was standing at the bottom of the stairs and he did not look happy. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out on the front porch.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing Vicky? You’re stoned aren’t you?”
I couldn’t seem to control myself. The angrier he got the funnier it was and, as he stood screaming at me, I stood bend over laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face.
“I’m so sorry Dave,” I said as soon as I could get my breath.
“Are you calm enough to listen to me? You have to get the money up front, you hear me? Just charge the flat two hundred dollar rate. Don’t worry about extras right now. Ok? You hear me Vicky?”
“I hear you Dave, you don’t have to scream.”
But as soon as he had mentioned the money I sobered up fast. I started crying. This made Dave so mad I thought he was going to hit me. He walked to the edge of the porch, pulled out a cigarette, lit it and blew the smoke out like an angry bull. Then he walked to where I was standing.
“I don’t get you, Vicky. You’ve done this before. The only difference is that this time, you have to ask for the money first. Oh, and don’t forget, if he wants to spend the night, it’s five hundred.”
“I’m so sorry, Dave. I’ll do it, don’t worry.”
He grinned from ear to ear, “That’s my good girl,” Then winked and walked off.
I took a tissue out of my pocket and licked it and wiped under my eyes to clean up the smeared mascara that I knew was there and went inside. There was laughter coming from the living room when I walked in,
“Here she is, Bill, your date,” Dave said.
A small but solid built man stood. He was wearing a pair of tan pants and black polo shirt. I felt over-dressed in my short black cocktail dress and black high heeled sandals. I was going to sit down but saw Dave jerk his head toward the stairs. I took Bill’s hand and lead him upstairs.
As I left the room, I heard Marty say, “It’s about time,” and Dave telling her to shut up.
When we got to my room, I realized that Bill wasn’t going to make this easy for me. He just stood and looked at me.
“I’m supposed to get the money up front,” I said, “so you need to give me two hundred, or five hundred, if you plan to spend the night.”
“And what might I be giving you that amount of money for?” he said.
I couldn’t understand why he was making this so hard for me. I knew I was blushing and I dropped my head.
“To have sex with me,” I mumbled.
He didn’t say anything but I heard him move close to me. All of a sudden he put what felt like a bracelet on my wrist. I thought at first he was giving me a present, but when I looked down, I got the scare of my life. I was wearing handcuffs.
Bill was said, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”
When he lead me downstairs, several of the other men left and I didn’t understand why they weren’t under arrest too.
Dave was in the middle of a sentence. He broke off when he saw us.
“What the hell is this?” He said.
The men who hadn’t left also pulled out handcuffs and started handcuffing Dave and the girls.
The whole thing was very confusing. When w
e got to the police station, they separated us.
Bill and a female officer came into the interview room with me. They told me they were going to be taping the interview. Bill turned it on and announced who was present the time and date etc. The first thing they asked me was my age. I hesitated.
Bill said, “About sixteen?”
I hesitated a few minutes then decided it was better to be truthful with the police, so I told them that I was sixteen.
“Here’s what’s going on, Vicky, The others are all adults, and will probably go to prison. We’ve been trying to get Dave’s operation shut down for some time, and now, thanks to Marty, we got him. What I need from you is for you to tell me what was in those bags you delivered. You see, we have been watching you also.”
I was shaking really hard and my mouth was suddenly so dry, I could hardly talk.
Bill looked at the police woman and said, “Sandy, get a coke for her, will you?’
She pushed away from the wall where she had been leaning and left.
After drinking a few swallows of Coke, I said, “I never looked in those bags. Dave told me not to. But Marty delivered some of them. She might know.”
They didn’t keep me in the interview room but took me to an office. When we came out of the interview room, all the others were in the lobby yelling at each other.
When Dave saw me, he yelled, “What did you tell them, girl, and where you going, Marty? Hey why is she free to go? What’s going on here?”
I was glad when they led me into an office where a caseworker named Beth was. She was very kind to me and explained that I would be put into a home for runaway girls. It was a nice place, she explained.
CHAPTER 8
The home was a large house in Metairie. I had never met so many hateful girls in my life. Out of all the places I had lived, this was the worst. I had gotten used to having my own room with my own bathroom. Here, I had to share a room with five other girls.
I was assigned the top bunk of a bunk bed, and I had to share a bathroom with everyone. It was a bathroom with toilets along one wall and showers along another. There was absolutely no privacy at all.
Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 01 - Blood on White Wicker Page 4
