by JB Bonds
“So nice to see you ladies this morning. I was just going over to the tennis courts for a match,” Joe said.
“How is your friend, Ward, doing?” Roz asked.
“You know, I haven’t played tennis with him in days. He says he’s just not feeling like he wants to get out on the courts. I asked him about the elixir and he said he was still using it in hopes it would make him feel better. What can I help you ladies with?”
“As you know, Joanie and I are also concerned about our friends taking the elixir the Hammonds are selling. Things seem to be escalating as far as the frenzied behavior and personality changes we’re seeing in a few people,” Roz explained.
“I know you two are worried, and I have to admit, Burton seems to be a little more overwrought than usual these days.”
“He’s the main reason we’ve come to see you this morning. We just found him in a sleeping bag in the Recreation Center, and frankly, he was not himself. Burton won’t even talk to us about his use of the elixir. He’s convinced it’s the only thing that’s keeping him going,” I said.
“So, what do you think I can do about all of this?”
“Would you be willing to do a little research on Virgil and Flo Hammond?”
“What kind of research?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Virgil told us they had moved here from Kansas. Is that true? How long were they there? Exactly what kind of work did he do for the pharmaceutical company and how knowledgeable is he about the drugs he sold?” I rattled off.
“I can find out some information, but only to a certain degree. Since I’m no longer a practicing PI, I’m not allowed the privilege of seeing some of the more private information about individuals like I did when I was working, but I know some websites that might answer some of those questions.”
“Fair enough. Anything you can find would be helpful, and it might be you won’t find anything, but I feel like we have to at least give it a try,” Roz said.
“Something else, Joe. Would you know of a place we could send the bottle of the elixir we have to get it tested to see exactly what’s in it?” I asked.
“I’ll check and let you know. I would guess having something like that done could take a while, and I’m not sure what they would charge either.”
“Thanks, Joe. We’re just trying to figure out the best way to handle this situation before something bad happens,” Roz said.
We left Joe to his tennis match and went home. Max needed to go for a walk. As we came down Palm Street, we could see Virgil taking boxes into his house. Roz was driving and slowed down to a crawl as we came up to the Hammonds’ house. Virgil stopped long enough to wave and that’s all we needed as an opening.
“Good morning, neighbor, how are you and Flo doing?” Roz asked.
“Couldn’t be better, thank you. We’re staying so busy with all the activities we’ve joined here in Rainbow, and we love the time we’re able to spend in Key West. What a great place to live,” Virgil replied.
“We couldn’t agree more. You already look pretty busy this morning,” I said.
“Oh yes, I got a notice from the post office that these boxes had arrived for me, so I went in early this morning to pick them up. I can’t seem to keep enough of the honey for the demand here in Rainbow. I’m so glad Flo and I were able to bring this product to the community. So many people have embraced it one hundred percent!” Virgil said with a big smile on his face. “How about you two? Are you ready for another bottle?”
“No, we’re good with what we have, thank you. Did you hear we had someone try to break into our house last week?” Roz asked.
“You know, I thought I saw some flashing lights a few nights ago. Was that over at your house?”
“Well, you must sleep like a rock, Virgil. I thought for sure you and Flo would have been up and wondering what was going on. We heard someone trying to open our front door around 1:00 in the morning, but whoever it was ran when we turned on our lights. The police really couldn’t tell us anything, other than Rainbow is having a rash of burglaries. You and Flo might want to keep an eye out for anyone who seems suspicious. As I recall, Flo has some gorgeous jewelry, and I know she’d be sick if someone broke into your house and took it,” Roz said.
“You’ve got that right. Flo has always loved her diamonds and gold. I’ll mention this to her and have her stow away all her better jewelry somewhere safe. Have a nice day, ladies.” Virgil went into the house with the last box from the trunk.
“I guess Flo is still sleeping since she didn’t come out. Seems to me the Hammonds are sleeping very well for people who are taking that elixir. Everyone I’ve talked to who’s using the stuff has too much energy to sleep,” Roz said.
Chapter 21
Help From Our Friends
Book club and mahjongg were meeting at 7:00, and I wanted to touch base with Ida and McGhee to see if they were still planning on attending. After getting Max out of his crate and hooking him up to his leash, we took him for a walk up to their house. When we got to the door, we had to knock a couple of times before Ida answered.
“Sorry I didn’t get to the door faster, girls. Me and McGhee are in the back bedroom storing away all those little things we might use once a year, and don’t want under foot,” Ida said.
“Have you gotten everything unpacked?” I asked.
“We’re done. Are we still on for mahjongg tonight, Roz?”
“Yes, and book club, if McGhee is planning on going,” I said.
“I’m pretty sure she wants to attend. She read the book in about two days. She said she can’t wait to hear the discussions.” Ida gave us a great big smile.
“I can only imagine where our discussions will lead. I’m just hoping we have a good turn out tonight,” I said.
“We’ll pick you two up around 6:45, if that’s all right,” Roz said.
When the four of us got to the Recreation Center, we could see the place was packed. There were so many golf carts, cars, and bicycles parked around the building, we had to leave our golf cart parked down the street.
“I wonder what else is going on here tonight,” I said.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, there’s a lot of people attending,” McGhee said.
We all went into the Recreation Center. Ida and Roz went down the hall to the mahjongg room and McGhee and I went down the hall toward our meeting room. We could hear a lot of talking coming out of the book club room, and couldn’t have been more shocked when we walked in the door to find the room packed; there was standing room only.
“My stars, what is all this about?” I asked McGhee.
“I can tell you what this is all about. When word got out your book club was reading an erotic book, interest blossomed. People got curious,” McGhee said.
I went to the front of the room, but my being there didn’t even begin to bring down the talking. A man in the back saw me trying to get everyone’s attention and whistled loudly. The room went silent.
“Welcome, everyone. It looks like we have quite a few new people here tonight. I’m Joanie O’Hara. I’ll pass a notebook around so everyone can sign in. Please give me your phone number and email address. There are a few refreshments in the back that Alberta has supplied for us tonight since the book choice we’re discussing tonight was hers.”
A woman I didn’t know jumped to her feet and said, “OK, OK, that’s all good, but let’s start discussing this book!”
And so it began. I have never seen a group of people have so much to say about a book club read. The group was animated, loud, and at times, very candid. No one seemed to have a problem saying exactly what they thought of the book, and embellishing on personal experiences in great detail. Everyone that had anything to say about it loved it, and in fact had ordered more books from the same author. It was like this book had stirred up emotions and feelings these people hadn’t experien
ced in a while. That was a good thing. Alberta was like the Cheshire cat, sitting up front and looking confident and pleased with herself since she had introduced the book to the club. At that moment, she interrupted the person who had the floor.
“I want to suggest we vote to read only erotic books, and maybe we could change the name of the club to Erotica in the Tropics Book Club.”
A cheer went up and a man in the back stood up and said, “Well, I think that was our vote! I want to suggest the next book and I’ll bring refreshments next month. I think we should read, How Erotic My Dreams by Barry Vidal.” The man sat down to cheers. I looked over at McGhee and she was furiously writing down the name of the book. Looks like she was a convert, and I’d be ordering more erotic books online for everyone. Ida and McGhee didn’t have a computer, so I was their go-to girl for our reads. Oh well, maybe this was the first senior book club in the country reading only this type of book. The crowd sure did seem to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for the subject.
“Excuse me! Excuse me! I guess the crowd has made the decision for our next book. See you all here next month. Enjoy Alberta’s refreshments before you go,” I said.
After Roz and I dropped Ida and McGhee off at their house, I told Roz about the meeting. She said she had a very big crowd as well at mahjongg, and that she had had problems as well. One of her tables made up new rules and disrupted the group the entire evening. I’m sure that took some of the fun out of the game. We both agreed the atmosphere in Rainbow’s End had drastically changed over the past couple of months.
Roz and I were able to put together a girl’s trip that would involve Roz’s best friend and mine coming to Pelican Key for a visit in April. Over the years, the four of us have gone on at least one girl’s trip a year, and have always enjoyed them. Staying in touch with friends over the years has been something we’ve tried to do. Roz was excited about Judy playing a normal game of mahjongg and I was positive Sylvia would hold her own in a discussion about an erotic book.
Roz’s friend, Judy Miller, still lives with her husband in Pittsburgh. That’s where she and Roz met. Judy is a petite woman with naturally curly salt and pepper hair that she keeps short. I’ve never met anyone with so much optimism and charm. There wasn’t anything Judy wouldn’t tackle or anyone she wouldn’t help. I’ve enjoyed her company whenever we’ve gotten together. Judy is sixty-eight years old with two grown children and three grandchildren. Her bubbly personality, not to mention her occasional swear word interjected into our conversations, always livens up an occasion.
My friend, Sylvia Randall, lives in Atlanta and is a widow like me and Roz. Sylvia is seventy years old and has a grown daughter who has two boys. These boys are the apple of Sylvia’s eye, and she always has such wonderful stories to share about her time with them. In fact, Sylvia is the consummate storyteller, and keeps us laughing all the time. They say laughter keeps you young, so Sylvia should live to a ripe old age. She is a treasure. She’s also very conscious of her diet and is always trying to lose a pound or two, just like me. She has beautiful blue eyes and keeps her hair cut short because she’s so busy. Her church and family activities are a priority. Sylvia’s hearing isn’t the best. She’s been losing her hearing over the years to a degenerative disease, but she is a trooper and makes the best of it.
“Roz, what do you think we should do while Judy and Sylvia are visiting?” I asked.
“We definitely have to take them into Key West and maybe over to that beautiful resort in Marathon Key.”
“I think we should make four appointments for a massage at that new hotel in downtown Key West. I know they would enjoy that.”
“I’ll make the reservation this afternoon. What are your plans for today?”
“It’s getting so beautiful outside I’d like to spend some more time at the pool, and I think Joe has volunteered to take you, me, Ida, and McGhee out for a spin in his boat. Maybe we could do that today.”
Chapter 22
May Day! May Day!
Roz and I went to the pool for a cool swim. I had always heard that pools this far south are never cool during the hot days, but we have a built in waterfall at one end of the pool that circulates the water and keeps it very enjoyable. We saw Joe at the tennis courts and made plans to meet him at the dock behind his house at 3:00 p.m. I hoped that would work for McGhee and Ida. They had gotten involved in a lot of activities since arriving at Rainbow in spite of the horrible welcome they had received. No more signs had been placed in their yard and the girls had put their clothesline back up and were hanging their sheets out to dry once a week. In fact, we were seeing more and more of the clotheslines being put up in the front yards of some of the residents, and being beautifully decorated for night time viewing. Seems a lot of folks were starting to hang their clothes and linens out to dry on the approved wash day. We were hopeful that whoever the mean-spirited person was that started the whole clothesline debacle was over it!
After speaking with Ida around noon, we found out they were willing to forego their art class for a ride in Joe’s boat. They hadn’t had an opportunity to get out on the water since arriving in Florida. Roz and I actually didn’t get out on the water very much because we don’t have a boat or Sea-Doo. We took a quick ride on Burton’s Sea-Doo, but once is all we needed to know it’s best to leave the Sea-Doos to the young folks. Our idea of enjoying the water is to sit back under an umbrella with a cold drink in hand. There’s nothing more peaceful, except of course, when surprise fireworks are set off. I think all of us had gotten over Burton’s surprise, but Roz and I were still concerned about Burton.
Roz and I picked up McGhee and Ida at 3:00 in the golf cart. Ida drove. She was becoming quite the driver and there was talk that they’d spoken to Herb about buying a used golf cart for themselves. Joe was waiting for us at his dock, and after helping all of us into his deck boat, we were off. I have to say that there’s not much else more relaxing and enjoyable than riding in a deck boat across the aqua blue water of the Gulf. All four of us were thoroughly enjoying our time on the water.
After being out for an hour or so, we started back to Joe’s dock. We noticed a very large boat coming toward us. It probably would be considered a yacht because of its size, and it was going fast. Joe looked concerned and tried to steer his boat away from the oncoming yacht, but we just weren’t going fast enough to stay completely out of its wake. They were churning up so much water as they passed that they threw up a huge wave that almost totally swamped us. Water went everywhere. All five of us were soaked. Poor Joe was so angry he couldn’t even talk. We made it back in to the dock, and after some mopping up with towels Joe had onboard, we got his boat and ourselves dried off. As we were saying our goodbyes and thank yous, Joe told us he would swear one of the men in the yacht looked a lot like Virgil Hammond, and that he planned to go talk to him. Driving that fast in a no-wake zone is unacceptable, and as we could vouch, dangerous. Joe also said he’d be starting his research we’d spoken to him about. I guess almost getting run over out in the Gulf was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Roz and I were very happy about how our day had unfolded, not only that we didn’t drown, but that Joe was finally going to check out the Hammonds.
McGhee and Ida enjoyed the boat ride, or at least they said they did. Roz and I were optimistic Joe would take us out again, and hopefully, we’d have a better experience. When we got back home, we saw Flo at the mailbox, so Roz and I stopped to talk to her.
“Flo, how are things going?” I asked.
“Couldn’t be better. Virgil and I are totally in love with the Keys.”
“Is Virgil around?” Roz asked.
“No, he left about an hour ago. I’m not sure where he was going. Why?”
“Is he on the water, by chance?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He didn’t say where he was going. Why?”
“We were out with Joe on his boat and thought we saw Vi
rgil on a big boat with someone, but anyway, I have a question about the elixir. Maybe you can help. There are no ingredients listed on the bottle. Do you know why?” I asked.
“You’ll have to ask Virgil about that. He’s the one that deals with the representative he buys the product from,” Flo seemed flustered.
“Roz and I are just curious. At our ages, we try to be careful how much sugar we have in our diet.”
“Oh, but honey and berry juice can’t be bad for you, surely, and besides the honey is from South American bees!” Flo said.
“I’ll ask Virgil when I see him again,” I said.
The next day we saw Herb and Bonnie at the Country Store and learned that the main office of Rainbow’s End was broken into the night before. Herb wasn’t sure what they were looking for because there was no money there. He and Bonnie make sure of that every day when they close up. All cash goes straight to the little bank here in Rainbow for deposit.
“Have the police said anything about leads on who’s doing all these break-ins?” Roz asked.
“No. They have no clue and our security guard hasn’t seen anything. He can’t be everywhere at once. It almost seems as if the person, or persons, doing all of this has a bird’s eye view and knows when a person is out of their house, except of course, for you two ladies. I’m so sorry you had to experience that. I hope we catch whoever is doing this so we can all rest a little easier,” It was obvious Herb was very anxious about the burglaries, and seemed at a loss as to what to do about them.
Chapter 23
What’s Going On Here?
We left the office and headed home. When we turned on Palm Street, we knew right away something was going on at Ida and McGhee’s. As we got closer we could see Lois, Tutti, and Harry outside Ida and McGhee’s house having a very loud discussion. As we got closer we could hear that it wasn’t a discussion but a full-blown argument. We stopped and walked over to the group.
