Rainbow's End

by JB Bonds

  I had taken a couple of the designer gowns Burton had given me and Roz and had them altered for us to wear as we welcomed the audience. Roz and I got dressed and went into the main room of the Center. By now, the room was buzzing with activity. Burton had put on his Ringmaster costume, which consisted of gold lame short-shorts, white long-tail coat with a gold lame bowtie, a top hat, and fishnet hose and knee high stiletto black patent leather boots. As Roz and I took a seat at the back of the room, Burton was beginning his welcome to the audience. There was quite a bit of noise coming from the adjacent room where the talent show acts were waiting their turns.

  “Pipe down, people!” Burton screamed. The room got silent. I guess everyone had learned you better listen to Burton. We watched as he came to center stage. He pointed his cane at a man in the corner who was responsible for all the show’s music. All of a sudden, calliope music blared. Burton started marching up and down the aisles. The dress rehearsal lasted almost two hours, running just fifteen minutes longer than what Burton wanted. He ended the show by doing a number himself from South Pacific. Roz and I had to admit, there were some talented people living in Rainbow. How wonderful to see this side of people you see only at the pool, or at bingo. You just know there are stories that could be told.

  Everyone was filing out and talking about the cookouts and evening activities. There was still enough of the Saturday evening left to get some play time in.

  “Roz and Joanie!” Burton yelled. “Could you come up here for a moment, please?” He motioned from the front of the room.

  We made our way toward him and could see he was sweating and using the cane for support. I could see Roz wanted to grab his arm and get him to a seat, but didn’t dare, because he looked like he wanted to bite our heads off again.

  “What in God’s name do you call this parachute stuff that is hanging from the ceiling? Couldn’t you be a little more creative? I feel claustrophobic just being in here. How do you think the audience will feel when we get this room filled to capacity?”

  “Burton, if you don’t like the parachute material, then you take it down yourself. We heard a lot of great comments from the people here this afternoon about our set. You need to go somewhere, sit down, get a cold drink, and try to pull yourself together!” Roz was beyond pissed.

  This was so out of character for her that I found myself standing there with my mouth hanging open. Burton was obviously taken aback, too. He stopped his tirade, put both hands over his mouth, and ran out of the room boo-hooing. We were losing Burton.

  “Roz, you sure told Burton. I’m proud of you, girl,” I said.

  “I’m not so proud of me, but that was about the last time I was going to let him crawl all over us about something that just wasn’t true. This room looks fantastic, and Burton knows it.”

  “He’s probably gone home. I wanted to ask him if he was going to Lois and Morty’s wedding this coming Saturday, but I’m not sure he should be there. He could ruin the whole thing for them if he has another one of his outbursts.”

  We left the maintenance men taking down the parachutes and pennants, and thanked them for all their hard work. As we got into our golf cart, we saw Herb and Bonnie coming out of the office, so we drove over to speak to them.

  “How did dress rehearsal go?” Bonnie asked.

  “This talent show is going to be wonderful. There are some really clever acts and talented people. I can’t wait for the residents to see it. But I have to admit, it can’t be over too soon for Burton,” Roz said.

  “I haven’t talked with him for a week or so, but the last time I saw him, he didn’t look good,” Bonnie said.

  “Maybe when the talent show is over, he’ll be able to sit back and relax a little,” Herb said.

  “We hope so. What brings you two to the office on a Saturday afternoon?” I asked.

  “We got a call from the local police department and they wanted to go over some of the Guard House records. I think they’re starting to zero in on some leads about these burglaries,” Herb said.

  “Did they say they know who it is?” Roz asked.

  “Not in so many words. You know the police. They won’t divulge anything, but I got the distinct feeling they’re on to something,” Herb said.

  Chapter 38

  Nuptials and the Deep End

  Roz and I decided early in the week to go into Key West to find something new to wear to Lois and Morty’s wedding that was coming up this Saturday. On Tuesday morning around 10:00, on our way out of Rainbow, we stopped by Lois’s trailer to see if she was there and ask if she wanted to go along. We thought maybe she might need to pick up a few things before the ceremony. Lois came to the door, looking very rested and happy. Morty poked his head out around her shoulder.

  “Hey, Lois, Morty, we’re going into Key West. Would you two like to go along?” Roz asked.

  “No, we’re waiting for a lady from the church to come by to go over the ceremony for Saturday, and she’s going to take my last cat, my old tabby,” Lois said.

  “Morty, how are you doing in Lois’s trailer with your allergies to cats?” Roz asked.

  “I’m doing all right. This is all a lot harder on Lois than it is on me. She loves those cats, so I just use Benadryl and calamine lotion. That seems to help. I can tell Lois is going to watch me like a hawk! She won’t let me take that honey concoction Virgil is selling. I spent good money on that stuff, but Lois says it might not be safe. Ain’t she something?”

  “I would listen to Lois, Morty. She won’t steer you wrong. Lois, I know you’re going to miss your pets,” I said.

  “I’m going to miss them something fierce, but I’ve only had cats for the past couple of years. I’m not sure how I ended up with so many. Maybe I was just lonely. I think getting married to Morty is the best decision I’ve made in a long time. We think he’s not allergic to dogs, so who knows, we may end up with a pup of some kind.”

  “Morty, we saw you pedaling down Palm Street on a three-wheeler early last week. When did you get the bike?” Roz asked.

  “Would you believe Tutti gave that bike to Lois and me as a wedding present? Lois already has her bike, so I get to ride this one.”

  “I’m a little curious. What did you have on your head?” I asked.

  “My version of a bike helmet. I’ve never owned a helmet of any kind in my whole life. I’ve ridden every kind of transport you can think of and never had one of those things on my head, but I know there are laws now that say you have to have one on to ride a bike. I figured, why spend good money on one of those expensive things, so I came up with one of my own. A six quart aluminum soup pot with side handles and a scarf tied to the handles and under my chin. It works like a charm. Besides what else could I do with a real bike helmet? Not a damn thing! At least I can use this helmet to fix a pot of soup. Double duty.”

  “Morty is so clever, don’t you think?” Lois said with a loving smile on her face.

  “So very clever, Lois. Did you all invite the Hammonds to your wedding?” Roz asked.

  “Yes, and they said they’d come. I expect we’ll have that little church filled. Between our Rainbow and church families, it should be a real nice event,” Lois said.

  We left Lois and Morty to their wedding plans and went into Key West. There are some great shops on Duval Street. We had an idea of what we wanted, so we went to a little boutique that carried cruise wear. In no time at all, we found what we were looking for and decided to stop in at a pub for a sandwich and a cold drink before going home. To our surprise, Virgil and a young man were sitting at a back table. We waved and the waiter seated us. We hadn’t even had time to order before we saw the young man at Virgil’s table get up and walk out the door. The next thing we knew, Virgil was coming our way.

  “Hi, neighbors. Doing a little shopping?” Virgil asked.

  “We wanted something new for Lois’s wedding this Sa
turday. I understand you and Flo are going to be attending?” I said.

  “We’re not going to be able to make it. I’ve got a lot of work to do before next week, lots of stuff to ship out. This elixir business is going great! And Flo made plans to come into Key West with some friends,” Virgil said.

  “That’s too bad. I know Lois would like to have you there,” Roz said.

  “See you ladies back at the ranch!” Virgil said as he walked toward the door. As he was walking out, I glanced up and couldn’t help but notice he was carrying a duffel bag.

  “Roz, I think we need to find Joe when we get home and tell him about seeing Virgil here with that guy.”

  We got back to Rainbow around 3:00 p.m. and went straight to Joe’s house to see if he was home. We went up the stairs to knock, and Joe answered right away.

  “Come in, ladies. I’m glad you stopped by. I was going to give you a call later this afternoon. I wanted to tell you what my buddy has found out about Bill Levine.”

  “Well, we wanted to tell you we saw Virgil and a young guy at a pub in Key West a couple of hours ago, and when Virgil left the pub he was carrying a duffel bag,” Roz said.

  “Really? Have a seat. Can I get you a glass of sweet tea?”

  “That sounds good. Thank you, Joe,” I said.

  Joe handed us our drinks. “From what my buddy found out, this Bill Levine is fifty-seven years old, divorced, no children, and hasn’t lived in Wichita, Kansas since early last year. In fact, his license plates expired in early March.”

  “Divorced?” I said incredulously.

  “This can’t be our Virgil Hammond. He’s married to Flo. But, he does look more like fifty-seven than the sixty-seven he told us,” Roz said.

  “My guy is hopeful he’ll be able to get a copy of Bill Levine’s driver’s license. That will have a photo on it. Then we’ll know if Bill and Virgil are one and the same. Getting the copy of the license is a little tricky. DMV departments don’t let just anybody into their files, and rarely ever let copies be made, except for law enforcement, of course.”

  “How is your buddy going to get the copy?” Roz asked.

  “He works very closely with the police in Kansas City, and he’s got a good friend on the force there that might be able to get the copy. I wouldn’t ask him to stick his neck out like this if I didn’t feel we were on to something.”

  “Getting to the bottom of exactly what Virgil and Flo are peddling can’t happen fast enough,” Roz said.

  “I’m hopeful I’ll have the report back from the lab on what’s in the stuff in the next week or so.”

  “Do you have any feel for what Virgil is doing meeting the cruise ship and that young guy, then leaving with a duffel bag?” I asked.

  “If I’m right, I would say the young man is bringing in something to sell to Virgil. His cruise ship comes into the Key West harbor on a weekly basis. Maybe this young guy has a source somewhere that he sails. I know one of the cruises out of Miami stops here at Key West on its way to Cozumel, Mexico. Mexico is a perfect port to pick up illegal substances. and smuggling them onto a cruise ship wouldn’t be all that difficult, especially if you work for a cruise line. People come and go from those ships all day when they’re docked.”

  “Oh, my. This might be getting bigger than we ever imagined,” I said.

  Roz and I had spoken to our children about Kendall and Kody’s upcoming visit. They were expected to arrive this Sunday. Kody would arrive from North Carolina at the Key West Airport by himself around noon, and Kendall around 1:00 p.m. from Chicago.

  Kendall is fifteen years old. Her mom and dad, Krista and Joseph, live in Chicago. The two had settled there after college at Northwestern, where they met. Kendall has an older sister, Kayla, who’s seventeen. We both think this might be one of Kendall’s last visits to Florida for vacation. It seems as the grandkids get older, they have so many activities and interests that giving up a week to spend at a retirement community wasn’t high on their list of priorities, even though it is with Grandma. This was the first year both Kayla and Kendall weren’t coming together to visit Roz. Kayla would be graduating from high school in late June, so Roz and I were planning to travel to Chicago for that big occasion. We were lucky this year that both Kody and Kendall had been able to get out of school in May for a week. It seems both their school years now extend into late June.

  Kendall was our little star in the family. She had been singing in school musicals, in her church choir, and for a local theater group in her little community of Niles, just outside Chicago, since she was five years old. She was truly gifted. I was hopeful she’d be able to sing for Burton while she was visiting. If anyone could tell us if she had true potential for a career with her voice, Burton could.

  Kody was the only boy grandchild between me and Roz. My son, Kent, and his wife Bella, live in Asheville, North Carolina, where they have embraced the local culture, and beautiful scenery of the Smoky Mountains. Kody lived on his bicycle, so that’s why I borrowed one from Herb. Rainbow would be the perfect place for him to ride.

  With extra groceries bought, pool toys at the ready, and beds and linens where they needed to be, Roz and I felt ready for the grandkids’ visit. On Saturday around 1:00 p.m., we stopped at McGhee and Ida’s to pick them up for the trip over to Marathon Key and the The Little Chapel By the Sea, where Lois and Morty were to be married. When we pulled into the parking lot, we were shocked at the number of cars. For such short notice, it looked like the wedding would be well attended.

  Roz and I had bought beautiful powder blue silk dresses that came with a short sleeved white jacket. After a lot of discussion in the boutique about finding different outfits, we honestly decided that we both desperately liked the blue silk dress. Since we’d reached a certain age, Roz and I had come to the conclusion that life was short, do what you want, so powder blue it was for both of us. Our hats were in the car, but we still looked like a couple of book ends up at the altar on either side of Lois. She was glowing. She had on a light pink full length skirt with a white long sleeved blouse. She had put a wreath of flowers in her hair that was pulled into a low bun at the nape of her neck. Morty had on a lime green leisure suit. I didn’t know there were any of these suits still around. Al, his best man, stood beside Morty in a tan seersucker suit and actually looked pretty good considering this was the first time I’d ever seen him in anything other than a Speedo. He seemed more nervous than Morty.

  As Roz and I walked up the aisle to join Lois, I saw Bea, Alberta, Ida, and McGhee sitting together, and just in front of them were Henri and the Bennetts. I’m sure Lois was pleased to see so many of her Rainbow friends in attendance. Roz and I had seen Bonnie Bennett earlier because she gave us beautiful bouquets of flowers to carry that she’d put together from her gorgeous flower garden. I assumed the bouquet Lois carried of white calla lilies was also supplied by Bonnie.

  The service was simple and beautiful and Lois and Morty were married in fifteen minutes. There was a large crowd there representing the Chapel as well as Rainbow people. The Worship Committee of the Chapel had put together a reception in the adjacent Annex; someone had even made a simple, one-layer wedding cake that Lois and Morty cut and shoved into each other’s mouths just like a couple of kids. Lois had brought a little camera and asked McGhee to take some pictures of the wedding party. Then, after some punch, the four of us ladies decided it was time to get back to Rainbow. We understood from the bride and groom they were not going on a honeymoon, per se, but invited everyone to the Rainbow pool right after the ceremony for a party. Lois had gotten prior approval from the Rainbow Guard House to let the Chapel van in when they arrived after the service.

  Burton hadn’t shown up for the wedding, which I think saddened Lois, but she excused him by saying she was sure he had so much to do for the upcoming talent show.

  “Are you ladies going to go down to the pool for the wedding party?”
I asked McGhee and Ida.

  “I think we’ll drive down there. Lois seems so happy and I think it would mean a lot to her if we went by for a little while,” McGhee said.

  “It should be a nice party and I doubt very many people will get into the pool. It’s just a nice place to have a gathering that will hold a lot of people. With the Recreation Center being used for practice for the talent show, it’s about the only place in Rainbow that Lois could get,” Roz said.

  “We’ll meet you all down at the pool in about an hour. Lois and Morty should be there by then,” I said.

  We dropped off McGhee and Ida and Roz and I went home to change into crop pants and light, sleeveless blouses. It was another hot day. When we pulled the golf cart into the pool parking lot, we could hear the party had started. We parked the cart and walked into the pool area. The place was packed! Word definitely had gotten out that there was a party going on in Rainbow’s End. Music was blaring from the cabana speakers, people were line dancing, and the Conga line had already formed.

  The bride and groom hadn’t arrived from the Chapel, so Roz and I weren’t sure who had gotten the party started so early. We found McGhee and Ida sitting on folding chairs at a small table off to the side of the pool. They’d had sense enough to bring their own chairs, which was good, because there was no place to sit. About that time, we heard a splash and a scream. Then another splash. Once Roz and I were able to peep around the shoulders of the party revelers and look into the pool, we saw a man and woman who looked vaguely familiar, fully dressed, dunking each other and choking on the pool water. Then, in the next instant, three more people jumped in. Now I know why the first couple looked familiar. They were two of the half-naked bunnies. This time they had on clothes, but from the way they were acting, Roz and I weren’t certain how long those clothes would stay on. I could only assume they had crashed the party.