Something new and bright began to stir in Sally Beth as she gazed into the airy abyss. She felt exposed, but instead of feeling vulnerable, she found herself emboldened. This place marked a beginning, an awakening, as she become aware that all the other wonders of the world that she had dreamed about were more than just dreams. They were real, and they were there, waiting for her. If she wanted to, she could see them all. The thought startled her. Until now, her mountains had been not just the center of her universe, but her only reality. This place, yes, even the hot, dry desert, had stretched her imagination, shattering the illusion that home was all there was, all there ever could be. She breathed as deeply as her lungs could expand, inviting the great Grand Canyon to become a part of her.
Not until the sun was fully up and the clear sunlight spangled the air both above and below them did they drive back out of the Park to the motel. They went straight to the café where Tiffany and Lawrence sat eating breakfast as they thumbed through the guidebook.
“Did you go back to the rim?” Tiffany asked.
“Yes,” said Lilly. “The sunrise was beautiful.”
“I wish I had gone with you. Tomorrow, be sure to come get me, okay? Now, what do you want to do today? We’re thinking we want to hike the South Kaibab trail, at least to Skeleton Point. We probably shouldn’t go much farther since we’re getting a late start. What do you think?”
“I don’t have any preference, since I’ve never been here before.” Sally Beth figured any trail they chose would be good.
“I’m not going,” Lilly said mildly.
“Not going?” asked Tiffany. “Why in the world not?”
Sally Beth explained. “Lilly has a problem with heights.” She stopped, feeling that was enough, but Lawrence wanted to know more.
“Why are you afraid of heights, Lilly?”
“I just am. I don’t like it.”
“But the trails aren’t that steep or anything. Come on,” he wheedled. “You’ll enjoy it.”
“No, I won’t. It’s already hot, and any time there’s a ‘spectacular view,’ it means looking down, probably from a narrow trail, and I’m just not going to do it. You can go without me.”
“But we’re here, and it’s silly…” Lawrence began, but Tiffany interrupted.
“Lawrence, she said she didn’t want to go. So just drop it. Now, it’s getting late, so let’s go. Lilly, what will you do while we are gone?”
“Oh, I’ll find plenty to do. Just hang out here, maybe go shopping. I’ll have the car, so you’re on your own. Try not to throw Lawrence off a cliff, or if you do, make sure nobody sees you.”
To Sally Beth’s dismay, they had not made it more than half a mile into the Canyon before thunderclouds rolling in from the west brought lightening, hail, and rain swarming up so fiercely they were forced to turn back.
They caught a shuttle back to the village and made their way through the driving rain to the warmth of the café where they ate lunch, dried out, and strolled through the museums, then went back for coffee and pie. They were just dawdling over the last bites when Lawrence spotted Lilly through the window and waved her in.
She was dressed in new clothes: jeans, cowboy boots, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat. She looked adorable.
“Lilly!” That is the cutest outfit I ever saw!” exclaimed Sally Beth. You look like you belong out here.”
Lilly giggled. “I know! Isn’t it great?” She twirled around, showing off her new clothes and turquoise cowboy boots. “And I know your birthday isn’t for two days, but I got you an outfit, too. We’ll be on the road after today, so there’s no reason not to celebrate now,” she said, placing two large shopping bags in front of Sally Beth.
“It’s your birthday?” asked Lawrence.
“Yeah, day after tomorrow.”
“The ripe old age of twenty-three! Back home, that’s considered ‘old maid’ territory,” laughed Lilly.
“Shoot, where I come from, you’re an old maid at eighteen,” added Tiffany. She smiled at Lawrence. “It’s a good thing you came along. My family was starting to feel right sorry for me.”
Lawrence’s tight smile and darting eyes were not wasted on Sally Beth. She wished she could tell Tiffany that she could do a whole lot better than this man, but she bit her lip and reminded herself that it wasn’t her business as she picked up Lilly’s packages.
Within seconds, she had forgotten Lawrence. Lilly had outfitted her with a hot pink miniskirt and a white peasant blouse, as well as hot pink cowboy boots, stamped to look like ostrich, with gleaming silver tips at the toes. A matching pink cowboy belt with a shiny pink stone at the buckle completed the ensemble. Sally Beth squealed as she hugged her sister. “I’m going to love strutting around in these, Lilly! Won’t we be a sight in Tucker!”
“You know it, girl!” cried Lilly. Sally Beth thought her heart would burst with happiness.
Tiffany threw on an enormous, orange University of Texas sweatshirt over her voluminous muumuu, and the others fetched warm jackets from the car before walking back to the rocky perimeter to watch the sunset. They settled themselves on a bench, huddling into their jackets against the searching wind as the light seared its way across the tops of the Canyon spires.
After snapping a few pictures, Lawrence sat down beside Tiffany. “Out of film,” he mumbled, then threw his arm around her, stroking her hair and neck. His hand strayed below her collarbone.
“Stop that.” She pulled away.
“What, I can’t touch my girl’s hair?”
“I just don’t like being pawed in public.”
“Good grief. This is hardly pawing. I bet Lilly doesn’t mind it if her boyfriend touches her hair, do you Lilly?” He pulled his arm from Tiffany’s shoulder, extending it to give Lilly’s hair a soft tug. Lilly glared at him, rose, and ventured closer to the edge of the rim. After the briefest of glances into the rising dusk, she danced quickly away.
Lawrence guffawed at her timidity.
“Leave her alone, Lawrence,” Tiffany snapped. “You can be such a jerk sometimes.”
Lawrence fell quiet, then after a few sullen moments, he shot Tiffany a hostile glance, jumped up, grabbed Lilly around the waist, and, with a booming laugh, swung her close to the edge of the abyss. Lilly did not scream, but went pale and clung to Lawrence’s arm, pushing herself hard against him.
“See? It’s not that bad,” he insisted, nudging her forward, closer to the brink.
“Lawrence!” warned Sally Beth. “Let her go. She’s scared!”
“But she shouldn’t be, that’s the point,” he insisted. “See, Lilly? I’ve got you. You can get close to the edge, and you won’t fall. I’m holding on to you.”
Lilly began to tremble, her breath coming in short gasps. She didn’t say anything, just pushed with her feet, trying to force herself and Lawrence away from the edge. Suddenly, as if a signal had passed between them, Sally Beth moved into the two-foot space between Lilly and the edge of the void to put her arms around her sister while Tiffany slipped up close to Lawrence’s back. Encircling her arm around his neck, she jerked him backward, forcing him to let go of Lilly.
“I thought you said you had her, Lawrence,” said Tiffany softly into his ear. “Seems to me you let go awfully easy.”
“Well, yeah. You’ve got a choke hold on me,” he gasped.
“Oh, so you think it’s okay to let her go if you are uncomfortable? What if something scared you while you were dangling her over the edge of the rim? Would you think it’s okay to drop her?” She spoke mildly, almost sweetly, but kept her forearm pressed against his neck.
“Let go of me, Tiffany!”
“Oh,” she said, with a note of surprise and dropped her arm, stepping back nonchalantly, as if she had merely been giving Lawrence a friendly hug. Lilly was trembling and glaring at Lawrence as if she wanted to compete the job Tiffany had started.
“You okay, honey?” Sally Beth asked. She was shaking nearly as hard as Lilly was.
&nb
sp; “Yeah.” Lilly took a deep breath as she tossed her head to cover her embarrassment and fear. Lawrence looked embarrassed as well, and sullen. They sat silently, watching the sunset, and although it was glorious, they all felt a certain regret that tainted the experience. This was their last evening at the Grand Canyon, and they spent it probing their wounds.
August 10, 1978
Sally Beth and Lilly were awakened in the darkness of the small hours by a banging on their door. Sitting up, Lilly called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Tiffany. Let me in!” Sally Beth jumped up, opening the door to find Tiffany standing at the threshold, dressed in a frumpy housecoat that fell to her knees. Below that swirled a shimmering blue nightgown, and below that, Sally Beth could see her cowboy boots peeking from under the gossamer fabric. Her suitcase and a few parcels were in her hands.
“What is it, honey?” Sally Beth asked, stepping back so Tiffany could enter.
“That no-good louse. I am so done with him.” She brushed her way past Sally Beth, threw down her load, and flopped on the bed, crossing her arms and blowing a pent-up breath through pursed lips. Her eyes flashed so angrily Sally Beth could see them even in the dim light that shined from the lamp outside.
“What happened?”
“I caught him calling another woman! Can you believe it? He gets up out of my bed, sneaks the phone into the bathroom and calls another woman, and I can hear every word he says! He’s telling her he’ll be there in a week or two and they can go to Mexico together.” She clenched her fists, then ran her fingers through her crinkly hair, grabbing it in the process and pulling it distractedly.
“Oh no! What did you do?”
“I threw everything I could into my bag and got out of there. What do you think I did?”
“You didn’t confront him?” asked Lilly.
“Ha. If I did, I’d kill him!” Her lower lip began to tremble and she ran her hand over her face. “No good, sorry—”
“Well, you did the right thing,” interrupted Sally Beth. “You can just stay here tonight, and we can sort things out in the morning.”
“I already have sorted things out. We are leaving. Now. He might still be talking to that poor, stupid girl, but if I know him, once he’s figured out I’m gone he’ll be over here trying to sweet talk his way back in, and none of us will get a lick of sleep anyway. We have to get out of here before he comes sniffing around, all whiny and apologetic. Come on!” She jumped up and threw her bag on the bed, rummaging through it.
“Oh, no. My good underwear was in the bathroom. All I have is this slutty stuff he bought me, and I can’t stand it. I have to wash my decent things out every night, and it was in there drying.” She flung thongs and delicate, silky bras the size of tires onto the bed, then stood, unbuttoned her housecoat, and yanked it off.
Both Sally Beth and Lilly blinked and gasped.
Tiffany wore a diaphanous silk negligee that clung to the most stunning body either of them had ever seen. Her breasts were enormous, high, and firm, and her hips were huge but perfect, sitting proudly on long, strong, and shapely thighs. Her broad shoulders and arms gleamed, muscular and smooth, and her waist and belly were slim and tight. Then she yanked off her gown, and she became even more astonishing. She looked like an over-endowed Barbie doll, with every ounce of muscle and fat placed perfectly. Sally Beth wondered how a body like that was possible. She did her best not to stare, but failed.
“I thought you were fat,” said Lilly in a small voice.
“Yeah, well, parts of me are,” muttered Tiffany as she stepped into a tiny thong. “I hate these things. How anybody can even walk with this crammed up your crack is beyond me. I’ve got to go to Penny’s and get some decent underwear just as soon as we can.” She grabbed a bra and strapped it on. It was so flimsy it looked like it wouldn’t do any good at all, but then, she also looked like she didn’t need it. Every inch of her body was so firm she could have been sculpted from stone. “Look at this stupid thing. Any bra that hooks in the front isn’t worth a plug nickel. The thing probably will break if I sneeze. I hate Lawrence and what he’s done to me. Don’t ever let a man shop for you or pack for you,” she grumbled. “Come on!” she added, as she put her housecoat back on and buttoned it up. “He won’t wait long—just until he thinks I’m not mad enough to bash his head in.”
Lilly jumped out of bed, picked her underwear off the floor, and started flinging her clothes on. Sally Beth, who had put her clothes away neatly, ran to the bureau and put on the first things she came to. They all were completely dressed in a moment, then they rushed around hurling clothing and makeup into their bags and slipped on their shoes. Lilly struggled for a moment longer to pull her new cowboy boots on, but still, they were out the door within five minutes.
“Oh Lord, here he comes!” whispered Tiffany while they were slinging their suitcases into the trunk. Lawrence spotted them, and realizing that he was about to be left behind, he sprinted toward the car. “Hurry,” Tiffany hissed. Lilly let out a shriek, starting the engine and throwing it into gear as Tiffany jumped into the back. She slammed the door in Lawrence’s face, and they careened out of the parking lot, squealed around the corner and disappeared into the night, leaving Lawrence churning after them in the fumes of the exhaust. Sally Beth, her heart thrumming adrenaline through her arteries, began to laugh uncontrollably. Lilly joined her, her mouth wide open, shrieking with excitement, and Tiffany added her musical laughter to the cacophony.
“Go, girl, go!” she shouted, leaning over the back of the seat, fueling Lilly’s screams, urging her to press her foot down hard on the accelerator, to run stop signs and take the curves like a madwoman. Lilly laid rubber on the deserted road as she careened away into the night, leaving the Grand Canyon and the small, white moon shining over the hapless head of Lawrence.
“Where are we going?” Lilly finally asked after they had gotten their giggles under control. “Back to Flagstaff?”
“No!” exclaimed Tiffany. “Not yet. I didn’t get to see the sunrise over the Canyon yesterday. Let’s go back and watch it come up.” She checked her watch. “It’s nearly four o’clock. We’ve got less than two hours before sunrise.”
“Yeah, let’s,” added Sally Beth. “We may never get back here, Lilly.”
Lilly slowed to make a U-turn in the middle of the road. “Might as well,” she said. “This has turned into the best adventure I’ve ever been on, and I don’t want to miss any of it.”
Stopping at the overlook at Grandeur Point, they leaned back into the seats, dozing as the wind howled and danced with the pine trees until Tiffany’s voice broke into the pre-dawn.
“Come on, girls. I see some light,” she said, rummaging in her bag to pull out her sweatshirt. Sally Beth and Lilly put on their jackets, and they stepped out into the morning chill.
They were not disappointed. Silver-gray light pricked the outline of trees and rocks close by, and then a delicate pink kissed a pinnacle just below them. The pink deepened as the sky lightened, and then, suddenly, a small sliver of gold graced the eastern horizon, and glorious light spilled out over the spires, gilding the air and the rock until they gleamed in the milky dawn. Light rained down upon Lilly’s face and sleep-tangled hair. Tiffany’s hair lit up with copper beside the gold and silver of Lilly’s.
“Sally Beth, you are so pretty,” said Lilly. This light makes you look like the Virgin Mary. You’ve got a halo.”
“I was just thinking that about the two of you,” she countered as she stepped forward to insert herself between Lilly and Tiffany. Putting her arms around both their waists, she raised her face into the glorious light, a perfect hymn to the morning. They watched it for several minutes as the Canyon below them faded from black to gray to purple and red and colors indescribable. She felt herself floating into the abyss of light, and somewhere in the corner of her mind, she felt a stirring that told her something she could not quite grasp, something important. She searched her soul for the meaning, but a
ll she could discern was that she was certain her life was changing.
Five
They could not bring themselves to depart. Instead of leaving, they continued eastward along the Canyon drive, stopping at each overlook for yet another burst of splendor until they finally came to the end of the Canyon. Continuing east, they stopped for breakfast at the first settlement they came to.
Tiffany squirmed in the seat, adjusted her thong, then leaned back into the booth and sighed. “I can’t believe I gave that man nearly eleven months of my life. Just being here, away from him, sitting around with girls, makes me realize how stupid I was.”
“What you ever saw in him is what I want to know,” declared Lilly. Sally Beth did not think it would be helpful to mention that Lilly herself had seen plenty in him, at least until he tried to throw her into the Grand Canyon, so she sipped her lemon tea in silence.
“I don’t know,” sighed Tiffany. “Seems like I can’t see the bad in a man until he rubs my face in it. I hate to date, and the only guys I get involved with are the ones who chase me until I stop saying no. I’m just lazy, I guess. I can’t seem to go to the trouble to find myself the right kind of man. You think I’d learn.” She looked so forlorn in her frumpy housecoat buttoned from neck to calf, without makeup, making every attempt to hide her beauty that Sally Beth wondered if she had been badly hurt by some man, or perhaps several. Her looks seemed to be a millstone that weighted her down rather than giving her the freedom beauty should.
“So where are you going now? Back to Las Vegas?” It was sad thinking about Tiffany being alone in Las Vegas. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that it was a bad place. Girls like Tiffany were paraded around like prize heifers. Even though they were taken care of well enough, fed, watered, and bedded comfortably, there was always the uncertain future when the milk dried up.
The Women of Jacob’s Mountain Boxed Set Page 50
