Modern Girls

by Gary S. Griffin

  With patience and care we got the t-shirt and pants on Andi without creating too much pain. She whispered to us, “Thank you, thank you…” over and over again. Andi told us that she hurt so much.

  After five more minutes, we left that deserted desert place. Andi was curled on her side with her head in Edie’s lap. Edie gently petted Andi’s side. Before we were halfway to Summerhaven, Andi was asleep.

  showdown

  The ride back to the top of the mountain was smooth. Even though we were both tired, Edie and I agreed that we would give Andi a bath, treatment for her injuries, food and sleep, before we went to bed.

  Edie and I opened a lot of the windows to air out the stuffy cabin. There was still no sign of Rob. We guessed he was in police custody. Edie had Andi lie down on the master bed, while we put together a list of things we needed at a grocery store. Our list included first aid supplies and food. I volunteered to do the shopping while Edie would help Andi with her bath. Edie wasn’t sure how difficult that would be, but figured it would take lots of effort and patience.

  Before I left the cabin I called Detectives Lomita and Savage in the L.A. and Torrance police departments, and Andi’s attorney, Sarah Brownstein. No one answered at that late hour. I left messages on all three answering machines and reported what transpired here in Tucson. I said that the whereabouts of Kathy Reese and Rob Nealy were still unknown, although we believed Rob was arrested and Kathy could be too. I also said that the three of us would report to the Tucson police first thing in the morning and would have Andi checked out by a doctor.

  I called Shayna too. She didn’t answer Andi’s phone as she was likely at her gig. I then called Shayna’s apartment phone and left a message about the end of Andi’s trauma. I also asked Shayna to call Bambi with our good news.

  Edie gave me the directions to a 24-hour grocery store down in Tucson. I made it to a large, modern supermarket in a quick 35 minutes, passing only one car on its way up the mountain.

  ***

  It was past midnight on Friday morning when I started the BMW and began my ride back up the Mount Lemmon highway. The night sky still displayed its million stars. I took in the bright, twinkling lights of Tucson that opened up below me. I reduced my speed as I got near the cabin as I wasn’t completely sure of the driveway’s location. I finally spotted it after slowing down at other drives, only to discover they belonged to different mountain homes.

  I was about to turn into the cabin’s drive, when I noticed a mid-sized sedan in the driveway. Instinct told me something was wrong. I’m not sure why, but I hesitated and didn’t turn. I caught myself at the last moment and continued driving on the highway, right past the cabin’s property. I pulled over to the side of the road two hundred yards beyond, turned off the lights and the engine and got out of the car.

  I ran as fast as I could straight back from the road, through a pine forest, getting scraped and whipped by pine branches and small brush, before I turned to the right, and sprinted towards the cabin. At the property line, the forest ended and I saw light shining through a side bedroom window. Thank God Edie and I opened some windows. The one with the light was closed, but the window next to it, in a dark bedroom was open. Using my keys I was able to reach up and pry the screen window up and into the bedroom. I grabbed the screen before it fell and dropped it on the floor inside. Then, I held onto the window sill and pulled myself up. As quietly as I could I climbed inside Edie’s bedroom. The door was shut and I stepped silently to it. At the doorway I could hear shouting. Those loud sounds covered the noise I made turning the knob and inching open the door.

  Edie was talking, “…don’t understand. Why did you do this?”

  An unknown female said, “Isn’t it obvious? I hated Sid for being a liar and a cheater and treating me like I was garbage. He used me and threw me away. He did that to all his women. He’d have done it to this bimbo, too, if he’d lived.”

  Edie asked, “So, why did you drag Andi into it?”

  What must have been Kathy Reese answered, “She’s the tramp who ruined my marriage.”

  “It sounds to me that your marriage was blowing up without Andi’s help.”

  Reese exploded, “Fuck you, McCall! This tramp thought she could do whatever she wanted, but not any more.”

  Edie continued her questioning, “So, why did you kill my father?”

  I was shocked. When did that happen?

  Reese answered Edie, “The pressure got to him. So, he got drunk and freaked out and made up his story. He broke our deal and was going to turn me in, even though we did everything together.”

  Edie answered, “That’s not what he told me. He didn’t know you were going to kill Sid or frame Andi.”

  Kathy said, “That’s a lie. He knew what we were doing. He hated both of them, too.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “Believe what you want, McCall. He betrayed me. No one’s doing that again and getting away with it. So, where is Garrett?”

  Edie replied, “I told you, he went with the police to fill out the reports. The officer said he won’t be back for several hours.”

  “That’s good for him, but too bad for you and your blonde friend here. So, who wants it first?”

  I heard crying. That must be Andi.

  Edie answered, “You better kill me first, because I’ll do everything I can to stop you if you hurt Andi.”

  I stepped out of the bedroom and started down the hall to the family room. I saw Edie sitting on the couch. She was wearing only a towel wrapped around her body. Kathy and Andi must have been just around the corner in front of the fireplace.

  “You’re pretty brave, little girl.”

  “I don’t need a weapon, because I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

  “I’m getting tired of your bullshit, McCall. And, I’m getting tired of this bimbo’s crying.”

  I was less than ten feet from Reese. I was up against the wall. I sneaked a peek around the corner. Reese had Andi’s neck in her left elbow. They were standing. Andi was naked and her hair and body were still covered in syrup and feathers and dirt. In Reese’s right hand was a long carving knife pressed against the right side of Andi’s abdomen. Edie looked my way and saw me for an instant. Then, she looked back at Kathy and Andi. We both knew it was now or never. I looked around and saw my only option.

  Then, Edie looked the other way, to her left and said loudly, “Oh, thank God you’re here officer.”

  It was enough of a distraction. Kathy looked to her right. In one motion I came around the corner, grabbed the metal fireplace poker, and lifted it over my head. Reese turned back, saw me and just started to move the knife towards me, when I slammed the poker down on her head. She saw the end coming, but she couldn’t react. Her skull made a surprising cracking sound at impact. Her knife fell straight down to the floor from her suddenly limp hand. Kathy Reese was dead before she hit the floor.

  I dropped my weapon and caught Andi as she passed out from shock. Edie looked at me and said, “Jesus, Stevie. I can’t believe it! I’ll never complain about your sneaking around again.”

  It hit me all at once. I had killed a person. It was in the act of saving the lives of my friends. But, I killed someone. I felt sick. I ran to the bathroom. It took me a few minutes to recover. It was shocking. Why did this happen?

  Kathy was insanely jealous. Reese blamed Andi and the wild sex with her husband, Mike, for the break-up of her marriage. Then, the fact that Sid, her former lover, resumed his affair with Andi caused Reese to snap. The two men she loved; loved Andi, a younger version of herself. Even Rob Nealy, her accomplice and brief boyfriend, found Andi enticing. It was too much for Kathy to take.

  ***

  Minutes later an Arizona Highway patrolman arrived at the front door, finally following through on Lieutenant Lomita’s request call and the events at the airport. That started an eighteen hour adventure at the Tucson police department and the Tucson Medical Center. Edie, Andi and I spoke to an endless para
de of Tucson, Arizona Highway, Los Angeles and Torrance police officers and detectives, and Andi’s public defender attorney, in person and on phone conference calls.

  All charges were dropped against Andi. My action against Kathy Reese was ruled justifiable homicide and self-defense. We were photographed and printed and gave an endless number of statements, individually and together. Andi was so shocked by all she experienced that she could barely remember what happened. Fortunately, Edie and I were on the same page, without any coaching or planning on our parts.

  To our huge relief, we learned that Rob Nealy was still alive. Reese’s stabbing of Nealy was not fatal. It occurred in the Tucson Airport parking garage around 8pm the night before. Clearly, their conversation went wrong, but Reese must have learned the location of the cabin. She then stole Rob’s car and took hours looking for the cabin and the right time to attack Andi and Edie. Rob had a severe abdominal wound. He had a six hour surgery to repair the damage, and was in critical condition, but would live. After we were finished at police headquarters, we all went to the medical center.

  Edie visited her father. Rob was still asleep in recovery. The doctors told Edie that she would be able to speak to him the next morning.

  Earlier, Andi received medical treatment and an x-ray showed she had one broken left rib. She needed five stitches for the knife cut in her right side. The whipping to her behind had produced some cuts and deep bruises, but no further treatment was necessary.

  ***

  At the end of the legal and medical ordeal, it was sunset again in Tucson. We were headed back to the cabin. When we arrived, Andi, with Edie’s help, finally finished her bath in the master bathroom’s Jacuzzi tub.

  I took my shower in the second bathroom and made dinner.

  I could hear Edie talking in the master bathroom. I opened the bathroom door to let Edie know dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes.

  I surprised Edie, that’s for sure. I didn’t realize she was planning to join Andi’s bath. The Jacuzzi jets were operating, and neither Edie nor Andi heard me when I opened the door. Edie was naked and standing out of the tub, gently running water over Andi’s head. Edie showed me her trim, petite body. Her body truly looked the same as when I first saw it from a distance at Sid’s pool - gorgeous, young and feminine. Two seconds later, Edie discovered I was there. She turned and didn’t try to cover up. She gently set Andi’s head down on the top rim of the tub. Andi’s eyes were closed and she looked very relaxed.

  Edie moved a few steps closer to me, grabbed a towel, put it around her body, led me out of the bathroom to the hall, closed the door, and said, “Why are women always naked when you first meet them?”

  I smiled back and said, “Just lucky, I guess. But, it only happens with incredibly beautiful women.”

  Edie winked at me.

  I asked, “How’s it going?”

  “OK. She is so tired and her lower chest is sore. Plus, her behind, well, that’s going to take a few weeks to heal. There could be permanent marks.”

  I nodded.

  Edie paused, then said, “Oh, and her hair - the syrup is coming out and not taking too much of her hair with it. It’s just taking time as Andi’s hair is so long and there is so much syrup.”

  Edie paused again, crossed her arms under her small breasts, and then said, “I guess our girlfriend is lucky things aren’t worse.”

  “Yeah, it could’ve been much worse.”

  Edie said, “I keep giving her water too; she was so dehydrated.”

  We both paused. Edie stood in front of me with only the towel covering her self. I guess she felt comfortable that way in my presence.

  I kept thinking, “Edie is very beautiful. And shorter too - this way - without her ever present high heels. Smaller is a better word that came to mind - petite would be better still to describe Edie.”

  I said, “Well, I should let you finish…”

  I stopped talking and couldn’t help myself. I closed the last step between us and gave Edie a big, long hug. She grabbed me back and hugged me hard, too. I bent my head over and kissed the top of her head on her long black hair. She felt wonderful, but I stopped myself.

  I whispered, “I have dinner out in the kitchen. Do you need any help getting Andi out of the tub?”

  Edie whispered back, “I think we’ll be OK. I’ll shout if we need your help.”

  The rest of the night was relaxed. We ate a roasted chicken dinner. Andi was the biggest eater and Edie gave Andi her apple pie after seeing Andi eat her slice in three forkfuls.

  After dinner, I made a fire in the fireplace and we lounged on the leather couches. Edie and I sat dumbfounded as Andi told the story of her ordeal. Andi explained her attack, the time on the apartment’s roof, the long car ride in the trunk, and how Edie’s father had broken up with Kathy Reese and didn’t cut off her hair and most importantly, didn’t kill her.

  After Andi finished, Edie told the story of our adventure, briefly, omitting some details here and there. The news of how we guessed about Reese’s involvement made Andi very happy. Andi was so sad for Edie about her father. He saved her life and he told Andi he would testify against Reese. Edie and I listened and remained silent. I didn’t bring up Andi’s lies and how I was mad and hurt by them.

  We finished a first bottle of Chardonnay and were working on a second as the night ended. Edie and Andi both changed into extra large white t-shirts as make-shift nightgowns. Our conversation quieted and we stared at the fire. Soon, Andi went to bed in the master bedroom and Edie and I were left together on the couch. Edie was wrapped in the extra cotton blanket she found in the linen closet.

  I asked Edie, “What bed are we sleeping in?”

  She gave me a sly smile. “Do you mean, which one of us is sleeping with Andi?”

  I caught the awkwardness of my question and sheepishly replied, “Yes, that’s right, who should sleep with Andi?”

  Edie paused and thought, and said, “Well, I think she’ll sleep very soundly tonight.”

  “Yes, that’s probably true.”

  “And, it probably doesn’t matter who sleeps with her.”

  I replied, “True.”

  “But, she would love to wake up and see you beside her.”

  “Yes, that’s true. So, I’ll go in there.”

  Edie just smiled again.

  We said our goodnights and Edie came up to me and gave me another big hug. I gave the top of her pretty head another kiss. Then, we went to our separate bedrooms.

  Later, I would look back and wonder if I missed an opportunity here. But, I didn’t think to pursue it at the time.

  sweet goodbyes

  Andi woke first on Saturday morning. When I opened my eyes she was looking at me and smiling. She was lying on her right side and I noticed she had taken off her white t-shirt. I wasn’t sure of the time, because the alarm clock was blinking 12:00 and my wrist watch was on the bureau across the room. But, it was bright outside and the mountain air blowing in the windows felt cool and smelled sweet.

  “I love you, Stevie. Thank you for saving my life.”

  I answered, “You’re welcome. But, Edie deserves a lot of the credit too.”

  “She is a true sweetheart. You both are.”

  “Yes, she is a very special friend. How are you feeling, Andi?”

  “Oh, I hurt in so many places. Especially, my behind and these ribs…” She gently rubbed the worst of the black and blue area on her lower left rib cage, “Gosh, it hurts to even move at all.”

  She paused and then asked, “I must look terrible, don’t I?”

  “No, you don’t. You actually look very good, considering all that’s happened.”

  “You’re sweet. And, you’re always so optimistic. God, do I love that about you. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Stevie, can I show you how much I love you?”

  “Andi, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  “I won’t.”

  At that mom
ent I remembered good news I hadn’t shared with Andi. I broke Andi’s building passion by quickly changing the subject. Five minutes later, Andi’s spirits were sky high. She believed she had a role in a major motion picture. She couldn’t have been happier.

  “Oh, Stevie, I can’t believe it. Why didn’t you guys tell me last night?”

  “We got distracted with everything else, making sure you were OK and cleaned up.”

  “Oh, you two are wonderful. I really need to thank you now.”

  “Andi, I didn’t bring protection.”

  “Oh, no silly, I’m too sore down there. I just need to hug you.”

  ***

  Edie insisted that we use her BMW to drive back to Torrance. She was staying in Tucson and would use taxis and her SUV to get around. Then, she would fly back to L.A. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be in Tucson but she was between acting jobs and it didn’t matter to her anyway. She needed to be with her father and find out where his legal troubles would lead. Plus, she’d oversee the move of his possessions into the cabin. Edie gave Andi the key to Rob’s apartment and Andi volunteered to supervise the move of Rob’s stuff out of Torrance.

  We dropped off Edie at the medical center. Edie looked proper and conservative in a black shirt and slacks, with her hair pulled back in a clip. While Andi waited in the car, I walked with Edie to the entrance. She gave me a kiss and a hug and a final word, “Don’t forget us, Stevie. I won’t forget you.”

  I told her I wouldn’t either. Plus, I reminded her I might be needed for court, if her father went on trial.

  Then, just before she walked away, I decided to come clean. I told her the secret. “Edie, did you know Bambi has a baby?”

  ***

  So, less than an hour later Andi and I were on our way west, back to Torrance. Andi was in her own short shorts and a tank top that Edie brought from L.A.