The Cherry Pages

by Gary Ruffin

  I could tell that Cherry felt the same, about wanting company, and about not wanting to hurt Penny. She said as much, and smiled when she said we didn’t need a replay of last night’s “Penny attack” on me, especially if it was for real. We went our separate ways in the cottage: Cherry lay down on Penny’s bed, and I went and took a quick shower and put on clean clothes before my nap.

  The sound of the rain on the tin roof made it easy to fall asleep again, and a gentle breeze blowing through the house made for a perfect naptime. Within five minutes, I was sleeping soundly on the sofa, making up for lost time. I slept through the day, and didn’t dream at all, something that’s unusual for me. I must have really needed the rest.

  When I woke up, the sun had finally broken through the clouds, and there was a blond glow to the sand in the late afternoon sun. I could hear Penny and Cherry talking and laughing in the kitchen, and cabinet doors opening and closing. The sound of plastic bags rustling and various thumps and thuds were evidence of a trip to the grocery store. I stretched, and sat up on the sofa, preparing myself for an attack on the produce. Napping through lunch had me ravenous.

  When I walked into the kitchen, I received a peck on the cheek from both of the women, and took an apple from Cherry’s hand, and a paring knife from Penny’s. Cherry was now dressed in her own halter top and shorts, and Penny had changed from her police uniform into her customary cutoffs and one of my tee shirts, her hair down.

  “Thank you, ladies,” I said as I began to try and peel the apple without breaking the peel. “Looks like you bought out the store, Penny. Glad to see you went to Publix instead of O’Kelly’s. Blanche would already be here if you had brought this much stuff home from there.”

  “That’s what I was thinkin’,” Penny said. “Sorry you missed lunch. I got plenty of Cokes, beer, and wine to make up for it. Besides being gossip central, O’Kelly’s doesn’t have the precooked stuff that Publix has; look at these rotisserie chickens I got. One is a lemon-herb, and the other is barbecue. They looked so good I couldn’t decide which one to get, so I got both. We can have one tonight, and y’all can make sandwiches from the other tomorrow for lunch. Which one tonight, barbecue, or lemon-herb?”

  “Barbecue sounds good to me for tonight. How ’bout you, Cherry?”

  “That sounds delicious.”

  Penny said, “Good. I got three beautiful baking potatoes and there’s cabbage for your coleslaw in the fridge. I want this meal to be light.”

  I asked, “What about dessert?”

  “What’d I say? I want this meal to be light. No dessert, that comes later. I also bought all kinds of microwaveable stuff for the freezer and pantry. I know you’d prefer that I cook fresh food, but I thought I’d try and keep outta the kitchen as much as possible while y’all are here. That okay?”

  “It’s fine. I can take a little junk food now and then. I eat plenty of it as it is, and I’m still here.” I looked through the bags, and spotted grapes, apples, bananas, and oranges, so I said, “There’s plenty of good stuff here. You did a great job as far as I’m concerned.”

  Cherry agreed: “One thing’s certain, we won’t starve or die of thirst while we’re on the run.”

  I said, “From the looks of it, I’d say you got that right.” To Penny: “Lemme get my wallet and reimburse you for all this stuff.”

  Penny shook her head, and said, “No way, buster. This stuff’s on the house. I’m gettin’ a bigger paycheck while you’re away, remember? So don’t you worry about my bankbook, just eat like I know you can.”

  Cherry said, “Penny, at least let us pay for a portion of it. You shouldn’t—”

  Penny put her hand on Cherry’s mouth, and said, “Hush up, movie star. You may be the boss of him, but you’re not the boss of me.”

  “Bnn ah thnk we shoo hllpp pay frr thh foo,” Cherry tried to say through Penny’s hand.

  I chimed in: “Yeah, what she said. We’ll settle up with you later, Chief.”

  Taking her hand away from Cherry’s mouth, Penny pointed her finger at us, and said, “Now look, you two. I’m the law in this town, and in this house. What I say, goes. Do I make myself clear?”

  Cherry said, “Yes, sir.”

  “Sheesh, what a grouch,” I said, and went back to peeling my apple.

  Penny said, “I also have a little surprise for you, big boy. I have some world-class entertainment planned for after supper.”

  “What kind of entertainment?” I asked.

  “It’s a surprise, sweet cheeks. If I tell you what it is, it’s no longer a surprise. What are you, a cop or somethin’?”

  “No, ma’am, I’m a just a lowly bodyguard. I guess I’ll just hafta be surprised. I can hardly wait.”

  Penny said to Cherry, “This one hates to be surprised. He has control issues, in case you haven’t noticed.”

  Cherry chuckled, and said, “You can’t be serious. Cooper? A control freak? Never.”

  They went back to the business of putting away the groceries, and I leaned on the island and finished peeling my apple. As usual, I didn’t quite get the entire peel off in one piece, but it tasted just fine. I sliced it and ate slowly, feeding each of the girls a chunky slice when they came over and opened their mouths, like baby birds.

  Five minutes later, the groceries were all put away, and Penny ran to her room. She came back with a plastic bag, took out a camera, and said, “Ta-dah!”

  I asked, “Is that new?”

  “Yep,” she said with a grin, and aimed it at me. Before I could protest, the flash went off, and I was the first subject for Penny’s new toy.

  Penny said, “You two stand by the refrigerator.”

  We did as we were told, and Cherry put her arm around my shoulder. We smiled, and Penny took the shot, and then made us stand by the window, and pose for another.

  “Okay, Paparazzi Prevost, that’s enough for now,” I said, and Penny put down the camera.

  She reached in the bag and pulled out a new video camera. I asked, “What’d you do, go nuts and buy out the electronics store, too?”

  She said, “We can use this on the job, so don’t get all mad about it. Besides, how many times are we gonna have Miss Cherry Page here in my house?”

  Cherry said, “I hope I’m here an awful lot.”

  Penny hugged her and said, “You better be here an awful lot. You’re welcome anytime, any day.”

  “Good,” I said. “No more cameras until after supper, I’m starvin’.”

  “Oh, all right,” Penny said. “But later, there’s gonna be all kindsa taping and picture-taking goin’ on around here.”

  “Fine. But for now, give me my instructions so I can get started on supper.”

  Penny told me the menu for the evening, got a bottle of chilled white wine from the refrigerator, opened it, and poured three glasses. Then the two of them went out on the front porch to drink and swing, and I started to put supper together.

  I preheated the oven, and then put the barbecue chicken in to warm. Next, I washed and forked the potatoes, put them in the microwave, and got the cabbage out of the refrigerator. I make a mean coleslaw, with mayo, vinegar, salt, sugar, and celery seed. I stole the recipe from Susan Feagin, and mine is almost as good as hers. I chopped and mixed and poured and stirred, and in five minutes there was beautiful bowl of coleslaw chilling in the fridge, and three microwave-baked potatoes sitting on a plate on the counter.

  I joined the girls on the porch, took a seat in one of the rocking chairs, and we drank our wine and passed the time talking as we waited for the chicken to warm through.

  The sun was setting, and the golden glow of the fading sunlight was made even more special when a rainbow formed out over the ocean.

  On his way to the party, Joe Don stopped at a liquor store to get some beer for himself and his friends, and wine for his host. Even though he knew that Sanford would never touch the wine, there was sure to be a bevy of young ladies in attendance who would appreciate a good Chardonnay.


  He found a cart just inside the door of the large store, and headed to the refrigerated beer section. He selected a case of longnecks for himself, two more cases of bottled beer for the party—one American, one German—and then asked the clerk to select six bottles of the best chilled white wines the store carried.

  When he got to the counter to check out, he realized that two cases of bottled beer might not be such a good idea at a gathering of young, rowdy males. Especially around a swimming pool where there was sure to be a lot of cement and rock surfaces. So, he wheeled the cart back over to the refrigerated section, and put back the two cases of bottles that he had bought for the party, and replaced them with cans. He kept his longnecks, though, knowing that he could be responsible for his own behavior. Those other guys—who knew?

  At the counter, he purchased six bags of ice, and with the help of the young clerk, wheeled the cart out to his Jeep and opened the back. Together, they iced down the beer and wine in the three large coolers Joe Don had brought along. The coolers had been collected over several years of high school and college drinking. Joe Don had a fourth one, but couldn’t find it in his cluttered garage when it came time to pack the Jeep.

  He tipped the clerk a five, got into the front seat, and checked the map one more time. According to the directions, the party house was less than three miles away.

  He pulled out of the parking lot and merged with the traffic, resisting the temptation to open one of the longnecks. He knew that Georgia had an open-container law, and it would be just his luck to get pulled over on his way to the party with a beer in his hand. Besides, he would be safely at the party house in a matter of minutes, and then it would be time for “serious drinking to commence,” as his father was fond of saying back in Texas.

  Within ten minutes, he stopped at the small office in the entrance to the exclusive gated community, showed the guard his invitation, and was waved through. Joe Don thought of what Neal had said earlier, that the large elite subdivision was home to several well-known Atlanta athletes and musicians. Doctors and lawyers and anyone else who could afford the price of the big homes lived there as well.

  Among the amenities homeowners enjoyed were the usual community pool and clubhouse, but there was also an eighteen-hole private golf course. Owning one of the large homes was a signal to the world that you had arrived.

  Joe Don had looked at a house in the neighborhood when he was drafted by the Falcons, and had thought at the time that if he played a few years, he might have been able to afford it. He felt a tinge of sadness as he slowly drove through the immaculate streets. He usually managed to keep the past from interfering with the present, but every once in a while, what might have been would slap him in the face. All the dreams he had of playing in the National Football League and living the lifestyle of a wealthy young athlete were now just that: dreams.

  He sighed loudly, took a deep breath, and slowed down as he saw the well-lit party house come into view. This was no time for what-ifs and what-could-have-beens.

  It was time to party.

  56

  WE ATE OUTSIDE AT THE PICNIC TABLE AGAIN AS THE SUN WENT DOWN, and the lack of bread and dessert—and lunch—had me picking the chicken carcass for every shred of meat I could find. However, I’m not even in the same league with my girlfriend when it comes to eating poultry.

  Whenever there’s a chicken to be had, Penny always eats the dark meat, paying special attention to the legs. She can make the leg bone look like it should be in a museum, it’s so clean when she finishes with it. I’m serious; there isn’t even the tiniest hint that there was ever anything on the bone, particularly any kind of flesh. It’s a remarkable thing to watch, and Cherry got as big a kick out of it as I do. Good thing for us we both liked white meat.

  When we were finished, Penny said, “You two take care of the dishes, and by the time you’re done, I’ll have the surprise all ready. Deal?”

  “Deal,” Cherry said, and I nodded my assent, my lips wrapped around the wishbone.

  Penny headed for the front door, and Cherry and I gathered the dishes onto the trays, and went around to the back and into the kitchen.

  I asked, “You have any idea what this surprise is all about?”

  Cherry grinned, and said, “No, ‘sweet cheeks,’ I don’t. And it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, remember?”

  “You’ve been around Penny too long,” I griped, and turned on the hot water.

  “How shall we do this?” Cherry asked. “You wash, I dry?”

  “Sounds good to me. We can’t show up back in Atlanta with you havin’ dishpan hands.”

  “Good. Let’s hurry and finish, I’m dying to know what the surprise is.”

  We washed and dried, and in ten minutes the dishes were clean and put away.

  I called out to Penny, “Can we come in yet?”

  “No! Go sit on the screened porch for a while.”

  “Okay, okay, we’re goin’,” I snapped, and Cherry led the way to the back porch. I turned on the overhead light, and we sat in the wicker chairs. We could hear Penny rummaging around in the kitchen, and a couple of minutes later, the smell of popcorn came sidling out to the screened-porch area, and my not-quite-full stomach growled in anticipation.

  Cherry said, “Mmm, that smells divine. I haven’t had popcorn since the last time I went to … never mind.”

  “Since the last time you went to where?”

  “Never mind. I have an idea as to what the surprise might be, and I don’t want to tell you.”

  “Great. Women,” I said, and Cherry stuck her tongue out at me.

  In a couple of minutes the beep-beep-beep of the microwave announced that the popcorn was done, and I called, “Penny? Can we come in now?”

  “No!”

  “Then when?”

  “Just a few minutes more. Now hush, and entertain your boss.”

  “She’s the movie star. She should entertain me.”

  “Shuddup!” Penny said from the kitchen, and Cherry laughed at my helplessness.

  “What are you laughin’ at?” I asked in my surliest manner.

  “Oh, I wasn’t laughing at you,” she said. “I was laughing near you.”

  I tried not to smile, but couldn’t help it. The smell of another batch of popcorn wafted out to my hungry nose, and it was my turn to say, “Mmm.”

  Cherry and I sat in silence until the microwave beeped again, and then Penny called out, “Okay, you guys, it’s showtime!”

  Curious, I looked at Cherry, and she acted as if she had no idea what Penny was talking about. I followed her into the kitchen, and took two large bowls of popcorn from Penny.

  “I mixed ’em together so that one bowl’s not hotter than the other,” she said, and led me into the living room, Cherry close behind.

  On the coffee table were four DVDs. Penny picked one up, opened it, and put it in the player. I put the popcorn bowls on the coffee table, and picked up one of the other DVDs. On the cover was our guest, dressed in period clothes from what I would guess to be Victorian England. The title read A Matter Of Honor. I showed it to Cherry, and she said, “That’s one of my favorites. We made it in London a while back. It did quite well, actually.”

  Penny said, “It’s really great, Cherry. I loved the scene where you slapped the old guy’s face at the dinner table. That was a hoot.”

  Cherry replied, “We had such a brilliant time working on that film. The actor in question is just the dearest soul; it was truly difficult to let him have it. To make matters worse, the director made me do it eight or nine times before he was satisfied. I almost beat the poor man to death.”

  A look of horror showed in her eyes when she realized what she’d said, but luckily, Penny was turned away fiddling with the TV, and didn’t see.

  I quickly joined in, “It was a good thing the old guy is a dear soul, or he might’ve slapped you back.”

  Recovered from her unfortunate misstep, Cherry asked Penny, “Which film did you choose to
show our Cooper? This will be his first, you know.”

  “I know. Can you believe it? We’ll just hafta show him what he’s been missin’. I chose The Cliffs, ’cause it has the most violence and explosions in it.”

  “Superb choice,” Cherry said with a laugh. “That’s my favorite of the lot of them.”

  Penny said, “Oh, cool! It should be your favorite. You were fantastic in it.” To me: “Coop, Cherry was nominated for a Golden Globe for this one, and won a couple of awards for it in Europe.”

  “You guys don’t hafta convince me,” I said. “I know from watching rehearsals our girl here has talent. Plus, I’ve seen her rebuff the advances of several dozen men with a smile on her face. This chick can flat-out act.” Pointing to the TV, I said, “I’m glad to see you finally hooked up the DVD player; now we can watch all the movies I’ve missed since last year. Was that what you were doin’ while we were washing the dishes?”

  “Yep.” Pulling her new camera from the pocket of her tee shirt, Penny said, “Let me get some more pictures. Coop, put your arm around Cherry.”

  I did as instructed, and after four or five shots, took several more of the girls in various poses. Then Penny broke out the video camera, and we spent another ten or fifteen minutes posing and mugging. When she felt we had a good start on recording the event for posterity, Penny directed us to take our seats. It was movie time.

  Penny turned out the lights and said, “Cherry, you sit in the middle, so Coop and I can both say we watched a Cherry Page film with the star sitting beside us.”

  We all took our appointed seats on the sofa, and Penny immediately jumped back up and said, “I forgot the rest of the surprise!”

  She was back in a flash with jumbo boxes of Raisinets, Good & Plenty, Goobers, a huge package of peanut M&M’S (my favorite), and three regular boxes of Jordan almonds. I gotta hand it to her, it looked like the concession stand in a movie house had spilled onto the battered coffee table.