Chapter 30

I outlined my plan, such as it was. I wanted to meet with a fifteen-year-old guy who hung out in a bad section of Phoenix, maybe at an arcade. I’d never met him before.

He thought a moment. “I’ll stick out like a sore thumb at a teenager’s arcade. But I can cover you from the outside. You want him to be interested in you ... or talking to you at least. Right?”

“Uh, yeah. But I don’t want him to really know who I am. Complicated, huh?”

“Not really. Stand up, I wanna get a look at what I’ve got to work with.” What he has to work with? What did that mean? I stood, as requested, and took a step away from the table.

“Okay. We’ve got to go shopping. You’re going to get a pair of Daisy Dukes. As short as possible. A cropped top, showing some skin. Get a belt, with as big a belt buckle as you can. A pair of tinted sunglasses. Nail polish in a color you’d NEVER use in real life. The sneakers are fine. Get a blonde wig, and a bandanna to wear on top of that ... In short, my dear Lexi, you’re going as a teenage slut.”

I knew the look he was going for, from my ‘adventures’ in life #1. I wasn’t sure my new baby boobies were up to the task. Maybe I could tape ‘em together to get more cleavage.

“Okay, I can do my best to look like teenage trailer trash. How are you going to cover me from outside?”

“Electronics are wonderful,” was all he said.

“What do you think about prostitution?” I asked him.

He looked at me. “That’s a strange question from a young girl.”

“When I got hurt, I got a visit from the Great Spirit – I called him Red. Ever since I’ve been talking to Red, I don’t feel like a young girl. It’s like I’ve got these ideas for things to do. Not ‘young girl’ things. The projects I’ve started are some of them. This thing with Tommy Sussex is another.”

Wow. How do I get Linc to do what I need?

“Look,” I continued. “I’ve got to get him hooked, so I can get him to do stuff for the projects I’m working on. But I sure don’t want to get PERSONALLY involved, if you know what I mean.”

He looked at me again. “You sure don’t sound like a teenager ... Lexi, I’ll just answer your question. I don’t give a damn about prostitution. As long as a woman knows what she’s doing, and is old enough to give her consent, what she does to earn a living is up to her.

“Look,” he continued. “I was married – a long time ago. She couldn’t take me being a Marine as a lifetime career. In the fifteen years since my divorce, have I seen call girls? Yes. Do I need female companionship sometimes? Yes. I see a woman near Pendleton. And yes, she’s a call girl. And I do give her money. So ... I don’t care about the law’s opinion of prostitution. If I move out here permanently, maybe I’ll try and convince her to come out with me. That’s a question for a different time.

“But, does that answer your question about prostitution?”

It sure does. I would have loved to have a man like that in life #1. Especially when I was dealing with Ruffino. Anyway, that was a different life.

“Yes, it answers my question.” I then, sort of, explained what I had in mind for Tommy Sussex.

He looked at me, but didn’t run away. He must have seen a lot – twenty years in the Marine Corps will do that, I guess.

“Drop me off at the Bashas’ Diné, near the airport,” I said. “I’ve got an appointment in Gallup at two. It’ll be about two hours. I’ll call you when I’m done, and you can pick me up. We going to try and do this tomorrow?”

“No telling when he’ll go to the arcade. You might have to go several times,” he countered. I hadn’t thought about that. Up to now, everything had worked the first time I tried.

I called Painted Rock from the pay phone outside the store and told him I had some ‘emergency shopping’ to do, and he could just pick me up at Bashas’ Diné so I could meet with Sensei Lee. He just laughed. “More shopping?” was all he said.

I did quite well with my slut disguise, I thought. In 1977, nobody – at least nobody among the Diné – painted their nails blue. I had to get some water-soluble acrylic paint in the hobby section. I also got some sandals in the ‘slave girl’ style. You know, the kind where the leather ties wrapped around my calf. I felt that would go with my ‘slut on the prowl’ look. I got some chewing gum, to round it out.

I finished my emergency shopping, and thought about the upcoming session with Sensei Lee. I snapped my mental fingers and wandered over to the sporting goods section. I bought a loose gi in my size. They had plenty of the TKD / Karate uniforms. I snapped my mental fingers again. Another thing I forgot. Over to the ‘young miss’ department for a training bra to keep the baby boobies in line. Not that I needed it at this stage, but Sensei Lee would expect it.

Rock picked me up at 1:15. Plenty of time for us to get to the Gallup TKD studio. When we got there, I found the ladies room and changed into my gi. Apparently, Rock did the same. Sensei was waiting for us after our change. He worked us pretty good with some basic moves for about ninety minutes, then asked me to show him my katas.

His assessment was as expected, “Those are not aikido moves or anything close. You’ve got some Karate attacks in there, a few Tae Kwon Do kicks, and maybe some Krav Maga moves. I’m not sure, because I never studied Krav Maga. Sensei Maritsuki is somebody I’ll have to meet, one of these days ... Okay. That’s it for today.”

...

Linc was waiting in the parking lot of the Navajo center when Painted Rock dropped me off. I grabbed my bag of slut clothes, and my sweaty gi, and went into the center. After Rock zoomed off, I went out to Linc’s Jeep.

“Boyfriend?” he asked.

“Sorta. I’m on my own these days, so I’m taking it slow. Don’t want to make TOO many mistakes all at once.”

“Smart. Still, you’ll make plenty as you go along. I did.” And the Jeep roared off.

Turns out that he had a room in a motel, about half an hour toward Phoenix. He was on terminal leave with the Marines, so he was on his own. He parked in the back and let me into his room. I changed in the bathroom and came out looking as slutty as I could.

“I could cut the shorts even shorter, or carve some on the backside, if you think that would help,” I offered.

“No, not necessary,” said Linc. “You look like a perfect early teen wanting to look for Mr. Bad Boy. Do you have a name and some made up background for yourself?”

“Yup. I’m Melody Chime, and I hate that name. My mother is a hippie and a prostitute. We just got to town from L.A. and are staying in the VW van. I’m just looking for some fun and meeting some guys. I’m a badass. My dad is an Indian but he ran off a long time ago.”

“Pretty good, for a rookie. Melody Chime, haha. Let me hook up a radio transmitter to your fancy belt. Here we go. Got an address in Phoenix for the arcade?” I gave him what I read from memory. He flipped open a Phoenix map book. Oh, for the GPS system of the future.

[Lexi, I can give you a mental map with a green dot.]