Chapter 30

"Annie 2"

A special by: Dream Painter

1998: Phoenix, AZ

She felt his hot breath on her face, in her hair, the familiar weight of him blanketing her. She tipped her hips upward to meet and greet his as the velvety softness of his knob brushed her inner thigh. Within an instant the head of his cock was poised at her entrance, his hands in her hair. She moaned as he glided deeply inside her, her inner muscles twitching and squeezing him tightly. She could feel each ripple passing into her. Together they rocked to each other. God, they fit together so perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. She would cling to him tightly both inside and out. He groaned, his fingers curled deep in her hair. She felt the twitch inside her, the warmth of him spilling in her as she ground her hips to him hard. Driving him into her deeper. Together they gasped for air.

He finally rolled off her, still panting. "You're really going to do this?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm really going to do this," she replied breathlessly but with determination.

"Damn it, Annie, we can make it work... you aren't the first woman this ever happened to... ah, fuck it!" He rolled over on his side, turning his back to her in an effort to go to sleep.

She remained there consumed in her own thoughts until the steely light of the Arizona dawn crept through the cracks in the bedroom drapes. She rose quietly, showered, and brushed her teeth. Dressing, she tossed her bra in the bathroom trashcan. That's about the last thing she remembered until she got the Bronco turned east at Flagstaff. She quietly swore to herself, "... and if I never see another fucking saguaro again, it will be too damn soon!"

2002: Charlotte, NC

The scene had replayed in her mind hundreds of times. "Damn it," she swore to herself softly. Bubba lifted his head off the hardwood floor to look at her quizzically. Annie looked down to the right-hand corner of her monitor. 2:38 in the morning! She groaned, gazing around at the surroundings as if trying to find her bearings... the apartment, her home above the restaurant turned catering shop.

Annie rubbed her face and tried to re-focus on the spreadsheet she was working on, the invoice for Gerald's. "How about a drink, Bubba?" she asked the German shepherd that lay sprawled beside her desk. She rose from the old rolltop and padded to the tiny kitchenette. Reaching into a cabinet she withdrew a rocks glass and a bottle of Jack Daniels. She poured two fingers of the golden bourbon, topped the glass with water, took a sip, and then wandered barefoot though the tidy apartment.

Since the day she bought the building in 1999, the upper floor had always been her inner sanctum. No one from the days of the restaurant had ever been allowed in, and since 'A Woman's Space' had folded, only Jacob, her handyman/helper/jack-of-all-trades, had seen the apartment.

Jacob was timeless, about a million years old, mahogany skinned, a southern gentleman in the truest sense of the words. She had met him at the mission shortly after the restaurant opened. Annie had always made it a point to give the leftover prepared dishes to the mission after closing time.

Jacob at the mission... She had met him in the kitchen, but he was also a resident. She never inquired about his past, but asked him if he could work an old Hobart dishwasher, (referred to by her as 'the wish-dosher'). She told him he had to be reliable, and for that, he would receive a fair wage for hard work. The following morning he was waiting at the front door when she opened.

After 'A Woman's Space' closed, Jacob continued to work for Annie. He helped in the kitchen, the herb garden they planted in the small lot behind the building, and with the endless repairs on the old building. Jacob was her right-hand man. Part philosopher, part preacher, part historian, that was Jacob, and for all his parts, they respected each other's privacy, and had become close personal friends.

"Well there, lookie what da cat dragged in," said Jacob around 6:30 that morning.

"I don't need your crap this morning," replied Annie as she and Bubba trudged down the stairs, Annie nursing her sore head, her hair splashing over her shoulders. She wore an old black tank top and a tattered pair of loosely fitting purple sweat pants rolled down to her hips, "coffee ready?" she asked.

"Ya'sum Mizz Annie, coffee's ready," Jacob replied, pouring her a cup.

Rubbing her face, she took a sip from the cup and pulled up a tall stool behind her, sitting at the brushed aluminum 'prep' table in the commercial kitchen on the first floor. "God, you make the best damn coffee, Jacob," she said with a moan.

"That would be the egg shells. My mama said ifin you puts egg shells in the grounds it cuts the bitter," He grinned to her. He had told her this a hundred times at least in the two years they had been together, and it had become a ritual with them.

"You make the best," she replied still rubbing her eyes. "Okay, we gotta make a list for what we need for that company picnic. How do you feel about another pig roast?"

"Sounds like another all-nighter to me," Jacob groaned.

"Yeah, but it pays damn good," Annie sighed. Reaching for the pad and pen she began the list. She thought back to the conversation the day before with Kelly Jennsen. "Strange girl," Annie thought, but hell, people said the same thing about her.

A chance encounter with Harry's daughter on Slocum road, and two hours later a phone call asking her if she could cater a picnic. Some picnic! She was going to be the second caterer on site at Carowinds, and she'd be required to feed up to 200 people. She had told Kelly she would get back to her with a price on Monday, and then she called Harry Williams at the precinct.

Annie didn't have much use for the law, but Harry was an okay guy. He'd been the one who had gone to bat for her when that bitch wanted Bubba put down. He had treated Annie fairly and had fought the court order to end Bubba's life early. Harry was the one who had convinced the captain of Bubba's potential as a training dog, and between Harry and his partner, they had gotten a stay of execution from another judge who wasn't dirty.

When Harry had said that Kelly and her partner were good people, and confirmed that they did run a big business, it had eased Annie's mind. She was damn tired of getting screwed.

But Kelly had promised a certified check the same day that Annie had her price together, and had said the left over food would go to the homeless and shelters... hell, maybe there were some good people left in the world.

She went back to her list. Five hundred cobs of corn... She'd roast half of them, and boil the other half in the big cauldron. Two hundred pounds of baby back ribs along with homemade crusty rolls and tubs of real butter. With that and the whole pig, it was a big job. Probably the biggest she had since she started catering. Hell, and that was just the meat part. She'd have to drop some samples of her coleslaw, and cucumber-tomato salad, and potato salad with Kelly. Maybe she'd make enough on this job that she could hire some of her old staff back.

"Mizz Annie?" Jacob asked as he puttered around the enormous kitchen. "You and me been friends for few years now, right?"

Annie raised her head from her list; Bubba's tail was thumping on the floor at the back door. She rose and padded barefooted to the door to let the GSD out into the enclosed yard behind the shop. "Yeah, wazz up Jacob?" She asked in concern.

"Mizz Annie, is you one of those womens dat don't like mens? Is you one of them lez... lez... ?" Jacob asked sheepishly.

"Lesbians?" Annie interrupted.

"Yeah, one of dem." He finished, looking up from the floor he was sweeping.

She stared in to his weather beaten face in utter amazement. After pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts she replied, "Jacob, you're a man and I like you."

"Dat's not what I mean Mizz Annie. I means you ain't never had a man here since I know'd you." Jacob looked up at her earnestly.

"Ah, no, Jacob, I'm not a lesbian. Hell, I was married for 15 years. We even had a baby and everything. You see this silver ring on my foot, right next to my big toe?" Annie stuck out her bare foot for him to see the wide band on her toe. "Well, first of all it isn't silver it's platinum, and second of all it was my wedding band!"

"Where he at?" Jacob inquired.

"In Phoenix, I guess... least that's where I left him." Annie jotted something down on her note pad.

"... and the child... he wiff his daddy?" Jacob continued.

"A little girl," Annie shook her head. "She died." Annie grabbed her pad and coffee and started for the steps back to her apartment. "Let Bubba in if he starts barking."

1998: Winchester, TN

"Come on, darlin', get in this house so Granny can see you."

Road weary and aching, Annie stumbled from the Bronco after her four-day drive and into her Grandmother's home in Winchester, Tennessee.

"Brought you a present Gran, all the way from New Mexico," Annie said tiredly, trying to shake off some the exhaustion.

"Wha'd you get your ole Gran?" the old woman asked in surprise.

"Some cheesy turquoise jewelry." Annie giggled. "Hmmm, a piece of petrified wood from the Petrified Forest... Some really hot salsa, it's in the back, I'll go get it." Granny was not amused. She hated stupid guessing games.

Annie returned to her grandmother's side, lugging what appeared to be a very large, and heavy banana box. From the scratching noises and whimpering inside, her Grandmother Anne knew that whatever was in there was alive, and knowing Annie it could be any number of creatures.

"Oh, Annie, what is it?" Granny asked almost afraid to look.

"What's it look like Gran, it's a puppy!" Annie lowered the box so her grandmother could look inside. The old woman lifted out a fuzzy squirming, puffball of a beast that immediately began licking her chin. "Remember, you said you wanted a dog around here, so... well, now you have one."

Gran sat in her easy chair cuddling the fuzz-bucket to her ample chest. "What kind of a puppy is he... what's his name?" she asked.

"He's a German shepherd," Annie replied, "... and his name is going to be 'Dirty Mud' if he doesn't stop puking and crapping in my car!"

"Oh, Annie, he's just a baby, that's what babies do, they puke and crap all over everything." The instant she said it, Granny covered her mouth with her hand, regretting her comments. "Oh baby, I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Its okay, Gran. Did I get any calls?" Annie asked offhandedly, changing the subject.

"If you mean from Allen, no. But I read in the Herald that someone was burning up the phone lines between Mobile and Phoenix and I can only assume it was your mama calling him."

Annie had to laugh at her Gran's wicked sense of humor.

"Anyway, I don't believe this here's a German shepherd. I think he's a wolf. You're a wolf, aren't you boy... you nothing but a baby wolf in German shepherd's clothing."

"He's not a wolf, Gran, I promise," Annie said calmly as she stretched her legs.

"Yes, you is a wolf, aren't you... come on Bubba, Granny's gonna let you outside so you don't puddle and crap all over Granny's nice clean carpet, then Granny would have to kill you, and we don't want that now, do we, Bubba." said Granny in her sweetest Granny voice.

"You're sick, you know that don't ya, Gran?" Annie asked as the puppy tumbled from the old woman's lap and onto the floor and headed toward the back door.

"Oh I know baby, but it's good to have you home anyway," replied her grandmother.

Annie remained with her grandmother for two weeks before she began to feel like a fish in a fish bowl rather than a houseguest. She was edgy and knew she couldn't stay. She had managed to avoid her Mother; still an endless parade of distant relatives, (most of whom she didn't know), seemed to troop to Granny's house offering Annie their condolences for her loss the previous year.

Referring to her road atlas Annie formed her plan. "I'm going to head east, Gran. I can't stay in East Jesus Nowhere, Tennessee and hide for the rest of my days," she announced to her grandmother.

"You ain't hiding baby, you and Bubba are on vacation... you visiting your ole Gran," said Granny, "Anyway, you can't go too much further east, you'll run out of dry land. You got that ole 'wander-lust' just like your Grandfather had."

"Maybe so, but that's what I'm going to do." said Annie.

"Well you're taking this wolf with..." Gran was cut short.

"He's not a wolf Gran, he's a..." Annie said calmly.

"Whatever the hell he is, Bubba's going with you." she stated firmly, then added quietly, "Lord, I couldn't sleep nights knowing I had a wolf in the house with me."

The envelope from the attorney's office in Mesa, Arizona, arrived at her grandmother's house a few days before Annie was set to leave. "That Allen, he doesn't waste any time," she thought grimly to herself. Not wanting to open it around Gran, she held back until she got to the first 'rest stop' just outside of Chattanooga after crossing over Lookout Mountain. All she had to do was sign the paperwork, have it notarized, and return it to the attorney; they even gave her a stamped envelope. Those attorneys think of everything. The paperwork revealed no surprises. It even included the clause that Annie would be changing her name from Anderson, back to Prince, her maiden name. The settlement was generous by most standards, but Annie cared nothing about the money. She cared more about the crashing end of a big chapter in her life than the numbers and dollar signs.

The hours on the road gave her a great deal of time to think, to plan, to try to make some sense of the last 18 months, or at least put them into some kind of perspective. Leaving Allen Anderson, her husband of 15 years, was difficult enough. In college they had called themselves the 'Triple A Team.' The fact that he had only made a half-hearted effort to try to convince her to stay was even worse. Perhaps he knew what she had been trying to tell him for over a year. After the death of their daughter, the only thing they had in common was the same last name and the same address. That had been the most difficult of all, the loss of their daughter, their one shared link to each other.

Before leaving Phoenix, Annie had run a tiny Marketing Services Agency out of the spare bedroom. Two Macintoshes, one PC and one very persnickety laser printer made up 'Custom Graphic Design' or 'CGD'. With eight small businesses for clients, it proved to be a minor thorn in the side of some of the larger advertising agencies in the area. CGD was a local small business for local small businesses, using only other local small businesses as vendors. Her clients included an appliance repair company, a power washing company for aircraft, an executive suite complex and a small family-owned bookstore, to name a few.

In glitzy Phoenix, CGD was a welcome and refreshing change for the 'mom and pop' type shops who were struggling to make ends meet and get their faces or word out to the public. By the time she closed her books a few months before leaving Allen, she had managed to sell her client base to one of those same larger agencies for a tidy sum. The new agency devoted an entire team to winning over the small business owners, and after training the team, she was confident that her clients were in good hands.

In the months before, Annie had little time for her work, she was mourning, healing, and licking her own wounds. But Annie had always loved hard work and being her own boss she had driven herself hard, perhaps too hard.

2002: Charlotte, NC

"Jacob, the roast 'beast' and the turkey breast for the box lunches to go to the bank are in the fridge," Annie called to her helper as she bounced down the steps, her hair braided tight in a single long rope trailing down her back. "We need 48 sandwiches, half turkey, the other half roast 'beast'. The sandwiches rolls are proofing in the oven. If there's any dough left make some round loaves for bread bowls."

"Mizz Annie, when'd you do all this?" Jacob asked as he began to tie the long white apron around his waist. "Why don't you start buying all this stuff rather than do it all yo-self?"

"Cause, it keeps our costs down, Jacob, and we can say it's all homemade. Besides I don't have anything better to do at night," Annie replied. "I'm gonna run this invoice over to Gerald's."

"What, you ain't got no stamp? I suppose you made the brownies too?" Jacob could see Annie was back to her old self again. He had felt badly about prying or asking too many questions.

"Smart Ass!" Annie snorted, "You know baking the brownies is your job and they'll be warm and chewy when we deliver them. Don't forget the soft drinks! Come on, Bubba, let's go for a ride in the car-car!"

The shepherd's ears perked at the words "car-car" and he bounded happily to his Mistress's side to sit at a perfect heel. Annie attached the leash to his choke chain collar and offered him the slack remains of the leash to hold in his mouth. The GSD danced around Annie happily as together they headed to the rusty Bronco, Annie's huge knapsack size purse slung over her shoulder.

"You gonna hurt yo-self wiff dat purse of yours Mizz Annie," Jacob called to her from the doorway as she headed towards the truck. Annie waved to him and together she and Bubba were off.

Taking the old Bronco down the main street and making a left, Annie recalled the night "A Woman's Space" had closed. Jacob had been there, working the "wish-dosher." Thank goodness the place hadn't really been packed with customers that night. Word of these things occurring at local businesses spread fast enough through Charlotte.

2000: Charlotte, NC

Annie could sense the tension in the air when the Harley Sportster roared up to the front door of "A Woman's Space" and parked in the handicapped-parking zone. She didn't really mind 'biker chicks, ' as she called them. Hell, their money spent as good as anyone else's did. It was the noise and the rough talk that bothered her, and her other customers most.

"A Woman's Space" had a reputation as a nice, quiet, and friendly Ladies' Club. A place where women could have a good meal and a glass of wine or a beer and conduct business or pleasure without the blaring noise of a sports event on television, video machines or pool tables. There were equally good, if not fancier, places to eat in Charlotte, but none that catered directly to women not only on a gastronomic but a sensory level.

It really was "A Woman's Space" with fresh crisp linen table clothes and napkins, a smattering of antique sideboards and buffets about the dining room and fresh cut flowers on every table. The dinner menu may have been limited to three or four main items but each was lovingly and individually prepared. Annie had worked hard to turn the old storefront building into the perfect atmosphere of fine dining for women.

Even Annie peeked out of the kitchen when the biker chick and her apparently new girlfriend entered the dinning room and loudly demanded two 'Buds'. The biker chick was built like a linebacker; stocky and heavy with upper arms the size of old growth timber. Her girlfriend was a small willowy woman with a swollen lip and darkened eye. Together they had taken table nine near the door.

For her own part, Annie was probably in the best shape of her life. Two and a half years in Charlotte and a strong sense of independence had seen to that. Loading and unloading the Bronco with food, produce and supplies for the restaurant as well as training Bubba and bounding up and down the 18 steps to her apartment had made her lithe and muscular. "Not bad for 38," she would often think to herself as she glimpsed her reflection in a mirror.

It was a few minutes after the loud couple's drinks had been served that all hell broke loose. The front door of the old building flew open and an obvious male voice boomed out, "You fuckin' dyke, that's my girlfriend and I'm gonna kick your ass!" He screamed while the wispy shrieked.

"She ain't going with you fuck-face, she's mine now!" bellowed the biker chick.

"Great!" thought Annie sarcastically, "This is just what I need," as she dropped her towel and left the kitchen.

Annie was across the dinning room in a flash, and standing between them while they continued their exchange. "Look, I don't know what your problems are, and frankly I don't care, but this is my restaurant and you can take yourselves and your problems and head on down the road," Annie said calmly but forcefully, but inside, she was shaking like a leaf. By this time Jacob was standing nearby at table 7.

"Leanne, honey, you sit right there while I take this asshole outside and beat the shit outta him," the biker chick said to the willowy girl as she pushed Annie out of her way and headed towards the door.

"You cunt, I'm gonna clean your clock right out there on that sidewalk," shouted the scraggly looking man as he turned to follow the woman.

Annie turned to Jacob and to mouth the words, "Call the cops," but Jacob was already on his way behind the counter and picking up the phone, staring out the window.

The entire restaurant could hear the oaths and swearing outside. Annie saw Jacob's eyes grow wide as he cried, "Mizz Annie, she done cold-cocked dat boy wiff a pool cue!"

Within seconds the front door swung open and a battered 'biker chick' came in huffing, puffing and brandishing what looked to be the back half of a pool stick through the dining room.

"You wanna piece of this, bitch," the biker chick roared at Annie. Annie jumped backwards, catching a flash of something lunging at the woman from the corner of her eye. Annie blinked as the woman hit the floor hard, on her back, and watched as the pool cue slid across the hardwood floor of the dining room. She looked back at the woman lying on the floor and saw one very pissed off German shepherd standing over her.

Ears flat to his head, lips curled, teeth bared and hackles raised, Bubba was a menacing sight. The willowy girl took one look at her new girlfriend on the floor, screamed, and flew out the front door.

"Easy, Bubba," Annie said as calmly as possible, "No bites."

By this time many of the restaurant's dinner patrons were also starting to rush out the door, most not bothering to pay their bills.

Annie pulled up a chair and sat near Bubba and the biker chick. "You wanna piece of this, bitch?" Annie calmly asked the woman, her heart still fluttering from the excitement.

"Ge... ge... get him off!" she cried.

"... Ah, no, I don't think so. Not until we've had a few word with the cops first." Annie replied. "Jacob, go check on scraggly outside. See if he's still alive." Jacob scurried out the front door.

"Get him off me!" The biker chick howled.

"I wouldn't yell if I were you, it tends to make him nervous," Annie said calmly. She was actually beginning to enjoy this. "Good boy, easy now... easy... no bites. Damn. Now I'll have to give you a flea bath as well. No bites, Bubba. I don't think she's had all her shots."

"Mizz Annie, da po-leese is here," Jacob called through the front door, now standing open. Annie could hear Jacob talking to someone outside. As she looked to the door a uniformed officer walked in. The officer took one look at the girl on the floor and the beast standing over her and prepared to draw his weapon.

"No! Don't," Annie yelled to the policeman, jumping up out of her chair to stand between the cop and Bubba.

"Bubba, heel!" The dog stepped away from the biker chick and trotted over to Annie's left side. "Down! Stay!" Annie ordered and the shepherd dropped to the hardwoods on his belly.

The cop allowed a small smile to touch the corner of his mouth as he saw how well trained the German shepherd was. He respected the K-9 unit of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department as valuable assets in many situations, but not even their best trained dog heeded as well as this fine looking animal. He released his grip on his pistol and took out a notepad from his vest pocket.

"You want to tell me what's going on here?" The officer asked.

"That bitch sic'd her fucking dog on me and I was just..." the 'biker chick' began to prattle.

"Tonya, I wasn't talking to you. You're in enough trouble as is... and don't try to leave 'cause Lew's outside waiting if you do!" interrupted the cop.

The policeman turned back to look at Annie, "are you the manager here?"

"I'm the proprietor," replied Annie calmly though she could feel the heat rising to her face.

"Would you tell me what happened here, please?" the officer asked in a professional tone.

"Well," Annie began, "It seems 'scruffy' out there, didn't like 'biker woman' here, messing with 'wimpy girl, ' where-ever the hell she is now. So 'biker woman' and 'scruffy', at my urging, went outside to discuss their issues. Then this one," Annie said pointing to Tonya the biker chick, "decided to take a swing at me with that thing laying over there and then Bubba," pointing to the GSD, his tail thudding against the hard wood floor after hearing his name, "gave her a little 'Come to Jesus' meeting. That's about it! Now I have a business to run, officer..." Annie looked at the name tag, "Officer Williams, so would you take her, and that," pointing to the piece of pool cue on the floor, "and get the hell out of my restaurant?" Annie had lost her sense of humor.

Officer Williams gently took Annie by the arm and led her towards the kitchen, "Listen, you may not realize this, but that's Tonya Richardson, Judge Richardson's step daughter."

"I don't give a good god damn who she is" Annie replied hotly.

"Keep your voice down. Do you want to press charges?" asked Officer Williams.

"No, just get her the hell outta here, but if you give her a breath test you're gonna find out she's drunk... just a tip ossifer Williams," Annie said. "I got girls here," nodding towards her wait staff, "on the clock, doing nothing so just take her and 'scruffy' away!"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to shut down for the night," said Sergeant Williams. "We have an incident report to write up involving an accusation by Tonya."

Harry Williams handcuffed Tonya and handed her over to his partner.

He looked remorseful. "There's no way I can cover up what happened here. Even if you don't press charges, Tonya is going to make life hell for you for having a dangerous dog loose on the premises of a public establishment."

"Bubba's not dangerous," said Annie. "He was just protecting me!"

"I understand that, Miss Prince," said Sergeant Williams, "but I don't write the laws. Ever since the whole pit-bull thing started, the rules have been that unleashed dogs in public, much less a restaurant, are serious violations. Tonya's step father is going to twist this around that once again his daughter is just a victim of inept policing, and he'll probably sign a court order to make sure you aren't around to contradict him."

"What in the sweet chocolate hell does that mean?" asked Annie.

"I'm sorry, Miss Prince," Harry said. "This looks like a real nice place, but you had the misfortune to have Tonya Richardson pay you a visit." Harry looked around before speaking again. "She'd be serving life by now with her history, if it wasn't for her daddy bailing her out every time she gets into trouble. I've been on the force twenty-two years, and I can't even count the number of times that I've arrested her just to see the charges dismissed by the court. You embarrassed her today, you saw her scared, and she's not going to let this rest. If I were you, I'd get this dog the hell out of here. Send him to relatives or something. I'll do my best to buy you some time." With that he closed the notepad, and with a sad look walked out the door.

"Jacob! Girls, let's call it a day. Go ahead and clock out!" Annie called to the three waitresses and her dishwasher. She could see Sergeant Williams outside with Tonya, having her blow into the clear plastic tube.

"Mizz Annie, I'll stay and help you clean dis mess up," Jacob said softly.

Slowly the girls streamed out of the restaurant while Annie and Jacob together bussed tables, washed dishes, and put away food. Annie released Bubba from his 'down/stay' and went behind the counter to add up meal tickets, trying to wind down from the evenings events, sipping on a glass of wine. Amazingly, most of the girls didn't even know of Bubba's existence, even Jacob had only seen him rarely but he remained at his mistress's side while she worked this evening, even closer than usual.

"Make sure you get yourself something to eat, Jacob, God knows there's enough back there... just help yourself," Annie called to her helper.