Chapter 24: Ollie Confesses

{My thanks to those who have read and commented on previous chapters of this series. Welcome to new readers. Familiarity with characters and events described in previous chapters is recommended. Read chapters 1 through 23.}

On Monday Huley interrupted my conversation with two guys who had applied for the painter helper jobs. I was in the process of telling them we could use them on Saturday when she broke in.

"Your phone was busy last night. Papa wants to talk to you," she advised me before walking away.

The two guys and I watched her go. She was headed to a table in the back of the cafeteria where several jocks were sitting. I decided the one wearing a back brace must be Jake Trainer. I was grateful that Huley had not made a scene.

The two new hires grinned, probably thinking they knew what was behind Huley's remark. They had no idea.

After classes I went by the house to re-connect the phone and the answering machine before making my rounds. Charles was working alone, putting the finishing touches on Sylvia's addition. I spoke to him about building a picket fence along our back line when he finished the addition. "Tell Sylvia what you're up to before you order the materials. She's sure to want the fence to extend along her back line too," I said. Charles grinned, saying he would talk to Sylvia.

Eric was working with the painting crew. The guys were all excited about the contract Mr. Waite had given us to raze the old house. Eric told me about a painter that was looking for work. Lacy's brother-in-law had let him go due to lack of work.

"If he's interested in helping demolish a house send him by to see me," I told Eric. He told me Jack had mentioned he might call me to see if I could give him some work.

Huley had given my phone number to her father. Ollie Pettersen was gracious, grateful and accommodating. He praised me for coming to the rescue of Rosita in her time of need and apologized for the way he had told me I was not welcome in his home. He told me to send him a bill for securing the showroom and when I said there was no charge he offered to take me golfing. "Julita says you're free on Wednesday afternoon. We'll have a light lunch and try to get in 18 holes. Come by the lot," he ordered. Refusing was not an option. I said okay.

The next day I took a sandwich and two pieces of fruit for lunch. If Huley was going to snub me I was not going to waste an hour in the cafeteria. I would go to the library for part of the lunch break.

That afternoon I asked the guys who played golf. Eric raised his hand. We made arrangements to go to a driving range and hit balls after work. I had not played golf since high school.

Eric and I hit a bucket of balls each and then he watched me hit two more, giving me tips as to how to shift my weight and tighten my swing. My goal was to not embarrass myself the following day. He offered to loan me his clubs. It was a basic set that would save me having to rent clubs. We went to a shop where I bought shoes and golf balls.

I talked to Eric about making the adjustment from the military to civilian life and was glad to hear him say that the job with our company had made it easy for him to adjust. We both avoided saying anything about Lacy. It occurred to me that he thought he had taken her away from me. I was just glad that Lacy and I were on speaking terms. Her sister was probably still mad at me for bruising her ass while playing whack.

There were two messages, one from Laura and one from Mr. Waite. Not having the brothel telephone number I returned Mr. Waite's call. He wanted to see me the next day. "I want to go over the wrecking schedule with you," he said.

My plan was to have our whole crew available on the day after Thanksgiving. The seven of us plus the two new college students would be able to make a good start if solid plans were in place. I wanted to put Charles in charge of the project but first I had to clear it with Jimmy. Then Charles and I could put the schedule together and fix responsibility. Mr. Waite sounded perturbed when I told him I did not have the schedule on paper yet. He wanted to see me anyway.

"What time do you want to see me?" I asked, wondering how I was going to tell Ollie I could not make our golfing date.

"Make it seven. Bring Laura. Wanda has something special planned for dinner. She's had me break down the table to seat six," Harold was in a jovial mood.

Bring Laura? Did she know? Was that why she had called? Table to seat six? Who's the other couple? My mind was cluttered with these thoughts when the telephone rang.

"Honey, where were you?" Laura asked. "It doesn't matter. Did you talk to Harold? I need something to wear. Can you take me shopping tomorrow?"

"Sure," I said. I would call Ollie and say something had come up. Actually I was relieved that I would not be spending three hours on the golf course with him.

"Can we say 5 P.M.? I want to get some rest before tomorrow night. That will give us two hours to select two dresses and drive to the Waite's. Bring me shoes and underwear and stockings. I'll shower here and dress at the store."

"What color shoes should I bring?"

"Black I think. Don't bring the other things. I'll call the dress shop and ask them to have some dresses ready to try on. I can pick up the underwear and stockings to go with the black shoes."

"Sounds good, what's this about?"

There was a short pause before Laura said, "It's a surprise. Wait and hear it for yourself."

"Aw, you can tell me. I hate surprises," I whined.

"Randy?"

"Yes?"

"Bring money!" She was gone.

How am I going to find time to go to the bank? I thought. Why couldn't we write a check for her purchases? Then I remembered, Laura didn't like writing checks when we could pay cash. Her pay envelope was still in the jacket I had worn the night I made the journal entries for her. Problem solved.

"Damn it," I muttered to myself when I saw the book Huley had loaned me. It was still on my desk. I had not returned it and now I would have to catch up with her at school.

Quarterly finals were less than two weeks off. There was to be a week long break between Thanksgiving and the new quarter which would begin the first Monday in December. I really could not afford to take time to play golf on Wednesday afternoon, the day I usually spent in the library. But Ollie had been adamant about wanting to thank me properly. I didn't call him to cancel.

I had an idea. I would use the shoes as an excuse for visiting the brothel to interview the girls. While getting my clothes lined up for the next day, I set the alarm clock for 4 A.M.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby Mae asked when she saw me come through the back door. She was standing next to the kitchen table, ready to take a seat. But when she saw me she continued to stand, towering over me in four inch heels.

"I'm bringing Tess some shoes," I said to the new girl, thinking that I did not owe her an explanation but the other answer that popped into my mind would create a bad atmosphere and that was something I wanted to avoid. I had risen at 4 A.M for better reasons than upsetting the serenity Laura strived to maintain in the workplace.

"I don't like strange men popping in when I'm on break," she spat at me as she took a seat.

The small piece of material around her waist revealed her shapely legs and the fishnet bra she was wearing did little to hide her small breasts. Her legs and tits were exactly as I had envisioned on Friday night when Wanda and I had picked up she and Brenda Sue at the airport.

Rachel joined us, poured herself a cup of coffee and took a seat at the table. She listened to me tell Ruby Mae that I had also come to interview her and her coworkers for a paper I was doing for school.

"You can interview me Randy," Rachel volunteered. "What do you want to know?"

I took a seat, deciding I would take advantage of Rachel's offer.

"The other night when I met Ruby Mae she said something I want to follow up on," I said to Rachel before turning to Ruby Mae.

"Do you remember saying that whores get blamed for everything?"

Ruby Mae eyed me cautiously with something between disdain and curiosity in her expression. "What about it?"

"I was wondering if the others feel the same. How about you Rachel? Do you believe that prostitutes get blamed for everything?"

"Why do you call us prostitutes? Why don't you call us whores or hookers?" Ruby Mae cut in before Rachel could answer my question. It was just as well. Rachel was deep in thought.

"Prostitutes sounds more respectful than whores or hookers," I answered Ruby Mae.

Rachel had formed her answer and was ready to reply. Timidly, she looked at Ruby Mae for clearance to have the floor but Ruby Mae was not ready to yield.

"You know why we're called hookers?" Ruby Mae directed her question at me, a confident smirk on her lips.

"I know," Rachel raised her hand.

"I've heard," I said.

Ruby Mae didn't let either of us answer. "General Hooker let whores follow his troops. They got the name Hookers because they were Hooker's girls."

"It was during the Civil War," Rachel was moved to add.

"All wars have had camp followers," I said, not to challenge Ruby Mae's superior knowledge. I was saying it to reinforce my premise that moral decay had contributed to society breakdown including the fall of the Roman Empire.

"See, that's what I'm talking about. Whore's get blamed for everything," Ruby Mae said triumphantly. I noticed that she was now tolerating my presence.

"That's what I was going to say," said Rachel, a downhearted look on her face.

The other girls joined us, rowdy and buoyant. Ralph appeared and then Laura. She was surprised to see me.

"What are you doing here?" She bent down to pinch my cheek and give me a quick kiss.

"I brought your shoes," I said, disguising the real reason I was there. She took the shoes from me and the brown envelope containing the night's take from Ralph and disappeared up the stairs.

As the girls came and went, taking turns showering and returning in a variety of comfortable clothes I kept the conversation close to the same theme. I was looking for their perspective on modern day society and the whore's role in shaping morality standards.

Naturally I ate breakfast but did not overdue it. Having breakfast with them was part of my cover. Taking notes would have made what I was doing obvious to Laura and I doubted she would tolerate it. My memory would not be perfect but if I assigned a quote one of the girl's made to the wrong name, Mrs. Davenport, my history instructor would have no way of knowing. As long as I got the quotations reasonably close to the way it had come out of the girl's mouth my deception would not be found out.

I made one blunder. I happened to mention to the girls what I was doing.

"Randy's interviewing us for a paper he's writing," Kelley said to Laura when she joined us. She had changed to cut-offs and one the sweat shirts we had bought while on her birthday shopping trip.

Laura was about ready to take a seat on my lap when she heard Kelley reveal what I was doing, or trying to do.

"What?" She asked, jumping from my clutches. "You're not!"

For the second time Laura was kicking me out of the brothel. On the way out the door I heard Teresa say, "Spell my name right Randy."

"What's got you so attracted to them?" Laura asked. She had followed me out the door. I turned and took her in my arms. Reluctantly she let me.

"I came to see you," I said, running my hands over her back. It was 6 A.M. I needed to go home and write down as many of the girl's quotes as I could remember. But I wanted to hold her as long as I could too.

"What do we have to do with what took place over 1600 years ago?" Laura was rubbing my back.

"I see it as a parallel," I answered, moving my right hand to her rump.

"You've got to stop coming here unless you're invited," she had one hand on my ass and was letting me pull her to me.

"You could save me a trip," I ventured to say.

She was very receptive to my kiss. We were at the back door of the brothel locked in one another's arms. She pulled her lips from mine.

"I could, couldn't I?" She took me by the hand and lead me back inside. The girls around the table looked up in surprise when they saw that I was with Laura. She placed her hand on my chest and backed me to the cabinet counter. "Stand here, do not sit down again," she ordered as she ran up the stairs.

"What's she doing?" Kelley spoke up. The girls were looking at one another, speculating among themselves as to what Laura was up to.

"Looks like she's taking off early, right Randy?" Tonya said, looking at me. I nodded confirmation, smiling to myself, not moving from where Laura had told me to stand.

Laura returned with her shoes and a small case. She turned to address the girls and Ralph.

"I'll be back at this same time tomorrow. Until I get back Tonya will be in charge. For the next 24 hours there is to be no bickering and no horsing around. Does everyone understand? Can I depend on you?" Laura looked from girl to girl, getting each to acknowledge that she understood what Laura had told them.

"What are you going to do? Is it what I think it is?" We heard Kelley ask as we reached the door.

"We're going to do whatever he wants and everything I want," Laura said as she pushed me out the door.

"Why Tonya? Did she know she was going to be in charge?" I asked when we were in the car and on our way. Laura was leaning against me with her head on my shoulder. I wondered if she would nod off before we got home.

"There were several reasons for choosing her and yes, we had a long talk last night. She'll do fine," she said without naming the reasons Tonya was the best choice to serve as temporary Madam. It was not important. I was glad that she was coming home with me. Too bad I had to go to class.

When we pulled into our driveway Laura was asleep, her head on my shoulder and her hand inside my shirt. I opened my car door and was preparing to carry her inside when she opened one eye. "I can walk," she murmured when she realized where we were. After getting her inside I went back to the car to retrieve her shoes and the case.

By the time I got back she had stripped down to her panties and was standing next to the bed, her eyes on the door, waiting for me to return.

"You don't have to leave yet. Come to bed with me for just a bit."

Forgetting my plan to record what the girls had told me that morning I hurriedly stripped to my shorts and joined her in the bed.

"You're tired and sleepy. I'll stay till you go to sleep."

"I'm not that sleepy. I want to enjoy you before I go to sleep."

"I'm glad you decided to come home with me. I could come pick you up every day. Why did you decide to come home today?"

"I told you I was going to pay more attention to you so you don't stray. Besides, this is your early day. We'll have all afternoon before we go to the dress shop. Or we can go shopping early and come back and fool around. Which would you prefer?"

I was holding her close, rubbing her back and the cheeks of her ass through the thin panties. She couldn't see the alarm on my face but when I didn't answer she pulled away to look at me, puzzled that I had not said anything.