Chapter 29: The Aftermath

Laura said nothing about my being over an hour late and when I started to apologize, she shushed me saying it didn't matter.

We spent the afternoon shopping because that was what Laura wanted to do. In addition to the two laundry appliances, we needed furniture for the new room.

While at the furniture store, Laura found a small desk that suited her. The salesman had been watching us, curiously. He catered to the wishes of Laura, giving her his full attention while ignoring me. I didn't blame him. She was so cute in tight cut offs and a T-shirt that accented every curvature of her body. Her hair was bundled in a ponytail, well off of her ears that were adorned with tiny diamonds.

"How do you like it, Honey?" She came close and squeezed my right hand. I could tell she was up to something. I played along.

"Its kind of small for you," I objected, getting the salesman's attention. For the first time he took his eyes off of Laura to glare at me.

"Do you really think so Sweetie? I know what you're thinking. Shall we try it?"

Smiling, I squeezed her hand to show my amusement.

Laura turned to the salesman. "Do you mind if we try it? My husband doesn't think it's large enough for me to fit underneath."

The red-faced salesman directed us to a slightly larger model that we settled on. Laura squeezed my hand as the salesman pointed out the solid wood and the workmanship, looking to me for approval.

"I'm surprised you didn't offer to see if you could fit underneath," I told Laura when we left the store.

"He got the point. The ring comes in handy once in a while," she said, flashing the gold band I had given her. "That's what I should have gotten you for your birthday," she said more to herself than to me, divulging that she had gotten me a present.

"What shall we do now?" It was 4:30 P.M. and I was famished. We were sitting in the car in front of the furniture store after arranging for folding tables and chairs to be delivered the day before Thanksgiving.

"We've done the important things. What would you like to do? It's your day too," Laura offered.

"We could get something to eat," I suggested timidly, not wanting to admit I had not eaten anything since breakfast.

"Or we could look for a car for me," Laura said, ignoring the hint that I was starving. "It's plain to see. I'm going to need one."

"What kind of car would you like?" It was the first thing I thought of to say. We had not discussed it but of course she would need a car for her job. I had made arrangements for her to have a car. That was what I had been doing all morning. That was the reason I was late getting home. But parked in front of the furniture rental store was not the place to tell her. It was not the right time to talk about Ollie and what Ruby Mae and I had put him through.

"It doesn't need to be new or fancy. Something like this one would serve me well." She patted the dashboard of my car and placed one hand on the back of my head, feeling how long my hair had gotten.

Would a Corvette be too fancy? That's what I should have said. "Let's take a look."

"We don't have to make a hasty decision. We can drive by a place or two on the way home. We don't have to stop today. I want to go home and cut your hair. You can open your birthday presents while I cook."

I grimaced at the thought of her cooking. She pulled my hair.

"We should check the newspaper ads to study current prices," I said when Laura pointed out a Chevrolet that looked clean and well kept.

"You're right," she agreed, running her hand through my hair again.

"You can use this one all day on Saturday. I'll borrow one of the guys' cars if I need to go anywhere," I offered. This seemed to suit her. It suited me too. I would surprise her with the Corvette, her Corvette, and there would be no need to shop for a car. We dropped the subject and headed home.

I knew something was up when Sylvia practically followed us in the back door. She was carrying a round container that I recognized to be a cake box.

"I'll bet he's glad to see you," Laura said to Sylvia. "You should have seen his expression when I volunteered to cook."

The two women exchanged a glance while I stood tongue-tied. Anything I said would be wrong. It was better to remain statue-like and not comment. Laura took pity on me.

"Honey, you check the telephone messages while I set up to cut your hair. You can open your gifts and Sylvia will make us something to eat."

The first message was from Robert Parker, asking that I return his call. He gave his home phone number, making me think it was important. The second was Huley.

"FUCKING BASTARD!"

I pressed the stop button to silence the speaker but it was too late. Laura was at the door, shock and fear in her eyes. I went to her without listening to the rest of Huley's message. It didn't matter what she had to say. Nothing mattered except Laura.

"Come here," I urged her to join me inside the bedroom. I held her, kicking the door closed.

"What have you done?" She pulled away from me, searching my eyes for a sign that it was not as bad as she perceived.

I reached out and pulled her to the bed, wanting to hold her while I answered her question. But she bounced up in an instant and moved to the center of the room and away from my clutches.

"Huley is Ollie's daughter, you know that," I began.

Laura listened as I told her how Ruby Mae and I had humiliated Ollie Pettersen and gotten him to sign the four documents. The fact that Harold Waite had formulated the plan and condoned Ruby Mae's participation did not seem to impress or annoy Laura. She listened complacently, showing no emotion.

When she had heard enough Laura suggested we go back to the kitchen before Sylvia felt abandoned. I followed her, leaving the balance of Huley's message unheard and without returning Robert Parker's call.

It was soon apparent that Laura and Sylvia had concocted the small birthday celebration. We abandoned the plan to cut my hair. I unwrapped the presents from home before we ate. There were shirts and sweaters with a chess set and a calculator thrown in for good measure. Laura suggested that I call to thank my family for the presents and I agreed, saying that I would make the call on Saturday or Sunday.

I opened a bottle of wine and we enjoyed an excellent meal. Even Laura, considering how morose she had been when she heard what we had put Ollie through, was exceptionally good-humored. Outwardly, she had set aside the bad feelings that I knew were lurking in her subconscious. We told Sylvia about the furniture salesman and how Laura had embarrassed him, something I had seen her do before when she felt that a male was paying too much attention to her.

When it was time for cake and coffee Sylvia presented a soft package, saying she hoped they were the right size.

They admitted they had gone shopping together and that Laura had helped select the set of three pairs of silk briefs. In addition to red, there was a black pair and one in a leopard-skin design.

"Just what I needed," I said smiling to myself, wishing I could tell them how Ruby Mae had worn my red briefs under her skirt when she walked onto Ollie's used car lot, waved them out the window to signal to me that she had him in the car, left them in the middle of the dusty road to warn me where to park and later, asked for the briefs to have as a memento.

"Try them on," Sylvia commanded. Her expression, the excitement in her eyes, told me there had been purpose to her purchase. Laura's smile of encouragement made me agree to meet the challenge. I excused myself.

When I emerged from the bedroom I was wearing only the leopard-skin briefs and a white sweater from my family's gifts. The sweater was meant for tennis, v-neck with blue and red trim around the neck and wrists. I wondered when I would get a chance to wear it for tennis.

They both howled, making me twirl around to show off how the briefs hugged my butt. Laura pushed me into a chair and took a seat on my lap. With one arm around my neck she looked into my eyes. She held my gaze for a long time before handing me a square package with a bow on top.

"I hope this is the right size," she said, adjusting her position to give me space to open the package. She had to hang on as I bounced her vigorously on my knees. I stopped when I saw Sylvia out of the corner of my eye and realized I had not thanked her properly.

"Thank you, Sylvia. They fit perfectly. I'll wear them for special occasions."

"Can I count on that? Will I have to sneak a peek to know if it's a special occasion?

"No, I'll tell you which color I'm wearing," I laughed, "If I don't say anything you'll have to sneak a peek."

She smiled contentedly, apparently satisfied with my appreciation of her gift.

Laura was impatient, anxious for me to open the square box. She ripped the bow off and I bounced her on my knees a couple of times to settle her down. Soon the wrapping paper was on the floor and I was finding a box within the box.

I was mortified to see the watch, and then became fearful that she would see the look of astonishment on my face. Should I tell her that I cannot wear a watch? I had tried to wear several watches in the past. They would not keep time on my wrist.

It was an Omega and looked expensive. Dutifully, I expanded the band over my left fist and looked at it admiringly.

"It's beautiful!" I exclaimed, holding my arm up for Sylvia to see. And it was beautiful. I had never had an expensive watch. Perhaps it would work. I kissed Laura and held her to me. She broke away, wanting to see how the watch looked on my wrist. I bounced her on my knees again.

"Happy birthday, Honey."

You shouldn't have, I wanted to say but stopped short, thanking her for the present.

Sylvia could see that we wanted to be alone and when she tried to slip away, we both thanked her for coming to my party. Laura thanked her for doing the cooking and I thanked her for the briefs. As soon as Sylvia was out the door Laura jumped from my lap and became serious.

"What were you thinking? You put yourself and Ruby Mae in danger! What if something had gone wrong? It would have been my fault. Did you think of that?"

"We were very careful. We didn't take any chances," I answered, lamely.

"It's obvious his family knows what you did. Did you plan to hurt them? Did you think you were helping me?

"If they know it's because he told them. He knew I had no intention of involving them. I swore to keep his family out of it."

Laura's expression softened. It was evident that she did not doubt what I was saying.

"Let's listen to those messages," she said, pulling me towards the bedroom and the answering machine. I managed to shed the sweater on the way, hoping to strip her also but Laura was not having it. She did allow me to place her on the bed, fully clothed. I pushed the play button to resume Huley's message that had begun, "FUCKING BASTARD!"

"Nice girl," Laura observed as the recording began to play.

"If you're trying to ruin papa because I dumped you it won't work. We're not playing your game. I don't know what happened but you're up to no good. You can go FUCK yourself as far as we're concerned. Don't call here. My family doesn't want to talk you."

There was a third message from Rosita. She asked that I call her. Laura stopped me when she saw that I was dialing a number. Actually, I was returning Robert Parker's call, not Rosita's but I hung up the receiver and turned to Laura.

"Tell me what happened again," she requested, placing her hand on my bare chest. I repeated the story about events of the morning, describing how Ruby Mae had been dressed when I picked her up at the brothel, how we had done two dry runs to make sure she could find the deserted road, purchased the camera and how Ruby Mae had slipped my red briefs on because she didn't have a pocket big enough to store them.

Laura's lips hinted a smile when I described how Ruby Mae had swung her hips, crossing the street and onto Ollie's used car lot. Her fist bunched my chest hair when I told her how nervous I had gotten when it took thirty minutes before I saw the Cadillac pull out of the lot and stop at the traffic light. She expelled pent-up air when I told her how relieved I was to see my red briefs being waved from the driver's side of the car.

Laura smoothed my chest hair while I told her how I had stopped when I saw my red briefs in the middle of the road and how I waited for what seemed like an eternity until Ruby Mae came driving back and stopped the car next to me and how she got out with nothing on except her bra to step into her skirt.

I described the way Ollie appeared, naked, walking towards me, demanding I give him his clothes and how I maneuvered the car to make him understand that he was under my control. I told how he had objected to the signing of each document and how Mildred had notarized each one. Laura's only sign of interest was when I mentioned the apology.

"I don't like this at all. I don't care if Harold sanctioned it. You took a risk and you involved Ruby Mae." Laura spoke sternly, all the time, removing her clothes. When she got down to her panties she unbound the ponytail and joined me under the sheet.

Soon I felt her bare legs rubbing against mine and her panties next to the leopard-skin briefs. She was still upset. I had to set her straight.

"He threatened to have the brothel closed down."

I felt Laura's body become rigid. She was holding her breath. I patted her on the butt and told her to relax.

"That's what prompted Harold to formulate the plan and have one of the girls participate. He was pleased to learn that Ruby Mae had volunteered but once the plan was being implemented he stepped aside and told me to deal with Robert Parker."

This did little to console her. She was still tense. "What's going to happen to Mildred?"

I had to admit I didn't know, saying, "Ruby Mae didn't have any trouble recruiting her. She seemed to be enjoying herself."