Chapter 31: Giving Thanks

During the days that followed our visit to the Petersen home I became suspicious. Laura was spending more time on the telephone than usual. It was finals week and I had one or two exams each day. As I worked at my desk each night I could hear her voice, muffled by the closed bedroom door. It was not uncommon for her to speak with Nadine for an hour but this was different. These telephone conversations were longer.

On Wednesday evening my exams were over. Sylvia, Laura and I were in the kitchen preparing the turkey and a variety of pies for the oven when the phone rang.

"Hi Randy, is Laura there?"

"It's Rosita," I said, offering Laura the phone.

"I know," she said as she headed to the bedroom, motioning for me to hang up the kitchen phone after she answered.

Sylvia and I worked together, making as many advanced preparations for Thanksgiving dinner as possible. She had everything organized. I could tell that she was curious about the phone call and the closed bedroom door, but I avoided the subject, simply saying it was a friend Laura was consoling.

In truth I did not know why Rosita was calling so often or what they were talking about. I assumed they were sympathizing with each other.

I gave Sylvia a brief rundown on everyone who had accepted our invitations for dinner the following day. In keeping with Laura's wishes, I avoided telling Sylvia the occupation of the four girls from the brothel or how we were acquainted.

For the past several days Laura had enumerated the pitfalls that she foresaw and how she hoped to avert them. I could tell she was nervous that the girls would let their vocabulary slip, that special way of talking whores use to express themselves. She enlisted my services to keep them from getting into fights and ruining our day.

Only four of the girls from the brothel had accepted our invitation. Laura suggested that they dress conservatively. She also instructed them not to mention their work and she especially warned them to call her Laura instead of Tess. I was to go after them the next morning and review Laura's instructions on the way to our house.

I named the four girls to Sylvia, Kelley, Ruby Mae, Tonya and Rachel, saying they were from Laura's work. Sylvia wanted to know more about the girls so she would be able to remember who was who.

"Kelley's only eighteen or nineteen, Ruby Mae is tall, Tonya is cute and Rachel is the oldest."

"Isn't Kelley cute?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

I could see her point. Sylvia would be able to remember Ruby Mae because she was tall and Rachel because she was older than the others but I had described both Tonya and Kelley as being cute.

It would have been easy to give a distinguishing feature to describe Kelley. "Kelley's the one with the big mouth," I came close to saying but instead, "Tonya is probably thirty."

The four guys from school who worked part time for us had promised to come with huge appetites. Paul was the tallest. He and Ken were the first part-timers we had hired. Wally was small and wiry and Ben was built like a bear.

Invitations to the four college guys had been extended to keep them from going home for Thanksgiving. We needed all hands to start the demolition of the old house where Judge Waite's Home for Women was going to be built. The promise of a huge meal was enough enticement to get them to come. I hadn't told them about the four girls from the brothel.

Charles and Nadine were coming. Sylvia knew Charles of course and remembered Nadine from the hospital where she and Laura had shared a room.

Sylvia also knew Lacy and she had met Eric when he was painting our additions.

"That makes fifteen," Sylvia said, showing that she had been keeping count.

"Charles and Nadine will probably bring their kids and Davie is coming."

"Davie?"

"Sure, you remember Davie. He helped paint the additions."

She froze, her hands clutching cut-up apple slices above a pie pan filled with dough. Her brow wrinkled and I saw a confident nod as she released the apple slices into the pan.

"How old is he? Is he... ?"

"Davie?" I asked nonchalantly. I loved to tease her.

She picked up the rolling pin and raised it menacingly.

"Davie's about thirty and yes, he's single."

She lowered the rolling pin and went back to filling the pie. Laura came out of the bedroom and wanted to know what she had missed.

"What did we miss?" Sylvia said in good-humored retort.

That night in bed Laura told me parts of her conversation with Rosita. "She wants to give me a good deal on a car. She said if we come by the lot on Saturday night she will sell us any car on the lot at cost."

"Ollie's cars are all big American crates. Do you think there will be something that will suit you?"

"I know," Laura said, running her hand over my chest, "I told her we'll drop by and look. She's just trying to make amends. It can't do any harm, can it?"

I agreed that it would do no harm to look, wondering why Rosita had made such a generous offer. It was clear to me that she and Laura were becoming friends. I wondered if it was their mutual aversion of Ollie that drew them together.

It surprised me when I found the girls dressed and ready to go as soon as I arrived at the brothel. I complemented them on how nice they looked. All four were wearing the same outfit, below the knee skirts with colorful silk blouses. They rushed to cover the blouses with a variety of imitation fur coats. Other than being cheap and ratty, the coats were quite different in style and length.

"We ordered these outfits alike because Laura doesn't want us showing leg," Ruby Mae said, a sarcastic tone in her voice. She had insisted on sitting in the front with me, much to the chagrin of Kelley.

"You're pissed because your legs are your pride and joy. They're the only thing about you that attracts attention."

Ruby Mae turned in the seat to glare at the younger girl.

Before I could say anything about Laura's request that there be no fights Kelley was off again. "The rest of us have tits and we like the way our asses fill out these skirts. You're pissed because your tits are tiny and your little round bottom is an embarrassment."

I decided to make an example of her. "Kelley, that's what Laura was talking about when she asked you to watch your language."

"What's wrong with pissed?" She leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "What if I say 'pass the fucking butter?' Will Tess be pissed?"

"Pissed is probably okay. It's the way you said it. You sounded pissed. And its Laura, not Tess, remember?"

"And don't say 'pass the fucking butter, '" Tonya was quick to correct her. "Say 'Please pass the fucking butter.'" The girls erupted in laughter, even Ruby Mae. She had forgotten about Kelley's comment about her breasts and ass.

"Please pass the fucking margarine," Rachel put in. This was followed by Tonya correcting Rachel, "Please pass the fucking oleo margarine. That's more correct, isn't it, Randy?"

The four girls kept up a steady stream of drivel, trying to outdo one another with their own version of vulgar table etiquette. "Please pass the fucking peas, one at a time," Ruby Mae said, delighted with her contribution to the hilarity, setting off another round of laughter.

"WE'RE NOT HAVING PEAS AND STOP SAYING 'FUCKING!'" I shouted, beside myself with frustration, angry at the girls for their silly behavior and embarrassed that I had lost my temper.

Ruby Mae wanted to know when she would receive the money she had earned for her part in Ollie's abduction and humiliation. I tried to quiet her, saying that it was being held as evidence and would be released soon. But she persisted, saying she had followed my instructions and deserved to get her money. "I did all the work. I didn't see you sucking his little cock or fucking him." I lost my temper again.

"DAMN IT! SHUT UP ABOUT THAT! YOU'LL GET YOUR FUCKING MONEY!"

"STOP SAYING 'FUCKING, '" Ruby Mae blasted me. This brought the girls to gales of laughter. I drove in silence and tried to ignore their chatter. It was clear to me that Ruby Mae had told them all about our adventure with Ollie. It sounded like they had heard it a number of times. Kelley begged her not to repeat the story.

"Isn't this a cute house," Tonya exclaimed as I pulled into the driveway. A quick count of the cars in the street told me that everyone was there. They had left the driveway open for me to park my car.

I made one last effort to caution the girls about their behavior on the walk to the back door but they were already engaged in another argument. Kelley was bragging that she had been to the house before and Ruby Mae didn't believe her.

"Tell her, Randy. Tess, I mean Laura, sent me here one night because she said Randy needed some loving. We had whiskey together and we talked. He talked to me like I was his sister, not like the Johns talk. Tell her Randy."

Someone opened the back door and the girls filed in. The room became quiet. All conversation stopped as everyone in the crowded room turned to watch us enter, me and the four ladies in imitation fur. They were all male, except Lacy and Nadine's little girl who was busy squeezing between the legs of the guests. The other women, Laura, Nadine and Sylvia were in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the meal.

All eyes were upon the four new arrivals and me. I lifted the coats off their shoulders as I introduced the girls. "This is Tonya, this is Ruby Mae, this is Rachel and this is Kelley." Kelley attempted a curtsey but the others just smiled, timidly.

I was used to being around the four girls. I had watched them work and interact with their customers. We had eaten breakfast together at the end of a long shift and we had swapped stories. Suddenly, I noticed their perfume and how much makeup they wore. It must have occurred to them that they were out of place.

"Turn on the ceiling fan," I suggested to Charles and the little girl squealed, "Let me, let me."

Kelley helped me deliver the coats to my bedroom. "I'm not comfortable Randy. Maybe we shouldn't have come," she said as we dumped the coats on top of the bed. I held out my arms and she came to me.

"You'll be fine," I said, feeling the young girl tremble.

"It's just that I've never been anyplace for Thanksgiving before. We never celebrated holidays much at home."

"Well, you've been invited here today because you're our friend." I squeezed her to me before releasing her.

"Don't mess up my makeup. Tess will think I've been in here giving you a blowjob," she said seriously, looking young and innocent. But the sparkle in her eyes told me she was joking.

I could also see that her attempt at humor was to deflect her fear of meeting strangers in an unfamiliar environment. Greeting men at the brothel came easy to her but this was different. She didn't know how to interact with men whose attention was not transfixed by her scanty dress at the brothel. I knew she would adapt.

"Don't call her Tess or I'll say you need practice. Laura wouldn't smear her makeup."

Kelley backed away in dismay and I knew I had out-shocked her. She smiled as I took her hand. "And Laura's room is off limits," I said on the way to the kitchen.

"I remember from the other time I was here." Then, agitated and pleading, "Please tell Ruby Mae I was here before. Don't tell her we didn't do anything," Kelley said, almost insistent.

I introduced her to Sylvia and Nadine as we passed through the kitchen. Laura raised her eyebrows and I shook my head to indicate that reiterating the rules to the girls had not gone as planned. She frowned at me, perplexed. I shrugged, helpless.

I never got a chance to verify Kelley's story about her previous visit to the house. When we reached the doorway to the new room we stopped to appraise the situation. The guys from school and the girls had paired off. Eric was pouring wine for everyone and Lacy was off to the side, sulking because the attention of every male in the room had been diverted to the three girls. Kelley was quick to join them.

I busied myself by restocking the appetizer table and checking the wine supply. There were several bottles of white wine to go with the turkey but someone had unscrewed the cap from a gallon jug of burgundy. That was the wine Eric was pouring.