Chapter 10: Malibu

Two days later we rented a two bedroom apartment in Malibu and then the next day, we went out house hunting. It took two weeks but eventually we found what all of us agreed was the perfect place. It was an interesting experience. If you think going clothes shopping with females is fun, try house shopping.

We found several possibilities that we could think about but finally selected a two story four bedroom three and a half bath home located on one of the hills just east of the Pacific Coast highway. The entire front of the house facing the ocean was made almost entirely of glass and offered a very nice view of the ocean from the living and dining rooms and a spectacular view of the ocean from the master bedroom. Located in the back next to the underground two car parking garage and perhaps one of homes most appealing features was a privacy enclosed hot tub. The asking price was two hundred and fifty thousand. In 2006 you couldn't have touched the place for less than two or three million. The entire home was exquisitely furnished and we offered the asking price provided all furnishings stay as part of the deal. The owner accepted our offer.

We selected a private lender, staying away from the larger banking institutions, and because Kim was the only one of us with any credit to speak of after putting two hundred thousand down and using the home as collateral she took out a loan of fifty eight thousand dollars which covered all closing points, inspection, escrow and the few other miscellaneous fees.

Because we used a private lender and because of the large down payment Kim was assured that her husband would be kept completely outside the transaction and no credit checks would be run on him. The loan was one percent higher than we could have gotten from a bank but our anonymity was well worth the extra cost, besides even with the ten percent early payoff clause I didn't plan on the lender carrying the loan for more than a few months anyway. We still had over eighty thousand dollars in cash and knowing that on October 17th the Pittsburgh Pirates would win the World Series four games to three over the Baltimore Orioles I planned on the four of us driving to Las Vegas and placing a few sizable bets on Pittsburgh.

The large sum of money we put down on the house also expedited the home's closing time and we closed fourteen days later. We moved in the very next day.

The week after we moved into our new home was a very busy one for all of us. We had to pick up all the things you normally take for granted such as dishes, silverware, cups, glasses, pots, pans, towels, washcloths, etc. Not to mention dishwasher and laundry soaps, now that we had both a dishwasher and washing machine. Well, you get the idea. There were a million things we needed.

Then that weekend we purchased two vehicles. A new 1979 Cadillac Eldorado with a 6.0-liter engine, sun roof, and electric everything, and a new 1980 Ford Bronco with front end independent suspension, a TBB, twin traction beam setup, and a 400 cubic-inch V8 under the hood. Ford had released a few of their 1980 models early that year. We paid a little over eight thousand dollars for the Cadillac and a little over six thousand dollars for the Bronco. We registered the Caddy in Kim's name and the Bronco in Jen's name.

Because Kim's Mercedes was registered in her husband's name we just abandoned it at the LAX airport. I just didn't have the heart to dump the Blue Bummer so we left the loveable beast parked near our new house for the time being. Maybe somebody would steal it ... not!

We relaxed for the next two days and let me tell you if you've never experienced being naked in a hot tub with three delicious naked women you just haven't lived. I ran Jimmy boy's libido into the ground those two days and I loved every minute of it.

I knew the Vegas odds were changing almost daily and with every game that Pittsburgh won their odds would only get worse for us so I suggested we head for Vegas in the next day or two.

The girls were so excited about us going to Las Vegas that we actually loaded up in the Caddy and took off the very next day. One oddity I should mention here is that a few days after we had left Hollywood Park the girls told me I started looking younger again. Not seventeen like Jimmy's actual age but more like nineteen or twenty and then the closer we came to leaving for Vegas I started looking even older. Figure that one out.

After finding rooms and checking in at the Riviera we had a great time just wandering around from hotel to hotel with me, Jen and Kim gambling a little but not very much and never at the same time because we didn't want Vicky to feel left out. Then after distributing thirty thousand dollars around on Pittsburgh to win the World Series which at the current odds after October 17th would net us three hundred thousand dollars, we went to see Siegfried and Roy at the Stardust and then later Sammy Davis Jr. at Caesar's Palace. After each of the shows I told the girls about the white tiger attacking Roy Horn in 2003, and that Sammy Davis Jr. would die in 1990.

The next day we went to the Flamingo for a buffet breakfast then the girls did a little shopping while I gambled some at the Riviera then after the girls returned we lounged around the pool for a while before heading back home.

When we finally arrived back home it was a little after three pm and we were all pretty tired so we jumped into the hot tub for about an hour then we all took a nap together. We woke up at around eight and at eight thirty I was sitting on the couch watching TV, when Vicky walked in, dressed very nicely, and she turned the TV off.

"Would you like to go out to dinner with three women that love you?" She asked shyly, smiling sweetly at me. It took me almost half a second to say yes. I would go anywhere with any one of them.

I thought it would be nice to go out to one of the more swanky restaurants with tables that overlooked the ocean for dinner so I called and made reservations for four at Neptune's Net located in Malibu on PCH, then while I was digging through the closet looking for something appropriate to wear I happened to come across the light jacket I'd worn when I went to see Eddy. The weight of the jacket reminded me of the .38 snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver Jen had given me. I took the gun out of the pocket and then I went looking for Jen.

I found her inside the master bedroom walk-in closet having just finished getting dressed. She was dressed in platinum-colored pants, the silky sheen of the cloth highlighted by the muted glow of the incandescent lighting. This was accompanied by a satin turquoise blouse, completed by a full-length platinum button-less jacket, made of similar material to the slacks she wore. A light dusting of makeup complemented the woman's features, literally taking my breath away. My god she is so beautiful, I thought.

"You look lovely." I whispered, having recovered. "Got a sec sweetheart?"

Jen turned toward me, nodded her head at the compliment, smiled, and then answered, "Thank you. And for you? More than just a second anytime. If you're finding it difficult selecting a shirt to wear stripes are in."

"In what?"

"In style, silly."

"Who decided that?"

"The designers, of course."

Designer, a person appointed to determine what is "in" and what is "out." Designers are experts in taste, the "they" we hear so much about. They determine what clothes I should wear, and they reserve the right to change their mind depending on what they had for lunch. In the mall, some women are so fashionable that it's hard to tell the dummies from the mannequins. It makes me long for the return of the fig leaf.

Even if you have admissible clothes, they still have to match, which poses a major problem for men. For a man, if the stripe on his tube sock is the same color as the logo on his shorts, that's a match! When he sees a well-dressed man, he just figures that the man is gay. Why do you think men wear tuxedos to formal events ... no decisions to make.

"Thanks, I'll find something to ware. I just wanted to return this pistol you gave me." I said holding out the .38, "Where'd you get it anyway?"

"You keep it." She told me, "I took it from Jimmy. I have no idea where he got it, but when I found it in his room as crazy as he was I definitely didn't what him having it so I took it. As I recall at the time I even considered using it on him or more likely on myself. That was about six months ago and I was really depressed back then. If Jimmy noticed it missing he never said a word about it, but he was high so often back then he probably just assumed he'd lost it during one of his many stupors."

"Well, I for one am really glad you didn't use it on either one of us." I told her.

Jen put her hand over her mouth and her eyes got real big, "My God can you imagine? You wouldn't be here right now if I had. Oh my God!"

"Well, you didn't and I am here. I think for now we'll just keep this under the mattress where you had it before. However, I expect it might be safer for both of us if I do it quickly. As hot as you look I'm afraid if I stay any longer we may not end up anywhere we're supposed to be."

Jen laughed.

I walked out of the closet and then lifted the California King sized mattress and stuffed the gun between it and the box spring, then I went back to the other bedroom where my clothes were located. You see even though the master bedroom's walk-in closet is larger than some rooms what with the clothes of three women filling it up there just wasn't enough room for any of my stuff so my clothing was relegated to one of the closets in a spare bedroom.

After selecting a long sleeved 'stripped' dress shirt with matching solid colored tie I felt dressed up enough for dinner and I headed down. But when I got downstairs, smiling at Kim who was talking on the phone, I sensed by her body language something was not right. Vicky was standing nearby also looking nervous. Jen wasn't anywhere around and I presumed she must still be upstairs.

I walked over to Vicky and in a low voice I asked, "So what's going on?"

Vicky motioned towards Kim and then whispered back, "I'm not sure. Kim called her sister and based on the one sided conversation I was able to hear I think it has something to do with Kim's husband."

Just then I heard Kim say into the phone, " ... all right sis, now remember don't say a single solitary word to anybody until after you've heard from me okay? No not long, just until I've had time to talk things over with my ... the guy I'm staying with. Yeah, okay thanks again sis. And listen, I'm really sorry about worrying you like that. It won't happen again, I promise. Uh huh, love you too. Bye." Then she hung up.

Jen came downstairs and asked, "What's going on?"

Kim said, "That was my sister Kathy. I called just to let her know everything was fine, but I guess I should have called her earlier. Come on, let's go sit down and I'll tell you about it."

We all found a seat in the living room and then Kim explained, "I said I should have called her before now because after more than two weeks without hearing anything from me she was worried sick and she filed a missing persons report down at the police station. I know I should have called it's just that we were all so busy I didn't even think about it. The poor thing, I feel so bad worrying her like that. She thought Jess had found me and done me in."