Chapter 23

Tommy and Marie returned to the hotel Thursday morning. Connie eyed them anxiously from her station behind the registration desk, as they walked in holding hands. Her anxious look was replaced by a relieved smile, when Marie gave her a surreptitious thumbs-up.

“Welcome back you two. Did you have a good time?” Connie asked.

Marie left the telling to Tommy, and took off to make her morning rounds of the hotel. Tommy eagerly told Connie about his visit to Bayou Laveau.

“Guess what?” Tommy asked excitedly.

Without waiting for Connie’s reply, he answered his own question.

“Marie helped me throw all of Old Tommy’s bad thoughts into the bayou. Now they are gone, just like Old Tommy’s money. I sure hope he didn’t leave anything else for me to take care of, because I want to be done with him forever.”

Connie smiled, leaned across the counter and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

“That’s wonderful, Honey. I have some good news for you too, because the Houston Police found your truck. A bunch of parts were stolen off it, but it was still worth saving. Ben and Ramon picked it up yesterday, and will have it fixed in a week or so.”

Tommy thought finding his truck was great news, because he was certain he’d never see it again. Connie took advantage of his cheery mood.

“So listen, Tommy. I need to head back to Houston to take care of something. Will you be all right here until I come back for you Sunday?”

The ‘something’ Connie needed to take care of in Houston was Roger Taylor, the drug dealer who slipped Tommy the LSD. Paloma was going to take her to a few places Taylor frequented on Saturday nights, and Connie would take it from there. Surprisingly, peace loving earth mother Paloma was all for Connie extracting some cowgirl revenge. And Connie had some serious revenge in mind for that weasel.

“Sure I will, Connie. I met some new friends at Cousin Boudreau’s bar, so I’ll go there and dance with Miss Desiree and eat gumbo,” Tommy replied.

Salmarie, who had been standing behind the registration desk yakking with Connie when Tommy and Marie walked in, jerked her head up at the mention of her cousin Desiree.

“You danced with Desiree Laveau?” Salmarie asked incredulously.

“Sure I did,” Tommy replied. “She likes me, so we danced a couple of times. She even asked me to come back and see her again. Maybe someone will take me back there Friday night, since Connie will be gone.”

Connie looked confused for a minute, then snapped her fingers. It took her a minute to associate names and faces, because she hadn’t been around Lafayette in almost six years. But before that, she and her husband had been frequent visitors. Her husband, Beau Baumgartner’s grandmother, had been a Laveau, so Marie and Boudreau were his kissing cousins. As a matter of fact, his grandmother’s stories about Marie Laveau were Beau’s inspiration for the movie ‘Voodoo She-Devil’ that he’d filmed on location around the hotel Arcenaux and the Bayou Laveau. They had even filmed a scene at Boudreau’s bar.

“Desiree is Boudreau’s oldest daughter, right? Last time I saw her she was only thirteen or fourteen, but I remember she was a big girl and fully developed,” Connie said.

Salmarie nodded that Connie’s recollection was correct, and then turned to Tommy.

“Rudy Landry and I are going to Boudreau’s Friday night, and you are welcome to come with us,” she offered.

Tommy accepted the offer before wandering off to help Pierre work around the outside of the hotel. Once he was out of earshot, Salmarie filled Connie in on her cousin.

“Desi is a very sweet girl most of the time, but she has a really bad temper. She has had bad luck with men and usually ignores them, so it’s nice that she seems to like Tommy. If she gets mad at him, though, she will beat him up worse than those guys did in Houston.”

Connie gave Salmarie a reassuring smile and said, “Oh, don’t worry about her getting mad at Tommy. He is too polite and will treat her too well for that to happen. Now I wish I didn’t have to go back to Houston, so I could go with you all. I remember how much fun Boudreau’s place was.”

After supper that night, Connie took Tommy up to the Honeymoon Suite and let him show her how much he’d missed her. Even though she’d spent a couple of entertaining nights with Michelle, and was planning on seducing Paloma when she hit Houston, nothing compared to spending time in Tommy’s arms.

It took him a couple of hours and three tries, but he finally reduced her to a puddle of endorphins, too deliciously sated to move. Lying there snuggled up with her head on his chest, Connie was surer than ever about how much she loved him. He was kind, gentle and caring out of the bed, and a tiger in it. And with Tommy being uniquely how he was, she didn’t have to worry about him playing games. Connie knew men. She’d used them for amusement and gain since she was twelve, but she understood Tommy. He was so open and sincere, any woman who took the time could do the same thing.

She knew Tommy thought it was perfectly natural to be in love with more than one woman at a time. Understanding that about Tommy kept her from being jealous of the other women in his life. In fact, she’d discovered that having Tommy in common with another woman brought her and the other woman closer. It had worked out that way with Ruth, and she was positive it would happen with Paloma.

Ruth said that Tommy gravitated towards women who were out of the norm, because he was so different. And as Connie thought about it, she realized Ruth was exactly right. Tommy seemed to be attracted to slightly damaged women who had big streaks of independence, and they to him. Tommy complemented the lives of those women instead of dominating them. He did not demand their attention all the time, so they could have a life that wasn’t centered on him. She could have her acting, Ruth could have her library, Marie could have her hotel and Paloma could have her causes. Because the women had so much in common, it was easy for them to become friends ... and more.

It was a great way to have a relationship, except that society frowned on the notion. Then again, the women concerned had never been ones to let what society thought bother them. Tommy didn’t see a problem and knew he was doing the right thing, so he didn’t care either; he just wanted to be there for them.

All of this led her back to the reason for her trip to Houston. Tommy was a rare and special person, and that son-of-a-bitch Taylor had almost destroyed him. Without Tommy, there would be some very unhappy people, chief among them Conchita Delgado and his other women. Taylor had hurt their man badly, and it was up to her to make him pay. Connie Delgado had grown up in the Ozarks where feuding was second nature, so she wasn’t interested in justice, she wanted revenge.

Connie departed for Houston the next morning, right after a late breakfast with Marie. Tommy had been up for hours by then, working hard with Pierre, planting flowers in the little park behind the hotel. Tommy knew Marie loved the little garden, so he was happy to help. Connie tracked him down and gave him a kiss.

“I’ll see you Sunday baby. Stay out of trouble until then, okay?” she admonished.

That night, Tommy’s feet had barely touched the gravel parking lot of Boudreaux and Charlene’s Bar and Grill, when Desi came hurtling out of nowhere and slammed him against the side of Rudy’s brand new Grand Torino.

“TOMMY!” she squealed, then she attached her lips to his and proceeded to suck what little air he had left from his lungs.

When she finally let up the pressure enough for him to catch his breath, Tommy held her at arms length, took an exaggerated look up and down her body, and whistled.

“Wow, Desi, you look fantastic. I don’t know how you expect me to keep my hands to myself when you look like this,” he said.

Tommy was his usual truthful self, because even Salmarie was amazed by how good Desi looked. Desiree was wearing a knee length red skirt and a white blouse that exposed a hint of her ample bosom. Her wavy ink black hair was caught up in a red ribbon that matched her skirt. At the other end of her body, oxblood Bass Weejun loafers adorned her size eleven feet.

Desi looked Tommy dead in the eye and replied, “Cherie, I will be disappointed if at the end of the evening there is a place on me you haven’t touched.”

Desi gave speechless Salmarie a hug and nodded hello to Rudy. It took Salmarie seeing Desi all over Tommy to believe his story. For his part, Rudy always tried to keep Salmarie between him and her cousin. Rudy had a healthy and well-earned fear of Desiree Laveau that he developed after the first time he’d seen her lose her temper and kick the shit out of some fresh mouthed bayou coonass. A lot of men felt that way about Desi. Her imposing size, well documented temper and her meanness in a fight were enough to scare anyone.

Tommy and Desi led the way into the bar. Desi had both her hands wrapped around Tommy’s left arm, as if she expected him to try to escape as they walked through the door. Tommy said hello to a few of the people he’d met last time, and Desi introduced him to some other folks that hadn’t been there the other night. Charlene gave Tommy and Salmarie big hugs before showing them to a table. Even when they were seated, Desi kept a possessive grip on Tommy’s arm.

The special in the restaurant that night was a spicy Jambalaya that teetered on the edge of being too hot. Tommy loved it and burned through two bowls in a hurry. After peach cobbler for dessert, Tommy was ready to dance. Desiree had more on her mind than dancing, but for appearance sake, she took Tommy up on his polite offer. As soon as they hit the floor, Desiree was on him like Superman’s tights. Tommy had not one problem with her being plastered against him, despite her size.

Desiree had an hour glass figure of the extra large variety, with wide hips and shoulders and a surprisingly small pinched in waist. Her breasts were large and her butt stuck out prominently. She also had fairly muscular legs and arms that were in proportion to her build. Because she was so uniquely different, Tommy felt for Desi the same strong attraction he felt towards Connie, Ruth, Paloma and Marie.

Desi obviously felt the same attraction, and that worried Salmarie. So like her mother had on Wednesday night, Salmarie took Desi into the ladies room to discuss it.

“Desi, Tommy is a good guy, but you know he has other women, including my mother, right? I know you like him, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Desi’s answer was a surprise.

“That’s all fine with me, Sal. Your mother explained all that when she told me about him Wednesday night. I don’t need a full time man anyway. Not while I’m in college, and maybe not even after that. You know how I am, I like living alone after sharing a house with six brothers and a sister for so many years.”

Salmarie gave a sigh of relief as they went back to join their men. She had dreaded the thought of a heartbroken Desiree Laveau running amok.

Desiree made it to the first break in the music before she grabbed Tommy’s arm and pulled him to his feet.

“I’ll bring him home in a day or two,” she tossed over her shoulder to Salmarie, as she dragged Tommy towards the door.

Desiree didn’t care that every eye in the place was fixed on them as they made their exit. She was burning with passion she hadn’t known existed until tonight, and she needed Tommy now. She gave her parents a wave as she and Tommy ducked through the door.

With a firm grip on Tommy’s hand, Desi stalked around the building that housed the bar and grill and headed up the driveway to her family’s home. Boudreau’s moonshine money had built the family a big rambling ranch on a rare piece of high and dry bayou land. When Desi was sixteen, Boudreaux had built a detached three car garage to house his speed boat and souped up 64 Plymouth hemi powered, full sized sedan. Both vehicles were pleasant hobbies that were well adapted for running shine. Above the garage he’d built a nice little apartment for Desiree.

Boudreau and Charlene loved Desi to death, but worried that she’d gotten too much of the wrong kind of Laveau blood, because of the strange way she acted some times. The apartment let her have her freedom and privacy while keeping her near the family.

The couple had only taken a few steps up the slightly inclined driveway, before Tommy suddenly jerked them to a halt. Desi gave him a vexed look until he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. When he broke the kiss, he leaned back and looked into her eyes.

“Where are you taking me, Desi?” he asked.

“To my apartment so we can make love,” Desi replied.

Tommy continued to look her in the eye.

“I’d like that, Desi, but you don’t have to for us to be friends,” Tommy said.

Desi squirmed out of his grasp and grabbed his hand again.

“We are going to be much more than friends, silly man,” she said firmly as she pulled him up the hill.

The first fifteen minutes Tommy and Desi spent in her apartment looked like a heavy weight professional wrestling match, as Desi was in a hurry to get down to business and Tommy tried to slow her down so she’d enjoy it more.

In the end, Tommy finally got his way, but it had been a close thing, as Desiree was almost as strong as he was. By the thirty minute mark, Desi was very happy she gave in, because Tommy was doing things to her she didn’t know could be done. Tommy seemed to instinctively know where every responsive place was on her body, regardless of how small.

Tommy thought the way she responded to him was very cool, as the normally loud and assertive young woman cooed and sweetly moaned out her pleasure. She seemed to enjoy every place he touched her. Tommy also thought her body was fantastic. Sure she was big, but that just meant there was more for him to love. She wasn’t flabby at all, instead, she was firm and smooth, and her breasts, although about twice the size of Connie’s substantial pair, stood up proudly from her chest with only a slight sag to the side.

Desiree decided she really liked this slow and languid love making technique, because it stretched out her pleasure, and at the pace Tommy was setting, she could enjoy this all night long. As Tommy brought her to another wonderful climax, she decided her flip comment about bringing Tommy home in a day or two was on the short side of being correct.