Chapter 62

The three groups headed their separate ways at 3:30 p.m. Walt and Mary headed up the coast to spend a relaxing week in San Francisco. Sean, Rachelle and Mike headed east to pick up Sean's mother for a week of just traveling to wherever they wound up.

It was left to Adam to sit quietly while the girls – including Karlie – sorted through the bags of clothing Edna Patrick had given him for them.

"OK, we are all different sizes," Allie said. "That's good. Plus, we are all different complexioned. I mean, I can't wear anything red without looking like a clown. Rachelle looks like an undertaker if she wears black. Adam, why are there so many different styles and sizes in here?" Adam shifted his eyes to each expectant face.

"I don't know," he said. Honesty was always best and he didn't know. "We never have found out who lived there," Shelly reminded them. "Maybe we should call Mike to see if he knows."

"Let Mike enjoy a week away," Adam said. "We can talk to him next Saturday when they get back."

"Friday," Sarah said. "Everyone is planning to be back by six p.m. Friday."

She held up a beige top, checked the size, frowned and tossed it to Karlie.

"Too small for me, too big for everyone else," she said. "Guess it's yours. I mean, if you want it."

"It's not, uh, stolen is it?" Karlie asked. The shirt in her hand would retail for $90 easily.

"In the legal sense, no," Shelly said with a laugh. "In the literal sense, oh, yeah. We got this stuff and a hell of a lot more for just being nice to woman who needed a hand."

"Which explains why we're not reluctant to help out someone if we can," Allie said pointedly. "Why don't you try it on? It's a good color for you."

Karlie shrugged and pulled her T-shirt over her head. She wasn't concerned if Adam saw her in a bra. He would see her in a lot less in 24 hours. Shelly stifled a giggle but she admired the way Karlie filled out the lacy black bra she wore from earlier.

"No modesty in any of our friends," she said. "Trinity is a flasher and Karlie is a nudist."

"Which reminds me," Sarah said. "What size do you think Trinity wears?"

"I'm not really sure," Allie said. "She's bigger than me and Shelly. But she's smaller than Rachelle and you. She is the same height as Mary but thinner."

"I'm telling!" Sarah said with a laugh. "You called Mary fat!"

Allie rubbed crocodile tears from her eyes and smiled.

"I would guess she is about a three in shorts and pants," Karlie said. "I worked as a clerk in a boutique for a little while and learned that I was pretty good at sizing. I was not so good at avoiding seeing the manager steal from the register. He canned me the next morning because my attitude was poor."

Shelly shook her head in disgust.

"Well, we've got the sizes down then," Sarah said. "Allie gets the Zeroes and half the Ones. Shelly gets the other half of the Ones and the Twos. Karlie and Trinity get the Three and Fours. Mary gets the Fives. Rachelle and I split the Sixes and Sevens."

"And Adam gets to see all of us in our bras and panties," Allie laughed. "That shirt is really nice on you, Karlie. Try this skirt with it."

She offered over a mid-length dark brown denim skirt. Karlie held it up in front of her and then walked to the bathroom to try it on. She came out a minute later looking great. Adam admired her legs, which looked as long as Rachelle's even though Karlie was two inches shorter.

"Wow!" Allie said. "Like it was tailored for you."

"The tags are still on these," Karlie said. "This is a $300 outfit. I can't take this."

"Why not?" Shelly asked. "Do you think anyone you saw today could wear it?"

"Well, no," she said. "It would be a little too big for Mary and too small for Rachelle. I don't think it would fit any of you."

"So you can either take it or Goodwill will get it," Sarah said. "I mean, we won't force you if you don't like it but it will be given away to someone. It might as well be someone we like."

"I do like it," Karlie said.

"They aren't just being nice," Adam intoned. "I mean, yes, they are being nice but it's not the sole reason. If someone else could wear it or they thought someone else might want it, they might not have offered it. Any offer we extend is purely as you hear it. We wouldn't offer anything to you just because we could. If we offer it, it is because we want to."

Allie smiled and patted Adam's hand in appreciation. He always had a way of just cutting through the nuances and saying what needed to be said. She thought back to the bedroom discussion and realized how effective it was when he told them he insisted upon having two rooms for the four of them. The others probably would have backed down just to preserve harmony – as they had with the choice of bedrooms.

Sarah just tossed a red sundress to the girl.

"That's next," she said, setting a cute tank top aside on a table. "This is Trinity's pile."

Karlie started to head back to the bathroom.

"You might as well just change here," Allie said, dropping her shorts to try on a different pair. "The three of us already know your undies match your bra and Adam gets a kick out of watching girls try things on. I think it is a sick fetish or something."

Karlie paused for a moment and nodded to herself. She lifted the shirt over her head again and unbuttoned the skirt and let it fall around her ankles. She wore a pair of black lacy panties cut high on her hips and over her bottom. She was thinner than Adam remembered but she was really attractive, at least from behind. Karlie started to put the sundress over her shoulders, stopped, unhooked her bra and took if off. She still had her back to Adam when she slipped the dress over her head.

Adam turned to find three smirking faces looking at him.

"You're a pervert," Shelly said. "You are sitting there ogling that poor woman's butt. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Karlie turned, with no trace of embarrassment, and the dress swirled around her thighs.

"That's gorgeous," Sarah said. "I think we found your outfit for tomorrow."

The fashion show continued for several more minutes. Each girl took time to try on a few things and none seemed the least hesitant to display her body to each other or to Adam, although Karlie did put her bra back on. The last piece was set aside and Allie, ever the instigator, stood up with a wide smile.

"There was one more thing I found," she said. She removed her T-shirt; then stripped off the light bra she wore and pulled on a gray half-shirt emblazoned with the Dodgers' logo. It came to slightly below her breasts. "What do you think?"

Adam – and the rest of group – nodded approvingly. She looked sexy with her tight stomach visible beneath the hem of the shirt.

"My turn," Sarah said. There was a clear hint of sultriness in her voice. Allie shrugged and lifted the shirt over her head. Sarah pulled off her top and bra without a second's delay, then slipped the shirt over her torso. If the shirt looked sexy on Allie – and it did – it looked positively obscene on Sarah. The shirt was tight across her mounds and the bottoms of her creamy white breasts hung below the hem. Her smooth stomach, with a hint of musculature, rounded out the incredible-looking package.

"We have a winner," Karlie said. "Holy god. You both have incredible bodies but that shirt was made to look like that."

Sarah gave Adam a wanton look, winked and then peeled it off over her head.

"Fine," Allie said with mock aggravation. "Fine. Just point out that I got short changed by the tit fairy why don't you."

"Oh, it looked really good on you," Karlie said. "Maybe if it were a size smaller it would have the same affect. But dear God, what Sarah did for that shirt was nothing short of amazing."

"God, look at all this stuff!" Shelly said. "There must be four or five outfits for each of us."

"And all of them a little more revealing than the one before it," Karlie remarked. The last thing in her size was a short skirt and three-quarter shirt combination that obviously were sold as a pair. The short came only to her upper thigh and the shirt was cut to wrap below her breasts with elastic.

"I wonder how pissed off the good Reverend Kimble is going to be when he finds out Edna sold all his bimbos' clothing, too," Sarah remarked. "I mean, this is stuff for a teenager. It's not for someone even in their mid-20s. I wonder who that old woman stashed there for that freak show." The group shook its collective head.

"You know what we should do," Allie said, looking carefully at Adam, "is make room for all this stuff. Adam, honestly, do you ever plan to stay on the hill again?"

"Uh, well, no," he admitted. "I don't really think so."

"Then why don't we kill three birds with one stone," she continued. "Why don't we move your stuff here? Arrange things the way we want it and clear out that other room. Right now, everything is boxed. We can even run most of it out to the new place. We have plenty of time." Sarah and Shelly looked to Adam like it was his decision.

"Uh, well, we still need to run Karlie home and stuff," he said.

"I was going to ask if she at least wanted to spend the night here," Sarah said. "We can run her home if she wants us to or even to pick up some things she might need. But it would make it simpler tomorrow if we all were here instead of driving south to get her and then heading north."

"Is it really OK if I stay here?" Karlie wondered.

"Sure," Shelly said. "As you might have heard, we usually just take up one bed. There is room here for you even before we get stuff moved out." Karlie had been leaning this direction most of the evening but the last few minutes – and Adam's words – had her tilted further.

"Well, I'm already a week late with my rent," she admitted. "So, in reality, my lease is over. I'm on a month-to-month as it is. I don't have much. I can probably pack everything I own in like 20 minutes or so. Are you positive it won't be a problem?"

"Relatively positive," Allie said. "Nothing is ever 100 percent certain. But we get along well. I saw how nice you kept your apartment, so I know you're not a slob. I think it will work out really well." Sarah and Shelly each nodded in turn and Karlie turned to Adam with a questioning look.

"I told you before," he said. "If I didn't think it would work – if I didn't think this would be good for you and good for us – I would have spoken up before now."

"Honesty," Karlie said, smiling gently. "That might take some time to get used to."

Karlie's apartment took only half an hour to pack. It was already cleaner than any in the building, Adam was sure, and there was no deposit for her to get. It would go for back rent. There were a group of young men standing around the car when Adam walked out for the final time.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" Adam asked. He was wearing a tight T-shirt that showed off his physique and a look of calm menace on his face.

"Lot of pretty girls you got there," one in the middle said. "Think maybe you ought to share."

"Better think again," Adam said. He saw the four young men starting to spread out around him. With a glance to his left and then to his right, he stepped forward and punched the leader right in the mouth. The man wasn't expecting an attack – not from a white boy in this neighborhood – and his head snapped backward and hit the pavement when he fell.

Adam grabbed the second and tossed him into the third, sending both careening to the ground. The fourth took off running, screaming curses over his shoulder. The girls had hustled out to the car – after dialing 911, not that it would matter – and Adam got in as quick as he move. Allie drove off as fast as she could while Shelly and Sarah looked at Adam's bruised knuckles.

"Holy shit!" Karlie exclaimed. "It's a good thing I moved out. Those fucking idiots will burn that building to the ground or drive by and shoot it up. Man, that guy will know he was hit when he wakes up."

"I have to admit, I expected you to talk your way out of things," Shelly said.

"Some people you can't talk to," Adam said. "When they spread out, it was so one would always be behind me. I didn't see a gun but that didn't mean they didn't have one stashed somewhere."

"Or a knife," Karlie said. "This is one of those places you don't go after dark or even go outside after dark. I think Adam did the only thing he could to get us out of there. The cops won't come down here. The gangs run this neighborhood. I should have thought to keep the car in motion. That way we could have come out on the move."

"Or those guys would have come up to look for us," Sarah said, shaking her head. "Did you see the girls across the street? I was worried they had guns. Jesus, Karlie, I am so glad you're out of there."

She wrapped her arm around the newcomer and hugged her tightly. Adam saw tears in Sarah's eyes. He suspected she was the only one besides him who even suspected how much danger they were in. He reached his hand and took hers.

"We're safe," Adam said. "Well, as safe as we can be with Allie behind the wheel."

"Screw you, pal," Allie said. "They figured I was the one who was best suited to help you."

"Good point," Adam admitted. He let out a long breath and felt the adrenaline leave his body. He had not realized how scared he was until it was over. No place in L.A. was really safe from violence but where they lived was relatively insulated. The border of Southeast and South-Central Los Angeles, where Karlie formerly resided, was the boundary between one gang and another. It was considered neutral territory but that didn't mean it was safe. In reality, it meant both gangs could prey on the small neighborhood with impunity.