Chapter 175: Cowboys and Flaming Fags

It was a little odd to see someone else passing out bags at the Sit Down, but it had been that way for a couple of days, so I shouldn't have felt let down. I did feel it, whenever I looked up and the washed out blood woman wasn't there. I rode the bike that morning, even though it was still a little chilly. the stretching and pull of the muscle while going up some of those nasty hills was my rehab for the day.

I didn't ride the bike far and I did stop it now and then at the top of the nastiest hills to let the pain in my calf bleed off. I cursed myself and the world sitting on top of those hills. I could have turned around and gone back for the cruiser. It would have ended my agony, but giving up just wasn't part of my history. In other words I had zero experience in quiting.

After breakfast I went to the mall. I missed Tiny Dancer, and it was probably a good thing. I still wasn't really for Ballet moves. I was stretching the muscle, but it was like an ax blow not a rapier thrust. Tiny Dancer being the aristocratic rapier and me being the peasant ax, those were my images.

I rode the bike by Sue Ling's place, but her car wasn't in the parking lot. Just as well, the idea of paying to get beat up was just a little too kinky for me. I had noticed at the sit down that Willy was my shadow with a camera for the morning. It was my guess that Earl was still in bed with Amy.

When I got back to the apartment, I wasn't surprised to see the note on my door. It read, We need to talk, Lois.

Since she had to have put it on my door sometime after I went to bed the night before, I didn't feel too bad about knocking on her door so early. "What can I do for you?" I asked when she answered quickly.

Maxine, I'm not sure what to do. Those TV people want my apartment, and well to be honest Dennis has asked me to move in with him. I don't know what to do."

"The TV people contacted me as well. They offered to take over your lease, if you want out, but that decision is up to you, not them. If you want to move in with this Dennis person, go for it. Life is too damn short to sit around with regrets. Should you ever need a reference, I will say nothing but nice things about you." I didn't add, you might need a place, when Dennis proves not to be the man you were dating. Men, women to, never were the same on a day to day basis.

"Maxine, you are a doll, I guess I need to make a plan then," she said. We had both known from the start that it was what she wanted to hear. So Lois was out and more TV people were in.

My little empire was changing daily it seemed. I expected Cheryl to be out next. I was absolutely sure her dad left her a chunk of change in his will. He felt that he had failed her when she went inside. At that time he couldn't afford the best lawyers in the world, but he got rich while she was inside, so he did everything he could for her.

He wanted her to do something big, in Cheryl's case I expected it to be something helping women. Abused or parolees or just prison reform were the kinds of things I would expect from her. I felt pretty sure that she would do something she knew about, and that was prison and being abused.

Once they were both gone, the place would change in character, I had no doubt. If it was going to be full of TV people, I might as well go for the Swamp Thing deal as well. I had such plans for a nice quiet retreat, and it was turning into an extension of the rest of my life. Life was just one drama after another. I know drama happens when you allow it to happen. I could always say no to the jobs that came my way. I guess, if you are an adrenaline junkie, there is a price to pay.

I spent most of the day looking at the information which Lucas was amassing on Smiley. The longer he dug, the more slimy Smiley looked. I had no idea how the cops had missed him all those years. Probably on the child abuse, he skated because the kids were afraid. He had convinced them mommy knew. When they figured out it was bullshit, he was gone and then it was, please god don't let mommy find out I did it with her boyfriend. She will be so pissed.

It had never happened to me, but I could see how it would play in a child's mind. Smiley didn't just need to be stopped, those kids needed justice. I had no idea what justice was, but I was going to do something for damn sure.

The time passed quickly, before I knew it, early dinner time arrived. I needed to eat early, so that I could pick up Bernard Apple at the airport in Tryon. It was early, but I wanted pizza and salad again. I didn't do it myself, because I wanted good pizza and salad. I showered even though I hadn't done anything to need another one. Then I drove to the Pizza and Pasta Pit.

I didn't realize until I walked in that it was their all day buffet special. That being the case, I had the fanciest salad I could imagine. I used a couple of slices of pizza as bread sticks for my salad. The place was pretty empty at five p.m. so I got to choose from everything on the menu. Older people had started to drift in, when I paid my bill. I immediately headed to the Tryon International Airport for Bernard.

Bernard wasn't just gay, he was a flamer. I mean he shouted gay without opening his mouth. When he did speak, he was the very definition of flaming faggot. I had to laugh and he knew why.

"Tell me what is so funny and I will laugh with you," he suggested sarcastically.

"Is that really you, or are you acting," I said it with a school girl giggle.