For The Least Of These (6 page)

“Twenty dollars for a three card spread,” she replied.
“Seventy-five for a twelve card Horoscope Spread. There are other prices for other spreads.”

“How about a one card spread?
I’m sort of short on cash and I’m in a hurry.”

“Ten dollars.
But I recommend that you…”

“Okay, I’ll do that one,” I interrupted.

The old lady shrugged her shoulders. “Concentrate on what your concern is. Draw a card and turn it face down in front of me. The card will tell you something about yourself, and it will give you insight into your concern. A larger spread is needed to properly shed light on your question.”

I did as she requested.
I thought very hard about Rick. At the moment, he was my only concern. I dealt the card. She turned the card over and I saw the Fool staring back at me. I felt my heart sink into my stomach, but the old lady smiled.

“You are a free spirit
– I knew that when you walked in. You don’t travel the same path as others, and you are full of surprises. You are also quite trusting. The Fool is reinforcing this. He is telling you to believe in yourself.”

After I thanked her, I paid the old woman her ten dollars, but I felt like she was being short changed.
After all, she had boosted my confidence and I was convinced tonight would be great.

I then waited for Alicia to have her fortune told, but she pushed the cards away.
“I don’t believe in this stuff,” she said. “I just came in here for my friend.” I gave Alicia a bitchy look, but she just ignored me and walked out the door.

Once inside Sam, I said, “Why did you say that?
You wanted to go there as much as I did.”

“I did not.
I only went because I knew you wanted to go. And then you were too damn cheap to get a full reading. Besides, it’s almost seven o’clock. I’ve got to meet Skylar soon.”

I was still fuming, but I decided to drop the whole matter.
I had never really believed in fortunetellers, but it was fun. And if the card was right, tonight would be wonderful. I fantasized about meeting Rick during the entire ride back to the hotel.

I took another shower while Alicia went to meet
Skylar. Biloxi was just as hot and humid as Pensacola, and I was sweaty and miserable. As I was drying off, I heard Alicia come back in the door.

“Brand, where are you?” she hollered.

I poked my head out of the bathroom door. “Right here, favorite friend in the whole world. Did you meet Skylar?”

“Uh-huh.”
She didn’t sound very positive. Something was up.

“What happened?
Don’t tell me – he didn’t really have invitations for us. He’s just some jerk trying to impress you, right?”

“No.
I mean yes. I mean…Stop confusing me, Brandy! No, he isn’t just trying to impress me. Yes, he had the invitations. Well…he had one invitation. That was all he could get. I’m sorry, Brandy.”

One invitation?
Oh well. “It’s okay, Alicia. I’ll tell you all about the party when I get back tomorrow – or whenever. Where’s my invitation?”

The look on Alicia’s face was deadly.
Her eyes were pulled closely together and her eyebrows were knitted into one long eyebrow. Her mouth pulled into a tight little pucker, and her whole face was blood red. “What? Your invitation? How can you think of going without me?”

“Well, Rick is my idol.
You don’t even like him. You could stay here in the hotel with Skylar. The two of you could have more fun here than at a party. And if I don’t go, I’ll be stuck here with you and Skylar like a third wheel.”

“Actually,
Skylar is going to meet me at the party.”

I couldn’t believe it.
She was planning to go without me! “Alicia! How can you do this to me?”

“Well, I noticed earlier that ‘Gone
with the Wind’ is coming on TNT tonight. You love that movie, Brand.”

“I don’t love it as much as I love Rick!
You are not going to his party without me. I don’t care how, but I’m going to that party.”

“That’s the spirit, Brandy.
I can probably sneak you in through a window or something. Maybe we could hide you in a cake and you could jump out when Rick walks by.”

“Ha-ha, very funny.
Maybe one invitation will get us both in. You could wait outside while I go in, then I’ll pretend that I’ve forgotten something and go out and give you my invitation. The doorman will let me back in because he remembers me. You can come in a little later.”

“How about I go in first?
Then you come in later.”

“Because I don’t trust you.
Once you get in there, you’ll forget all about me.”

“I’m hurt
– really hurt. I was just about to tell you that I lied about only having one invitation, but…”

“You lied?
Alicia!!! Why? So you have two invitations?”

She put on one of her best sneers.
“Yeah. I was just playing with you to see what you would do. And now I know you would go without me. What a bitch!”

“And you aren’t a bitch for lying?
I oughta…”

“You love me…remember that you love me,” she said in a false pleading voice.

“If I didn’t love you, you would be dead by now. All right, let’s get ready.”

I couldn’t stay mad with Alicia.
She was responsible for getting us the invitations in the first place. As I finished dressing, I still couldn’t believe that I might actually meet Rick Hartwood that night. I glanced into the mirror after I slipped into my dress, and I was surprised at how beautiful I looked. My golden blond hair was wrapped into a tight French twist. My eyes – today yellow-green, encircled by a ring of midnight blue – were large enough to be visible and even enhanced by my silver wire framed glasses. I was wearing minimal makeup; just enough to even out my skin tone and hide a few blemishes. I was still overweight, but the style of my dress did not overly emphasis that aspect of my body. Maybe Rick would notice me – if he ever got a glimpse of me. At the last moment, I stepped into those monstrous high-heeled shoes expecting to lose my balance, but I found them amazingly comfortable.

I stepped out of my room just as Alicia came out of hers.
She looked striking in her dress – the one I had once thought of as plain. Her cappuccino colored hair was pulled from her face by the tortoise shell hair combs she’d bought earlier and it hung stylishly down her back. Her big round blue eyes danced in the light. She wore only lipstick and a touch of blush, and it was all she needed. Her dress concealed her slightly plump figure even better than mine did. “Shall we go?” I asked.

“Lead the way,
ma’am,” she replied.

We headed down the hallway feeling like two Cinderellas on our way to the ball.

We drove up Beach Boulevard until we reached the Isle of Capri Casino. The Isle of Capri, a stationary yacht complete with gaming floor, hotel suites, exhibition space, and three restaurants, had valet parking, so Alicia and I left Sam in the capable hands of the head valet.

As we approached the casino resort, I was taken in by its beauty. Bright lights in neon colors seemed to cover every space of the exterior. The obvious theme was the Caribbean tropics, but I felt certain that the tropics had never looked so flashy and contemporary. Inside the front lobby was a fountain with rainbow colored waters – compliments of multi-colored underwater lights. On the left was an information desk, so I stopped to ask where we could find the Flamingo Bay Ballroom. A middle-aged woman with dishwater gray hair smiled as I drew near. “May I help you?” she asked. I noticed that she was wearing a nametag with the name “Sue” engraved on it.

“I’ve been invited to a party at the Flamingo Bay Ballroom, and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction,” I replied.

“Excuse me just a moment,” Sue said. I noticed that she had a troubled look on her face, and I began to get nervous again. She walked over to a man on the other side of the desk and they began talking. I was too far away to hear the conversation, but Alicia waltzed right over beside the man and cocked her head so that her ear was only a few inches from the man’s back. The man turned to look in my direction and almost caught Alicia’s eavesdropping, but she proved far faster than she looked. She leaned over on the desk and nonchalantly gazed out into the lobby. The man turned back to Sue and they continued their conversation. For a few moments, Alicia continued to listen, then she headed back to where I was standing – just moments before Sue did the same.

“You aren’t going to like this,” Alicia said hurriedly.

Sue had now reached me, too, although she was on the opposite side of the desk. She gave me a wan smile and then said, “I’m afraid there has been some confusion. There isn’t a party in the Flamingo Bay Ballroom tonight. In fact, Lyle Lovett the music artist is performing in the ballroom tonight.”

Alicia had been right: I didn’t like this. I pulled out the invitation that Alicia had given me and handed it to Sue. “Well then, what is this all about?” I asked unequivocally.

Sue took the envelope from my hand and looked at the invitation inside. A big smile came to her face, and I was delighted that my misery could bring her so much joy. Then she spoke, “Ma’am, this party is being held in a different room. I’d be delighted to have Sonny escort you there.”

Before I could protest, Sue pressed an intercom and said, “Sonny, would you come to the desk please?”

“Really, I’m sure we can find it ourselves. No need to bother,” I said emphatically.

“Oh, believe me, it is no bother,” she replied with her “I’m so happy” smile.

I didn’t know Sonny personally, but I instantly recognized him when he arrived. Barely old enough to legally enter the casino, Sonny had the look of a wide-eyed, fresh-from-the-farm, true-to-life hayseed. His goldenrod hair was in a true bowl cut and parted on the left side – apparently to emphasize a nasty cowlick. His baby face was full of freckles, and as I looked closely I felt compelled to connect them to see what the hidden picture might be. His eyes were a dull olive green, but his smile was big, toothy, and full of kindness. He also seemed eager to please. “What do you need, Miss Sue?” he asked.

“Would you show these ladies to the Sims’ party room, please?”

Sonny asked us to follow him, and we made our way through the lobby. We stepped onto an escalator and traveled up several floors. Then Sonny led us down a hallway where the carpet looked like purple, yellow, and red banana leaves. He stopped abruptly and said, “That’s the room,” he pointed to the end of the hallway. “If you don’t mind, I have to get back now.” He looked at me expectantly.

Alicia put a quarter in his hand and said, “Thank you.”

I felt so moved by her generosity that I quickly produced a five dollar bill and reluctantly handed it to Sonny. He walked away with a big grin plastered on his hayseed face. I was still wishing that Sue had let us find the party room without Sonny’s assistance.

Walking towards the room Sonny had pointed out, I kept waiting to awaken from one of my dreams. I felt certain that at any moment, Alicia was going to slap me a few times and yell, “Brandy, would you please wake up forChristsake?” But we were almost close enough to see inside, and I was still walking along in my new dress.

I began wondering if we were early, but I spotted a large clock on the wall that showed the time as eight o’clock. We were just in time.

A man in a burgundy suit was standing beside the door. He was big
– at least six foot five and easily weighing two-sixty – and he looked tough. He had a bulldog face, but no sad puppy eyes. His gaze seemed to cut right through me as we walked up to the door. In a gruff voice he said, “I’m sorry, but this room is reserved for a private party. Invitation only.” I felt certain that his slurred speech indicated low intelligence, not inebriation.

Alicia flashed him a smile. “We have invitations,” she said in an authoritative voice I’d never heard her use before. I cringed as I saw the man raise his hand towards her, but instead of smacking her upside the head, he simply took the cards from her and inspected them.

“Right this way, ladies,” he said with a smile. His demeanor changed abruptly, but he still seemed ready to brawl with the first person that looked at him in a disagreeable manner. I pushed Alicia past him before she could speak to him again.

As soon as we stepped inside, I felt as though we had been transported to another plane
– one where all the “beautiful people” reside. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe in every wonderful scent that must occupy this new world. I gagged on the stale cigarette smoke that mingled with the strong, hoppy smell of beer, and, consequently, my eyes popped wide open. The room was rather crowded, and I quickly noticed that compared to most of the guests, I might be mistaken for one of the “beautiful people”. Almost everyone was dressed in blue jeans and T-shirts. There were a few women that were wearing dresses, but for the most part, this seemed to be a very informal event.

Alicia was heading towards a small group of men that were standing in close proximity to the bar. Although three of the four men in the group had long blond hair, I knew Skylar immediately. He was definitely an “Alicia Man”. He wasn’t bad looking, but at the same time, he was also not my type at all. Skylar was almost as tall as the bulldog-man that had been guarding the doorway outside. However, Skylar was several pounds lighter, and his body seemed to be one large muscle. He had large, round blue eyes that were as dull as a cloudy sky. He also wore a full-beard
– a detail Alicia had left off – which was the same white blond as his hair. Alicia approached Skylar and gently eased up beside him as though this was where she had always belonged. I walked into Alicia’s view so she wouldn’t forget me, but I kept my distance from the others. Once I got to know them, I might join their little group – after all, one of the guys was very cute. Right now, I was feeling too apprehensive to meet all those new people.

I glanced around the room and continued to feel uneasy. I began to think that most of the people here were just groupies and hangers-on. Was that what I had become? I felt a chink of doubt slip into my armor. As was so often the case anytime I began to feel awkward, I started wondering how I could blame this whole thing on my parents. After all, a nice sane woman would never find herself at a party thinking that a singing superstar was going to waltz up to her and ask her to marry him. Only an obsessed lunatic like Brandy Moretti
– whose parents were off the wall hippies who convinced her that she could make any dream come true if she just tried hard enough – would believe something as pathetic as that. I suppose it is wonderful to be confident in yourself, up to a point, anyway. After all, I’d gone through life believing that I could be president if I wanted to be. I still believed that, but so far I hadn’t wanted to be president. But this confidence I had about getting Rick to fall in love with me was a little extreme. Or was it? He’d never met me before. Once he did, he might be captivated by my alluring beauty. Stranger things had happened. My momentary doubt had disappeared. I forgot my wacky parents and started concentrating on finding Rick again.

Not that I actually thought Rick would be at this party. I still held on to the notion that this party was for the roadies and groupies and other people that Rick might want to distract for an evening so that he could have a little piece and quiet. Of course he’d say he was going to be there to assure that everyone went to the party to see him. Then he’d curl up with a good book and a warm glass of milk, and he’d forget about being a superstar for one evening. I began to think that I should have stayed at our hotel and just knocked on all the doors until I
found Rick. Then we could have been alone together. But I was here now, and I had to make the best of the situation. And that meant pretending that Rick was going to show up sooner or later.

Alicia kept glancing in my direction every once in a while, but Skylar was definitely getting the lion’s share of her attention. A couple of the other guys in the group were trying to distract her, but she was too taken with Skylar to notice. I knew I’d be going home without her this night.

A server came around with some champagne, and I took a glass. Although I wasn’t a champagne enthusiast, I knew from the first taste that this was “the good stuff”. I also knew that I couldn’t drink another sip. It tasted awful. I looked around for a table to leave it on, and spotted one on the other side of the room. I made a beeline to the table and very deftly deposited the almost full glass on it. I started to slip away before anyone took note, but I suddenly felt a cold hand on my bare shoulder. I swallowed hard. Surely I wasn’t going to get tossed out for leaving a glass of champagne unfinished? The grip on my shoulder tightened, and I turned to see who was trying to slow me down.

I stifled a gasp in my throat as my eyes came level with his. I was shocked to see him standing here before me. His russet colored hair was a little tidier and his mustache slightly tamer than I remembered, and now he was wearing a sexy trace of beard stubble on his face. He had spruced up considerably for the party, trading in his yellow shirt, gray slacks, and flip-flops for a red knit muscle shirt, black Dockers, and black distressed leather boots. I noticed that his eyes were the color of a ripened honey dew melon, and that he was much handsome
r than I had thought the previous evening. I stared back at him, and if I hadn’t so vividly remembered his rude behavior at the Rest Inn, I could have lost myself in his rugged good looks. Instead, I said with a trace of hostility, “Excuse me, but you have your hand on my shoulder…”

He clearly didn’t recognize me. When he opened his mouth to speak, I noted the smell of beer on his breath, but he didn’t seem to be drunk. He said, “You shouldn’t leave your champagne sitting on the table like that. Someone will either spill it or drink it…”

He was holding the contemptible beverage out towards me. His other hand had started warming up on my shoulder. If this were anyone else, I might start thinking it belonged there. Instead, it was beginning to feel like a hot iron and I wanted to push it away. I didn’t want to cause a ruckus, so I left his burning hand where it was. For tonight, he was actually conducting himself like a human. Well, a subhuman at least.

“Um,” I sought for a good excuse and, lacking one, I blurted out, “I was about to go to the ladies’ room, and I had to put it down somewhere. I’m sure it will be okay for just a little while. But it was kind of you to be so concerned.” I quickly added, “I need to powder my nose.” I couldn’t believe I’d actually said that.

He smiled. He needed to visit the dentist, but I tried to be generous in my appraisal of him. Not everyone can afford top-notch dental care. With a chuckle, he said, “You don’t like the champagne, do you? I understand, really. I don’t like it either. Too much money gets spent on this sort of thing when most of us would rather drink beer.” He sat the champagne back on the table. “Let’s get you something else to drink. Or do you really need to ‘powder your nose’?”

I
forced a smile and wanted to kick myself for having used that stupid cliché. “No. That was just an excuse. I would like something else to drink.” Maybe if I had six or seven, I could forget what a pervert he was.

He walked beside me to the bar. His hand had moved down to my waist. I felt extremely uncomfortable even though he wasn’t holding me in an intimate way. I suppressed the retching sensation in my throat and allowed the deviant to lead me along. His grip loosened when we reached the bar, and I pulled away from him. He was still close enough that I didn’t feel safe yet, but at least he was no longer touching me. He seemed unaware that I’d left his side as he called to the bartender. The bartender was busy mixing drinks but told us he would be with us presently.

I stayed near him even though I was repulsed. I didn’t want to cause a scene when Rick might be so close. If this jerk realized I was one of the women from the motel, there was no telling what he might do or say.

His pale green eyes found my face again. “I don’t think I’ve met you before. My name is Fisher. Fisher Perry.”

“I’m Brandy Moretti.”

“Brandy. That’s a nice name. Is that what you drink as well?”