Heroine: California Dreamin' (29 page)

I stood before the bank that Irene had recommended already at nine o’clock on Monday morning. Exchanging the gold to cash was no problem at all. Only the exuberant commission these people charged cost me an extra three bars. It was just as well that I had packed more than necessary and so I exchanged thirty gold bars. With more than twelve thousand dollars in my purse I drove directly to Prado.

By midday I had posted the bail for Kate. Two hours later I picked up Kate. Everything went so smoothly that I could hardly believe it. On the entire trip there I was concerned and afraid to be robbed and then I was anxious to enter the justice building. Nothing happened and I danced with my friend a dance of joy in the parking lot in front of the jail. Then I drove with her to the police precinct where she had parked her car. On the way there Kate blabbered without stopping and she told me about her experiences in the cell and how and why the lawyer had duped her.

“The witness I had told you about had changed her mind. She told him a completely different story. I bet that the management of the supermarket had bribed her so that she would lie. After that the lawyer threw in the towel. Without a witness he couldn’t sue the company for damages. He simply dismissed the case. All he wanted was the money. He didn’t give a shit about me. But now I must tell you by all means what happened to all the others.” She talked and talked without interruption without telling me much more than the names of the new inmates who had shared the cell with her last week.

“Was there anybody for you as well?” I inquired. Perhaps she had been able to alleviate her loneliness with a new lover.

“After you had left I wasn’t too keen on another relationship. And none of those others looked anywhere as good as you do. No, I wanted to wait to see you again. Should we move in together? How about it?” Kate’s proposal hit me completely unexpected. I swallowed.

“Kate, you do know that I am married. I can’t leave my husband.”

“Shit. These stupid guys. They themselves have no problem with abandoning their mates.” She pouted until we came to the parking lot where her Dodge was supposed to be. The car was gone. Of course, it had been towed away. Only that we had expected that the cops would put it back in its old place after they had searched it. All we could do was to go to the police station and inquire about the whereabouts of the van. An official behind the counter explained to Kate where she could find her vehicle and he forewarned us that we had to pay on site for the towing costs. About three hundred dollars. Kate started cursing.

“I am flat broke. The phone company in jail had taken all my cash. I paid more than one hundred dollars for calling on the phone. These leeches suck you dry.” I would lend her the money. After all she had helped me out of a difficult situation when I wanted to use the phone in the U-pad without a cent to my name.

At the impound place at the outskirts of Prado the view of her car hit us like a bomb. Literally. The police bomb squad didn’t just open the doors of the car they had blasted them open. Now they lied stacked together in the car. The windows were broken. The car could no longer be used.

Kate had a screaming fit and kicked the car again and again while she used curse words whose meaning isn’t clear to me to the day. Finally she was just sobbing. She then crawled under the heap of metal and gathered what still seemed worthwhile to her. She came out again with some bundles of clothing and some papers.

“What do I do now? I have no home any more. Meggie doesn’t want to see me any longer and I am flat broke. When I need to stay here on the street overnight you might just as well visit me in the morgue. Or one of these dirty pimps fucks me through and then I can work for him. Dammit.” She kept on cursing until I took her in my arms.

“You may come to me. We only have a small house but you can sleep on the couch in the living room until you find a place to live and some work.” That was the least I could do for her. She looked at me with big eyes then she hugged me and kissed me on the mouth. Her tongue pierced through my lips and I expected that she threw me on the ground and undress me.

“Thank you. I will never forget that. I felt from the start that you are someone special.” I was super glad that she had let go of me and directed her to my Chevy. When we wanted to pass through the metal gate an elderly man in uniform stopped us.

“Stop, you sweet-pies.” He stepped up to the driver’s window. “Before you take a hike you must pay your bill. Namely in cash and not in kind.” He bellowed out loud about his stupid joke. I was going to discuss the matter when Kate got out of the car and just went for him.

“Fuck you too, you motherfucker”, she screamed at him. “If you don’t get your fat fucking ass out of the way right now I will fucking smack you in the mouth so bad …” She kicked her foot in the direction of his head which she only missed by a bit. I remembered that Kate had taken classes in self-defense. The man jumped back in terror while Kate got quietly back into the car.

“Drive on, he’s had enough.” She commanded.

“What do we do if he reports us to the authorities? He knows my license plate number.” I was really scared.

“Turn around.” I turned the car around and let her get out, uncertain about what she was up to now. She went to the guard who looked at her timidly as if he expected a beating.

“If you only dare to report us, then we turn the whole thing around.” She stuck her finger into his face and snarled like a lioness.

“You molested us sexually and I have a witness. You do not. So save yourself your yammering and shut the fuck up. Or you’ll land in jail faster than you can say ‘peep’.” The guy only nodded. He had turned pale. I was speechless.

“Well, you really took care of him. That’s crazy. I could never do that.”

“By what you’ve told me about last week I think it is about time that you learn that”, she growled. Perhaps she was right?

Two hours later I wandered with her through a mall in Palo Alto and helped her to find some new clothes. She was modest and only wanted some simple clothing since she couldn’t pay me back the money so fast. Then we had a drink somewhere and then drove to our house. When Daniel came back he stood there with his mouth open. It was the first time that I had brought a visitor to the house. Otherwise only his colleagues came to visit and that happened only rarely.

“Daniel, I want you to meet my friend Kate. Kate, this is my husband Daniel.”

To my surprise Kate made a curtsy when she shook his hand. At supper I told Daniel how Kate and I had met, why Kate was in jail innocently and this and that. I left out the intimate details. He didn’t know that I had relations with women. Therefore I was uncertain how he would react. Kate blabbered about anything, mainly about her school time in Kansas. Only when Daniel offered her some coffee I revealed to Daniel that Kate would be living with us for a while.

“Police had blown up Kate’s camper when she was in jail. She’s been living in that vehicle. Now she’s looking for an apartment and I’ve offered her to live with us for a few days.” I learned from Daniel’s facial expression that he wasn’t too fond of that idea. First I had thought that he might like the idea to have another pretty woman in the house. But he remained withdrawn. A few hours later we talked about it quietly in bed.

“Was that really necessary to bring her here? Our house isn’t even big enough for the two of us. Now we cannot roam about freely.”

“But a pretty woman in the house is something pleasant, isn’t it”, I teased him. “Don’t you like her?” He reacted unsure of himself.

“Would you actually allow me to hit the sack with her? After all she is your friend.”

“Not only that. She is a downright lesbian. Amiable, but lesbian. You would only be told off.” I wanted to find out how he reacted if he found out about my relation to her.

“Did you have anything with her? I mean that ought to be happening in jail, doesn’t it?” I didn’t know Daniel could be that shy. What was the matter with him?

“What if that would be the case? Do you think you would like it?”

“I would love to watch. That excites me the most. Perhaps that would be easier than to go to bed with Bruce.”

“Then I have good news for you: she will protect me while you are gone and I cancel Bruce.” Daniel seemed to be relieved as I concluded from his amorous touches. We didn’t try to subdue any noises that came from our love making.

The next few days Kate and I tried to find an apartment for her which was extraordinarily hard to do. They were all too expensive. First, she needed a job. Sadly I remembered that I couldn’t ask Irene for her help. She would know of some place where to find a job for Kate. So we approached the various supermarkets that all required to see testimonials from Kate which she didn’t have.

“They are much more elite here than in Prado. Truly arrogant bastards. Why don’t they ask me for a master’s degree from Roquetas University right away? That is the least they can expect from a sales person.” She was enraged and frustrated, therefore we delayed our search for the time being. Daniel was in New York from Wednesday to Friday and thus Kate moved from the living room couch to our bed. With her in the house I felt secure. Even safer as with Daniel. Kate could fight.

We had a splendid time. She could be w
ild and tender at the same time. On Thursday she talked me into a visit to a sex shop in downtown of San Francisco. Except for us there were exclusively men in those rooms. But they were dudes where you could see and sense that they were not really into women. Kate just packed – without asking me – handcuffs and a mask into the shopping basket and in addition a dildo. It was a hot night. She cuffed my hands and my feet to the bed post what first triggered quite some angst in me. I remembered Robert’s rough abuse with that. Then what she did to me drove away all these nasty ghosts. She pulled the mask over my face and when she was sure that I couldn’t see anything anymore she touched me in turn in various spots on my body which surprised me every time. She was gentle and caring even when she plugged in the vibrator. She had warmed it up before under warm water. Only late at night she released me from my ‘captivity’ and I was happy to have her with me.

“I must be dominant or I’m scared shit”, she confessed to me. “Many years ago a man once persuaded me to do it and it hurt like dickens. After that I have never tried that again.” I was perplex.

“So, you do like men? So far I have considered you to be a hundred percent lesbian.”

“No, once in a while I grab myself a guy too. The main thing is that he respects me. But there are only a few who I would trust. It is simpler with women. They are not so brutal.”

I had different memories from my first night in jail. But altogether she was right. Many men I got involved with were simply only rough.

“You have a sweet husband. He is one of those I would have a go with. May I borrow him occasionally?” Out of jealousy I would have jumped into any other woman’s face who would have asked me that. But not so with Kate.

“He’s quite shy sometimes. It will be difficult”, I tried to play it down. Then I had a sudden inspiration.

“But perhaps I have something better for you. On Saturday we are invited to a party. His female boss will also be there. I’m always afraid that she might entice him away from me. Daniel does say that he’s not interested in her but he reacts like all men do when a woman turns them on. He’s probably not even aware of it. But I feel it. Could you seduce her? Then I have Daniel for me alone.”

“If she’s good looking, no problem. Are you sure that she can deal with women?”

“She’s a beauty like only a few. Anything else you must find out for yourself.”

Daniel came back on Friday evening and Kate moved back onto the couch. After all these difficult events I experienced before, those few days with her passed by like in a delirium that made me forget my bad experiences. Daniel was delighted when I told him that Kate would accompany us to the party on Saturday. Because just before I had told him that she was not a hundred percent lesbian. I just told him that to turn him on. He liked it anyways.

There were plenty of people at Ingvar’s farewell party. Even people from management had come. Those were the same men and women who had put all the pressure on him before, explained Daniel to me quietly. Now they were all good friends again. Kate mingled with all the folks after I had introduced her to Mei Li. My friend, Kate, had bought herself an extra low-cut knee-long black dress for this occasion and she wore high heels. Nothing else, as only I knew. Underneath she was naked. When she tried it on we giggled like teenagers. Then I asked Daniel if he had informed Ingvar about our arrangement. He didn’t understand. But we wanted to have a three-some I enlightened him. He looked confused.

“You were serious about that? I thought this was only one of your phantasies.” I got angry and decided to take things into my own hands if and when Ingvar was to approach me. He was standing with a cocktail in his hand laughing beside his bosses and didn’t seem to notice me. Perhaps today I could get away with it without necessarily go to bed with him. There were just too many people who sought Ingvar’s attention. Satisfied I stalked on my high heels through the garden where I always sank into the ground. I therefore shifted all my weight to the tiptoes. After already one hour Kate and Mei Li couldn’t be seen anywhere any longer. I hoped that they had a ‘close encounter’. Until the early evening I had wandered from one group of guests to the other only to listen to small talk and to friendly comments about my red dress with a low-cut in the back and the fitting shoes. The comments came in particular from men who had already consumed too much alcohol; some of the comments unfortunately violated the standards of decency in this country. The high-heels attracted some women’s attention. At nightfall nothing had happened and the party slowly dissolved. I started to look for Kate and Daniel. Ingvar came towards me.