Hurricane House (22 page)

“He sounds very abusive.”

“Very much so. He claimed my drawings were the mark of the devil.”

“What a stupid thing for him to say.”

“He was jealous. He and the other elders didn’t want any male competition.”

Victor stopped talking when Leronica served our food. “Can I get you anything else, hon?” She smiled and batted her eyes at Victor.

He returned Leronica’s smile and said, “Good for now, thanks.”

I laid a pat of butter on my grits and mixed them together with my eggs. Victor and I ate in silence for a few minutes until I said, “I saw something on Good Morning America not that long ago about a Mormon community. I think it was in Salt Lake or near Salt Lake. I’m not sure. Teenage boys said they were being forced out, same thing as you said, because the older men didn’t want to share their wives.”

Victor finished his oatmeal and grabbed the bill.

“How old were you when you left home, Vic?”

Victor wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and squinted, as if he had something in his eye. “Sixteen.”

“I think I saw your picture on a milk carton.” I wanted to cheer him up.

He smiled. “Or maybe the post office?”

Or maybe it was on a billboard wearing a milk mustache?”

Victor’s eyes gleamed, mischievously . “You’re funny.” “You mean funny, like crazy?”

“I mean funny like good sense of humor.”

“I used to think so, but lately...” I paused, struggling to finish the sentence. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think I’ve lost my sense of humor if I ever had one.”

He smiled. “You haven’t lost a thing. You’ve got it all. You’re quick, funny and attractive and hard working and honest. I could go on and on. And, you know your stuff.”

“You’re embarrassing me, but continue anyway.” I sopped up my plate with one of my pancakes.

Victor made a steeple of his hands in front of his empty oatmeal bowl. “And at the risk of sounding sexist, not many women could do what you do for as long as you’ve done it and still be fearless.”

“Fearless? That’s the one thing I’m not.”

“Really? What are you afraid of?”

“Lots of things scare me.”

Victor raised his eyebrows. “Like what?”

“Sharks.”

Victor laughed. “Not a bad thing to fear. Actually, it’s smart to know that when you swim in the gulf, you become part of the food chain.”

I shivered. “That’s an awful way of putting it.”

“How many times have we heard lately that the Gulf is not a swimming pool? Sharks have no natural predators. They breed like crazy, eat ferociously and should be pissed with us humans who’ve been draining their food supply.”

“Sharks are too stupid to be pissed, Vic, but hey, come on, let’s talk about a more pleasant topic. Sharks give me the willies. I’d rather talk about you and how you found your way to Dolphin via Aspen.”

“You might say I took to the slopes. Everything else has been downhill.”

I groaned. “Terrible.”

Waitress Leronica refilled our coffee cups, leaning over the table, showing off her bountiful breast, all but the nipples. She wore black tights and a white halter top. “You sure I can’t get you anything, hon?” she asked Victor.

Victor’s eyes gave Leronica the once over. “I’m fine. What about you, Maeva?”

I shook my head no.

Leronica twisted her petite butt around, her smiling face and fluttering eyelids, turning last.
“She likes you,” I said.

“Too young.”

I spooned honey in the coffee Veronica had poured, though I knew I didn’t need caffeine. “Okay, where were we? Oh, yes, we were talking about Aspen. How’d you get to Colorado from Salt Lake? My inquiring mind wants to know.” I laughed.

“I hitchhiked to Denver, lived there for a year in a
Catholic Orphanage.”

“You went from being a Mormon to Catholic?”

“Not really. The orphanage took me in. I was sixteen, living on the streets. They gave me food, shelter and religious indoctrination.”

“I guess that comes with the territory, but it had to be
traumatic for you.” “I was accustomed to indoctrination, coming from a Mormon background.”

Did you like the Catholicism better?”

“I might have if not for the pedophile priest who took a shine to me.” “You’re kidding,” I said. Victor’s face told me he wasn’t.

“Oh, no, you’re not.”

He drew a breath. “I wouldn’t kid about that.”

“Amazing you turned out so well.”

Rather than respond, Victor fished in his wallet for cash and threw down a five for Leronica.

I tried to take the ticket from him. “You invited me to
the gym. I invited you to breakfast, remember?”

“No, this is my treat today. Ready?”

I cut off another piece of my pancake.

“You’re not finished yet, are you? Sorry.” Victor glanced
at his watch while tapping his fingers on the table, as if he were pressed for time.

I changed my mind about asking Victor for a favor. “Don’t bother waiting on me, Vic. I know you’re under the gun.”

“I’ll wait a few more minutes. What about you? Where’re you headed?”

“Dolphin Elementary and I’m not looking forward to it.”

“I heard about that.” Victor rubbed the furrow from his brow. “The playground was made of tires. One of them almost killed a woman. Right?”

“Right and the principal is not a happy camper.”

“Serves him right. How stupid is that? I can’t believe the school board approved a playground, swings and all the recreational stuff, all tires. Can you?” Victor shook his head, registering his disgust. “It’s worse than shoddy, like a lot of the construction I’m seeing these days. How it gets approved, I haven’t a clue.”

“I agree.”

Victor seemed distracted, looking through the window at something outside while tapping his fingers on the table.

I stood. “I need to get going, too. I can’t be late for my appointment with Principal Rogers. I was supposed to see him yesterday, but had to reschedule after my stupid palm-tree incident.”

Victor frowned, and looked worried. “Hope you’re feeling better. Is there anything I can do for you?”

An opening, but I didn’t take it. “Thanks for offering, Vic, but you’ve already helped me enough.” My claims were my responsibility. I couldn’t pawn them off on Victor. At
that point I almost decided Tara and Roxanne, Geneva and Sandra and even Onyx weren’t my responsibility.

All I could do was all I could do, not another thing. So why had I become Miss Buttinski with Geneva’s computer and cell phone? I didn’t know, but too late to turn back now, as the song goes, but that song was talking about falling in love. I couldn’t think about stuff like love when I was struggling to keep my nose above water.

I waved goodbye to Victor and grabbed the crystal around my neck. The stone overheated again, trying to tell me something, but I didn’t know what, though my gut told me to drive over to Huberta Huber’s before heading to Dolphin Elementary. I glanced at the dashboard clock and decided I had enough time.

I figured it would take me fifteen minutes without traffic and traffic was no problem. Most of the sane folks had evacuated.

Chapter Forty-one

I found the ex-nun in the front yard, picking up fallen tree twigs and throwing them in a green trashcan. “Is it okay if I go inside, check e-mail, and work on my computer a bit?” I asked.

“Absolutely. You are welcome, my dear.” Huberta smiled like Mona Lisa and the Virgin Mary. “We were concerned when you did not come back or call last evening.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was going to, but it got so late. I was on Paradise Isle, where there’s a curfew. Also, I had a dog with me. I didn’t feel right about bringing him here.”

“I see.” Huberta threw a limb in the trashcan. “That is fine. Paula tried to call you.”

“I know.”

“Did you say you have a dog? Paula did not mention you had a dog.” Huberta glanced inside my truck.

I grabbed my backpack with its heavy contents. “He’s not actually mine. It’s a long story. He ran out in front of my truck, and now I feel responsible for him. I’m trying to locate his owner. Until then, he’s staying in one of my units on Paradise Isle. I’ll go feed him and let him out later. I didn’t want to bring him over here without checking with you first.” I hopped down from my truck.

Huberta frowned. “I am allergic to dogs. Is it a big dog?”

“Fair size, black Labrador Retriever, name’s Onyx. He’s absolutely beautiful, not at all ferocious. I think you’d like him.”

“I am sorry, Maeva. He can not stay in my house. A house is not a place for a dog in my opinion, and as you can see, I do not have a fenced yard.” Huberta held her arms out, palms facing upward.

I smiled as if I understood and walked toward the side-entrance garage. “That’s okay. Right now I need to hurry and get to work. I have an appointment over at Dolphin Elementary School soon.”

“Yes, for sure, you are a busy lady. If you need something let me know. I will be out here cleaning my yard.”

“Thanks, Huberta, I appreciate your kindness.”

I rushed inside, walked back to the canary room where I turned on my computer and went on-line. I found another e-mail with an attachment from Jan Benson of Catastrophe Claims, Inc.

In reply, I wrote, “Jan, please give these claims to another adjustor until I can catch up. I have too much on my plate, more than I can say grace over. Also, I’ll be out-of touch for a few days. Wait to hear from me before sending new assignments. Thanks for your understanding.”

After I sent the e-mail to Jan, I felt proud of my
assertiveness. I should say “No” more often. I then shut down my computer and opened Geneva’s laptop.

The moment I went on-line, an instant message flashed on the screen. “Geneva, is that you?”

From the e-mail address, I knew it was Ellen. Good. “Yes, I’m here,” I wrote.

“I hope you aren’t angry with me. I wanted to call you but I couldn’t. Your husband was hovering and very upset. The press hounded us all night. I called the first chance I got. Did you get my message?”

“No, my cell phone has been acting up,” I lied. “I’m unable to retrieve my messages. What did your message say?”

“I’ll be riding down to Dolphin with your husband tomorrow for the funeral. I told him I wanted to visit a friend who lives down there. He thinks I will be returning to Tallahassee later.”

“Funeral?”

“You know, your friend Roxanne.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I told your husband I do not like funerals. He seemed to understand. I’ll take a cab to the place we’re going to meet.” I paused not knowing how to respond.

“Geneva, are you there?”

“Yes, I’m thinking of the best way for us to get together. I don’t want anyone to see me. I will have a friend pick you up. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“I won’t. I promise. How will I know your friend?”

“She’ll be at the funeral wearing turquoise clothing. She is five-one, has short carrot-red hair and will be driving a black Silverado truck with camper cover. I’ll tell her to park
out front and leave the truck unlocked so you can hop inside. She told me she wants to pay her respects at the funeral. She won’t be long. She has an Alabama license plate with the letters CAT.”

“What is her name?”

“Maeva.”

“Got it.”

“Where is the funeral?”

“I’m not sure. You don’t know?”

“Not yet, but I’ll find out.”

“Your husband said we needed to be there in the morning around eleven.”

“Okay, don’t worry. This is what you need to do: Go on Mapquest, type in the address where you’re to meet me, print out the map and bring it with you.”

“You’ve already e-mailed me a map. Did you forget?” “Sorry, yes.”

“As you wish, I’ll print the map out and bring it with me. Are you okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry about me. I’ll explain everything later. See you tomorrow. Take care.”

“You take care, too.”

In my peripheral vision, I saw the door to the Canary Room open. I should have locked it.

Paula bounced in wearing a white ruffled mini-shirt with a pink and orange off-the-shoulder top, her ever-present binoculars hanging around her neck. “There you are,” Paula said. “You scared me to death last night. Where were you?”

I turned off Geneva’s computer. “I was on Paradise Isle.”

Paula frowned at the two laptops, as if they presented a problem she couldn’t solve. “Huberta said you’ve taken in a dog. Is that right?” “Yes, he’s a black lab. He ran out in front of my truck yesterday. I swerved to miss him and hit a palm tree. Nothing major, just a stupid accident.” I fished the bottled water out of my backpack to take two Tylenol. “The dog’s name is Onyx, according to his tag. I called the number on it but got an out-of-order signal.”