Charmed Life (5 page)

“House?” Freddy asked. “Not trailer?”

“What’s wrong with a trailer?” George asked.

“Nothing.” Freddy shook his head. “Fire trap. That’s all. We can burn up in the middle of the night.”

George chuckled. “Any idea what the story is with you two. I mean, in case the neighbors ask. Small town. Everyone wants to know everything.”

“We can’t be married,” Freddy said. “I’m gay.”

“You don’t say.”

“We haven’t had time to think,” Grace said.

“Well, you should. Come up with a good solid story. Maybe friends, you, Grace, had a bad break up and you’re getting a fresh start here. Something. People just don’t move to small towns.”

Grace nodded. “I was thinking about saying I was a writer looking for a small town to go to start my novel.”

“Lodi is the quintessential small town.” George said. “Why don’t you add his Grandmother is from Wadsworth. That’ll explain how you knew about Lodi. And add that divorce touch. People here will wonder why a woman of your age is not married. They’ll buy the depressed divorcee moving to a new life to be a writer.”

Grace nodded. “I’ll do that. Thanks.”

“I’ll leave you to get settled.” George picked up his tool box and opened the door.

“George,” Grace called out. “Do you know where we’ll be working?”

George shook his head. “They didn’t tell me. But I’m sure the jobs are good. Have a good one. I’ll be nearby.” He walked out.

Grace sighed. “He seems like a nice man.”

“Yes, he did.” Freddy said. “Well, how about that Starbucks?”

“Sounds like plan. What do you suppose he meant by a ‘woman my age’?”

“Who knows, I wouldn’t worry about it, Princess.”

“Freddy, you seem so down. Let’s try, OK? To make the best of it. The trailer isn’t bad. We have our lives. Let’s try, OK?”

Sadly, Freddy nodded. “You’re right. The shock will wear off. And I firmly believe they have delivered all the bad to our new life. It’s onward to brighter things. You and I always make the best of every situation.”

“And we have fun.”

“The Brad Pitt party?”

“Boring,” Grace said.

“We made everyone laugh.”

“You out sang Brad at Karaoke.”

“And I didn’t need the words.” Freddy sighed. “We are always the life of the party. We’ll be the life of … what is the name if this town?”

“Lodi.”

“Yes, Lodi. We’ll be the life of Lodi. You and I.” He opened the door for Grace. “The worst is over. It’s on to better things.”

+++

“What are you doing?” Lou Carlotta asked his son with a hint of annoyance, maybe even concern.

Al had left work and never returned after his visit with Gregory Benson.

Alfonzo sat behind the computer in the office, overlooking the pool area.

“Al?”

“Not giving up.”

Lou exhaled. “You just hired two private investigators to find her.”

“I can’t lose her.”

“She just left. Give her a day or two to contact you.”

Al shook his head.

“Did it cross your mind, at all, that maybe she doesn’t want to contact you?’

Al looked offended. “She loves me.”

“She also witnessed you popping someone,” Lou said. “That may be a hamper on your relationship.”

“Right now, yeah …”

“Right now, yeah.” Lou shook his head. “You may also have to face the fact that we might have to get rid of her. Fuck, I put the order out right away.”

Al shot a fast look to his father.

“Hold on.” Lou held up his hand. “I rescinded. Temporary hold, until we see what she’s going to do.”

“She’s thinking,” Al said.

“How do you know?”

“I spoke to her father. He’s worried about where she is. Wants to know as bad as I do. He said she needed to clear her mind, find herself, something like that. Took money from the bank and ran. And she spoke to him after she took the money. Didn’t mention me at all. She tells her father everything.”

“What if Benson knows. What if she told him and he’s just not telling you.”

Al laughed.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“Gregory Benson is a red neck in a three piece suit.
 
Hell, if he knew I killed someone in front of his daughter, and she was in danger, he would have opened the door and blasted a hole in my chest with that Remington 870 Marine Magnum shotgun he carries around for the hell of it. And he’d do it before I said a word. Trespassing. I can see it.”

“Crazy coot. You’re right. He doesn’t give a shit.”

Al nodded.

“Ok, so you have two investigators on finding her. Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you hold off on them for a few days? Maybe Benson will hear from her and let you know. Wherever she is, she’s staying. And we both know Grace. Follow Starbucks and resorts, and there she is.”

Al facially agreed.

Lou continued, “Because Grace is spoiled. I don’t care how scared she is, how much she needs to find herself, she’s going where the going is good. The best food, best accommodations. No way, no how, even on the run, she’ll give up her charmed life.”

++++

The thin paper napkin shredded in his hands from the grease, but Freddy didn’t care. He just tossed it aside and grabbed another one. “Do you suppose.” He leaned into the dining table toward Grace. He swallowed, sipped his Starbucks and lifted his fork. “Do you suppose it’s the absorption of Lodi and the trailer that is making Popeye’s chicken taste so good? Or is it the fact that we’re both starving. Because this just tastes delicious.”

“It does, doesn’t it,” Grace said. “I think it’s because it is so good. I can not believe I have never had Popeye’s chicken.”

“You’ve never had fast food. If you did, it was served to you on a normal plate.”

“True.”

“Ever have McDonald’s?”

“Once. I think. I’ve never been in one.”

“Oh, then we have to go to one. New experience. Pass me the slaw.”

Grace moved the container Freddy’s way. “You know the more I look at this place, the more I like it. It’s actually really nice.”

“I misjudged,” Freddy said. “It’s like a cabin in the woods. I think trailer, I think paneling.”

Both of them cringed.

“There’s no paneling in here,” Freddy said. “Is this chicken just this juicy or is it grease?’

“Both.”

Freddy shrugged then chuckled.

“What?”

“You know six months ago if someone would have told me I’d be wearing Levis, living in a trailer in Ohio and eating Popeye’s chicken, with my hands mind you, I would have laughed.” He reached for another piece of chicken. “I see my cholesterol raising now.”

“It’s kind of refreshing, don’t you think?” Grace asked.

“What? High cholesterol.”

“No. No.” She shook her head. “Freddy all of my life I have lived in a world where I had to be perfect. Eat the right foods. Act the right way. Be beautiful and thin all the time. Dress properly.”

“But you like being all those things.”

“I think anyone would. But it’s a lot of pressure. Right now, in our lives, we have a chance to live without the perfection pressure. We’ve never lived normal, Freddy. At least I haven’t. I’ve never done laundry, did dishes, cooked …”

“It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.”

“But I want to know that it isn’t. I want to eat foods because it looks and tastes good, not because some chef from San Francisco flew in to make it. And …. Don’t be shocked.”

“Go on.”

Grace breathed in deeply. “If you and I gain a few pounds, who cares as long as we’re enjoying life.”

Freddy gasped. “I’ll never fit my butt into those jeans.”

Grace snickered. “Freddy, eighty percent of the people in Hollywood drink, do drugs, or in therapy. And they’re miserable. I bet not even ten percent of these people are in therapy or running to rehab. And they’re happy!” she tossed out her hands. “They’re happy.”

“They do seem to be.”

“Yes, they do. I mean, we haven’t met them yet. But we’ve seen them. You and I never made it in Hollywood, maybe, Freddy because what we have to give isn’t what Hollywood needed. Maybe the gifts we have, maybe we are meant to share them where they are appreciated.”

“In Lodi?”

“Maybe.”

Freddy tapped his finger on the table. “This is quite the attitude change. It’s like you were struck with lightening.”

“It was the Popeye’s chicken girl.” Grace said matter of fact and put her napkin down.

“The one that took our orders, the large woman.”

“Yep. Her. Greasy uniform, her one front tooth was missing and she smiled.”

“I saw that.”

“She smiled, Freddy. She smiled and then she joked around with the manager while fixing our order. Maybe she doesn’t have the best job in the world. But... she was wearing a wedding ring. She has love, someone to share her life with and she’s happy with who she is. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t have smiled with a missing tooth.”

“That is a point well taken.”

“I think we should make a pact.”

“Oh, I’m always up for that.” Freddy rubbed his hands together.

“I think, no matter what, we’re here. Not many people get the chance to live in someone else’s shoes. We should find positives in everything. We should make the best of it and give the best of ourselves in everything we do.”

“Even if our jobs are at Popeye’s Chicken?”

Grace paused. “Even then. Hey … we’d get free food.”

“Re designs the uniform.”

“Make someone’s day.”

“It’s sounds so Doris Day and Martha Stewart.”

Grace raised her eyebrows. We can learn so much.”

“I’m in the pact.” Freddy held out his hand. Just as they connected in an agreement shake, the doorbell rang.

“You think that’s George.”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll get it.”

“No, I got it.” Freddy stood and handed Grace a napkin. ‘You have a little jam on your chin. Don’t want to open the door like that.”

Grace took the napkin, “I have jam on my chin? For how long.”

Freddy snickered and walked to the front door, not far from the table.