Innocent Little Crimes (27 page)

Della and Dick raced around the small rooms,
their flashlight beams searching the corners.

Della shrieked. “He’s been here—look at the
bed.”

“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed, said the
papa bear, and he’s gotta be here somewhere,” Jon said.

Dick yanked on the cot and pulled it away
from the wall. Jonathan ran over and flipped the frame onto its
side. Finding nothing, he began pulling all the furniture away from
the wall. Della and Dick joined him. They threw open cupboard doors
and tossed the contents onto the floor. They rummaged through the
closets and emptied the wood box by the cold pot-bellied stove.
Soon, the cabin lay in shambles.

Dick ventured outside, panting and sweating.
Damn Davis! How could he have given them the slip? In the back of
his mind, prison doors clanged shut behind him. Dick forced the
image away, replacing it with one of him seated in a fancy office
at the State Capitol, and Penny running her long, manicured
fingernails through his hair. Good riddance Millie! He wouldn’t
have it any other way. No way he would go to jail and be disgraced.
No way would he live in that suffocating box house with his fat
wife breathing down his neck. No more petty, corrupt small town
politics.

His mother’s face intruded in his
picture. Ida, with her stern scrutiny.
What is this? Someone just sent me disgusting photographs of
you with another woman. How could you do this disgraceful
thing?
Dick’s gut wrenched in pain.
No Mother, I’m going to be state senator, you’re
mistaken.
Then his mother scowled, and shivers shot
down his spine.

Dick smothered the inner voices. First, find
Davis. Everything in his world depended on it. Davis had destroyed
their lives by his foolishness; making them all pay for fifteen
years. Lila deserves some justice. What Davis did was unforgivable.
But did Lila have a right to do what she did? There was no time to
work out the moral ramifications—there was only one way out of the
mess—Lila’s way. Dick scanned the ground.

“Hey idiots,” he yelled. “you coulda just
looked at the footprints, see?”

Jon and Della joined him outside. They
examined the wet sand. Footprints led out the door to the beach,
footprints from a man’s sneaker.

“Well, you missed them, too, Ferrol,” said
Jon.

Della heard a sound from behind her. She
swung around and voiced her disappointment. “Oh, it’s only
you.”

Millie panted, dragging her heavy, sand-caked
hem behind her. “Thanks a lot. I feel real welcome.”

“You’re not, if you’re going to slow us
down,” Dick said. His wife looked hideous. Her hair was a mess and
she was still in that ridiculous dress. He was sure Lila would make
her pay for ruining it, too. Millie disgusted him. If he never saw
her again, what did he care? What did he need Millie and her
stinking paycheck for now? He would set Penny up in a fancy house,
even buy her that Jaguar she crooned over. He avoided thinking
about his girls. That would work itself out in time, custody and
visitation rights. He would be too busy for them, anyway, once he
was in the Senate. Oh, where the hell was Davis?

Millie felt an odd relief in the
realization that her marriage was unsalvageable. But, what if her
daughters had to see their father in prison? A criminal. What a
disgrace. Millie imagined Sally and Debby at school—humiliated by
their friends’ jeers. Her babies coming home, crying. How did she
get into such a mess? All she tried to do her entire life was stay
out of trouble, but somehow trouble had tracked her down.
If only I had told Lila the truth about
Davis.
But, she hadn’t. And now she was
paying.

But none of this would have happened if Davis
hadn’t done the unthinkable. Promising Lila he’d marry her just so
she’d go to bed with him. How could he do such a thing? Like the
others, Millie realized there was no way around it. Davis would
have to pay. He had nothing to lose, anyway, since Lila already
owned him. He was at her mercy.

“Come on, let’s get moving. He can’t be far.”
Dick followed the tracks with Jon right behind him.

Jon’s thoughts kept drifting to the Academy
Awards. He saw himself at the podium, reading aloud his short
thank-you list to the adulating audience. He didn’t have many
people to thank. He reached his pinnacle of success all on his own.
He stifled a giggle. Maybe he’d thank fat old Lila. If it wasn’t
for you, babe . . . What kind of picture would he win for? Some
great epic, some fabulous sex-driven thriller? He thought of the
flood of offers—and the money. Every step he took through the rain
and muck brought him one step closer to his dream. Where was that
jerk? He fought down his anger. He wanted to wring Davis’s neck. He
trudged behind Dick, and the two women lagged behind. He wouldn’t
need their help convincing Davis. Davis was ruined, finished.

The irony made Jonathan shiver.
Jonathan would get the Oscar and Davis would
get—
Lila!

Cynthia raised her flashlight toward the
canopy of branches. How long had she been wandering through the
woods? Minutes stretched like hours as she wended through more
trees. Finally, the congestion of vegetation gave way to a rocky
wall. One pass with the flashlight told her the wall was
insurmountable. The rain let up, but the wind still blew in
powerful gusts, knocking her from side to side. The cold penetrated
her layers of clothing, coating her with an unbearable chill.

She thought about her warm bed in her warm
home and the tears started to flow. Her anger flared—anger and
disappointment over Davis. He had showed her a side of his
personality she had never seen before and it shocked her. The Davis
she knew would never take delight in seeing people humiliated and
mistreated. The Davis she knew would never lie to her, and break
his promises. Somehow, in the course of one evening, her joy and
contentment shattered. Could she ever trust him, or love him again?
Cynthia shook the fears from her mind. If she didn’t find a way out
of the woods, she might never live to find out the answers to those
questions browbeating her heart.

With renewed determination, she followed
along the base of the rock. Gradually, it opened up to sand and she
could see over the rocks to another grove of trees. And barely
visible against the dark backdrop was a small cabin. She exhaled in
relief as she ran to the cabin door.

The footprints out front caught her eye.
People had been here, and recently. She looked at the broken glass.
She sucked in a breath. What if they’d found Davis and hurt
him?

She pushed on the door and hurried inside.
One sweep with her flashlight revealed the upheaval of furniture
and the strewn contents of the house. Evidence of a struggle. Her
heart pounded painfully against her ribs. How could respectable
people be turned so easily into wolves? Quickly, she ran outside
and reexamined the ground. Long grooves etched the sand, as if
someone dragged their foot. Someone had been hurt.

Cynthia studied the footprints and found they
led in one direction—toward the sea. The roar of the ocean carried
over the expanse of sand. Cynthia knew she hadn’t a moment to
waste. Turning headlong into the wind and beating rain, she kept
her light pointed to the ground and chased the trail of footprints,
dreading what she might find at the water’s edge.

On Christmas morning at The Evergreen State
College, Millie told her roommate about the visit she had with
Dick’s mother the night before. Although Millie had to endure the
woman’s severe scrutiny, she nonetheless survived the evening
without sticking her foot in her mouth. Lila seemed happy for
her.

“Li . . . something happened. I mean, last
night . . .”

Lila looked at her roommate. Millie knew she
was blushing. “You went to bed with Dick?”

Millie nodded. “I guess you could say I’m no
longer a virgin.”

“Wow. How was it?”

How was it? Not what she’d fantasized her
first time would be. But it wasn’t Dick’s fault. They had no place
private to go. On the way home, he parked at a place known as the
local lovers’ lane. The back seat of a car sounded romantic, but it
sure wasn’t comfortable. In moments, his hands roamed all over her.
She would have preferred to wait, but Dick wanted her then and
there. He told her how much he needed her and how she turned him
on. She couldn’t refuse. They got tangled up in their clothes and
Millie couldn’t seem to get past the logistics to be at ease. And
then—they lay in awkward silence. Millie stared out the window,
trying to ignore the painful ache in her groin. Dick hopped into
the front seat and drove back to Oly in silence.

“I guess it was nice,” she said.

“Oh, Millie, I’d be so scared. The thought of
having to . . . well, get naked and all. And then, how did you know
what to do?”

“You don’t have to worry about all that
stuff. Guys know. I guess this means I’m officially his
girlfriend.”

Lila hugged her. “Oh, Mil, I’m glad for
you.”

Lila had a hundred questions, but Millie
changed the subject.

“So, I hear casting starts next week. I’ve
just got to get that part, Lila. That means I’ll be in rehearsal
with Dick every day.”

Lila’s buried her nose in a textbook. “Don’t
worry. I’ll help you prepare for the audition.”

“Thanks, Li, but it’s such a big part.”

“You’ll get it. Even the character’s name is
Millie, too. It’s an omen, don’t you think? Do you want me to come
along for moral support?”

“Would you? And maybe while you’re there,
you’ll try out, too. There’re lots of small parts.”

“Stop nagging me already. I’m swamped with a
full load this semester. When would I have time for
rehearsals?”

Millie chuckled. “There’s always time for
rehearsals, you know that.”

“Not this time. My hours increased at Jo
Mama’s and I need the money. Speaking of which. . .” Lila looked at
her watch. “I’ve gotta get to work.” She pushed her books aside and
gathered her coat and scarf.

Millie waved. “Maybe I’ll pop in later for a
bite.”

The next week, with school back in session,
Lila walked with Millie to their classes.

“Have they picked the lead roles yet?” Lila
asked.

“Nope. Dick said there’s some big stink about
it. Administration B. S. But you can bet the parts will go to our
favorite couple.”

Lila thought about Davis and felt her face
get hot. For the past week, he invaded her dreams, dreams that grew
more sexually explicit each night. She watched for him each time
she entered the Communications building. If he said hi and flashed
that unreal smile, her knees about gave way. Her mind wandered when
she needed to concentrate on her homework. She berated herself for
giving in to such infantile emotions, to infatuation.

Millie entered the theatre in time to hear
Della yelling. Unable to make out the content of the argument, she
searched and found Dick in the wings. He took her hand and squeezed
it.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Della’s pissed. She came prepared to do the
lead and Reynolds informed her she can play Rosemary, the spinster
school teacher instead. She told him to shove it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They’re holding open auditions for other
students. That’s the final decision. There’ve been too many
complaints.”

“Then why is Davis still playing lead?”

“That’s exactly what Della said. Why were
they picking on her?” Dick shrugged. “But it’s not just the part of
Madge. Alan’s part is considered a lead also, so that one’s gotta
be farmed out too.”

“I thought you were going after that
role.”

“I was. But they offered me Howard instead. I
don’t care, really. I’m too busy with the city council to spend
time rehearsing all those scenes. I’m not even in the first act,
but I get plenty of lines.” He grinned. “And boy, will it be a kick
to play Della’s boyfriend this time. Davis, eat your heart
out.”

Millie watched Della gesture emphatically at
the instructor and then storm over to the drinking fountain. Millie
walked up to her.

“Hey, I’m sorry about the part.”

Della wiped her mouth and straightened. “Oh,
I really don’t care. This is a pretty stupid play, anyway. I’m just
pissed they’re doing this to me.”

“So, are you going to play Rosemary?”

“I’m not sure I’ll even bother. I’m sick of
all the politics. I’ll just finish up this lousy semester and then
I’m out of here.”

Millie didn’t know what to say. She hid her
pleasure at the thought that Dick wouldn’t be playing love scenes
with Della after all. “Well, Dick and I were thinking of heading to
Jo Mama’s after rehearsal. Wanna join us?”

“That’s where your friend works.
What’s-her-name?”

“Lila.”

“Yeah.” Della thought for a moment. “Why do
you hang out with her? She’s such a dork.”

Again, Millie fumbled for words. “She’s my
roommate. And she’s really nice, and smart. She memorizes plays
backwards and forwards.”

“That so?” Della turned her attention to the
stage, where Jon was speaking to the other actors. He caught her
eye and smiled.

Millie wasn’t sure Della was listening.
“Lila’s really a talented actress, too. I’ve heard her act out the
parts—she can do anything.”

“Then why is she in stagecraft? She scared of
performing?”

“It’s her dream to be on stage. She just
doesn’t have the confidence. But, she’s good. You’ve heard how
funny she is.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Della turned back to Millie.
“Well, I’ll see what Jon . . . and Davis and the guys want to do.
Maybe we’ll join you at Jo’s.”

Lila invented a new game for making her work
hours speed by at Jo Mamma’s. She put her body on auto pilot. As
she waited tables, she let her mind wander, treating herself to a
series of slow, dissolving montages, with romantic background
music. She and Davis kissing. She and Davis slowly undressing one
another. The two of them whispering love phrases to each other. Her
face moving into tight closeup with Davis . . .