Separating Riches (23 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Family Movie Night — Norma
, George, Felicia, Chris
and
Melinda

The masquerade ball was only a few days away, and I couldn’t decide who to go as. Chris, bless her heart, is going as me, so it would be too egotistical to go as myself, and frankly, I didn’t want to. It’s bad enough that Felicia borrowed my Oscar statue to use as a decoration, not that anyone would know whose name that is on it. I just didn’t want to be one of those old Hollywood actresses who think that they still shine in the spotlight. Unlike some actresses I’ve seen in the tabloids, I could never dress as the beautiful Marilyn Monroe. My wrinkles would be too frightening to see when the short, white dress blew up in the wind. Melinda is going as Katharine Hepburn, which is perfect because she reminds me of a young Hepburn. George hasn’t made up his mind yet either, but he will most likely dress as Rock Hudson or Cary Grant. He has the shoulders for it.

“Good morning, Norma, Felicia,” George said as he walked in. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I’m having my old ladies’ breakfast of orange juice and bran flakes. I’ve been a little irregular lately.” I waited to see if George would flinch.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Maybe I should have some bran flakes also,” he joked, never missing a beat.

“George, have you decided what you’re going to wear to the party yet?” Felicia asked.

“Well, I was thinking about going as Rock Hudson, but now I’m leaning more toward Errol Flynn from one of his swashbuckling movies.”

“Oh, yes,” I agreed. “You’d look dashing as a swashbuckler.”

“What about you, Norma? Have you decided yet?”

“I’m leaning toward Charlie Chaplin as the hobo. I already walk like him, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to look like him, too.”

“You would be absolutely adorable as Charlie Chaplin,” Felicia said.

“And with the mask on, no one would know it was me in a man’s suit with a bowler hat on. So, don’t tell the girls. I’d like to see if they can figure out that it’s me behind the mask.”

“Sure, but won’t they know that it’s you when they see you coming out of your bedroom?” George asked.

“No, they won’t because they will be leaving early with me to make last-minute arrangements,” Felicia interjected.

“And I’ll come along a tad bit later,” I added.

George nodded. “Well then, may I escort you to the ball, Norma?”

“That would be divine,” I said, smiling.

“What would be divine?” Chris asked as she walked into the dining room, looking fresh and bubbly.

Melinda came dragging in after her, yawning and scratching her butt. As crass as some people might find that, I find it quite endearing. It’s a sign of complete trust for those around her. Of course, once she realized that Felicia was in the room, her whole demeanor changed and she was suddenly wide awake. It was quite comical to watch the transformation.

“My costume for the ball,” George answered.

“Who did you decide to go as, George?” Melinda asked, peeking over her shoulder at Felicia.

“
The Gay Cavalier,
of course,” he replied.

“Oh, dear, that was my idea also,” I teased, with a wink to George.

“I must still be half asleep,” Melinda said, guzzling her soda. “Did you just say you wanted to go as the Cisco Kid?”

Shocked, I said, “More importantly, dear, you know who the Cisco Kid was?”

“Oh, yeah, Norma, I was something of an insomniac as a teenager, and when I was forced to be at home, I would sit up at night watching old black and white movies.”

“Oh, I use to do that, too,” Chris exclaimed. “We should do that together, sometime.”

“I’d love that. I’ll pop some popcorn,” Melinda said.

“Is this a private affair or could any of us join your movie night?” I asked.

“That’s a great idea, Norma,” Chris declared. “We’ll make it a weekly thing, a family night in.”

“Yeah, like when we watched your first sci-fi movie, Norma.”

“It sounds like fun,” I said. “The family night in, that is, not watching my films.”

“Oh, no, the first movie we rent will be your Oscar winning film,
Mr. Washburne Takes a Wife
,” Melinda said.

“We don’t have to rent it, Melinda. I just bought that movie yesterday,” Chris said. “I was at the mall looking for costume jewelry that would go with your gown from the movie, Norma, and found the movie instead. I was going to ask if you wanted to watch it with me.”

“Well…”

“Great. I’ll go make some popcorn,” Melinda said, jumping up and leaving the room.

“But we’re eating breakfast,” I countered.

“I’ll get the sodas,” George said, jumping up and following Melinda.

“And I’ll get the movie,” Chris said, following the other two.

“I’ll just sit here and enjoy my breakfast,” Felicia stated.

Shaking my head, I said to myself, “I don’t think I was ever that young.”

Prepping — Melinda
and
Chris

Finally, the day of the party had arrived. I was so anxious to get this over with and get on with my life, which is surprising, because I used to relish getting revenge on someone who had hurt me. And that was just for mental pain, not physical, like drugging me, and making me do things that almost mortally wounded my marriage. Strike that, the bastard must pay.

Surprisingly, my father had agreed to attend our little soirée. He hadn’t been very forthcoming when I questioned him on the phone about the blackmail payoff from my college days. I’m hoping to corner him in person and get him to tell me what’s really going on, because I know there’s more to it than what he’s telling me. Not sinister stuff, like John was hiding, but confusing stuff, like why he didn’t have John arrested for blackmail. My father is not usually so magnanimous toward people who blackmail us. So, to coin a phrase, I am going to kill two sharks with one stone; my father and John.

The costume shop gave me a list of names and what each person would be wearing. There were twenty-five college students who had picked up a costume, and I had invited Charlotte, Konani, and Baylee-Ann to the event, plus my father’s butler, Charles. But he declined once he learned that my father would be there. John’s name wasn’t on the list, which meant that he either decided not to come, or to use his own costume. My father insisted on bringing his bodyguard with him, because of John. I told him that the John I remembered was a pantywaist, afraid of his own shadow.

I finally received the latest blackmail photos in the mail, but I haven’t told anyone about them yet. Grainy copies of me supposedly making love to Tori on the pool table. It was surreal, looking at those pictures and not remembering any of it. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear that Tori went any further than showing her boobs, but I could see what Chris saw when she walked in on us. I don’t blame her for flying home to her parents. If it had been the opposite, and I had walked in on her with Tori, I would have flown home to Vegas and gotten totally wasted. The note attached to the photographs said that they wanted one million dollars or the photos would go to the newspapers. To me that was laughable. If I weren’t married, I wouldn’t even give it a second thought. But I am, and I have my wife, and a new reputation to protect. If things go according to plan tonight, John will be exposed for the douchebag that he is, and those pictures will disappear into the shredder bin. I have to admit though, that I have a twinge of sympathy for John’s wife. Maybe I could set her up with a good job and help her get on with her life.

As I was dressing in my costume — a covert cloth, men’s suit, a replica of one that Katharine Hepburn liked to wear — Chris walked out of the bathroom and over to the closet, where the dress she was wearing tonight, hung from the door. Her hair was gathered in a bun, just as Norma wore hers in the movie.

“Oh, wow,” she exclaimed, looking at me. “You look fantastic in that suit. That blue really brings out the sparkle in your eyes,” she said, and then unwrapped the towel she was wearing and threw it on the chair.

“I don’t think it’s the suit that’s doing that,” I said, looking at my wife standing there wearing only a pair of rose-colored panties.

“All right now, we don’t have time for what you’re thinking.”

“Ah, couldn’t we find the time?” I asked, moving closer to her and mentally groping her bare breasts, which only served to stoke the fire.

She took a step back and said, “Be a good girl and I’ll make it up to you after the party, okay?”

“Well, all right, I guess. But that’s such a long time off,” I moaned.

“Maybe so, but by then you’ll be more than ready to satisfy your horny libido,” she said liltingly.

“Would that it were so easy,” I retorted.

Chris slipped into the sequin dress, adjusted those adorable titties of hers, so that they wouldn’t slip out from under the very deep slit down the front of the dress.
Oh man, this is going to be torture!

Prepping — Chris,
Melinda
and
Norma

Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around my midsection to stay warm while I dried my hair with the hair dryer. The day had finally arrived, and I was so nervous that my eyelid twitched. I had lived on the streets of Memphis for a very short period of time, and knew how drunks acted, because I was one. Some of them, like me, were docile and passive, but some were monsters. I got the feeling from his wife that John was an abusive drunk, and if we expose him for the blackmailer he is, then he might not need alcohol to let his temper get the best of him. Melinda doesn’t see it that way, but she’s remembering the studious young man from college. Life can change people, leaving them with a choice to make. I choose to be positive and find a way to make life easier for other people. It sounds like John has chosen to be negative and make life miserable for anyone around him. I prefer to avoid those types of people, because quite honestly, they frighten me. Thankfully, Mr. Blackstone insisted on bringing his bodyguard. I’ve never seen him travel with a bodyguard before, but maybe he was there and I never noticed. I’m just glad he will be there tonight to protect my mother and Norma.

After watching Norma’s movie the other day, I put my hair up in a bun and painted my lips a bright red to match the color of the lipstick in the movie. In the movie, she also wore a beautiful ruby necklace and bracelet, with matching earrings. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything that looked similar to what she wore, so I wore pearls instead. It wasn’t a bad combination, but it wasn’t a true representation of Norma in her Academy Award winning performance. I could only hope she wouldn’t be too disappointed.

Walking out of the bathroom, I immediately noticed Melinda in her costume. Just like Hepburn, Melinda’s femininity was not obscured by the man’s suit she was wearing. The wide-legged creased trousers were a medium light blue, and the cotton shirt was white, with a replica of Hepburn’s good luck horse pin covering the top button around her neck. The vest was a medium dark blue. The jacket was the same color as the slacks and had one pocket over the right breast and two hip pockets. It had been fitted for Melinda’s frame, and the length of the jacket hung down to her hips, making Melinda look thinner. She was so cute when she struck a pose, one hand in a pocket, the other holding a fake cigarette. It was actually an eatable hard candy. She finished eating it then picked up another one.

“They didn’t know in Hepburn’s day, that smoking was bad for them,” I stated. “But we do know today, that too much sugar is bad for you, too.”

She bit off the end of the second candy stick and popped me on the butt. “You’re going to make a really great mother, someday,” she teased.

“Are you implying that I’m nagging you?” I asked, as I took off the towel.

Melinda was suddenly quiet, and I noticed that she couldn’t take her eyes off of me, which pleased me greatly, of course. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for what she wanted, and I was kicking myself when I had to tell her no. Especially after that crack about me mothering her. I promised her that I would make it up to her after the party. I just hope everything goes all right.

I slipped into the dress and adjusted everything. I was taken aback at just how deep that front slit went. It’s one thing to see it in a movie on a beautiful woman like Norma, but quite another when it’s my own body exposed for all the world to see. I made a mental note not to bend over tonight. The zipper was in the back and Melinda made quite a few flirtatious advances as she zipped me up. My butt cheek will be tingling for hours now.

There was a knock on the door, and we heard Norma ask if we were decent. Melinda informed her that one of us was.

“Let me guess,” Norma said, as Melinda opened the door. “You weren’t talking about yourself.”

“Norma, that’s down right spooky how you know me so well,” Melinda joked.

Norma looked Melinda up and down. “You look just like Katharine with those hollow cheeks and piercing eyes. You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you, Norma,” Melinda said. “But here’s the real beauty.” Melinda waved a hand at me and Norma turned around.