Swingin' in the Rain (8 page)

  I wasn’t too sure about that. On the left were abandoned warehouses and industrial parks.

  “By the way, Alex, what did you tell Jakes about tonight?” Tonja asked.

  “I told him the truth. That I was going out to a club with you and George.”

  “How’d he take it?” George asked.

  “Fine.”

  “Fine?” he asked.

  “Yeah, fine. He’s working. He’s fine,” I said.

  George turned in his seat towards me.

  “You told him that you were going to a swinger’s club?”

  “Not exactly. I said I was going to a club.”

  George was quiet for a second. “He’s gonna be pissed,” he said simply. I shot him a look.

   “Maybe we took a wrong turn,” I said scanning the street. “Wait! There’s Patti!”

  She was dressed in very tight, white leather chaps with fringe all over. Her boobies were spilling out of her matching white leather vest and she was holding a white cowboy hat in her hand. I guess she was trying to be discreet by wearing a black overcoat. It wasn’t working.

  “OMG! Look at Patti!” George couldn’t contain himself. “She’s all in leather and fringe. And look at her boobs!”

  “Take it easy, George. You’re supposed to act cool. We don’t want to upset her.” Jeez. I can’t take him anywhere.

She pointed to a parking lot across the street as she ran across to meet us.

  “Pull in, George. Where that guy is,” I said as we drove up to a gated parking lot.

  There looked to be about 50 or so cars there already. Patti was speaking to the security guard in front of the gate. I saw her gesture towards our car and he nodded. He unlocked the gate and pulled it open. As we drove through I looked at Patti. She seemed nervous and kind of excited, too. She also had on a lot of make-up. Not the Patti I knew from work, at all.

  We pulled into a space the guard had indicated. I got out of the car and put on my coat. It was cold but I looked at the night sky and saw that it was clear.

  “We don’t need our umbrellas guys. It looks like a nice night for a change.” Tonja looked up and then threw her umbrella back in the car. We all walked over to Patti.

  “Did you guys bring your I.D.’s? You’ll need them to get in.” She looked at George with a mix of embarrassment and resignation. She also looked kind of pissed. “Hi, George,” she said.

  “Hey, Patti! You look so different. But good different. Really good. Wow. I never knew your boobs could do that.” I elbowed George in his ribs. He winced but thankfully shut up.

  “Hi Patti. I’m Tonja. I’ve been to a few of these clubs before. Well. . . I never did anything, though. I had a boyfriend who was into this lifestyle and so I went a couple of times. Followed him around. But just out of curiosity.” She wouldn’t stop. “I used to be a Lakers Cheerleader, in the nineties? The championship years? You wouldn’t believe the stuff players and even some of the cheerleaders were into. It was never really my thing, though. I’m a small town girl at heart, ya know. . .?”

  Patti wasn’t buying it.

  “Right. Follow me,” she said curtly as she led us across the street. Which, by the way, was completely deserted.

  As we approached the building I saw that it was indeed a warehouse. And it was huge. It had all sorts of graffiti painted on its walls; trash was strewn everywhere. It looked like some homeless people had set up camp; there were large boxes and a shopping cart filled with old clothes out front. I was feeling a little anxious about going into this place. I wasn’t sure what I expected but this was definitely not it. Patti stopped in front of a nondescript metal door.

  “Before we go in, there are a few things I need to tell you.” She looked at each of us closely. “I called the owner and said I was bringing some friends tonight that I would vouch for. So please, don’t do anything stupid. Such as do not, I repeat, do not take pictures with your phones. And,” she said, looking at George, “try not to look like what you’re seeing is shocking. George, you already look stunned and you haven’t seen anything, yet. Dial it down, okay? I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable here. These people come here to have fun and they need to feel safe.” I looked at George and he seemed insulted. “Also, don’t use your first names. Alex, we’ll call you April tonight. George, you can be John.”

  “I don’t want to be John, Patti. I want to be hmmm... Fabrizio!”

  Patti rolled her eyes. “Fine. You’re Fabrizio. Tonja is Tina. Okay? And just in case, if you happen to see someone you know, please don’t run up to them and make a scene. Discretion is everything.”

  What she said made perfect sense. I pulled my coat around me and glanced at Tina and (God) Fabrizio. “Ready? Let’s go!” Then I reached for the door’s handle.

  Patti stopped me. “Not so fast. There’s something else you need to know. Chick’s rule here.”

  Okay, I thought to myself. “What does that mean, exactly?” I asked.

  “Women call the shots at these clubs. What they say goes. So you ladies can go where you want but George here has to be with a woman at all times. No single men allowed wandering around. And no touching without permission.”

  “Are you kidding? Patti, we’re here to observe not participate.” Then I looked at Tonja. “Right, Tonja?”

  “Yes, of course!” she said with wide, innocent eyes. “I told you this isn’t my thing.”

  “Anyway,” Patti continued, “I’ll walk you through and show you around. Just do as I say. Did you bring cash? I don’t think you’ll want this to come up on your credit card.”

  “I’ve got it, I said as I went for my purse. “This is on me.”

  “Thanks, Alex,” George said.

  “Yeah, thank you! These places can be a little pricey, right Patti?” Tonja asked.

  Patti looked at her and answered in a matter of fact way. “I guess that depends on how much you think having every fantasy you’ve ever had...fulfilled...is worth.”

  We all looked at each other as she opened the door and gestured with her hand. “Shall we?” she asked.

  I took a deep breath and walked in.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Hello! Welcome!” a warm, silky voice said.

  The walls of the small anteroom were draped in dark blue velvet curtains. The whole place was very dark. As my eyes adjusted I could see an attractive woman in her thirties sitting behind a mahogany desk. A large fleur-de-lis, like the one Randy had tattooed on his arm, was carved into the front of it. A small dragonfly Tiffany lamp sat on the desk barely illuminating her pale face. She had dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing a black cowboy hat. She got up and walked across a tapestry rug to the front of the desk to greet us. She was wearing a tight, halter style, black leather jumpsuit. Her breasts looked like they were ready to spill out.

  “I knew I should have worn a jumpsuit!” George whispered to me.

  “Hi, Natalie. These are the friends I told you about,” Patti said.

  Natalie held out a pale, almost translucent, hand to each of us. Her fingers were thin and tapered and her nails were long and painted in a bright red color. She wasn’t just attractive, she was stunning.

  “Hello, again, and welcome to Trois ou Plus. I assume Vivica told you about our rules?” She looked to each of us and we looked at each other. Who the hell was Vivica? Patti interjected, “Yes. I told them everything they need to know. They’ll be fine.”

  “Good. That will be three hundred dollars. Cash please,” Natalie said holding out her hand.

  Wow. $300.00. “Is that three hundred apiece or what?” I asked her.

  “Total. We generally charge one hundred and fifty per ‘couple’. And since there are four of you...”

  I reached into my purse and pulled out three one hundred dollar bills and handed them to her. As I did, she held my hand just a little too long. Oh right! Girls rule.

  “Thank you,” she said to me, smiling with her dark exotic eyes. “There’s a bar down the hall and to the left, past all the theme rooms.”

  George and I nudged each other. “Theme” rooms? “There’s also a dance floor in there. The DJ will be starting in about...” she looked at her diamond studded Rolex, “...about twenty minutes or so.”

  DJ? Honestly, a DJ? I thought to myself.

  She reached for a crystal bowl that sat on her desk.

  “Just in case?” She passed the bowl to each of us.

  “How nice. Breath mints,” George said reaching into the bowl. P

  Patti swatted his hands. “They’re not breath mints, Fabrizio.”

  “Well, what are they...Vivica?”

  “They’re condoms. Safe sex or no sex.”

  “Of course! Always safe sex,” I said as I grabbed a few. I threw a couple to George and Tonja.

  “Wrists, please,” Natalie said as she opened a drawer and pulled out a stamp. We all dutifully held out our arms as she stamped the fleur-de-lis on the inside of each of our wrists. Whatever they were using made the ink very dark and precise, like a tattoo.

  Patti walked over to another door and opened it. A heavy curtain hung from the ceiling. As she pulled it aside Natalie said, “It’s still early. There aren’t too many people here, yet. Give it another hour. Oh, and have fun.” She had a small smile on her face as she turned back to sit down.

  We walked through the curtain and the door closed behind us. I suddenly felt like I was stepping into another world as I walked into the long dark hallway. It was empty and the walls were painted black and had small dimly lit sconces on either side. I could make out maybe four or five closed doors on the left with signs on them. On the right maybe two more doors. Each door had a small window next to it. 

  George reached for my hand. “What have you gotten me into, you crazy woman?” he whispered.

  “Are you kidding me? You begged to come along. Don’t blame me if this freaks you out.”

“Just kidding. This’ll be fun.” He looked at me, worried. “Won’t it?” I wasn’t so sure what I’d call it. Patti turned around. “You coming?” she asked me.

  “Yeah, of course. But what is this all about? What does this have to do with Randy’s murder?”

  “Shhhhh.” Patti grabbed my hand pulled me into a corner. “I told you, just like I told the cops,” she insisted, “I don’t know anything about Randy’s death.”

  Just then three couples exited a room down the hallway. They were laughing. Patti abruptly stopped talking and put on a smile. It looked more like a grimace, actually. The couples disappeared through another door further down the hall.

  Patti glanced around nervously making sure no one was near us. “I just thought you should know a little more about your ex-husband. Maybe it’ll lead somewhere. Now, I’ll show you around and that’s that. You’re the amateur detective. You figure it out.” She looked around again. “C’mon. I’m in a hurry.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Let’s go!” Patti whispered as she led the way. I wasn’t exactly sure why we were being so sneaky, but I took Patti’s lead.

  George and I headed down the hallway with Tonja following behind. I stopped at the first door and saw a sign that said Director’s Room. I moved to the window, took a peek and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was a raised platform at the front of the room surrounded by maybe 10 – 15 mattresses. One guy was sitting in a director’s chair and a handful of people were on the beds engaging in things I’d only seen on Animal Planet. I must have looked shocked because George took off his hat and used it to push me out of the way.

  “I wanna see! Move over.” He looked in the window and screamed hoarsely.

  “Shut up George!” Patti hissed. “Remember what I said? Get it together.” She pushed him out of the way.

  “What the heck was that, anyway? Did you see that guy’s...” George asked.

  “Just what it says on the door, George. It’s the Director’s Room,” Patti explained. “The guy on the dais is ...observing. The couples down below like to be observed. If you don’t like who’s watching you, you leave.”

  Then the door opened and a couple came out adjusting their costumes. I looked away, kind of embarrassed. They didn’t seem to mind at all.

  “Hi, y’all!” the woman said. She did a double take and then said, “Oh hiiiii.” And smiled at me.

  “Hi, there.” I answered.

  She was an attractive woman in her forties and looked kind of familiar but I couldn’t place her.

  Her date pulled her away, saying, “Let’s get a drink and go to the Doctor’s office.”

  “Again?” she replied. “I’ve had enough of that. I wanna go to jail.” She pulled him close to her body. “You’ve been a very bad boy and I think you need to be locked up.”

   She put her arm around him tightly as they walked away.

  “Okay, I guess it’s jail for me!” he agreed.

   She turned back and looked at me again and gave a little wave. Okay, that was kind of gross.

  They disappeared into a room further down the hall. George looked like he was about to implode. “Do you know who that was?” He was swinging his hat around wildly. “That was Carla Miller. The channel five newscaster!”

   “Aww. So that’s where I’d seen her before”, I said. She had recognized me and must have thought I was partying, too. Oops.

  “Let’s keep moving,” Patti said, giving George a dirty look. She headed down the hall. I looked behind me and saw that Tonja was still glued to the window.

  “Tina, you coming?”