Blood Games

CHAPTER TEN

It was Abilene’s idea that they move the Wagoneer to the side of the lodge, where it would be out of sight in case anyone should drive up from the road. Cops, teenagers looking for a place to make out, anyone might come along. It just wouldn’t be smart to give away their presence by leaving the car out front. The others agreed. But Cora suggested they unload it first.

‘I don’t think we should,’ Abilene said. ‘Why don’t we leave everything in the car — use it like a base camp?’

‘That’s a lot of trouble,’ Cora said.

‘What if we have to make a quick getaway?’

‘You worry too much.’

‘We’ve already had one visitor,’ Vivian said.

‘If we need to take off fast,’ Abilene continued, ‘we don’t want to be messing around with our luggage.’

‘Or leaving it behind,’ Vivian said.

‘Why don’t we keep the car packed and ready to roll? Just take in whatever we really need.’

‘Makes sense to me,’ Finley said.

‘So what do we do,’ Cora asked, ‘troop back and forth to the car every time we want to change clothes?’

‘That’s the general idea.’

‘Sheesh.’ She picked up her bundle of clothes.

After stowing the ice chest and the box of drinks and snacks in the rear of the Wagoneer, they all climbed in. Helen drove to the north end of the lodge. There, the lane of cracked concrete slanted downward.

As Helen steered toward the slope, Cora said, ‘Hold it. Everyone’s so worried about quick escapes, maybe you oughta go down tail first.’

‘Good idea,’ Abilene said.

Helen moaned as if she didn’t care much for the plan. But she swung away from the slope, drove forward to the edge of the pavement, then slowly backed her way down past the end of the porch, past the corner of the lodge.

‘That’s good enough,’ Cora said.

She set the emergency brake, shifted to Park, and killed the engine.

They had a hard time pushing open their doors. Once they were out, gravity dropped the doors shut.

Vivian tugged hers open again, apparently just to see if she could. From the look on her face, it wasn’t easy. ‘Oh, yeah,’ she muttered. ‘This’ll be great for speedy getaways. One of us could lose a foot.’

‘At least it’s hidden,’ Abilene said.

They lurched downhill to the rear of the car. Beyond it, Abilene saw the rows of windows that had lighted one corner of the inside pool in such a grand fashion. She could see the ends of both porches. And the north side of the grounds, including the swimming pool with its diving boards and slide. She gazed along the edge of the forest. She saw nobody.

Helen opened the tailgate.

‘I don’t know about you guys,’ Finley said, ‘but I gotta take a leak.’

‘Me, too,’ Abilene said.

‘Maybe we should all take care of it,’ Vivian suggested.

Helen crawled into the car. She came out with a roll of toilet paper. She tore off strips and handed them around.

Abilene held up a hand as if refusing. ‘I’ll just use the Hardin method,’ she said.

‘Hog!’

Laughing, she took the offered paper.

They wandered into the woods, fanned out, and returned to the car when they were done.

‘Okay,’ Abilene said. ‘Let’s get to it’

‘And what will we be allowed to take with us?’ Cora asked.

‘Dinner and the stove,’ Helen said.

‘The booze,’ Finley added.

‘Flashlights,’ Abilene said. ‘And the lantern. It’ll be dark before long.’

‘If we don’t hurry,’ Vivian said, ‘we’ll be cooking in the dark.’

Leaning against the side of the car, Cora stepped into her panties and shorts. She joined the others at the rear, tossed her socks and bra toward the back seat, and helped with the unloading.

‘Where do we want to make dinner?’ Abilene asked.

‘In the kitchen?’ Finley said.

‘Oh, right.’

‘This kind of stove isn’t safe to use indoors,’ Helen pointed out.

‘Maybe we should cook out front on the driveway,’ Vivian said. ‘The black’s too exposed, you know? And that’s where the kid went.’

‘You and the kid,’ Cora muttered. ‘My God, we just moved the car so it couldn’t be seen from the front, and you want to make supper there?’

‘I don’t think it would hurt to cook inside,’ Abilene said. ‘With so many broken windows, there isn’t much danger of the fumes getting us.’

Finley nodded. ‘Yeah. Let’s do it civilized indoors.’

They carried the boxes and equipment up the slope and entered the lodge by its front door. The faint light from the windows left the lobby in deep gloom. They put down their loads. Cora crouched over the Coleman lantern. Soon, its gas was hissing loudly, its twin mantles glaring behind the glass chimney. By the stark pale brightness of the lantern, they lit the gas stove and prepared a simple dinner of hot dogs.

They sat on the floor in a circle, sipping margaritas as they ate the franks.

‘A good, healthy meal,’ Vivian said.

‘At least it was easy,’ Abilene said. ‘Sometimes, I think I spend half my life cooking.’

‘The other half doing dishes,’ Helen added.

‘Doesn’t Harris help out?’ Cora asked. ‘Tony and I take turns with all the chores.’

‘Both of you work, though,’ Abilene said.

‘Going for a Ph.D. isn’t work?’

‘I’m home a lot. He doesn’t get in till about six. I like to have something nice waiting for him.’

‘I do all the cooking, too,’ Helen said.

‘Whatever happened to women’s lib?’ Cora asked.

‘The guys who go in for it are all a bunch of wooses,’ Finley said.

‘You saying Tony’s a woos?’

‘Hell, you’d probably beat him up if he gave you any crap about sharing chores.’

‘That’s a good one,’ Abilene said. Tony, a physical education teacher and football coach at the same high school where Cora taught girls’ P.E. and coached basketball, outweighed her by at least fifty pounds. As strong as Cora was, a fight between the two would be no contest.

‘He never gives me any trouble,’ Cora said. ‘He likes to cook.’

‘We should’ve brought him along,’ Helen said.

‘If you didn’t want to spend your life cooking,’ Finley told her, ‘you shouldn’t have gotten oiarried.’

‘Don’t you eat?’ Helen asked.

‘Not at home, that’s for sure. Hardly ever, anyway. I usually have a big lunch at the studio or on location — whatever. Then I go somewhere for Happy Hour. The places I go, you get all sorts of free food with your drinks. Potato skins, buffalo wings, meatballs, all that good stuff.’

‘You have that instead of dinner?’ Helen asked, grinning. ‘Hey, it’s great. And I usually go out with guys a few times a week.’

‘Anyone special?’ Abilene asked.

Finley grinned. ‘They’re all special.’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘I like variety,’ she said, and chomped down on her hot dog. ‘But wouldn’t you like to settle down and get married, have kids?’

‘Barf,’ she said through her hot dog. ‘Who needs it?’

‘Right on,’ Cora said. ‘The beginning of the end.’

‘Is not,’ Abilene said.

‘Are you telling me you like being tied down?’

‘I’m not “tied down.” ’

‘Yeah, right.’

‘My God, Cora, you’ve got a good job. Tony’s a terrific guy…’

‘He cooks for you,’ Helen pointed out.

‘What’s the problem?’ Abilene asked.

‘It’s all a big bore, that’s the problem. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love Tony. We get along great. We do stuff on our time off.’ She shook her head. ‘It just isn’t enough. Where’s the excitement, you know?’

‘That’s what we’re here for,’ Finley told her.

‘Exactly.’

‘You’ve just got it too good,’ Vivian said. ‘You have everything a woman could want…

‘Except kids,’ Abilene put in.

‘Oh, spare me. That’s just what I’d need. Rug rats.’

‘I’m serious,’ Vivian went on. ‘If you think life’s so boring, it’s only because you don’t have any serious problems.’

‘Or serious ambition,’ Abilene added.

‘Oh, give me a break.’

‘Maybe you need some kind of goal in life,’ Abilene said. ‘What’s yours?’ Helen asked.

‘Yeah, Hickok. Planning to syndicate an advice column?’

‘I’m going to finish my Ph.D. and get a job at a nice university somewhere

‘Like Belmore?’ Helen asked.

‘Anyplace that’ll take me. Harris has already agreed that he’ll go wherever I can find a position. And once I’ve got tenure, I’ll have a kid.’

‘You’ve got it all mapped out,’ Cora said, sounding a little disgusted.

‘I know what I want. And I’m sure not bored with my life.’

‘Well, good for you.’

Vivian sighed. ‘Geez, Cora, you just don’t know how good you’ve got it.’

‘Want to trade?’

‘You betcha.’

‘Tony’d love that.’

Helen stared at Vivian, frowning. ‘Are you kidding? Why on earth would you want to trade with anyone? My God, you’ve gotta be joking.’

‘Oh, yeah. I’ve got the world on a string.’ She set down the uneaten remains of her hot dog, and raised her left hand toward Helen. ‘What do you think of my lovely ring?’

Her hand was bare.

‘What ring?’

‘That’s the point.’

‘You’re upset because you’re not married?’ Helen sounded astonished.

‘Wouldn’t you be? God, I’m twenty-five.’

‘Enjoy your freedom while you’ve got it,’ Cora told her.

‘It isn’t freedom, it’s loneliness.’

‘You could take your pick of men,’ Helen said. ‘I mean, look at you. You’re… stunning.’

‘It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.’

‘I’m gonna start weeping,’ Finley said. ‘It must be so tough on you, being gorgeous.’

‘You’ll never know,’ Abilene told her.

‘You’re no cover girl, yourself, Hickok.’

‘Guys treat me funny,’ Vivian said. ‘You’ve all seen how they act. It’s like I’m not a person. Hell, look at the stunt those Sigs pulled.’

‘Look at the stunt we pulled,’ Finley said.

‘Man, oh man.’ Cora grinned as she shook her head.

‘They do act strange around her,’ Abilene said.

‘They do, and it’s… I’m tired of it. I’m really tired of it. All I ever attract are weirdos and slick bastards who think they’re God’s gift to women. All the normal, nice guys just run the other way. They don’t even give me a chance. It’s like they’re scared of me.’

‘If it bothers you so much,’ Finley said, ‘put on a hundred pounds.’

‘I’ve thought about it.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Abilene said.

‘There’d go your career,’ Cora said.

‘Hey, she could model tents.’

‘If you think you’ve got troubles now,’ Helen said, ‘just try being a tub.’ With a glance at Finley, she added, ‘You get stuff like tent jokes. You get people crapping on you from every direction.’

‘Geez,’ Finley said, ‘I didn’t mean anything.’

‘Yeah. They never do.’

‘At least you’ve got a man, Helen.’

‘Yeah, Viv, I sure do. And he never lets up on me. All I ever hear about is how fat and gross I am. If I looked like you… I’d be the happiest person in the world.’

‘I doubt it.’

‘Has anybody ever called you “Poiky”? ’ How would you like to have a husband who won’t take you out of the house because he’s ashamed to be seen with you?’ Helen’s voice began to tremble. ‘How would you like a husband who won’t even sleep in the same bed because he says you might roll over and squish him?’

‘Jesus H. Christ,’ Finley muttered.

Abilene felt sick.

‘Does Frank really act that way?’ Vivian asked.

‘The bastard,’ Cora said.

Starting to sob, Helen stammered, ‘He… he says… says I’m repulsive.’

‘He’s the repulsive one,’ Cora snapped. ‘Why’d the bastard marry you if he felt that way?’

‘I don’t know. I wasn’t so… heavy when we started going together.’

‘You were never exactly svelte,’ Finley said.

‘But I got bigger. After we were married. If you wanta know the truth, I think he was… mostly interested in my money.’

‘You think he married you because of your inheritance?’ Abilene asked.

Helen nodded, sniffed, and wiped her nose. ‘He just… pretended to love me.’

‘You don’t know that for sure,’ Vivian said.

‘No. But… he doesn’t love me. Not any more. Probably never did. If he loved me, it shouldn’t have made any difference when I… put on more weight. I think he just got tired of faking it. He moooos at me. Like I’m a cow.’

‘Bastard,’ Cora said.

‘You oughta dump him,’ Finley suggested.

‘Oh, sure.’

‘I mean it.’

‘Yeah,’ Cora said, if somebody treated me like that…’

‘I don’t wanta… be alone.’

‘There are other men,’ Abilene told her.

‘Oh, sure. Not when you look like me.’

Abilene reached out and rubbed her shoulder. ‘Hey, there are plenty of guys out there. They’re not all creeps.’

‘Only ninety per cent of them,’ Vivian said.

‘Those aren’t such bad odds,’ Abilene said. ‘That’d mean a hundred out of a thousand are okay.’

‘I’ll never find anybody,’ Helen muttered, I’d… rather have Frank than no one.’

‘There are guys out there,’ Abilene repeated. ‘All you’ve got to do is find the right one.’

‘Yeah,’ Finley said. ‘Remember what’s-his-face? The poet?’

‘Maxwell?’

‘Right, Maxwell Charron.’

‘Max,’ Cora said. ‘I wonder what he’s up to, these days.’

‘He wouldn’t even remember me,’ Helen said.

‘That’s ridiculous,’ Abilene told her. ‘You two were in love. He’d remember you.’

‘He dumped me, remember?’

‘He didn’t dump you. He transferred to USC because his mother was sick.’

‘Yeah, but… he didn’t keep in touch.’

‘I bet we could find him,’ Cora said.

‘What’s the use.’

‘You never know. Maybe he’s available.’

‘Whether he is or isn’t,’ Abilene said, ‘the important thing is that there are guys like him around. You don’t have to be stuck with Frank forever. It’s not a question of him or no one.’

‘I don’t know,’ Helen muttered.

‘Do you still love him?’

She nodded. ‘That’s what makes it… so awful.’

‘Get skinny,’ Finley said.

‘Do you think I haven’t tried? The more I try, the heavier I get.’

‘Then you just aren’t trying hard enough,’ Finley said. ‘All you’ve gotta do is eat less.’

‘Sure. That’s all.’

‘She’s right,’ Cora said. ‘In spite of all the psychological matters involved, what it comes down to is a simple matter of calorie intake. Eat less, exercise, and you’ll lose weight.’

‘I know all that.’

‘Easier said than done,’ Abilene said.

‘Right,’ Helen said. And leaned forward. And poked her fork into the last hot dog sizzling on the skillet. And, not bothering with a bun, guided the frank toward her mouth.

Abilene grabbed her wrist.

‘Hey,’ Helen said.

‘Do you really want to eat that?’

‘Does somebody else want it?’

The others shook their heads.

‘Then it’ll just go to waste.’

‘Eat it,’ Finley said, ‘and it’ll go to your waist.’

‘Very funny.’

‘She’s right,’ Cora said. ‘Look, why don’t you let us help you? The flight home isn’t for five more days. I’ll bet you could lose seven or eight pounds by then.’

Abilene plucked the hot dog off the tines of Helen’s fork, bit off its end, and passed it to Finley.

‘Real cute,’ Helen muttered as Finley took a bite.

‘We’re helping you,’ Finley said with a mouthful. She handed the remaining half of the hot dog to Cora.

‘Whether you like it or not,’ Cora said, bit, and passed the stub to Vivian.

Vivian popped it into her mouth.

‘This is a vacation,' Helen protested. ‘How’m I supposed to have fun if I’m starving?’

‘You won’t starve,’ Cora told her.

‘Besides,’ Abilene said, it’s not really a vacation, it’s an adventure.’

it’s my adventure. And it is a vacation. You don’t diet when you’re on vacation.’

‘You do,’ Cora said. ‘Starting right now.’ it won’t make any difference.’

‘Sure it will,’ Abilene said, if you lose a few pounds, you’ll feel a lot better about yourself.’ it won’t even show.’

‘Sure it will.’

‘It’s a start,’ Abilene said. ‘By the time you step aboard that jet in Burlington, you’ll know that you can lose weight. All you’ve gotta do is keep at it.’

‘Pretty soon,’ Finley said, ‘Frank’ll be calling you “slim.” ’

‘I’ve got an idea,’ Vivian said. ‘Helen has a point about how losing a few pounds won’t show all that much on her.’ She faced Helen, narrowed her eyes. ‘Is there any reason you have to get back to Portland right away?’

Helen shrugged. ‘I don’t guess so.’

‘Then why don’t we change your ticket? You can fly back to L.A. with me. I’ve got a guest room in my condo. You can spend a couple of weeks — a couple of months — whatever it takes. Stay as long as you want. We’ll get that weight off you. By the time Frank sees you again, you’ll be looking terrific.’

‘That’s a great idea!’ Cora said.

‘I don’t know,’ Helen muttered.

‘Come on. We’ll have a great time.’

‘You don’t want me in the way.’

‘You wouldn’t be in the way of anything. It’ll be fun to have you around. I’ll keep my schedule light. We can go to Disneyland, Knotts, do the Universal tour.’

‘Don’t forget the wax museums,’ Finley added. ‘I know two of them with terrific Chambers of Horror. She’d love ’em. Hell, I could take her to those.’

‘Yeah. Fin’s only a half hour drive from my place. We can show you around together.’

‘This is sounding better and better,’ Abilene said. ‘Wish I could come along.’

‘Do,’ Vivian told her.

‘Can’t. I’ve got a graduate seminar in Dickens that starts in a couple of weeks. Besides, Harris would start climbing the walls.’ Cora huffed. ‘See what I mean about being tied down?’

‘Okay. Put it this way. I’d start climbing the walls. I’d miss him too much.’

‘How about you?’ Vivian asked Cora.

‘No way. Me in L.A.? Crowds, traffic, smog, earthquakes? Not a chance.’

Finley chuckled. ‘She’s just afraid Tony might put his foot down.’

‘Bull. Tony has nothing to do with it. I’d have to be nuts to spend time in L.A. when I can be home in Aspen.’

‘Good point,’ Abilene said.

‘I don’t think I should do it, anyway,’ Helen said. ‘I mean, I appreciate the offer. I really do. But… even if I can lose enough weight to make any difference…’

‘You can,’ Vivian assured her. ‘I know you can.’

‘It’d take a long time.’

‘So?’ Cora said.

‘Frank…’

‘Screw Frank,’ Finley said.

‘You’re miserable with him, anyway,’ Abilene pointed out. ‘For Godsake, go with Vivian. It’s a great opportunity. Lose some of that weight. Lose it, and then go back to Frank. If he doesn’t start treating you right, forget him.’

‘Dump his sorry ass,’ Finley said.

Helen grimaced. ‘I don’t know.’

‘You don’t have to make up your mind right this instant,’ Vivian told her. ‘Just think about it, okay?’

‘And in the meantime,’ Cora said, ‘we’ll see to it that you knock off a few pounds while we’re here.’

‘I guess… it wouldn’t hurt to think about it.’

‘Great,’ Finley said. ‘Now. What’s for dessert?’

She was seated on the floor between Abilene and Cora. They both struck out. Cora, quicker, hit her first. The two rough, open-handed shoves rocked her from side to side.

‘Hey hey hey! Easy on the merchandise! I was just kidding, for Godsake!’

Helen sighed. ‘Remember those sundaes they had at the Delight?’

‘Oh, they were great,’ Finley said.

‘Maxwell and I used to go there all the time. You could build your own at the sundae bar, load them up with hot fudge and marshmallow toppings — butterscotch — and a big pile of whipped cream on top — maraschino cherries and nuts.’

‘You shouldn’t even think about that kind of thing,’ Cora told her.

‘My weight never bothered Maxwell.’

‘That’s where you two went the night Wildman got you,’ Abilene said.

‘Yeah, that’s right. We went there after the movies.’

‘Wildman,’ Finley said.

‘What a crud,’ said Vivian.