Love, Lex (8 page)

“Vive, we have to do as Taddy says.” My heartbeats
quickened, hoping she wouldn’t divide us.

“Turning on Lex is out of the question. What exactly were
you thinking?” Taddy pressed Vive for more information.

“I wasn’t
thinking
. You’re right. I’m sorry. But it’s
too late. I’ve already told Dad and the lawyer not to continue defending Lex.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Taddy asked. Her tall frame
overshadowed Vive as she let go of their embrace and straightened her posture.

“There’s a chance they might not pay Lex’s bail.” Closing
her eyes, Vive’s fingers pressed her temples dramatically.

“Is it the money?” Taddy questioned.

She still didn’t understand. I did though.

“Cost isn’t a factor. Mr. Shapiro suggested that you and I
tell the judge we knew about the arson all along. But didn’t know Birdie would
be home at the time of the fire.” Vive admitted.

Crap. My body stiffened in shock. That wasn’t what I figured
Vive would say.

Staring blankly with her mouth hung open, Taddy asked, “And
why would we turn on our best friend?”

“We’d get a…deal.” Her brows drew together in a conflicted
expression.

“Shit.” I gritted my teeth. It was as if I was observing a
person I didn’t even know. Where had my very best friend Vive gone? This wasn’t
like her.

“What did you say?” Taddy’s red nails dug into Vive’s arms.

Vive struggled with uncertainty. “The District Attorney’s
office told Mr. Shapiro they’d get Lex’s attempted murder charge to stick if we
agreed to some knowledge about the fire, beforehand. And in exchange we’d
ahhh…be
dismissed
.”

Taddy’s right hand came up as if she’d strike Vive. She
didn’t. Instead she caressed Vive’s cheek with pity. Her desperation seemed
palpable. In a terse voice, she clarified, “You’re sayin’ if we testify against
Lex—setting her up for attempted murder—our arson charges will be dropped?”

Dazed, Vive nodded.

Blood pumped in my ears. I sensed every follicle on my scalp
tingle. For a second I thought, I had gained superhuman powers. I didn’t. No,
instead I realized I hadn’t gained a thing. Rather I lost my two best friends.
Icy despair froze at my heart.

Sweet Motor Cop Jesus

Whack!
Taddy slapped Vive.

Under normal circumstances, Vive probably would’ve smashed
Taddy’s pretty face into the wall. But stupid she was not. After all we’d been
through together and all the times we’d stood by her, she knew better.

“Stop.” Vive blocked Taddy’s second strike.

“What the frick—” Ready to throw a punch, Taddy pulled back.

“No, Taddy!” I grabbed her arm. Her skin felt sticky.

Heaving, we waited for Vive to catch her breath. She tried
to speak.

“Go on. Whaddya got to say for yourself?” Taddy said.

“I told Daddy, the lawyer, and the DA,
no
.”

“Good. Thank you, Vive.” I felt so relieved.

“I said we won’t give false testimony.” Vive pushed her ashy
blonde hair back from her sweaty face. My underarms were moist too. All these
emotions flying around us caused me to sweat. Plus the air conditioning had
shut off some time ago.

“Did you tell Dick that you and Taddy wanted to be tried
separately?” I asked.

“Yes.” Shame darkened her eyes.

“Jesus Christ, Vive,” Taddy shouted.

“I told Mr. Shapiro…you and I will tell the truth. We had no
idea any explosion was planned.”

“Because it wasn’t.” Suddenly I realized the importance of
assembling my own defense team. “If Dad can’t help us in time, Blake might.”
Blake was my number two call. After I was only able to get a hold of Dad’s
manager, I’d called Blake as back-up. I’d begged him to go to the hospital,
talk to Mom. “Maybe he could convince Birdie to tell the authorities she’d
started the fire and not me. Then we’d be cleared of all charges.”

Vive’s bitter face soured even more.

Was it a stretch? Absolutely! But I had faith in Blake.

Ever since Blake had come out of the closet about being gay
to Birdie, they’d had a super-glue bond. We were like fifteen.

Next to Cher, Birdie Easton had one of the largest gay
followings in the world. She lived for her gays and had taken Blake under her
liberal wing ages ago. She’d helped his conservative New England parents deal
with his homosexuality.

Point being, Mom adored him.

“When will Blake talk to Birdie?” Taddy asked.

“Assuming Birdie is awake, Blake should be visiting her
right now.”

“Blake is a better choice to talk to Birdie than Eddie.”
Taddy seemed to have more confidence in this idea than Vive.

Vive sighed loudly and dried her eyes with her sleeve.
“Maybe it’s good Eddie isn’t here at first. Know what I mean? He’d only make
matters worse for you—”

“For all of us.” Taddy corrected her. “You better get your
dad and Dick to spring Lex when we get out Vive. I mean it. I’ll never speak to
you again if you don’t.”

“Heard ya the first time. And you can shut up along with
Lex. The both of you, stop talking to me.” Vive’s lips trembled. “I need to
think.”

Together we sat in silence. Another hour passed. We calmed
ourselves down. The chilly air returned.

Vive kept making eye contact with me. Was that her effort
for an apology? Maybe.

“Man, it’s like the rituals of the Russian Banya in here,”
Taddy muttered and rubbed her palms together.

I felt a bit wonky myself, delirious even. In less than one
day, Mom had slept with my boyfriend, who I then dumped. I’d packed up my
entire life into Vive’s Bentley, blew the house up. I’d gotten myself arrested,
summoned my father home to the states, and caused my two best friends to
fight. 

Not to mention if mental health experts were to evaluate
Vive today, they’d probably diagnose her as having a nervous breakdown. Her
moods had swung from nice to nasty.

Startled, Vive looked up, and her jaw suddenly dropped as
she turned toward the cell’s bars.

“Sweet motor cop Jesus,” Taddy hissed under her breath in
the same direction as Vive, breaking the silence between us.

I turned around.

There
he
stood, the Harley Davidson Hulk.

Taddy and Vive got to their feet and walked over to the
bars. They couldn’t take their eyes off him.

Neither could I.

Officer Gotti appeared hotter now than he was earlier back
on the highway. Inside this building, under these florescent lights, he
radiated pure macholiciousness. 

“Excuse me for asking this, but are you
really
a
cop?” Vive said. 

“Yeah. Why?’

“When you first pulled us over, I thought you were that WWF
wrestler. Oh, what’s his name? Dwayne Johnson, that’s it.” Leaning up against
the cell door, Vive didn’t resemble the distraught girl from an hour ago.

“The Scorpion King in
The Mummy Returns
? That dude?”

“Forreals. You sure you ain’t his stunt double?” Taddy
interjected, complimenting him.

Vive licked her lips

My confusion nearly paralyzed me. Did my two friends lose
their minds? We’d gone from hugging besties to face-slapping frienemies and now
horny girls on the prowl. WTF.

Perhaps the exhaustion and once slice of cheese sandwiches
we’d eaten earlier had made us all rather punchy.

Personally the mere sight of Officer Gotti felt a tad bit
too “mirage in the hot desert” for me. Men that sexy must be cocky douche bags.

“I noticed the same thing about
him
, Vive. But it
wasn’t the time, or the place, to bring it up. After all, you were arresting
us…” Taddy flirted in a soft-feminine voice.

Vive and Taddy sexualizing him up and down irked the fudge outta
me. So I commented, “And now is a better time to acknowledge Officer Gotti’s
looks?”

Okay, I’ll admit he did resemble that actor. However Officer
Gotti’s skin was much lighter, he’s younger, and his arms are covered in ink. I
mean smothered. It was effin’ hot.  

Ignoring me, Taddy played with her hair. “Weren’t you in
that NYPD calendar?”

What the heck was going on? In walks muscles and my two
besties act stupid. Had they forgotten where we were? Jail. And who he was? The
arresting officer. Hello!

“No.” His gorgeous face reddened.

“Don’t lie to me. You were Mr. November.”

Oh, for Christ’s sake. The girls were up to something. Maybe
they wanted to win him over and see about the case.

“Much appreciated.” Officer Gotti thanked Vive for the
compliments. “And no, I’m not in any calendar,” he replied to Taddy.

“Miss Easton…”

“Eh?” My insides turned to tapioca just from hearing the way
my name rolled off his tongue.

“After I pulled you over, I went to Manhattan General and
spoke to your mom.”

“How is she?” I thought back to those TV images of her arms
and legs on fire. “Is she in pain?”

In unison, the girls took one step closer toward the
conversation.

“Did you ask Birdie about what happened?” Vive bit down on
the nail of her pinky finger, the last one left to gnaw off.

“What did Birdie tell you?” Taddy stared at me, confirming
why they’d been so nice to him when he approached.

Officer Gotti was hot. Totally! However, Officer Gotti
wasn’t on our side. He was on Judge Calabrese side. The man who’d boasted himself
as being Birdie’s number one fan. Heck, everyone loved Birdie Easton including
my boyfriend, correction my ex-boyfriend.

“Mrs. Easton seemed shaken up, but she’ll recover.”

“Was she
well
enough to give a statement?” After
watching the news, I couldn’t imagine Mom being able to talk to anyone, let
alone remember what had happened. She probably didn’t even recall screwing
Kelle.

“Mrs. Easton reported you intentionally blew up her
residence and tried to kill her.”

“I see…” A sour pucker started on the back of my tongue. I
inhaled sharply, pushing the upset down.

The mood shifted.

Officer Gotti’s words caused any hope we might have had on
getting the charges dropped to disappear. Our prison cell filled with despair,
and Vive’s eyes radiated frustration.

“Police person!” Snapping back to her usual self, Vive
cleared her throat. The WWF wrestler-Scorpion King Mirage had faded. Her face
flushed.

Here we go.

“We are very familiar with this game that you’re playing
with us. I assure you, Lex, Taddy and I had nothing to do with the explosion.”

“How ironic Miss Farnworth. Back when I pulled over your
friend here, I seem to recall Lex admitting to lighting the fire.” He glanced
at me for confirmation.

“Ahhh…” I didn’t know what to say.

While shifting his weight from one leg to the next, he
continued, “Seems you changed your mind once at the arraignment.”

“Not so fast.” Vive wasn’t finished. “You hadn’t read Lex
her rights then. That won’t hold up before a judge, and you know it.”

“Yeah!” Taddy interjected, bumping her right shoulder
against Vive as they locked hands. “I don’t know what the hellaboo you’re
talking about, Officer. Vive and I didn’t hear any confession. Did we Vive?”

“But you just said—” Officer Gotti’s newness to the force
and his desire for honesty was attractive.

A part of me wished I could be real with him, maybe another
time and another crime, but not today.

“Nope.” Vive must’ve been squeezing Taddy’s hand pretty
tight. The skin was white as snow. 

See this right here, what they did, was friendship. These
were my girls who had my back. And to think I’d almost lost them.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Easton?” he
asked, not taking his black eyes off me.

Officer Gotti freaked me out. Like seriously. Did he know
I’d buckle? I’m not brave like Taddy. And no one was as strong as Vive. My
friends were Teflon coated. Me, I was nothing more than a lump of powdered
sugar.

This was getting intense. I had to say something, maybe the
truth. “Mmm—”

“Lex, zip it.” Vive kept control. “Listen, we didn’t do
squat. You have no proof other than a rock-n-roll star that was inebriated.”

“Yeah, you really think what Birdie Easton says is credible?
For the love of life, the news showed her lighting up a joint. How can you take
the word of someone who is under the influence?” Taddy made a good point.

His handsome facial features softened.

This was my window of opportunity to sway him. I must.

“Why did you go see Birdie?” Moving to the end of the cell,
I motioned for the girls to back off as he followed me to the other side to
talk between the bars.

“You were upset. I wanted to see how Mrs. Easton was doing
and bring an update on her condition. My work ended, and I paid her a visit.” 

“Thank you. That was nice of you.”

“Your mom is eccentric, isn’t she?”

“Very. You don’t listen to her music?”

“Nah.” He slid his hands into his front pockets and took
another step closer to the bars. The distance from my lips to his was the
closest we’d gotten all day. They looked full and kissable, especially when he
licked them. “I’ve heard of Birdie Easton, sure, who hasn’t? Can’t say I listen
to anything other than country music.”

“You’re the first non-Birdie fan I’ve met all day. Imagine,
a New Yorker who likes bluegrass, in our cement city. That’s rare.”

Boy, I could tell he wanted to laugh. Like earlier on Vamp
when I’d let my mind take me to that sweet place, it felt as though I might
have another fantasy all over again. It was as if we weren’t in this prison but
back on our date finishing our plates of bolognese… 

I closed my eyes.

“Vive Farnworth!” A voice came from down the hall
interrupted any daydream that was about to ensue. My eyes snapped open. Officer
Gotti’s back straightened. Putting distance between us, he stepped away. The
voice continued, “Taddy Brill. Your bail is posted.”

“Halle-frickin-lujah.” Vive’s hands smoothed over her orange
top. She got herself together. She froze as if she shouldn’t be happy and
caught me glaring at her. “I’ll fix this.”

“You didn’t say Lex’s name. Officer?” Taddy said with a
thread of concern in her voice.