The Devil's Dwelling (8 page)

“What’s all the commotion out front?” Peggy asked as she mopped up a puddle from the rain drippings off Momma’s raincoat with a towel.

“Just Della and Bella arguing on who’s gonna pay Bo for the taxi ride.” Momma said.

On my tip toes I reached over the steal spikes and unlocked the gate. Bella and Della pushed me aside heading for the front porch. Della slipped falling on her butt. And yelled for Bella to help her up.

“I gotta get out of the rain. I might catch my death of a cold.” Bella said running to the porch.

I grabbed the pie takers from the back seat and headed for the door. Della rolled over and was now on all fours looking like a big ass barrel giving me enough room to get past her two hundred pound five foot frame.

I was doing a balancing act with the pie takers when Peggy answered the door. I handed Peggy the pie takers and ran back to Della placed my hands on my hips and looked down at the pathetic rain drenched soul.

“Now, how we gonna get you off all fours? I sure as hell can’t lift you.”

Bella came from the back yard with a plastic scarf on her head pushing a wheel barrel.

“Out of the way.” She yelled as she pushed the wheel barrel under Della.  She pushed down on the handle bars lifting Della’s front off the sidewalk.

Della stood up straight and wiped the rain from her face.

“Thanks, Sis.”

Bella smiled. “No problem Sis you’d do the same for me.”

They locked hands and skipped to the house.

The living room was lined with three card tables. Table one, two and three.

Momma was setting at table two with three other ladies leaving Peggy and I to set with the Baker twins.

Peggy announced it was time to start playing BUNKO.  Dice started hitting the tables. Each taking their turn to roll the die three times trying to roll one’s. Someone yelled BUNKO and everyone switched chairs. I moved up to table two and Momma had to stay at table two. Again the dice were rolled. Again BUNKO and I moved to table one leaving Momma at table two and joining her were Bella and Della. The dice started rolling and the yelling started.

“We are rolling three’s you fool.” Momma yelled.

“We are rolling two’s.” Bella yelled back and the fight was on.

Momma crawled across the card table grabbed a hunk of Bella’s hair pulling her across the table. The table collapsed in a splat on the floor. Another twin on all fours.  Della grabbed momma by the hair pulling her out of her chair. Momma grabbed Della’s hair and a free for all broke out. Peggy was screaming for everyone to stop. I pulled my Glock from my purse and fired a shot. Everyone froze and put their hands toward the ceiling.

“Stop this nonsense, you hear me? The next out break I’m gonna shoot someone.”

“She’s a bounty hunter and she shoots people.” Momma said as if she was proud of my profession.

“Silence, total silence.” I yelled and fired off another shot.

“Now pick up the tables and clean up this place.”

Della ran to the back yard to fetch the wheel barrel.

“What are you doing bringing a wet wheel barrel in my house?” Peggy stomped her feet.

‘We gotta pick up Bella.” She pushed the wheel barrel past Peggy and headed for Bella. Bella was on all fours and Della shoved the wheel barrel under her and lifted her up.

“Thanks, Sis.”

“Any time.” Della pushed the wheel barrel past Peggy to the back yard.

The ladies picked up the mess. Straightened the legs on table number two and set down at their tables.

“Momma, Della and Bella apologize.” I demanded.

“Okay, I’m sorry.” They said in unison.

“Now let’s play BUNKO.” Peggy said with her nervous voice cracking.

We made it through the first session and Peggy prepared to serve the dessert. She took the lids off the pie takers and the aroma of coconut cream pie filled the house.

I made my way to the kitchen and helped with serving the pie and coffee.

Everyone was devouring the pie when I heard momma bragging about her pie making skills.

Della scrapped her plate clean. “I had to force it down. What do you put in it boiled cabbage?”

Momma rose to the occasion. Grabbed a partial pie and pushed it in Della’s face. Della wiped the pie from her face and licked her fingers.

“I didn’t want to look like a pig but I knew if I said something bad about your pie I would get one in my face.”

Della laughed. “Pretty smart, huh?”

I dropped Momma off around nine o’clock. An array of colorful flickering lights like the fourth of July came from the living room. Daddy was probably snoozing on the sofa with the TV flickering. Momma got the empty pie takers and the broken umbrella gathered up in her arms and headed for the house. I waited for Momma to get in the house before heading off down the street.

The streets were quiet, so quiet it seem spooky.  A few blocks from the office  I saw the black sedan parked behind our competition, Mr. Graham’s Bail Bond’s office.

“What the heck.” I murmured to myself.

I parked around the corner. Made sure my Glock was fully loaded and made my way to the office window. Mr. Graham was setting with his feet propped up on his desk. I moved in closer to get a good look at his guests. Hoping I could hear their conversation. I stepped back to get a good footing and stepped on a big black cat. The cat squealed and ran across the street. Out the back door came two guys dressed in black with guns drawn. I dropped to the ground hugging the wall. They saw the cat make it’s way across the street. Their guns went back in their holster and they walked back into the office.

“Just a cat out prowling.” One of the men said.

I made my way back to the Explorer and jotted down the black sedan’s license plate number.

I used my key to enter the apartment. The lights were out. The TV was blaring with Lucy and Ethel working on a belt sorting chocolates.  Mona was asleep on the sofa and woke as I entered reaching for her 38.

“Hold it, it’s just me. We might need to use a secret knock before entering.” I laughed.

I switched on the lamp and set down in the easy chair.

Mona’s manicure paraphernalia was scattered all over the coffee table I made from an old door cut in half setting on two peach field boxes.

“I’m sorry for the mess. I’ll get it cleaned up.” Mona started piling fingernail polish in an array of colors, polish remover, files, buffers and cotton in a shoe box.

I grabbed a bottle of bright pink polish and shook it vigorously.

“You care if I paint my toe nails?”

“Of course not, pink toes are pretty.“

I opened the bottle and propped my feet up on the coffee table and painted one toe at a time. I held my feet in the air kicking my legs and stretching my toes.

“Pretty sharp don’t you think?”

Mona laughed, picked up her shoe box and carried it to her room.

“Mona, I saw the black sedan parked at Graham’s Bail Bonds.  I looked in the window and saw the two thugs that have been chasing us or that we’ve been chasing.”

Mona came running from her room. “Did you got the license plate number? What do you think Mr. Graham is up to?”

“I don’t think it’s anything good. Those guys looked like they belong to the mafia. They were dressed in black pants, black leather jacket and a white shirt. They had bad written all over them.”

TEN

Bailey and I jogged to the park for his morning poop and hike. Brad Bradford was setting on the park bench when I arrived. I unhooked Bailey and set down beside Brad.

“Hi Brad,” He looked up from his newspaper.

“Tiffany, how nice to see you. You haven’t been at the park much lately.” Brad said as he folded his newspaper and stuffed it under his leg.

“No, I’ve been busy with work and Bailey and I have been taking quick runs down here.”  I said smiling and pushing my red locks behind my ears.

“I have two tickets to Conway’s High School performance of ‘Hello Dolly’. Would you like to join me Friday night?  I know I’m being a little hasty but I might not see you before the performance and the tickets would go to waste.”

“Did you buy them with me in mind?” I said smiling. My ego jumped up a couple notches.

“Busted!”  Brad smiled. “Yes and no. Yes, I had you in mind and no I didn’t buy them.”

“Did you steal them? I don’t date thieves.”  I heard a commotion, looked over my shoulder to see Bailey romping on a man. I jumped up and headed for Bailey. “Bailey, get off him.” I yelled. Bailey was enjoying the romp and wouldn’t listen to me. The  man was angry and cursing and his big butt was about all I could see.

Brad came to my rescue. He swatted Bailey with his folded newspaper getting Bailey’s attention and I grasped his collar and pulled him off the man.

“I’m sorry sir, Bailey won’t hurt you. He likes men.”

Off the ground bounced a woman dressed in men’s pants, shirt and men’s loafers with a butch haircut and a couple studs in her brow. My first thought… Oh my Gawd, I’m dead. She stood with her hands on her hips looking at me like I was had. Brad leashed up Bailey and put his arm around me.

“Honey, we’ll have to keep a better eye on Bailey. We’re sorry it won’t happen again.”

“Just see that it doesn’t.” She said dusting off her pants and hands. She pulled a big red handkerchief from her back pocket and wiped Bailey’s slobbers from her face.

“Hello Dolly?” I laughed and looked up at Brad.

“Yes, Friday night at eight. Can you make it?”

“Before I say yes. Did you steal the tickets?”  Bailey was pulling me toward home.

Brad laughed, “No, my niece has one of the leading rolls and she gave me the tickets.”

“We could do dinner and then head over to the high school for the performance.  How about I pick you up at six?”

“Six is good.” I pointed at the my apartment building. “It’s the building with the brown plaster falling off the building and my apartment number is 208.”

“Got it. See you Friday.” Brad was smiling and waved as we parted ways. I haven’t had a  real date in some time. Randy and I meet once in a while for a rendezvous but a real date is new to me. Neither Randy or I are ready for a commitment.

Mona and I headed out for the Sheriff’s office early.  The janitor was cleaning up from the night before.

“Hello, Mr. James, how are you today?”

“Just fine, Miss Tiffany.”
He said tipping the bill of his cap. He pulled the mop bucket from the entry, dipped the stringy mop in the bucket and rung it out through a roller on the bucket.

Mona and I told the deputy at the desk we were there to see Sheriff Reagan.

“I’ll check with Sheriff Reagan to see if he’s seeing anyone.”

“Tell him it’s Tiffany and Mona.”

The deputy gave us a disgusting look as he headed for the office.  Shortly he came out and said.  “The Sheriff will see you now.”

Mona didn’t make a move toward the office.

“Mona, you coming?”

“No, I think I’ll set this one out.”

She looked through the stack of magazine and settled for Better Homes and Gardens. She was flipping through the pages when a woman with a black eye and seven kids walked through the door.

“I want to report my husband. He beat me up last night.”

“Do you want us to pick him up?”

“No, I just want to report him.”

“You don’t want to press charges, you just want to tell us?”

“Yeah, you have been told.”

By this time the kids were crawling all over Mona. One was riding her foot for a horse, another turning the magazine pages and another was fixing Mona’s hair. The others scattered around the office with their hands into everything.

The woman looked at the kids and yelled for them to get off Mona.

“You kids get out to the station wagon. Right now, ya’ll hear me?”