The Scoop (4 page)

“Don’t I always? I don’t see how you eat the silly things and not gain an ounce.”

“The same way you do, Typhoon Toots. I smoke, drink, and thrive on the adrenaline rush I get when I see the stock market climbing. It keeps my metabolism high. Don’t tell anyone I said that, because they won’t believe you, but it’s the honest-to-God truth.” Bernice cackled.

“I’m sure it is.”
When pigs fly.

F
ortunately, Toots’s travel agent had been able to book Sophie’s, Mavis’s, and Ida’s flights within an hour of one another. She’d discussed it with Sophie and Mavis the previous night on the phone, explaining everything in detail. All three agreed they were fine with hanging out in the airport lounge until Ida’s flight arrived.

Before she left for the airport, Bernice made Toots promise she would not touch a drop of anything alcoholic until she returned safely with the girls. As if she needed to be told, but it was Bernice’s way of watching over her employer, and Toots was careful not to say anything to upset her since she’d been running around like a chicken with its head cut off all morning in preparation for the arrival of the guests.

Forty minutes later, Toots maneuvered her Range Rover through the entrance at Charleston International Airport with ease. Soon she’d have a jet of her own and wouldn’t need to use commercial airlines. At least that was her plan. Spying valet parking, she pulled to the curb, gave the attendant—a slim, dark-haired boy who looked to be at least six feet tall, still growing, and not a day over eighteen—her keys. She made him swear he wouldn’t smoke any of the cigarettes she’d left lying on the passenger seat, telling him they would stunt his growth. He swore he wouldn’t. Toots counted the three packs of Marlboro Lights just in case.

Inside the airport, she spotted the arrival gates and hurried toward them. Mavis’s flight was first to arrive. She wanted to be visible so Mavis would see her the minute she passed the security line. She wondered if Mavis was as happy as she was over this little reunion.

Knowing Mavis was traveling with Coco, her Chihuahua, she’d called ahead to make sure they would be allowed to keep the dog with them while they waited for Sophie and Ida. Toots was assured it would be fine as long as the dog was kept in its carrier.

Had it not been for the pet carrier, Toots wouldn’t have recognized Mavis. Though they talked on the phone once a week, e-mailed every day, and sent birthday and Christmas cards to each other, it had been almost six years since they’d seen each other. What she saw waddling toward her was not the dear friend she remembered. Mavis was at least a hundred pounds heavier, possibly more, since the last visit.

Mavis spotted Toots waiting behind the velvet ropes. She waved, her plump arms flapping like sheets in the wind. “Toots! Over here!” she called out, pausing midway to catch her breath.

Toots plastered a big grin on her face, then waved back in acknowledgment. “Hurry it up, woman! I can’t wait to give you a big hug.”

When Mavis finally made it past the ropes where friends and family were allowed to wait, she was huffing and puffing. Perspiration dotted her upper lip and forehead. She reached into her pocket for a tissue to mop her face. “Lord, it’s hot here. I don’t see how you stand it.”

Toots hugged her friend and planted a kiss on her cheek. Another plan was forming in her brain, which was already on overload. She smiled. Mavis needed her, and that made her extremely happy. Toots loved it when people needed her. “You get used to it after a while. I’m so glad you could make it, Mavis. I’ve got a big surprise for you, but I can’t tell you what it is until Sophie and Ida arrive.”

“Yip, yip!”

“This must be Coco,” Toots said, peering inside the pet carrier.

Mavis struggled to speak normally, but she was still winded. “It is, and she’s thirsty. A surprise, huh? I can only imagine. Let’s find a ladies’ room, then I’ll see if I can pick your brain while we wait for Sophie and Ida.”

“Right around the corner.” Toots pointed to the restroom. “What about your luggage?” Toots glanced at the small brown canvas bag slung over Mavis’s shoulder. Surely she’d packed more than that.

“This is it. I like to travel light. I only have three outfits anyway. My pension doesn’t allow for a lot of extras. Property taxes are killing me. I hope you have a washer and dryer,” Mavis huffed.

“Of course I do.” Toots took the pet carrier from her, then anchored Mavis’s tote around her own shoulder. “Go on. I’ll hold this while you do your thing.”

Mavis nodded and trundled off toward the ladies’ room.

Travelers with every color, size, and shape of luggage dotted the terminal. Toots heard bits of conversation here and there, an occasional cry from a baby as she waited outside the restroom. Coco barked at a young man whizzing through the airport in what amounted to a golf cart with a flashing yellow light on top. The
beep beep beep
sound must’ve scared the little dog. Cooked onions and old grease from a nearby fast-food restaurant filled the air, the scent so overwhelming it made her stomach roil. How people could eat that fast-food junk was beyond her. A bowl of Froot Loops with a cup of sugar and some light cream was all she needed to qualify her as a happy camper.

While she waited for Mavis, Toots’s mind raced. First she’d contact a friend who owned Liz’s Stout Shop and purchase some clothing. Mavis would need it once they were in California, that is, if she agreed to make the trip. Then she’d hire the best weight-loss guru money could buy to get her friend down to size. Of course she’d have to make sure Mavis was physically able to withstand any vigorous activity before she was put on an exercise routine. All she had to do was call Joe Pauley, her own personal physician, and ask him to make a house call tonight. Friends forever, she knew Joe would do as she asked.

Mavis emerged from the restroom looking fresh as a daisy. Or maybe a sunflower. Toots reasoned she was a
large
woman. And sunflowers were the largest flower she could come up with.

More yipping from the carrier.

“Let’s take a quick scoot out to the pet area and then we can come back in and wait for Sophie,” Toots suggested.

Toots removed the little Chihuahua from the carrier, allowed the small pooch to give her a few wet doggie kisses, then handed her to Mavis. “This way,” she said, motioning to an outside area where several other dogs and a few cats roamed about with their owners.

Ten minutes later, they were back in the lounge. “Let’s have something to drink,” Toots suggested.

“Sounds good to me. I sure could use a thick chocolate shake right now. All they offered on the plane was soda and pretzels. I was so sure they would at least serve a sandwich or something,” Mavis grumbled.

Toots knew in her gut if she wanted to help Mavis she had to start now. “Mavis darling, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you know me, I’ve never been one to beat around the bush. The last thing you need right now is a chocolate milk shake. You’re heavier than you’ve ever been and I’m worried.”

There! She’d said it.

Mavis took a deep breath and nodded. “I know. I almost backed out because I thought I wouldn’t be able to fit in the seat on the plane. They had to give me a seat-belt extender. I was so embarrassed. I just can’t seem to get a grip on my eating habits. First it’s one ice cream, then a couple of donuts, and from there it escalated to two and three bags of chips a day.” Mavis looked down. “And you see where it’s got me.”

Toots’s eyes filled with tears over her friend’s dilemma, if you could call being a hundred pounds overweight a dilemma. It was more like a heart attack waiting to happen. “If you want to lose weight, you know I’ll help out any way I can.” Toots wasn’t about to tell her she already had a plan in mind. She’d need Sophie’s and Ida’s help to keep Mavis out of the refrigerator and on the treadmill.

“Then I’ll accept whatever help you’re offering. It’s just me and Coco. As you can see, she’s tiny, doesn’t require a lot of exercise or food. Most days I sit in my Barcalounger with her at my side. I watch the soaps, and Coco scrambles after my crumbs. I haven’t had the money to buy her decent dog food in ages. I figured what went in my gut was good enough for her, too, but then I see the way I look, and I just want to curl up and die. Then I’ll think of Coco and Abby and you girls, I’ll eat salads for a week, then little by little I slide back into my old routine.”

“Mavis, I should kick your butt! Why didn’t you tell me things were that rough? You know I’ve got millions. No, make that
billions.
I’ll never live long enough to spend all that money.”

“You do enough, Toots. Thanks to you, I have a live Christmas tree delivered every year and beautifully decorated packages to place beneath it. Plus all the other stuff you do, like that laptop computer you sent me. I know you paid off my mortgage, too, so don’t insult me by lying.”

True,
Toots thought, but she hadn’t seen any reason to shout it to the world. Mavis knew, and that’s all that mattered. She knew there was a pride issue, too. Mavis didn’t like accepting charity, so she’d simply done what she felt Mavis would allow without kicking up her heels. Had she known things were as bad as they were, though, she would have done more,
much
more. That was about to change. She’d call Henry Whitmore, her old friend and president at the Bank of Charleston, and set up an account for Mavis. And if Mavis didn’t like it, too bad. Eventually she’d get over it.

Things are about to change, Mavis Hanover, and if you don’t like it, well, to quote Bernice, “you can just kiss my wrinkled old ass.”

Toots spied a sports lounge close to the exit gates. Flat-screen television sets were suspended from the ceiling, each tuned to a different sports network. Loud guffaws from a group of men filled the small lounge as the women found a three-seater booth close to the exit.

The two women slid into the soft leather booth, placing Coco’s carrier next to Toots since Mavis’s bulk took up most of her seat. A waitress wearing a hot-pink shirt, black shorts, and a name tag that read
TAMMY
came to take their order. “We’ll each have a bottle of sparkling water with a twist of lime.”

“Nothin’ to eat?” the waitress asked in a distinct Charleston drawl. Toots wondered if she was old enough to drink legally, let alone serve alcohol. Several bangle bracelets clinked against one another as she wrote their order on a pad. The girl had at least five earrings in each ear, along with other piercings.

Toots looked at Mavis, who was practically salivating. “Yes, we’ll have two tossed salads, no dressing, with extra lemon on the side.”

“I guess this means I’m on a diet now?”

“Yep, but it won’t be that hard really. I’m a vegan, and I’m rarely hungry.” Toots wasn’t about to mention her sugar addiction.

“If you say so,” Mavis acquiesced.

They spent the next half hour catching up and reminiscing.

“Remember when Ida’s ‘tits’ fell out of her prom dress?” Mavis said. “I thought she’d never come out of hiding after that episode.”

Toots smiled at the memory. “I think I would’ve done the same thing. Her being prom queen and all. Having the pair of rolled-up socks stuffed in your bra fall to the floor during the coronation isn’t the most pleasant memory. It was funny, though. Sophie peed in her pants, she laughed so hard. We never shared that with Ida. We were full of fire, weren’t we?”

“That we were,” Mavis agreed.

“I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything in the world.” Maybe a few, but she’d keep those to herself.

“It’s amazing after all these years that we’re still friends. I can’t imagine my life without you girls. Abby, too. Lord, if it weren’t for her, I don’t know if we would’ve remained as close. Since the rest of us never had children.”

“We all went our own way, that’s true. Isn’t e-mail great? I can just imagine what our phone bills would be without it. It’s just so darn instant,” Toots exclaimed in amazement.

“I get e-mails from some of my former students. Actually, one of them is running for state senator. I can’t wait to see if she’s elected.”

“For your sake, I hope she is. And I hope she’ll acknowledge what a fantastic English teacher you were.”

Mavis laughed. “I don’t know about that, but it would certainly do my old heart good to see someone I had a bit of a hand in molding making it to the state senate. Lord knows what’s in there now isn’t doing me much good. I keep fearing my Medicare will get cut, and then where would I be?”

Toots reached across the table, placing her hand on top of Mavis’s. “You’ll never have to worry about anything if it comes to that, so don’t concern yourself over it.”

Bracelets jingling against the background noise coming from the televisions and the group of rowdy drinkers at the bar, Tammy returned with the check.

Toots removed a twenty-dollar bill from her wallet and placed it inside the leather check holder. She smiled at the young waitress before glancing at the diamond watch on her wrist. “Sophie’s flight is due to arrive any minute. I think I’ll run and check the boards just to make sure. I wouldn’t want her roaming around thinking I’ve forgotten her. Why don’t you order coffee or tea and wait here. There’s no need for you to lug Coco and her carrier through the airport.” Toots thought that was a rather nice way of saying her friend was just too heavy to walk through the airport without a hassle.

“Sounds good, even though I’d rather have that milk shake.”

“Don’t you dare! Now sit here and enjoy the scenery. I’ll be right back.”

“If you insist,” Mavis replied with a smile. “Don’t worry, I promise not to sneak.”

“Good.” Toots pulled another twenty out of her wallet. “For the coffee.”

In reality, Toots wanted to prepare Sophie for Mavis’s bulk so she wouldn’t be as shocked as she herself had been when she’d seen her struggling to walk the short distance from the gate to the arrival area.

As Toots raced to greet Sophie, she couldn’t recall being this happy. Her friends were there, and they needed her, or at least Mavis did.

At this precise moment, all was right with the world.

Until she saw Sophie emerging from the masses exiting the plane.

Lord! She had her work cut out for her. And to think she was going to be managing a newspaper on top of everything else. Maybe.

“Tootsie!” Sophie hollered, using the pet name that only she was allowed to use.

Once again Toots plastered a big smile on her face. “Sophie Manchester, if you aren’t a sight for sore eyes!” Toots wrapped her arms around Sophie’s bony frame. She couldn’t weigh a hair over ninety pounds, if that. Mavis was obese, and poor Sophie looked and felt like a skeleton with a layer of skin stretched around it.