Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy) (13 page)

He unbuttoned his pale blue Hagar shirt. "Not as well as yours, but yeah, Lori's cool. She knows a lot about history and stuff, and she's pretty funny. Hey, we're going bowling Wednesday night. You
wanna
join us?"

I flicked my thumb up. "Cool, thanks."

"You could bring one of your girlfriends. I'll leave it up to you which one." He slipped off his shirt.

"It'd be more Debbie's scene, but I better take Holly. If she found out I went out with Debbie, or anyone else for that matter, she'd cut my nuts off."

"Man, I don't know how you do it."

I shrugged. "It's a gift."

#

Holly parked her Mustang in front of the dorm. She took good care of that car. It was always immaculately clean, and smelled of leather cleaner. Mark and Lori climbed in the back seat, and I jumped in the front, giving Holly a peck on the cheek as I slid across the freshly polished seat.
We drove toward the gate to leave base, passing by the women's dorm on the way. Debbie walked down the sidewalk heading toward Dolphin's.

"Look, there's Debbie," Lori shouted. She poked her head out the back window and waved. "Hi, Debbie," she yelled out as we drove past. I turned away and subtly lowered my head, hoping Debbie didn't see me and Holly wouldn't notice I ducked.

"She's such a nice person," Lori said. "I must admit, I thought you were going out with her."

"Who?" Holly and I said at the same time.

Holly looked in my direction. I kept my eyes firmly on the road ahead.

"Why would you think that?" Holly asked. "We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for over four months now."

"It's just that Debbie—"

"What she means…" Mark trumped in. I heard him pat Lori's leg. "…is that Debbie introduced us, so she thought there was a connection between Debbie and Tyler, him being my roommate and all. But I've known Debbie a lot longer than Tyler. She said she'd try and find me a nice girl, and I'd say she did a pretty good job of it."

Judging by the changing direction of his voice, I sensed he looked over at Lori for the last part of his lie cum truth. Holly and I both kept our eyes on the road like pil
ot and co-pilot in a rally car.

Mark did a champion job of steering the conversation to talking about the Seven Wonders of the World. I was bored to tears, but Lori was in her element, and did most of the talking. Fortunately, Mark didn't nominate my brain as the eighth wonder, and the Debbie topic didn't come up again. Holly did say that she hoped the gardener was well paid for watering the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

#

We arrived at the bowling alley, and the distinct smell of feet hit me as we walked into the thirty-two lane complex. Cheers went up alongside groans. Pins clanked into the backs of the lanes as bowling balls plowed their way down the wooden alleys. Plastic pucks ricocheted off the side of the air hockey tables. We got our gear
and went to our assigned lane.

Holly had never bowled before, so I took great pleasure in showing her how to hold the ball and gently roll it down the lane. I loved pressing myself against her backside, and walking her through the phase of drawing the ball back, then thrusting it forward; emphasizing that a premature release would result in disappointment.

She
nodded feverously in agreement.

My crash course in bowling paid off and Holly came second after Mark. At least I beat Lori and I hoped my losing to Holly wouldn't been
seen as a weakness in her eyes.

After bowling, we went to The Leaning Tower of Pizza
.
The Hawaiian waitress looked cute in her black baseball cap, and showed us to one of the red, imitation leather booths. We all slid in and studied the menu under the fake tiffany light hanging over the table. We ordered an extra-large Mighty Meaty pizza and a pitcher of beer.

We sipped beer and relived the bowling glories and mi
shaps until the pizza arrived.

"So, how did you two meet?" Lori asked. She shifted her gaze between me and Holly.

"Tyler like really bugged me until I agreed to go out with him." She tilted her head and rested it on my shoulder. "And now we're totally cool."

"I really got that messed up." Lori looked at the tray and reached for a piece of pizza. "I seriously thought you were going out with Debbie." Her eyes were focused on her struggle to
separate the long
stringy
cheese between the pieces of pizza. Lack of eye contact left the statement hanging in the air inst
ead of it being directed at me.

Holly and I looked at each other. She didn't look angry, so she must have held some concern that the question may have been directed toward her. Lori's statement was met with silence. Even Mark didn't come to my rescue this time. I needed to say something but didn't want to walk through the minefield Lori had laid. The third degree awaited me from Holly if I let on that I was chummy with her former lover.

"I think she wants to be fuck-buddies with me," I blurted out.

Their three mouths dropped open in unison and Mark suddenly found himself attacked by a coughing fit. Holly had a piece of crust resting on her back molars, while Lori leaned in, her eyes as wide as her mouth.

"I think she's got the
hots
for me." I looked at Holly and placed my hand on her thigh. "Working next door to one another, we see each other
everyday
, and she's been coming on to me. I keep shunning her advances and tell her I'm dating you. She's a nice girl, so I don't want to be rude. You got nothing to worry about, babe."

Holly burst out laughing. "I know I don't have anything to worry about, and I think you got your signals mixed, lover." Holly laughed some more. Mark and Lori looked at each other with puzzlement.

"You know her?" I asked.

"I'm in admin, like I know everyone in the division. Sorry if this bruises your ego, but Debbie's gay. She's not chasing after you, I'm sure of that."

"Wow," I said, "I had no idea. What a relief." I leaned in kissed Holly on the lips. I caught Mark out of the corner of my eye doing a huge eye roll.

"What did you say about my friend?" Lori snapped. The girls sat diagonally from one another. She rested her palms on the edge of the table and leaned in toward Holly.

"It's a well known fact, she's a dyke. Like, hardcore."

Lori took off her silver hoop earrings and slammed them on the table. Her round hazel eyes tightened and her jaw clenched as she stared at Holly. "You take that back," she said slowly as she tucked her short blonde hair behind her ears.

"Why do you care?" Holly looked down at her nails as if searching for imperfections. "Afraid she's going to attack you or something?"

"You, bitch," Lori growled. She grabbed her glass of beer and threw it in Holly's face. Amber liquid ran down her hair and cheeks, spilling onto her
Jaegar
blouse.

"Double bitch," Holly screamed. She leaned across the tab
le and punched Lori on the jaw.

They both stood up as best they could sitting at a booth, thrashing their arms wildly. Holly got a handful of Lori's hair and pulled her head down, driving Lori's face into the pizza. Lori screamed.

I jumped up and grabbed Holly, breaking her grip from Lori's hair. I held her arms down by her sides.

Lori jerked her head up, cheese dangling from her face and a piece of sausage stuck to her nose. She picked up the pizza tray bashed Holly on the top of the head with it, sending pizza flying everywhere.

Holly elbowed me in the gut and managed to kick me in the shin with the back of her heel. When I let go of her to soothe my pain, she landed anot
her left hook to Lori's face.

Mark jumped up and put his arms into the mix, grabbing the girls' swinging limbs. He slowed their attacks on one another until I managed to subdue Holly once again. I got my arms around Holly and wrestled her back into her seat. Mark did the same with Lori.

"Calm down, girls," Mark said in a smooth voice.

"I'm not having this…airhead…talk about my friend like that. Debbie could get kicked out if this bitch goes around spreading rumors like that. Debbie's not like that." Lori trembled with unused rage.

Holly pushed her face as far toward Lori as she could under my restraining grip. "Look, you little whore, it's a well known fact that Debbie's a lesbian. Ask her yourself, but don't be surprised if she asks you into bed with her so she can show you."

Lori lunged across the table again so fast that Mark lost his grip on her shoulders. I blocked her fist from Holly's face and Mark pulled her back down into the seat. "C'mon," Mark said, "I think we better go."  He guided Lori out of the booth. He stood at the end of the table and threw ten bucks down in amongst the pieces of pizza scattered all over the table. "We'll catch a taxi." He held up his arm. "See you later, Tyler."

My heart raced as I watched them leave. God, a catfight in the middle of a double date. I wasn't quite sure who started it, but wow…

"Can you believe that little hussy? Accusing my boyfriend of cheating on me, and then calling me a liar. I think you should tell Mark to dump her. She's trouble." She pulled out a compact and readjusted her beer soaked hair. "Bitch," she mumbled. She excused herself and went to the ladies room to freshen up - rubbing the top of her head on the way there. She returned a few minutes later looking a little tidier, but still wor
e evidence of being in a brawl.

"Can you take me back to base, now?" I asked. "That kind of put a damper on things. I got a lot of work to do tomorrow, so I could do with a good night's sleep."

I paid the bill and we left.

She dropped me off at the barracks. I waved as she drove away. Once she was out of sight, I went over to Debbie's room.

Debbie answered the door in Scooby-Do
o pajamas.

"Tyler? It's eleven o'clock. I'm just going to bed." She covered her mouth and fought back a yawn. "What're you doing here?"

"We need to talk. Have you seen Lori tonight?"

She shook her head.

I cast my head toward the ceiling then lowered it to look at Debbie. "Tonight was a bit of a disaster."

She rolled her eyes then motioned to the chairs in the middle of the room. We walked over and sat down. "I saw you with Holly and them, leaving the base. I take it you're back with her."

I nodded.

"That being the case, I'm not surprised by the disaster aspect. So, she got over your gay comments, did she?"

"Yeah. Mark wanted the four of us to double date. In the restaurant, Lori said she thought you and I were dating. I wasn't sure at first if she was talking about me or Holly. Anyway, I finally said that you were chasing after me."

"Excuse me," she said calmly, raising her eyebrows. "Can I go get Mr. Wonder out of identifying suspects, 'cause I have a feeling the workings of Tyler Chambers mind will astound him yet again." She dropped her face in her hands. "Fire away. I can't wait to hear this one."

"Lori obviously knew something about you and me. I thought you might have said something to her. So I said you were coming on to me, but I shunned you."

She raised her head to look at me. "And this is supposed to make me feel better?"

I opened up my arms. "Hey, I had to cover my tracks in case we were seen together as to why. I didn't know what Lori was going to say next."

Debbie pulled out a cigarette and offered me one. We both lit up and each took a drag. "In one way, I suppose it was a clever ploy. I did tell Lori that you and I had a few dates, but I didn't tell her you were seeing Holly."

I took another deep drag and blew the smoke toward the ceiling. "Shit."

"Don't worry, I can straighten it out with Lori. I'll just say that I knew you were seeing Holly, but I was trying to win you over. She met Holly a few times in the past and can't stand her."

"Well she really can't stand her now." I dropped my gaze toward the floor. "There's a bit more to it than that."

"Oh, God." She waved her arms in the air. "Shoot me now. How could I be so stupid to think that was it?"

"Holly said you wouldn't be coming after me because you're gay. Lori got mad and threw a beer in her face, and they had a fight. I think Lori might come around and ask you if you're gay or not."

"Fan-fucking-
tastic
!" She took a drag off her cigarette. "I turn over a new leaf, and that bitch is still spitting venom. I have a good mind to go over there and knock her block off. And who is she to call me gay? She started it all. She's just as gay as me. Maybe even gayer."

"Let me talk to Holly. I'll see if I can talk some sense into her."

"Yeah, right. 'No, Holly, Debbie's not gay anymore. I've been jamming her behind your back. She quit being a lesbian when you broke her heart.'" Debbie stood up and unbuttoned her pajama top. "Tyler, dump Holly. You and I could be so good together. Let's be a proper couple."

She flung her top across the room, then pushed down her bottoms, stepped one leg out, and flicked them across the room with her foot. She stood naked in front of me, her pert breasts and crotch highlighted by the contrasting white triangles against her tanned body.