(a/n: I know this is seeming to deviate from the short story that was promised to a couple people. Funny how these things take on a life of their own. I had thought about sewing this one up nice and quick and ending it. But a number of people have requested that I take the ball and run with it, rather than cut it short. So, I guess we will do that. As usual, thanks for the reviews and number of PMs over this.)
-4-
About an hour later, a cab left the Borgata Hotel and Casino. Heading down the Atlantic City Expressway and heading for Aimee's Absecon apartment.
Callie had been trying to get her mind off the events of the morning. The tragic mistake with Frank. The brief phone call to Chet basically telling him that she needed some alone time and to check on the kids and make sure the sitter and housekeeper were in place to back Chet up. Chet had not taken it easily. She had not told him about her mistake with Frank. That would have likely been too much. But as much as Chet was already insecure in their marriage, it was bad enough that Cal had stated, rather cryptically that she needed some time to think. That was never a good term to use with a guy. It allowed all kinds of crazy thoughts. As hard as it was for Callie, she needed to stick to her guns and give herself the chance to take a breather. Even if it partly served her need to avoid telling Chet the awful truth.
Iola looked out the window. She had not told Joe anything. She just left. She knew she would have some reckoning with him…via text perhaps if she were feeling so inclined. She tried to shake it off and turned her head to Aimee.
"So, you basically have a car, but do the bus when you go to work. That sucks." She said thinking of the hassle. Aimee nodded then shrugged a bit.
"Well, the price of gas sucks. But the price of parking sucks too, and Borgata waitresses are not given parking comps. Nor are they permitted to park in 90% of the public spots. They either make you take pay spots or park about half a mile from the casino. So, the bus sucked, but it's what I did." She said. It had just sunk into her mind that she had spoken in past tense and that she had indeed quit her job that day and was about to embark on a trip with two women she didn't know. She was a bit apprehensive in a way. But there was also excitement for her. The first time she felt something positive happen in several months.
"Well, at least you get a cushy cab ride out of there for the last time." Callie said with a smile to her. Aimee half smiled.
"Yeah, but he's taking the long way to Absecon. This route adds an extra five minutes." She observed as they drove along. Callie laughed.
"No worries, precious. That's cab driver DNA at work." She said smiling. She wasn't concerned about the driver tagging them for an extra ten dollars in fare.
Fifteen minutes later the cab pulled up to an apartment multiplex in what was more certainly a dingy part of the area. They got out. Callie tossed a bill to the driver, and the cab drove off. Aimee gave a weary smile and gestured to the multi building complex.
"Home sweet Hell." She said with a grim smile then looked down. Apparently, a bit embarrassed at the place she called home. Callie put an arm around her as they stood there and looked over the worn down buildings. She broke into a smile.
"Not for long, Precious." She said. They walked slowly down a pathway. Callie was feeling a little better if for only the fact that she was giving this young woman a shot at getting out of a dump and to go home. Iola had been carrying the two suitcases they had brought and looked over to Aimee.
"Not too many steps, I hope." She said noting that the buildings appeared to go six stories high. Aimee shook her head.
"Only the second floor, Iola. Here, let me help you out." She said offering to take one of the suitcases. Iola smiled gratefully. The entered a door on the end of one of the buildings and Aimee led them up a nearby flight of stairs. They went up to the second floor and she led them down a dingy hallway. Callie and Iola noted a musty smell that often accompanied such buildings. A mixture of propane, damp carpets and garbage.
Aimee stopped before apartment 216 and took out a key and unlocked two bolts on the door and turned the knob. She gestured for them to enter. Iola and Callie took in a small, but neat apartment. Definitely on the smaller side. Callie looked over to Aimee.
"It's nice." She said. She felt sorry for her even more. Aimee shrugged.
"Well, I never thought so, but it is what it is." She said and looked about the two-room apartment which consisted of a kitchenette and large living room which had an open sofa bed. She sighed. "God, I am not sure what to take and what to leave. I honest to God never thought I'd be leaving here for several more months. I am just a bit…." She was silenced by Iola who came up to her and placed her arms on her shoulders and smiled reassuringly.
"Take it easy, girl. I know this is confusing and like everything is happening in super-fast forward. But we will help you. You have a suitcase or two?" She asked. Aimee nodded.
"Uhm, yeah. Just in the closet." She said walking a short distance and opening a closet and digging past a pile of clothes. A moment later she pulled out a pair of suitcases. She tossed them on the open sofa bed. Then she turned to them with a confused look. "What do I take? I mean we have a car, not a moving truck." Callie looked about and noticed a dressing table with photos and jewelry on it.
"Well, first off, take things that you hold dear in your life. Pictures, jewelry, things you can't easily replace. You don't have to take a bunch of clothes. We can get more on the way." She said with a firm smile to her new friend. Aimee who was showing some mild anxiety nodded to her and tried to stay focused.
"Ok, gotcha." She said and went about the task. With the help of Callie and Iola going through things with her, Aimee had gone through all of her possessions within an hour and managed to fit the items she deemed most important. Aimee looked at the two suitcases, then she looked at Cal and Iola.
"Funny, how all that you hold important can be compacted into a couple small cases. I am amaze…." She stopped short and covered her mouth. "Oh my God! I forgot the most important thing!" She said. Iola and Callie both raised their eyebrows, curious as to what Aimee had overlooked. They had gone through the kitchen and living room pretty thoroughly. Aimee raced to the bathroom, which up till now had been overlooked. A moment later Aimee came back holding the largest cat that Callie or Iola had ever seen! Aimee smiled as she held a huge cat with a black, grey and white splotched coat of long hair. Callie cleared her throat.
"Well, I guess this place has a liberal pet policy. You have a Bobcat?" She asked. Aimee laughed and shook her head.
"Of course not. Harley is a cross between a Maine Coon and a Ragdoll. He is bigger than a Bobcat. I think when he was at the vet last he was 41 pounds." Iola smiled and walked up to Aimee and started petting Harley. The cat seemed receptive and purred loudly. She looked over to the bathroom.
"You keep him in the bathroom?" She asked. Aimee looked down, a bit embarrassed.
"Well, uhm, Harley likes to get into things…" She started. "And well, after certain problems, I thought it best to keep him a little more contained." Iola nodded and smiled continuing to pet the cat. Callie smiled.
"Well, we surely can't forget Harley." She said taking a step forward and offering her hand to the cat, hoping he wouldn't swipe it off. He was receptive to Callie's touch also. Callie smiled and looked about the apartment.
"Does Harley have a cage? And maybe a fifty-pound bag of food around here?" She asked. Aimee shook her head.
"No, Harley is a free range cat whenever possible. But I do have some cans of food I can bring." Callie nodded and smiled a bit at the term she used.
"Free range? You're not like fattening him up to..uh..." She said, then noted Aimee was not following her line of humor. "I mean, yeah. Get the food in a bag and we will take off." She said. Aimee smiled and went about to find the cat's food. Callie looked wide eyed to Iola.
"That thing is huge!" She said. Iola grinned.
"Yeah, but she seemed so attached, it wouldn't do any harm to bring him along." She said. Callie nodded with a laugh.
"Well, yeah. It's cool. We will be fine. But no wonder she couldn't put any money back. I bet that thing eats more than my youngest." Iola laughed.
"Well, Harley does weigh more than Carly, that's for sure!" She said.
Aimee walked in holding a plastic bag filled with cans and a smile.
"Got all the food that I had." She said and stuffed the bag inside one of her suitcases. She picked up Harley off the sofa bed and looked around her. She took a deep breath. Not quite believing what she was doing. "Well, I guess this is it, huh?" she said softly. Iola nodded to her.
"You are up for this, right?" She asked. Aimee nodded.
"Yeah, I have been wanting to go back for a while now, for sure. I am not sure if they will be happy to see me. But I will deal with that if the time comes. She looked around again. A tear came down her cheek. Callie raised an eyebrow to her. "It's a good cry, Cal. I promise. And I want to thank you!" She said wrapping her arms around her, still holding the cat. Callie smiled, even when Harley was face to face with her.
"it's ok, Aimee. I think we are all helping each other out here." She said. Iola picked up two of the bags. She looked over to Cal.
"Well I got these two, Cal. What are you carrying? The suitcases or the baby lion?" She said with a grin. Callie picked up the cases off the sofa bed and smiled.
"I think it's best if momma carries her baby lion to the car. I don't want him to free range on me or anything." She said. Aimee smiled. She picked up her keys with her free hand and took a deep breath.
"Ok, gals, let's do this!" She said. She led the way out of her apartment for the last time. The group made their way down the hallway slowly and then to the stairwell. A few minutes later they emerged from the same side entrance they had entered. Aimee led the way around the back of the building where a long bay of garage doors lined the basement level. She led them halfway down and stopped before bay 32. She took out a key to unlock the garage door. She turned to Iola and gestured to the cat.
"Iola, babe. Can you take Harley for a few while I get the car out?" She asked. Iola smiled and nodded.
"Sure, girl." She said accepting the large cat. Luckily Harley didn't mind being held by Iola and lay there over her arm as Iola grunted at the weight. Callie smiled to her.
"No problem, girl. Remember?" She said. Aimee unlatched the garage door and slowly raised it. She walked into the garage. A moment later the girls heard the roar of an engine. Louder than they were used to hearing. Before they could walk closer to the garage, the shine of chrome appeared as mid 1960's Pontiac GTO convertible pulled into view. The car was not what either Callie or Iola expected a 23-year-old girl to be driving. It was a serious muscle car. The car pulled into full view and the two looked upon it, impressed. Aimee shut the engine off and hopped out. She smiled to them.
"Hope you guys are cool with this." She said. Iola smiled at her and then to the car which was beautiful.
"Are you kidding? If Joe could see this car of yours, his jealously points would go through the roof. If they weren't there already. I don't want to be nosey, girl. But where did you score this ride?" she asked. Callie looked on and nodded. Aimee looked down.
"Well, to be honest, it's my dad's." She said as she walked around to the rear and opened the trunk. "It was his pride and joy…. Well, it was or I was. We never quite figured that out." She paused. "It's a 1967 GTO in gulf turquoise and is equipped with a 400 manual." Callie smiled and nodded.
"No wonder you couldn't save up enough gas money." She said taking in the massive machine. "Must get four miles to the gallon." Aimee smiled at this statement.
"Well, some days she gets a whole seven." She said as she loaded the suitcases into the trunk. Upon completing the task, she took a breath. "Well, are we ready?" She asked. Callie and Iola nodded. Callie pulled the passenger seat and gestured to Iola.
"Keeper of the kitty?" She asked with a grin. Iola smiled.
"I'm up for that!" She said carrying Harley and releasing him onto the backseat as she slid into the back next to him. Callie slid into the passenger side and Aimee walked around and got into the driver's seat. She nervously searched through her bag.
"Better make sure I have my license." She said. A few moments later she pulled it out. Callie peaked over and looked down at it and smiled.
"Aimee Lynn Davidson." She read aloud. "Nice to meet you. I was wondering what your full name was. I kind of like to know those things when I go on a cross country trip with someone." Aimee laughed. Iola looked down at the cat and raised an eyebrow to him.
"That must make you Harley…."
"Davidson." Callie and Aimee finished. Callie smiled and shook her head towards the cat.
"Well, he's about as big as one." She said, then looked down into her own purse.
"Better make sure I have my assets." She said. Callie sorted around inside her purse making sure she had her identification, cards and cash. A moment later she pulled out her Walther PPK stainless .380 pistol. Aimee's eyes widened upon seeing it.
"What's that for?" She asked fearfully. Cal patted her shoulder and smiled.
"Relax, precious. It's just a good thing to have on hand. Especially on a trip like this. You know, bears and such?" She said, not really wanting to go into her background of how she was once part of an investigation firm and had pursued law enforcement as a career and its ultimate demise. Aimee nodded and took a breath.
"Ok, uhm, cool. Just so you guys don't take me to the woods and kill me or anything." She said with a faint laugh. Callie smiled to her. She took her hand and stroked Aimee's cheek. She leaned over and kissed her. Aimee was surprised, but she didn't resist. She kissed her back and smiled, then nervously looked around to see if they were being observed by anyone. Cal smiled again.
"It's ok, girl. This is Jersey. Not the south. We won't get judged. But…" She said and paused. "if that made you uncomfortable, just let me know. I wouldn't want to make you feel awkward or anything." Aimee smiled and took Cal's hand.
"It's not a bad thing. I am just new to it. Just different. But in a good way." She said. Cal nodded then gestured over her shoulder.
"No worries. Iola and I had many an awkward moment before we realized it was ok. I have no problem being bi. I honestly think women kiss better." She said. Iola nodded.
"For sure." She said. Aimee turned red and looked away.
"I'm beginning to figure that out." She said and then put the car into gear. Callie looked down at the dashboard and was relieved when she saw the audio system had been updated.
"Oh, super cool. Bluetooth enabled. So, we are now covered for tunes! I was worried for a minute thinking we'd have three thousand miles of AM radio." Aimee shook her head.
"No, we are good for audio. Feel free to put on whatever you want." She said and pulled the car slowly away. She looked at the building she had been living in for several months. She was glad to be leaving it. She looked over to another group of parked cars and what appeared to be several youths milling about. Likely buying and selling stolen merchandise or drugs. Aimee shook her head.
"Absecon… one of the many armpits of New Jersey." She said with a sad and disgusted look. She looked at her two car mates. "Don't mind me, guys, but I need to do this…" She said. Iola looked over to her curiously.
"Do what?" She asked. Before an answer came, Aimee floored the accelerator and the car lurched forward with a roar of the engine and the wheels spinning with a wild screeching sound as she did half a donut before she shifted up and the car launched forward!
Less than an hour later the GTO roared over the Ben Franklin Bridge as it entered Philadelphia.
Frank and Joe were in Joe's room at the Borgata and Joe was not happy. He began searching through the closets and looking through things. He came back out into the main room and looked to his brother.
"I cannot believe this! She is gone! What the Hell gives?" He said. Frank looked at him and with a deep breath nodded to Joe.
"I'd say she is gone. And well, I would bet that Cal is gone too. In fact, I can pretty much assure you of that…." He said with his voice drifting. Joe looked up at him.
"How can you be sure of that?" He asked. Frank, evading certain parts of the morning, said he had run into Callie and had a good inclination that she might depart early. And the fact that Joe had told him of his visit to Iola in Callie's room earlier, it had just been a logical conclusion.
Joe stormed around the room. He took a beer out of the mini fridge and popped the can open and began drinking. He looked over to Frank.
"I know you don't like to talk about it, but you know what they have been up to, right? Of course you do!" He muttered and took another drink. Frank sighed. That was one subject he didn't really want to touch. He was not especially fond of the fact that Callie and Iola had their bi side. But he knew it was hard on Joe since he learned that Iola had apparently branched out to strange women.
"Joe. You and I share the same feeling for that subject. And while I am not one to fully embrace it, I don't feel that it will serve any purpose if I fight against it. I know it hurts. But we all pick our battles, you know. Chet has always been cool with Cal having a thing with Iola. Well, it's just never bothered him like it does you.
Joe looked at his brother with some disdain in his eyes. He took another drink and cleared his throat.
"What do you think Chet would say about Cal stepping out with say, another guy?" He said. Frank's eyes narrowed.
"Why would he have to worry about that?" He said a bit blankly. He wasn't sure if Joe was being hypothetical or he knew something. He suspected the latter. Joe pursed his lips and looked at him.
"Why did Cal leave, Frank?" He asked with a tone clearly indicating he could read his brother like a book and had made an educated guess. Frank looked down and shook his head. A wide range of emotions crossed his face. Joe took a breath and stepped forward to him. He put a hand on his brother's shoulder. While Joe was mad and almost beside himself with anger, he didn't want to take it out on his brother. Especially if he had hit the target with his guess at what had likely transpired.
"Frank, I am not going to judge. God knows I have screwed up many a times and am not perfect. I just want to know what is going through my wife's head. You know? But for now, I better call mom and check on Joey." He said. Before he could pick up the phone, it rang. Joe picked up his phone and looked at the caller ID. He made a face.
"This won't be good." He said and answered. "Hey Chet…" He said. Frank's eyes widened. That was not someone he wanted to talk to right now. Joe had been listening intently. "Do you know where she went? Iola is gone too….. Uhm, no. She didn't say. We weren't exactly together when she made her plans and when we last spoke, I was a bit angry with her….uhm, well, because…because, oh shit, Chet. There is no great way to say it. I found Iola in bed this morning with some waitress from the hotel bar, and uhm, I am sure Cal was probably in on, uhm, that,… since it was in her suite…. What do you mean, Is That All? Chet, our wives have gone off the rez, buddy. Doesn't that mean anything to you?... Yes, I am sure you are worried. It sounds like Callie didn't give you much info in her call to you. But at least she Did call you. Iola just bolted…Huh?...Well, how much time did she say she needed?... Ok, ok, I don't want to fight with you, man. You and I just see things a bit different on that subject. But they are still like gone, man….. What am I going to do? I haven't figured that out just yet….. Well, for now I am going to stay here in Atlantic City and see if she comes back in the next day. I am going to touch base back in Bayport as well to check on my son and see if anyone sees if she pops up there… Yeah, ok, ok. I hear ya. I will be here. Please call me if you hear anything and we will touch base later today or in the morning… Yeah, I am trying to take it easy. Easier said than done, dude. Ok, ok. Thanks, man. Later." He said and hung up. He looked at Frank.
"Cal called him and told him she needed some alone time. But didn't elaborate. Just talked to the kids and then made sure the sitter was around full time. But didn't tell Chet much of anything." He said with a pause. "Which I guess is good news for you for the time being." Frank looked out the window and closed his eyes.
"I didn't mean for it to happen. Neither did she. If that makes a difference. I am sure she doesn't want to face him. I am sure she is scared shitless." He said turning to Joe. His eyes tearful at the recollection. "My God, Joe. Afterwards… she laid there, trembling like she had just been raped or had pimped herself out and regretted it so much!" he paused and closed his eyes. "We both drank and just…. Oh God…" he looked at Joe. "We have to make sure she is ok. If I screwed up that marriage I just couldn't live with that. I know we both had our parts, but it was the worst thing either of us could have done. And we knew it." He said, his voice choking up. Joe put an arm around him.
"It's ok. It's ok, man. It is going to be alright. I know you didn't mean to hurt her. But Cal… well, as much as I can't be too much the hypocrite, she gets on the sauce and that makes you do a lot of dumb things. I think you know that yourself." Frank nodded blankly.
"I do know that. It's almost like the forces of bad rationalization were there guiding us. But it was the booze. And I should know better. I seldom touch the stuff compared to you, much less Cal. And talk about sobering reality, I haven't even begun to think of what this little episode does with regards to me and Tiffany. I know some people don't like her. But I still love her. I think I owe it to be true to her...and myself, and I wasn't this morning. I just hope she can forgive me." He said with a deep sigh. Then looked back towards his brother. "But we need to make sure Cal and Iola are alright." He said. Joe nodded his agreement.
"Hard as it's going to be, we need to sit tight here and see if they come back." He said.
"And if they don't…..?" Frank asked. Joe turned to him.
"Then we get Chet, and we go find them!" He said firmly.