A/N: Yeah, I'm late again. If people were paying me, I'd feel guilty, but as it is...no money, no obligations:) ;p I'll be stepping the updating up to every three or four days so I can have it finished before Christmas (hopefully). This is six, so there are only four chapters left.
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"So how are you?" Lula Marie asked, sitting Henna down in a comfortable chair in the small living room, lushly furnished even for its small size. "It's been ages!"
"It has," Henna said as Lula Marie went to the kitchen and pulled out a pitcher of her family's famous lime-aid. She remembered afternoons sitting around Lula Marie's bedroom drinking glass after glass of that stuff, reading magazines and talking until she was nearly blind and mute. "You look great."
"Oh," Lula Marie scoffed, handing her a tall glass brimming with the pale green liquid. "Me, I've been such a house mouse. You look fantastic."
Henna blushed, taking in Lula Marie's appearance. The girl had always been blessed with a skinny figure, and she had cut her short dark hair even shorter, where now it rode against the base of her skull. She appeared in all ways smart and savvy, but there were wrinkles where wrinkles should not yet be. Apparently Lula Marie had chosen to be a house mouse for a particular reason.
"Thanks," she said as the other woman sat down. "So I hear you're a big-shot now, trying to update Hazzard into the computer age?"
"An impossible task, I promise you," Lula Marie agreed. "But even Boss Hogg has to admit that I make things a lot more efficient. Not that he likes that, of course. He liked things simple and corrupt as they were."
Henna laughed. "Well, at least some things never change."
"No they don't," the other said, eyeing her friend, "So what have you been up to?"
"Oh…stuff," Henri-Mae said vaguely.
"Don't try that with me," Lula Marie said, her smile still in place but a tone in her voice. "It's been seven years, not more than a post card from you now and again. No return address. Where the hell have you been?"
"New York," Henna replied, never able to lie to Lula Marie. "Got in and out of quite a few interesting jobs. I spent a year living in luxury's lap before it all came crashing down, and then I got word that Daddy was sick, but by the time I got it, it was too late. He had died before I could get away."
She said it so matter-of-factly that Lula blinked in surprise. "So how long will you be in Hazzard?" she asked.
"Long enough to take care of some business," Henna replied.
"Business," Lula Marie echoed, and then paused, idly tapping a finger on her glass. "How are you holding up, otherwise?"
Henna stiffened. She knew it was a natural question. Someone's father died and grief was expected. "I, uh…" she stumbled. "I'm not sure."
"Well, if you need any help putting affairs in order, just call me," Lula said, squeezing her hand. "What did you think of the gravesite? I helped make the arrangements in your absence, I hope you don't mind."
Henna bridled further. "I…uh…haven't been down there yet."
Lula Marie fixed her with a gaze. "I thought you said you were taking care of some business…?" Her voice trailed off. "Hey, look, I'm sorry…this has got to be difficult for you. Here I go, ambushing you in my usual way. Some people think its part of my charm, but I know I'm a pain in the ass." She squeezed Henna's hand again. "You can talk to me, you know."
"About what?" Henri-Mae said absently.
Lula opened her mouth to reply, and then second-guessed herself. "Look, I know I'm probably going to get my head handed to me for this, but…how are you coping with your father's death?"
Henna just looked at her. This was certainly not the conversation she'd imagined having. She hadn't allowed herself to think much of her father since that morning waking up in the kitchen, after a night of uneasy dreams driven by grief and guilt.
"I mean," Lula went on, her tone a bit more careful, "I know that certain things went… unresolved. But you do know that your father loved you, don't you?"
Henna blinked, tilted her head, and continued to stare at Lula Marie blankly.
Lula drew a breath. "I see," she said, biting her lip, a clear sign that she was extremely worried. A hardened look crossed her face, once that Henna was entirely used to. It was disapproval, plain and simple.
"Dad's dead," Henna said finally. "I can't bring him back. I just have to tie up the loose ends and finish up some other business."
"Does this business include Bo Duke?" Lula asked. Henna would have choked on her lime-aid if she hadn't been expecting – no, desiring the question.
"Maybe," Henna sighed.
"Henri-Mae," Lula said, her tone flat and serious, "I've heard this crazy story going around that Bo Duke took advantage of you in the boarding house and you chased him out by throwing shoes at him. Is that true?"
Henna shifted uncomfortably. If she had wanted to make a confession, she would have sought a priest. "Something like that," she muttered.
Lula Marie sighed. "Great. Well, if you wanted to soil his reputation, you succeeded. I've heard at least a half-dozen new words invented to describe the kind of scoundrel that Bo Duke has become, and none of them are fit to print."
Henna smirked. "Really?" she said, satisfied in spite of herself.
"Really," Lula Marie replied. "Henri-Mae, why did you do it? I mean, it's been seven years—"
Henna slammed down her glass on the coffee table and stood up. "I've gotta go," she said.
"Hang on a second!" Lula half-shouted, rising with her. "Now you knew this was going to come up when you came here. You can bullshit Shelly and even Tonya but you can't ever bullshit me. You wanted to say something, or hear something. Which is it?"
"Well, I'm apparently not hearing it, or saying it," Henna snapped.
"No, I think you are," Lula Marie said, folding her arms. "Look, I'm going to tell you something. I went out with Bo Duke."
Henna spun around, feeling as if she'd just had a sharp object imbedded in her side. "You—"
"See!" Lula Marie pointed at her. "I knew it! You're still hung up on him!"
"I am not!" Henna snapped back. While a part of her said that this was not what she'd come here for, and that she had to leave immediately, another part of her, buried much deeper down, said this was exactly what she'd come for, and she was going to take it.
"Oh, come on!" Lula threw her hands into the air. "We went out once and you react like I was his ex-wife! What he did to you was awful, trust me. I know that better than anyone. But seven years, Henri-Mae…he's a man now, what happened with you changed him. You just didn't stick around long enough to see it."
"People don't change," she said.
"They do when they have to," Lula pointed out.
"Please," Henna spat. "Have you changed? Have I? Or has Shelly or Tonya? Trust me, I was with Bo and he was the exact same Bo from seven years ago, only with a lot more notches on his belt. He deserved what he got."
Lula Marie nodded. "Well, you went about it awfully quick," she said, folding her arms again. "You didn't even take the time to find out if he was even the same guy, and don't tell me you did, because I don't believe you. Not in the time span I heard about. If Bo was who you thought he was, he'd be the biggest cold-hearted bastard in all of Hazzard County, and I can guarantee you, he's not. The whole town is hurt by what you did – yes, that's right, the whole town," Lula pressed at the indignant look on Henna's face. "He was a local icon and you turned him into a pervert. And he may be a player, but he's not a pervert."
Henna shrunk. "I don't care," she whispered. "He…he broke my heart."
Suddenly, Lula was sympathetic. She crossed the room and went to Henna, her hands resting gently on her shoulders. "I know he did, baby," she whispered. "But you ran away. You never knew it, but you broke his heart, too, when you did that. If you'd just taken the time to find out…you could have saved everyone so much trouble."
Henna looked up at her, wounded. Then she felt her spine turn to steel. "I have to go," she said.
Lula Marie let go. "Yeah, fine. Look, my door is always open to you. My code is 7715. Come anytime."
Henna turned and pulled the door open, beating her way down the stairs without looking back.
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Bo spent the afternoon sulking around the house, feeling extremely irritated that he wasn't free to go jump into the General any time he wanted. Jesse attempted to keep him busy with chores, but it was little use – there just wasn't any way to shake Bo's black mood. Luke even tried every trick he knew, but nothing worked. There was no way to cheer Bo up.
A car pulled up into the drive, a familiar silver-gray civic that could only belong to one person. Lula Marie's dark head popped up, and she was holding a bag, heading straight for Uncle Jesse.
"I thank you kindly, dear," Uncle Jesse was saying as Bo listened from just inside the house, through the screen. "I wish I could pay you sooner—"
"It's not a problem, Uncle Jesse," Lula Marie said with a smile. "Pay me when you can."
Uncle Jesse smiled at her, a bit uncomfortable, but grateful all the same, and went about his business installing the rather expensive tractor part Lula Marie had managed to dig up for him through internet connections. She saw Bo standing in the doorway and waited.
"Hey, Bo," she said, her voice friendly, if not as cheerful as ever. Bo pushed the screen door open but didn't step out.
"Hey, Lula," he replied. "What's going on?"
"Not nearly as much as what's going on with you," she said, coming a little closer. "Come on out, I don't bite."
Balladeer: Now you might be wonderin' why Lula Marie is so familiar with Bo, even if she did go out with him on one date. Well, that one date happened when Lula Marie returned from school three years ago, and it had happened exactly because Bo wanted to know if Lula had heard anything about Henri-Mae during those missing four years. Finding out that she didn't had been a disappointment, but Lula was always a bit sweeter on Luke than Bo, so she didn't mind.
Bo hesitated, and then slowly stepped out of the enclosed porch and onto the sunlit steps. He made his way to where the General was parked and hoisted himself up on the hood, his usual comfortable spot. "So you don't hate me?" he asked, not quite meeting her eyes.
"Why would I hate you, Bo?" Lula said, her smile sympathetic. "You didn't do anything to me."
"Yeah, but Henri-Mae—"
Lula shook her head. "Look," she said with a deep sigh, "I know this is of small consolation, but you're just an innocent bystander whose become a casualty. None of this is about you, not really."
"What is it about?" Bo asked softly.
"Her mother," Lula Marie said with characteristic bluntness. "Everything has been about her mother since she left them. Even back in the days, when you two were together. And right now, well…you were an easy target." Lula Marie arched an eyebrow. "A bit too easy, from what I heard."
Bo was tired of blushing, but he did it again anyway, right to the roots of his pretty blond locks. "Things…happen," he said.
"Uh huh."
It was tempting, to tell Lula Marie about that evening. About how Henri-Mae had been so warm and needy, how she had looked up at him with those eyes of hers like pale turquoise stones. How having her so close had brought back so many memories of happier times, of being warm beside her, lying in her bed…hell, he hadn't stood a chance.
"Well," she said, pushing herself away from the General, which she had been leaning against, "just to put your poor little head at rest, not everyone in Hazzard hates you."
Bo flinched.
"I mean," Lula went on, "almost all the girls either are mad just because they're jealous that Henri-Mae's still got her magic spell cast over you, or they're pissed at her for treating you the way she did. The rest are married so they don't care." She chuckled, coaxing a small smile from Bo. "Most people are just plain offended that such an unseemly act was exposed so publicly, regardless of who was at fault for whatever. And then there's the rather common opinion that Henri-Mae is just a trouble making bitch."
Bo flinched again at the insult was hurled inadvertently at Henri-Mae. He couldn't imagine thinking of her in such a crude, harsh way. Even as angry as he was, the more he thought about what she'd done.
"Bo," Lula said suddenly, "why the hell did you sleep with her?"
Balladeer: That's just one thing you gotta know about Lula Marie. She ain't afraid to take the bull by the horns. True, she may make people mad, but they all know that she's usually right, and it never bothers her none.
Bo looked at her, at her pained expression. "I don't know," he said.
"You boys never do," Lula said dryly. "I suppose it's a man's conversation we're having—"
He wanted to say yes, it was, but the words wouldn't come out. He wasn't quite sure why he felt the need to talk to Lula. Part of it, he was sure, was the connection she had to Henri-Mae. In fact, just about every since encounter he'd ever had with her had had something to do with Henri-Mae. It was like Lula was his only hope of ever making things right…
"You still have feelings for her?" Lula pressed gently.
Bo looked away. "I thought I did. I haven't been able to sort my head out yet, not with all of this going on." He shifted away from her. "Yeah, I guess this is a man's conversation," he finally said, his voice low.
Lula shook her head, understanding. "Sorry, I just…well, don't worry, I won't break any confidences. Henri-Mae is my friend, but I know you're a good person and that this is all going to work out somehow." It sounded so lame, both of them thought it, but neither said anything.
"Uncle Jesse wants me to stay close to home for a couple of days," Bo murmured.
"Probably a good idea," Lula said, making her way back to her car. "But you've still got friends, Bo. Things will blow over before you know it." She winked at him before getting into her car. "Tell Luke I said hi."
"I will," Bo said, lifting a hand in farewell. She drove off down the dirt road, and Bo found himself thinking over her words…a man's conversation…
He went to go look for Luke.
A/N: Yeah, yeah, he said she said. Next chapter will be more interesting. Come back in three. :)