Chapter 5 - Ricky Joe

Lee was having fun playing this good ole Cowboy called Ricky Joe. Sometimes he would make up a cover story that was fun and this was one of those times. He got to pretend that he had an ex-wife that was sucking him dry while he could flirt with the bar keep Lady, Candy. He was sure that Candy had a thing for him but he was on a job so he couldn't explore that just yet. It didn't take long for the bait to be grabbed by a leech that hung out at the Bar. Lee was pretty sure he had hit pay dirt and just needed to wait until the right moment. Then Amanda showed up at the bar. What was she doing here? He decided to pretend she was his ex-wife and found out that she came to tell him that Alexi had taken off during the night. He couldn't think about that right now though as he needed to keep his cover so he told her that they would talk that night. In the meantime, to keep his cover, he told her to tell him that "He stunk" and then asked her to throw his drink in his face. He wasn't prepared for her ad lib of telling him that "Sex with him had always been a major disappointment." Where did this housewife who seemed to blush at the most innocent of things, come up with that one? He almost gave away his cover by laughing but managed to keep a straight face as he quietly called her a ham under his breath and then faced Becker. In the end, it seemed to help Lee as Becker pulled him aside and asked him to steal a couple of employee files from the ACM Plant for $2,000. Things were finally starting to work out. Now, he just needed to make sure Amanda and Alexi stayed safe.

After Lee got the personnel files that Becker asked for and gave them to him, he then went out shopping. Lee normally hated shopping because his lady friends would drag him through fancy dress shops or hat shops or other boring places and Lee would have to humor them so that they would entertain him later on. This time he went to a Toy store and looked around for Alexi. He wasn't exactly sure what he would want so he asked the clerk. She looked to be not much older than Alexi and she immediately brought him to the Atari 7800 Game System and said "This is all the rage for a young boy. There are lots of games to choose from too."

Lee said "That's great. Do you have suggestions for a few of the more popular ones?"

"Sure, the three best sellers right now are Death Demon, Space Dinosaur and the most popular is Swamp Humanoid."

"That's perfect. I'll take all of that plus this bat and ball game."

As the clerk was wrapping everything up, Lee noticed a huge stuffed Panda Bear near the cash Register. Thinking back about those days when he had been a scared kid, he was always glad he had his big Stuffed Teddy Bear named Mr. Bear. He was squishy and very huggable and Lee would often go to sleep hugging him for security. Of course he had to sneak around to do that because of the Colonial. If he had ever caught him, his uncle would have teased him endlessly about hugging a stuffed bear. Maybe Alexi would feel better if he had a bear to hug. "Hey, can you please add this to my order." Lee asked as he handed over the Panda Bear.

Lee was in a fantastic mood when he got back to his apartment and couldn't wait to see Alexi's face when he saw all this neat stuff but Amanda said he was in the bath and since it had taken her so long to get him there, she sure wasn't going to Lee disturb him until he was squeaky clean. He showed her all the neat things that he had gotten Alexi and was surprised when she said how much she loved the Panda. She even said "You could definitely buy my affection with this guy, this guy is gorgeous."

Lee couldn't help but think about their time in Arizona and how he had been confused by his reaction to being close to her. He couldn't believe that she was so easy to please with just a simple stuffed animal. He would have to remember that in case he ever felt the need to get her to do something for him.

Then it happened; he suddenly realized that Amanda had destroyed his apartment. Well maybe she only cleaned it but it wasn't his anymore. It looked like Amanda lived there instead of him. He was about to get really steamed at her when she said that Alexi made the comment that they weren't compatible. Then she admitted that what Alexi really said was "Lee's Fun, You're a drag."

Lee couldn't help but gloat. A kid liked him better than Amanda. Wow! Who would have ever thought that would be possible? He was a pretty good kid. Then in gloating too much, Lee gave more of his private life away to Amanda when he mentioned about Alexi being a scared kid and pretending to be tough to hide it. She picked up on it and called him out. Man, he had to stop sharing so much. What happened to the days when he wouldn't tell anyone anything about himself? This Arlington Housewife sure did a good job at getting him to ramble on, that was for sure. It was at that moment that he noticed that his Rolling Stones albums were no longer in the front where they belonged. It turned out that Amanda had even alphabetized them. Who did that? No, he was definitely not compatible with this woman.

He had to admit though that seeing Amanda hugging the Panda bear as she said "Maybe you tough guys aren't as tough as I thought you were"; he couldn't help but think how cute she was and how the bear seemed to compliment her completely.

Alexi came out of the bathroom at that moment and said "What is all this stuff? Is this for me?"

Lee smiled and said "Sure is sport. I thought you might like to have some games to play while you wait to see your parents."

"What's with the dumb Panda Bear?" Alexi asked?

"He is not a dumb bear, I'll have you know. Why this is a bully free zone bear. Whenever anything scares you, you just have to squeeze his stomach and all your fears will become milder."

"That sounds dumb to me." Said Alexi. "Thanks for the rest of this stuff though. Can we hook it up so I can play?"

"Maybe after dinner. I heard that Amanda fixed you something fun to eat."

Alexi looked at Amanda and asked "More green beans?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I made you some chicken tenders and French Fries."

"Great, can I eat? I'm starving."

"Go Ahead. Lee I have to get home. Are you all set now?"

"Yes, Amanda, you will be back to pick him up first thing in the morning?"

"Yes, I'll be here around 7am. Will you be awake or should I just take him and go."

Lee looked at her with a scolding type look and said "7am will be fine. I have to get to the agency anyway."

"Great, I'll see you then." With one last small pat on the Panda Bear's head, Amanda left the apartment.

TBC