He breathed deeply and longed to rise from the bed and float away, right through the ceiling into 7B and on until he bashed through the roof and escaped gravity altogether. “I do,” he told her.
“We can’t go on like this.” She slowly raked her fingernails against the ladder of his ribs. When she hit the right spot, he flinched and rolled away, and then sat up on the edge of the bed. Bunny leaned her head against the arch of his back. In the half-light of the shuttered room, he stumbled and found his Lucky Strikes and lighter. They shared a smoke.
“We’ve been over this a hundred times, Bun.”
The first time was just a drunken whim, a chance meeting at the Carnegie Deli, a momentary opportunity when he saw her home and found her husband out on travel. But Jerry would sooner kill her than divorce her. He had beaten her years earlier, when he suspected that she was carrying on with an actor named O’Leary, and he swore he would never let her go. As for Phil, all of his finances were tied up with Claire’s inheritance, everything in her name. He would be destitute without her money. They had been over and over the options for the past four months.
With a sigh, she slipped out of bed and extinguished the cigarette in an ashtray on her bureau. From his spot on the mattress, he watched her nude form glide through the room, and she could see the lust stitched in his gaze. She moved deliberately through the light seeping between the slats of the blinds, allowing him to watch her, drinking in his pleasure at her nonchalant sensuality. Bunny knew that Claire would never dare parade in the buff in front of Phil. To make the moment linger, she grabbed a brush from the dresser and watched him watch her in the mirror as she fixed her hair. A small laugh jumped from her throat.
“What’s so funny?” He was lying down on his side to get a better look.
“Just a thought.” She dared not face him. “What if they both were out of the picture?”
“Sure, that would solve everything.” His voice oozed sarcasm.
In three quick steps, she was back in bed with him. “You have to take care of Jerry, bump him off. It’s the only way out. He’d never give me a divorce. Once I get ahold of his dough, you take care of Claire, and we live like royals.”
“Wait just a minute, Bun.… You’re asking me to kill my wife?”
“No, silly.” She rolled over and lay on top of him. “You kill Jerry, and then we get rid of Claire. You could divorce her if you had Jerry’s money to look forward to.” She sat up suddenly and wondered if he would actually leave his wife for her. She broke into a toothy grin and straddled him. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
Staring up at her, luxuriating in the touch of her fingers, Phil could not help himself. His body betrayed his true feelings.
Down in the backyard, a tomcat yowled, and I could tell by the length and timbre of the call that Harpo had returned and was announcing his presence. Had I left the cat flap unlatched?
Alice went to the window and peered into the abyss. “What on earth made that hellish cry?”
“You, my dear witch, of all people, should know,” the old man said. “It is a cat.”
The mention of a cat in such proximity caused quite a stir in the room. In the small space, they kept bumping into one another in a kind of flustered, mild panic. Adele could not stop shaking her head in disbelief, and Marie was ready to tear out her hair. Flo and Jane huddled near the door, debating escape. Alice approached the old man and grabbed him by the lapels of his robe. “Nobody said nothing about any cat.”
The old man stood and addressed the crowd. “I have spoken to your man here about the filthy beast, and he has assured me that said cat will stay in the bottom of the house while we occupy the top. There’s no need in getting yourselves in an uproar, ladies.” His speech mollified them to the point where everyone returned to their places. From the corner of his mouth, he muttered to me, “Allergies.” With a nod of his fez, he indicated to Bunny that she might resume, and so she did.