Chapter 42
TULE SAT ON the floor of the large closet, way in the back, heaps of high-heeled shoes around her, her knees folded up to her chest.
She held the cell phone close to her face and made her call to Lester Olsen at his office in Vegas.
“Please answer,” she said to her bare feet. “Please answer the phone.”
A man’s voice said, “Hello, Tule?”
She said, “Oh boy, I’m glad you answered. I’m having a panic attack.”
“What’s going on?” Lester had a very soothing voice.
“I’m scared,” she said. “He’s very big. He’s very angry.”
“Angry at you?”
“Sometimes at me. Sometimes he’s angry at one of his kids. Sometimes he’s angry at the football scores. Could be anything. He likes to be mad.”
“When he’s angry at you, what does he say?”
“Like now, I said, ‘I had another dream about you.’ Just like you and I talked about, you know? And he said, ‘What are you trying to do to me, Tule? You warning me or something? Don’t you know I can break your neck with one hand?’”
“Aw, jeez. What did you say to that?”
“I said, ‘Oh, baby, you don’t mean that.’ And then I scampered away. He threw a cup at me. Missed. Hit the wall, though.”
“Does he hit you, Tule?”
“No. Not really.”
“Do you want to get out?”
“Maybe. No. No, this is my chance. I just needed to talk to you.”
“I’m here, sweetie. I’m just glad you’re okay. On a positive note, he’s doing what you want him to do.”
“Meaning what?” she asked. Then she whispered, “Wait. I hear him.”
She listened to his footsteps on the teak floors, heard him call her. “Tuuuuule. Tuuuuuuule. Where are you, baby?”
She was breathing with her mouth open, staring at a pair of chartreuse stilettos by the light of her phone. After a minute, she said, “You still there?”
“Of course. What’s happening?”
“He’s gone now,” she said. “Big house, you know. Lotta, lotta rooms. You were saying?”
“I was saying, his ticker is a time bomb. Keep doing what you’re doing. But if you get afraid, Tule, get out. Or at least, dial it back for a couple of days.”
“Yeah. Sure, Les. Thanks for listening. I’d better go. Make him some lunch. Do a little bikini dance.”
He laughed, said, “That could do the trick.”
She laughed too. “If only. I’d dance until he dropped dead. I’ll call you soon.”
“I’m always here.”
“Hugs and kisses,” she said. “Bye-bye.”
“Bye-bye.”
Tule sighed, then turned off the phone and went back to work.