“Uncle Tex—”
His big, beefy hand came out and enveloped mine. “Just got you in my life, darlin’ girl, ain’t no weasely-assed motherfucker gonna take you back out. He’l have to split my skul open with that fuckin’ sledgehammer before that happens.”
The fear crawled up my throat again mainly because I was worried Bil y’d do it.
“Uncle Tex—”
“Don’t worry, Roxie. Before he cracked open my skul , he’d have to crack open half a dozen other ones. Trust me, I know how these fuckin’ guys work. He wouldn’t get through the first wave.”
“I don’t know these people and you barely do.”
“Don’t need to know much more of them to know what they’re made of. Seen a lot of it these past months.” He squeezed my hand. “You came to the right place.” Then he leaned back in his seat and tipped his head back, “Bring it on!” he boomed.
Good grief.
Yes, I was undoubtedly, seriously, official y in trouble.
Chapter Five
Phone Calls
Uncle Tex took me to my car and I fol owed him to his house and I helped him clean litter trays. After, we went down to the corner store where he introduced me to Mr.
Kumar, his friend and grocery supplier. Then, I found out Uncle Tex needed to get ready for his date with Nancy.
On the way back from Mr. Kumar’s store, I sang the “Uncle Tex and Nancy, Sitting in a Tree” song again and he picked me up, carried me to my car, set me down on the street, turned around and, without a backward glance, walked back into his house.
Hee hee.
*
I went to my hotel and tore through my suitcases (yes, I had two, I was high maintenance and high maintenance women didn’t go anywhere without at least two suitcases) looking for an outfit to wear for my date. I was staring at the exploded suitcases in despair because, even though I had more clothes in those two suitcases than most of the earth’s population would own in their lifetimes, I did not have an outfit to wear on my date with Whisky. My cel phone rang.
I tensed and stared at my purse like it was a living thing out for my blood and I yanked the phone out of my bag, expecting it to tel me Bil y was cal ing.
Instead, it told me Daisy was cal ing.
In shock, I flipped it open. “Hel o?”
“Hey Sugar Bunch, what’re you wearin’ for your date?” Daisy asked.
I sat on the edge of the bed. I’d known this woman for less than twenty-four hours and she acted like she’d known me for twenty-four years.
“I’ve no idea,” I told her.
“Cal Indy, she’l know. She’s good at that stuff. Listen, you gonna be in town awhile?”
What now?
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“Wel , me and Marcus are havin’ a party, not this Thursday but next. Would love for you to come.” That was so sweet of her.
“I don’t know if I’l be here but if I am, I’l come,” I said.
“I don’t need exact numbers, it’s a charity do so it’l be finger food. The people comin’ own most of Denver. They can afford to fil their bel ies before they show up at The Castle.”
The Castle?
Daisy went on. “It’s black tie, you got something sparkly to wear?”
“Um…” I didn’t. Bil y and I didn’t normal y attend black tie affairs.
“Don’t worry, Tod wil loan you somethin’. He’s a drag queen. He has the best closet. Oh! Gotta go, my masseuse is here. Ta-ta!”
“Bye,” I said to dead air. She’d already hung up.
I flipped the phone closed and tried to flip off the switch that was making me feel welcome and safe and weirdly at home (the switch didn’t work).
I washed my face in order to prepare for my nighttime makeup regime and I was drying it when my phone rang. I looked at it on the vanity, certain that it would be Bil y, but instead it said it was Tod, Indy’s neighbor.
Holy cow. I knew that Daisy had programmed in Tod and Stevie when she was fiddling with my phone. How Tod got my number, I did not know.
I flipped it open. “Hel o?”
“Hey girlie. It’s Tod. Daisy cal ed, said you might need something to wear to her big bash. Come over, we’l go through my closet,” Tod invited.
Oh my God, that was so sweet.
“I’m not sure I’m going to be here,” I told him.
“You have to be here! It’s gonna be the party of the decade!” Tod screeched like I just told him I turned down a marriage proposal from Prince Wil iam.
“Um…” I said.
“Come over anyway. I’l get out a bottle of sparkling wine and the Yahtzee game.”
“I’m going on a date with Hank.”
Silence.
Then, “Shit, those boys don’t fuck around.” He could say that again.
Because I needed help, I took a deep breath and confided, “I’m not sure what to wear.”