Authors: Nancy Hopper
" 'Fraid so." She admitted with a bashful smile. "And you are Tim Rain."
He grinned at her. "Guilty." He said lightly. "I understand that you have been taking care of my lady. I'm deeply indebted to you." He said softly.
"I wanted to be sure that she was all right. I mean tonight ...” she gasped, as he kissed her hand. “Tim, I thought I'd just call from the front desk to make sure there was nothing I could do for her. Then I saw that man climbing over the balcony railing, and lost my head. I am so sorry to intrude this way."
Tim grinned. "Not at all." He assured her. "We were just about ready to order room service. Why don't you stay, and join us?"
"Oh, no. Thank you, anyway." Elaine protested. "You two should be alone. After all, Tim, you've been abroad, and I know it's been a very traumatic time. You really should have some time to yourselves, now."
"Actually, it would be much better if we didn't." Tim assured her dryly. "I'd be grateful if you'd stay." He contradicted Elaine, in a tone that made Tasha blush.
"If you'll stay, Elaine, Tim might stay, too. Otherwise, he's got to leave." Tasha tried to explain. "I mean, he doesn't have to leave, but he feels like he does. I mean, he doesn't feel like we ought to be alone right now. You know … the way things have been."
Elaine looked from one to the other. "Why ever not? You aren't going to let those goons chase you apart now, are you? That's nuts." she snorted.
Tim looked at his toes and then leveled a teasing look at Elaine. "Although they get totally excited when they think Tasha and I have been alone in a hotel room for five minutes, this has nothing to do with the press, actually." He admitted, grinning like a kid.
Tasha rolled her eyes and turned a deeper shade of red. "Timothy Rain." She rebuked him soundly.
Tim shrugged helplessly at Elaine, and cracked up laughing as he saw the look of horror on Tasha's face. "Well, you tell her what's wrong, then." He dared.
"Timothy!" Tasha objected hotly.
"Oh, man." He winced. "I haven't been here but a few hours and already, I'm in trouble."
"Just what is the problem? Mr. Rain, spit it out and get it over with." Elaine suggested matter of factly.
Tim looked at his shoes again and then looked up at Elaine from under his eyelashes. "Well, it has to do with a sadistic red dress." He admitted shyly, showing his dimples.
Elaine paled. "My red dress? What's wrong with it?"
Tim chuckled and put his hands in his pockets. "Absolutely nothing." He assured her dryly. "Tasha just thought she'd wear it tonight."
Elaine looked from Tim's smoky eyes to Tasha's mortified blush, and closed her eyes. A knowing laugh floated out of her throat. "I see." She said. It was clear that she did. "Yes, I see. It’s quite lovely, no? It was simply made for Tasha."
"Quite lovely. Indecently so." Tim agreed in a husky voice. "So, how about dinner?"
Elaine smiled sweetly. "Love to."
"Just don't be offended, please, if I fall asleep as soon as I change gears." Tim warned. "It's a long run from Venezuela, and that little nap hasn’t taken care of it."
"I understand." Elaine assured him.
"Tim, honey, why don't you go ahead and go back to sleep? We can wake you when the food comes." Tasha suggested. "In the meantime, Elaine and I can catch up."
Tim raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I trust the two of you together, enough to go to sleep. Seems like a lot of mischief to have in one place at the same time." He teased.
Tasha and Elaine looked at one another with wide-eyed innocence.
"You know, I hadn't thought about it, but I haven't done anything mean to a man in years." Elaine drawled.
"That's bologna. I just got the red dress treatment." Tim countered under his breath.
"I wonder what he'd do if he woke up with toothpaste in his ears?" Tasha giggled.
"Better put it between his toes." Elaine decided excitedly.
"Anybody who designed that red dress is capable of a lot more than toothpaste tricks." Tim growled. "I warn you both -- mess with me and I will fix you, big time."
Tasha and Elaine looked at him simultaneously with unconvincing innocence. He rolled his eyes, groaned, and walked toward the bed with a resigned sigh.
"We won't do a thing, darling." Tasha promised sweetly.
"Wouldn't think of it." Elaine purred.
“
I'm a very light sleeper." He warned, kicking off his boots. He gave them a cheeky grin, flopped onto his face, and went immediately to sleep.
Tasha and Elaine laughed quietly at him, then settled down to look at the room service menu.
"We didn't think to ask Tim what he'd like." Elaine realized.
"He probably is going to be a lot more interested in sleep, than he is in food." Tasha predicted. "Crazy man flew from Venezuela to New York to L.A., non-stop. He made it to the studio right as I was finishing."
"Oh, my." Elaine marveled. "He deserves that nap, doesn't he?"
"You could say that." Tasha giggled. "So, do you like him?" she asked hopefully.
"He's delightful." Elaine assured her. "Bigger than life, too, isn't he?"
"Way bigger." Tasha exclaimed. “You ought to see him when he's on a roll. He's like a lightning bolt.”
Their friendship deepened and became very solid that night. It was uncanny that they shared so many interests and opinions.
Tasha discovered that Elaine didn't much care to talk about herself. Slowly, though, Tasha began to piece together a picture of neglect, heartache and abuse.
"My father liked to drink." She admitted, "And when he did, he'd be hell on wheels. Us kids would all climb under the house and stay there, until he went to sleep. He never did find our hiding place. One time Billy got bit by a snake, and his leg swelled up twice it's size before we could come out; but that boy didn't make a peep."
As Tasha talked about her life, Elaine also opened up more and more. She clearly could relate to many of Tasha's experiences. They had many more similarities than either one of them would have thought.
"We were so poor. We might have done all right, if my father had been able to keep a job and keep his paycheck in his pocket. But, most of it went to booze." Elaine recalled.
"My father used to drink a lot, too. Not anymore, but it was pretty bad for awhile." Tasha admitted hesitantly.
"Wasn't he happy?" Elaine asked skeptically.
"No. Never, while I was growing up. He wandered from one woman to another, and it seemed nothing and nobody could satisfy him."
Elaine raised her eyebrows, as if in consolation. "Sometimes rich people have a harder time, I think, because they so expect their money to solve all their problems. They forget that the only real happiness is in relationships with other people."
Tasha smiled. "Yes. So, tell me how you got away from home."
Elaine shrugged. "That is quite a story." She sighed. "It was just one of those things. Back in 1965, one of those performing miracle tents came to town. Down South, it was still a good circuit, and a big event in our little wide spot in the road. My friend Susie pinched a dress for me from her big sister's closet, and we went to see the show." Elaine shook her head, remembering.
"It was quite something, Tasha. This circuit preacher was awfully exciting. He had people coming out of wheelchairs, tossing crutches and braces, and I saw boils and tumors disappear before my very eyes."
"This preacher had a nephew by the name of Ben. A very handsome young man. He was helping his uncle; you know, getting rid of wheelchairs, helping people to the front; ushering, that sort of thing. When I saw Ben, and finally got him to look at me -- well, that was all she wrote." Elaine sighed.
"He stopped me outside the tent, and asked me to go for a walk. I was more than happy to go. We didn't go far; just into a stand of trees. Susie was very sore at me for dumping her, so she went home and told my mama what I'd done. Meanwhile, I was down by the river there with handsome Ben, thinking I'd died and gone to heaven."
Elaine smiled bitterly. "We sat by the river, and he told me all about his exciting life on the road. I thought he'd never kiss me. When he finally did, I was ready for it to go on forever. And it just about did. It went on while we laid down; while he rolled on top of me, and on while he fumbled with his pants. I was so innocent that I still didn't have a clue. When he pulled his pants down, I finally began to question him.”
She laughed self-consciously. "I can't believe I was ever that naive. He told me that God had revealed to him that I needed inner healing, and he knew exactly what God had told him to do for me. He told me if I wanted to be filled with the Holy Ghost, I had to just trust him, and be very quiet and obedient. He said it wouldn't hurt much, and that it would be well worth the pain."
She sighed. "Well, I never did get the Holy Ghost, but I got something else from Ben."
"Elaine; I can't believe it." Tasha gasped.
"I couldn't, either. Although I wasn't real sure just what had happened, I had a good idea that it wasn't what he'd told me it would be. I guess he did it all the time; they just went from town to town, and when the preaching was over, the boys would sneak off and have their fun with the local babes. Generally there were no consequences because they were always moving on.”
"But, Ben wasn’t quite so lucky. He hadn't figured on my mama. When Susie told her what I'd done, she came a'runnin' with her shotgun."
Elaine shook her head. "Boy, she was a mean old cuss. When Ben got done with me, she was standing there with his uncle and a cocked gun. She had it in her mind that there was going to be a wedding. The uncle had other ideas. He didn't have any money, but he told mama I could be a regular source of income to her. They'd take me on the road, and the money that I'd earn would come back to her every week. She didn't like the sounds of it, and thought the wedding was a better idea. Finally, the preacher gave in."
Elaine paused. "At least, mama thought he did; but she was illiterate. The preacher said all the right words, then and there, but there sure weren't any witnesses. Then mama said goodbye to me, and went on home. The preacher didn't let me see the license until we were hundreds of miles away. It was nothing but an old copy of the preacher's papers and it had nothing on it to do with a wedding. He just had everybody sign the stupid thing. He was as crooked as a broken legged goose."
"Mama meant well, I'm sure. She thought she had one taken care of; one less mouth to feed. You know, if it hadn't been Ben, it would have been my father. So when she saw the opportunity, she married me off.
"The preacher went ahead with his initial idea, but mama didn't get any of the money. After Ben got tired of me, it was time for everybody else. I was passed, for a fee, through all the unmarried men, and a few of the married ones, in the show. Then they started offering me to the men who came to the tent. I daresay, I earned my feed."
Tasha could only shake her head in horror. "I can't fathom it." She denied.
"It's common, Tasha. Poor people just do things. And people without consciences do as they like. Especially to pretty, poor girls with no one to look out for them."
"So Ben didn't do much for you?"
"Oh, heavens, no. He hated my guts because of what my mother had done. Besides, he already had his appetite set on what the next town had to offer him. And I kept trying to run away. It got so that they tied me up, at night."
Tasha couldn't take it in. "They
tied
you? Elaine, however did you survive? How did you get out of such a mess, and become who you are today?"
Elaine laughed. "That is a more pleasant story. One night, a man came by and saw me tied, on his way out of town. I just happened to peer out of the back of the station wagon and he looked my way. He came over and looked at me as if he thought I was the most abhorrent creature he'd ever seen. He asked me why I was tied. I was too frightened to answer, so I just shook my head. Ben stuck his head out of the wagon and asked the man if he'd like to have a go at me. Ben told him I was 'right good fer fun'. It made the man look even more outraged."