“Hello, Henry.”
He smiled and nodded, his eyes distressingly clear. “Vivian.”
Oh well. One must always try, even in the face of hopelessness.
“Henry, were you by any chance acquainted with Big Jim Bob?”
Henry gazed for a moment into his glass of O'Doul's, perhaps looking for an answer, or contemplating diving in. “I knew him years ago,” he said. “It's pretty vague. Apparently we were friends.”
“Oh?”
“Not that long ago, he sat next to me here and we talked and he drank and I”âhe lifted his O'Doul'sâ“drank.”
“I was wondering why he'd returned to Serenity after all these years.”
Junior set my double-tall, double-cherry Shirley Temple in front of me. (One of my classes at the School of Hard Knocks had taught me not to mix alcohol with my bipolar meds.)
“I don't believe he
returned
as much as he ... hightailed it from somewhere else. From
something
else.”
“From where? From what?”
“In a way, himself. He commented, after more beers than is prudent, that he was running from his past.”
In a clear-eyed, clear-voiced, clear-minded manner (that I admit I found unsettling) the former souse shared with me his barroom conversation with Big Jim Bob.
Here is the gist: two days before his murder, Big Jim Bob confided in Henry that a business ventureâanother storage unit facility, in factâhad gone “south” in Texas, his partner accusing him of skimming off profits. The partner had tracked Big Jim Bob to Serenity, and was making threats. Details of those threatsâwhether in person or by phoneâwere not shared with Henry.
“That's it, Vivian. That's all I have for you.”
I grasped his shoulder. “You are reinstated as a snitch in good standing, Henry! Junior, put his next six nonalcoholic beers on my tab!”
Henry thanked me, then winced in thought. “I have a feeling Big Jim Bob was a fairly shady character, back in the day. But you know my memory is pretty fuzzy, pre-sobriety.”
With Henry's well of information having gone as dry as he was, I asked Junior, “Would you happen to know where the Romeos are having lunch today?”
The Romeos (Retired Old Men Eating Out) were an informal club of senior men who had been another good source for information for me over the years. A collective snitch.
Junior shifted uneasily behind the bar. “Can't say, Viv.”
“
Can't
say, Junior? Or
won't?
”
Junior seemed like he might cry. “They made me promise not to give you their whereabouts no more.”
“Oh, fiddle faddle!”
An excellent snack, by the way, Fiddle Faddle (free cartons of the delicious popcorn confection can be shipped to us care of our publisher for this unsolicited but most sincere endorsement).
I went on: “Those old billy goats will simply bray with delight upon seeing me, in hopes of finding out what dirt
I've
discovered! They're just a bunch of old gossips and you know it.”
But Junior only shook his head, saying, “You're a good customer, Viv, but so are they, and I promised. A bartender is only as good as his word.”
Henry said, “Riverview Café.”
“You know, Henry,” I said, “I'm starting to
like
you sober.”
“Yeah,” he said with a funny smile. “Me, too.”
Â
The Riverview Café, with its charming riverboat theme, specialized in wonderful old-fashioned comfort-food meals that older folks grew up on, and shouldn't be eating anymore; but that didn't stop the Romeos. (Yo, Guy Fieri! Bring
Triple D
to Serenity! We'll show the Food Network how to eat!)
I found the Romeos sequestered at a round table for six in the back, sipping cups of coffee, waiting for the ol' clock on the wall to strike eleven, the official time when patrons could put in their orders for the Blue Plate Special.
Once a hardy group of about fifteen, the Romeo numbers had dwindled due to the Grim Reaper ... and Vivian Borne, who inadvertently caused them to disband for a while (see
Antiques Flee Market
).
But the Romeos were staging a comeback, having added a few new retirees, whose wives were more than happy to get them out of the house.
I pretended not to notice the group, and slid into a booth, my back to them, busying myself with examining a menu.
If you think the biggest gossips are women, think again! Men are so very much worseâjust slightly more covert about it. Take these old codgers, whose appetites for the Blue Plate Special didn't compare to their craving for dirt. In less time than I could say, “I'll have the chicken fried steak with extra gravy,” the Romeos had sent a point man.
“ 'lo, Vivian.”
I looked up from the menu, registering surprise. “Why, Harold! How delightful seeing you. It's been too long.”
I may have fluttered my eyelashes, which are mine, I'll have you know (I have the receipt).
Harold, an original Romeos member, looked vaguely like the older Bob Hope (it took some squinting), and once upon a time, the ex-army sergeant had asked me to marry him. Having no desire to
hup-two
, and / or be permanently assigned to KP duty, I'd politely declined.
Harold was saying, “We have an extra chair, Viv. Would you care to join us?”
“Oh, I don't know,” I demurred, “I wouldn't want to make anyone uncomfortable ... I
know
I'm not Miss Popularity with you boys these days.”
“Nonsense, Viv. Forgive and forget.”
“I wasn't aware I'd done anything that needed forgiveness, Henry.”
“Well, just leave it at âforget' then... . We've certainly forgotten all about that unpleasantness last winter.”
Ha! Like these old elephants ever forgot
anything
.
“You know what they say,” he said with a silly grin. “Let bygones be bygones.”
I smiled sweetly, burying my irritation at being made an outcast over doing my civic duty and (SPOILER ALERT!) exposing a murderer.
“Suits me fine,” I said.
Gathering my orange tote, I trailed Harold back to the round table, taking a seat between two other original members: Vern, a retired chiropractor, who reminded me of the older Clark Gable without the ears sticking out (but
with
the false teeth); and Randall, ex-hog farmer, who looked like a less sophisticated Sidney Greenstreet. (Since Randy had sold his hog farm, it was no longer necessary to sit downwind from him.)
There were several new old faces, including Gordon, whose top half (eyes, forehead, hair) looked like Ronald Colman, and bottom half (nose, mouth, chin) Stewart Granger (if you can work that math). Gordon was a second-generation heir to one of Serenity's famous pearl button factories, but don't any of you older gals out there get any ideasâhis four ex-wives had bled him nearly penniless.
Then there was Wendell, a dead-ringer for Leo Gorcey (and for those of you younger readers who don't know what Leo Gorcey looked like, you have the options of a., looking him up on the Net, or b., counting yourself lucky). Wendell was a former river barge captain whose career abruptly came to an end one balmy summer day when he fell asleep at the helm and ran the
Mississippi Belle
up into the boat club parking lot, crashing into the side of the building, the riverboat's calliope playing at the time that ragtime favorite, “Bim Bam Boom.”
“Hello, boys,” I greeted in my best Mae West impression.
I received friendly nods, and hellos back, but mostly the Romeos were staring at me as if
I
were the Blue Plate Special. Since they'd sent their scout to fetch me, there was nothing negative about this receptionâthey were merely eager to find out what juicy morsels I was serving up today.
Harold cleared his throat, no louder than a cannon going off, then said, “What's new with you, Vivian?”
As if he hadn't already heard the scuttlebutt.
Before I could answer, a shapely waitress in her mid-thirties appeared, red hair piled on high, asking a collective, “What can I get you young fellas?”
Shocking how short the attention span of a man can beâwith the promise of sex and food standing there in a blue uniform, it was suddenly as if Vivian Borne didn't exist. Ah, well.
Not surprisingly, I was the only one who didn't order the Blue Plate, opting for a spinach salad, chicken fried steak a mere will-o'-the-wisp. In a world where waitresses roamed, an older gal had to work to keep her figure, especially if she wanted to play the likes of the Romeos like a cheap kazoo.
While we waited for the food, I gave the eager group what they wanted: a play-by-play of the discovery of Big Jim Bob's body, and the break-in at our house; but I avoided any mention of Anna Armstrong, much less Bix B. While the information I provided wasn't anything that they hadn't “hoid” through the grapevine, I gave it the proper dramatic reading and that immediacy one gets only from the horse's mouth (as they say).
The food arrived, and as the men dug in, I picked and poked at my salad, and casually changed the subject. “I hear our esteemed Milton Lawrence is finally getting ready to retire.”
Randall, mouth full of meat loaf, nodded, saying, “Gonna close his office in the bank building end of the month.”
I smiled. “Ah! Maybe you can get him to join the Romeos.”
Harold shook his head. “Naw. He's leaving Serenity. Bought a condo in Sun Valley, I heard.”
Newbie Gordon commented, “Besides, he's not exactly the Blue Plate Special type.”
Wendell, the other newbie, added, “I say good riddance.”
Their comments surprised me, and I said, “Why so negative, gents? I thought everyone admired Milton, even if they didn't like him.”
When that brought scoffs, I went on. “He's done so
much
for this townâbuilt the new bank building, not to mention improving that entire block.”
“All for the betterment of himself,” Vern said.
“
And
on the back of his poor dead wife,” Harold added.
I frowned. “That's a trifle unkind.”
Harold cocked his head toward me. “Look, Viv, everyone knows Uncle Miltie was a male gold-digger who built his fortune off of Lillian's money.”
“Is that right?” I asked, pretending I hadn't heard the same rumors, but hoping for something more substantial.
Vern frowned, puzzled. “Viv, you were around in the 1970s. Don't
you
remember?”
And sadly, dear reader, that was my problem: I had only a sketchy recollection of that period, thanks to the medication I was taking. And when I wasn't taking it, I had my mind on more important matters. Like gathering all the doorknobs in the house to mail to then-President Nixon.
Gordon was saying, “If you ask me, Lillian died of a broken heart after Milton disinherited Stephenâ”
“
James,
” Harold corrected. “Stephen died in Vietnam, James was the draft-dodger son who booked it to Canada.”
The ex-army sergeant said this with no particular malice, having admitted to me long ago that he felt Vietnam had been a mistake. Of course, the shrapnel in his rear quarters may have contributed to that opinion.
“You know something funny?” Wendell said.
“What?” everyone said, including me.
“I hear the draft dodger's back in town. James.”
Gordon said, “Huh! You don't say... . After all these years! I wonder if he's tried to get in touch with his old man.”
“I doubt Milton would even see him,” Vern said, then shook his head. “Still, I can't believe the old boy wouldn't want to make amendsâafter all, if the government pardoned all those draft dodgers, why shouldn't he?”
“Because,” Harold said softly, “he'd have to admit Stephen, his other son, gave up his life for nothing.”
Everyone digested that sobering thought, along with their meals.
Vern, digging out his wallet to pay for the check, said, “Something that's always bothered meâI know for a fact that Lillian kept in touch with James ... she and I were friendly. Worked on some charity boards together. Anyway, certainly she would have left him money when she diedâbut I heard she never even made a will.”
I thought of someone else who hadn't made a will: Anna Armstrong.
“Can you imagine?” Vern said. “A woman with that kind of fortune, married to a big successful businessman ... and she didn't have a will? Strains credulity is what it does. Strains the hell out of it.”