"Oh, no, I...yeah, you did."
"Sorry, pumpkin, sometimes I forget how late you work. How are you?"
She tried to ignore the slight tone of disapproval in his voice. "I'm fine, Dad. How are you, and how's Donald?"
"We're both fit as a fiddle. But listen..."
"Is something wrong?"
"Have you talked to your mother recently?"
Rhonda frowned. "She called on my birthday. That was more than a month ago."
"Well, expect a call."
"Aw, shit."
"Honey, she's drinking again, and she wrecked her car. Of course, then she couldn't go to work...anyway, please, don't give her any more money, okay?"
"I won't"
"Good. It just enables her."
"I know, Dad."
"So...are you still seeing Jeffrey?"
"No, that's been over for months."
"Oh. I'm sorry, honey."
"It's okay."
"Alright. Well, please, be careful."
"I will."
"Love you, hon."
"Love you too, Dad."
Great start to the day, she thought as she put the phone down and got out of bed. It was hot in the apartment. She went into the living room, drew back the curtains and opened the window.
Sunlight sparkled off the swimming pool and she had to shield her eyes with her hand to see across to the other side of the complex. The moving van was still there, and now its back gate was up and there were boxes and small items of furniture sitting on the pavement. The door to one of the downstairs apartments was propped open. Probably more old folks moving in, she thought.
After going to the bathroom and brushing her teeth, she started to get into the shower, but thought that it might be nice to cool off with a dip in the pool instead. She hadn't been in yet this year, and it took her a few minutes of digging through her drawers to find her blue bikini. She put it on and wondered for a second if the fit wasn't a little bit snugger that it had been last summer. She stepped in front of the full length mirror on the bathroom door and looked herself over. She was as pale as a fish's belly; some time in the sun was a good idea. Maybe she needed to work on her tummy a little bit, too. Sherry had hired a baby stripper, probably no more than twenty one or twenty two. Clover was right. It was competition.
She found her flip flops in the closet and a beach towel in the bathroom cupboard, grabbed a can of Diet Coke from the fridge and her Kindle from the coffee table, and went out the door. Her prescription sunglasses were in the glove bar of her car. She fetched them, then padded across the driveway to the pool area.
The complex super had set up a pair of umbrella tables and chairs to go with them, but the chaise lounge chairs were still folded, leaning against the pool fence. Roxanne went through the gate, dropped her things on one of the tables, then dragged a lounge to the side of the pool and opened it. She could hear rock music coming from the open apartment, but did not see anyone.
She sat down at the edge of the pool and dangled her feet into the water. It felt cool and soothing. After a few minutes, she got up her courage, and slipped into the pool. She gasped at the initial cold shock, but quickly adjusted to it, and ducked her head under the water. She swam to the other side, surfaced and pushed her wet hair off her face. There was motion inside of the moving van, but without her glasses, it was just a blur. She backstroked across the pool and climbed out. After toweling off, she put on her sunglasses, took her soda and her Kindle to the chaise lounge and sat down, stretching her legs out in front of her.
She had downloaded the latest Michael Connelly novel, but as she started to read it, she heard a series of loud thumps and looked up. A tangle of unruly brown hair and a pair of gorgeous shoulders emerged from the darkness of the van. At least, that was what she first saw. As she watched, the whole man came cautiously down the ramp. carrying a cardboard box with the word "bedroom" scrawled on it in black magic marker. I'll help you in the bedroom, she thought, chuckling to herself.
He reached the bottom of the ramp, carefully watching his steps, and turned to go into the apartment. He was shirtless, wearing only tight jeans and a pair of Nikes. His muscular back tapered down to a narrow waist and a very squeezable ass.
Rhonda waited a minute for him to come back out. When he did not, she started her book over again, only to be interrupted after a single sentence by his return. She watched again as he unloaded a box and took in it inside. He showed no sign that he had noticed her. She took off her glasses and set down the Kindle. When he went into the truck a third time, she stood and stepped to the edge of the pool. When she saw him start to emerge from the truck, she jumped into the pool, making as loud a splash as possible.
She came up just in time to see his blurry figure disappear through the apartment door. She frowned in disappointment, but he put the box down just inside the door and turned around. She couldn't make out his face well without her glasses, but it appeared that he was looking at her. She swam to the side of the pool and rested her elbows on the edge.
He stepped over to the fence and leaned on it. "Hi," he said, "I'm Bryant." He gestured over his shoulder. "Moving into 2A."
"Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm Rhonda. 15B. Straight across, upstairs." She lifted herself from the pool, swung her legs up, and reclined on her elbow. Even without being able to see his eyes very well, she knew he was checking her out. He stuttered slightly when he spoke again.
"So...uh...you like it here? It seems pretty nice."
"It's nice," she replied, making a conscious point to rub her right foot over her left calf as she said it. "Everyone is pretty friendly. You aren't going to unload that truck all by yourself, are you?"
"No, I'm expecting my brothers to show up any time now to help me." Rhonda could tell he'd broken into a broad smile. "I drove the van, they are bringing my cars."
"You have more than one car? Complex rules only allow one parking space per tenant."
"Well, my baby will have her own place."
"Your baby? You mean your girlfriend?"
Bryant laughed. "No, When I say my baby, I have a fully restored 1967 Mustang convertible. I would never keep it outside. I rented a storage space for it."
"That sounds pretty cool," Rhonda said, "Maybe you can be a friendly neighbor, and take me for a ride in it sometime."
"I'd love to. Hey I'm new in town and don't know my way around. Maybe Saturday we could take a drive, you could show me around, we could get some dinner."
"I work Saturday night. How about Sunday?"
"Sure. Sunday. Well, I better get back to work. I guess we'll see each other around the place between now and then."
"I guess we will."
Rhonda turned and slid into the water. When she climbed back out on the other side, she looked over her shoulder. He was still standing by the fence, watching her. She went back to her seat, put on her glasses, and as she toweled herself dry, casually glanced over and waved at him. She got her first good look at his face. Thank god he's really cute, she thought, because I just put a big hook in him.
CHAPTER TWO
The Gold Dollar Lounge and Showbar sat at the west end of the parking lot of the Pine Tree Plaza shopping center, in a building that had once been a Bonanza Steakhouse. At the other end of the lot, TJ's Citgo station was the only other business in the plaza that was still open daily. The former K-Mart, once the center's anchor, housed the U-Save flea market on Saturdays, but sat empty the rest of the week.
When the Gold Dollar opened, the plaza was bustling with business. But over the years, the appliance store was replaced by a nail salon, and the Blockbuster Video gave way to first a Chinese restaurant, then a comic Book store, until, eventually, neither space displayed anything more than whitewashed windows and yellowing For Rent signs. All that remained was TJ's and the Gold Dollar. People still needed to put gas in their cars, and men still liked to look at nearly naked women.
Across the four lanes of Highway Seven, the empty shell of Atlas Metal Fabricating, once the source of the Gold Dollar's lunchtime rush, sat silent but for the cooing of the hundreds of pigeons that roosted in its rafters. There were still a few scattered small factories along the road, interspersed between the double wides, auto repair shops and patches of scrub woods. Heading east, the trailers gave way to small retail businesses and single family homes that gradually grew larger and finer closer to the center of town.
Misty pulled into the plaza, swerving to miss the pothole that had been growing in the middle of the entrance lane for years. She made a big looping turn and parked near in front of the Gold Dollar. As she climbed out of her car, she heard an engine rev and turned to see a silver Lexus veer into the lot and hit the pothole she'd just dodged. It bottomed out with a loud thump, and she saw a startled blonde head pop up from beneath the dashboard. The Lexus rolled to a stop, and the blonde leaned over to kiss the driver, an older man with hair that matched his ride. He turned his head, and the girl kissed his cheek.
