Deadly Dosage, page 3
I was halfway through that movie and it was really funny. I planned to watch it tonight while I ate handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips and washed them down with instant cocoa with marshmallows. I walked over to the cocktail table, picked up the package, read the back, and then opened it. Pushing down on the center clips, I withdrew the DVD disk and placed the package back on the table. I walked to the patio doors, unlocked, and slid the door open. A cold burst of air blew into the apartment. Ignoring the cold, I walked out onto the snowy balcony and tossed the disk like a Frisbee toward the dumpster. I missed and it landed behind a car that was in the process of being backed out of its parking space. I heard a crunch and smiled. Take that Sam! I walked back in, slid the door into place, and locked it. Returning to the table, I picked up the package, walked into the kitchen, and tossed it into the garbage can. I know I bit off my nose to spite my face but I felt compelled to do it. Besides, Donna gave me a book I wanted to start.
Chapter 6
Sunday, February 12th
A foot and a half of new snow had fallen during the night and I woke up Sunday morning with the beginning of a migraine. I got out of bed, tripped over my throw rug and crashed into my dresser. Swearing under my breath, I made it to the bathroom and downed a couple of migraine caplets. I looked across the hall into Brandi’s bedroom. The door stood open and I glimpsed a naked male butt. I know this sounds strange; the butt looked familiar. I sneaked into the room for a better look. He turned over and my mouth dropped open.
“What the fuck?” I swore loudly, and covered my mouth. I usually try hard not to say the f-word to avoid sounding like a truck driver. At this moment, all other words escaped me.
I know I broke up with him, but wasn’t it a little soon to hop into bed with my roommate? I felt like kicking him in the head. Instead, I did the next best thing.
I went back into my room and quickly got dressed as quietly as I could. I tiptoed into the living room, grabbed my jacket off the coat tree, and slid on my boots. With my keys in hand, I ran down the stairs and plunged through the knee-high snow to Sam’s truck.
That truck always meant more to him than me. I looked around, and when I was sure no one was watching, I ran my key from his front right fender to the truck bed for good measure. Revenge! Ha! Now I had to cover my tracks. But how? I was stumped only for a moment. Like a squirrel playing, I zigzagged through the parking lot making trails to different cars, which was no easy feat in almost two feet of snow. I ran up and down the set of stairs in the rear of the apartments, kicking up the snow as I went. Sure that my trail could not be followed, I went back upstairs and quietly let myself in.
I peeked again in Brandi’s room and they were both still sleeping. I changed back into my pajamas and looked at myself in my dresser mirror. My cheeks were bright red from the cold and my heart was beating hard. I think I was close to hyperventilating. When my heart rate slowed, I went into the kitchen to make some coffee.
I was sipping my coffee when Brandi pranced in. She wore a lacey robe over a pink teddy. “Hi, Sun,” she said sweetly. “Um, I hope you won’t be mad, but Sam and I ran into each other at Hot Pants and we sort of hooked up.” Brandi worked as a waitress at Hot Pants, a rip-off Hooters’ style restaurant, specializing in spicy ribs.
“He’s a free agent,” I said smoothly, giving her a forced grin. I hated her almost as much as him.
“I’m so glad!” she said relieved. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out bread. She stuck a couple of slices into the toaster and sashayed back to her bedroom.
Maybe she’d give him herpes. Keying up his truck didn’t improve my mood as much as I hoped, however it did help to erase some of the pain in my heart. I cut off another hunk of cheese-filled coffee cake and shoved it in my mouth, eating without pleasure.
Just as I was finishing the funnies section of the newspaper, the phone rang and Sam walked in fully clothed. His eyes challenged mine with a combination of arrogance and regret. I gazed back with steely eyes. “Fucking bastard,” I swore softly. He flinched and I adverted my attention to my ringing cell phone. It was Autumn, so I picked up.
“Hey, Autumn, what’s up?”
“Not Alan,” she said.
I hoped she meant he was still sleeping, because I really didn’t want to know the condition of his willy-whacker.
“Sunny?” she said, “That was a joke. You know, ha ha.”
“Oh,” I said lamely, “so what’s new?”
“You sound grouchy.”
“Migraine.” I didn’t want to get into a discussion of Sam with him in my living room.
“Want to go shopping?”
“Have you looked outside?” I wanted out of the apartment, yet I was pretty sure some of the roads would be closed.
“Roads are cleared here,” she said. Her roads were always cleared first. I figured someone important must live in the neighborhood, where she shared a house with Alan.
“Not here.”
“C’mon. I’ll even pick you up.” Snow did not stop Autumn from shopping; she was much like a postal worker on his appointed rounds.
“Yeah, okay. Give me an hour to get ready.”
“It’ll take me twenty if I leave now, so no problem. Want me to come up?”
I looked at Sam and Brandi sitting side-by-side on my couch sharing a plate of toast and cringed.
“No, I’ll run down when I see you.”
I hung up and went down the hall, ignoring Sam to the best of my ability. I knew he was watching me so I held in my tears until I reached my bedroom and closed the door behind me.
Chapter 7
Autumn drove Alan’s recently acquired, spotless SUV into the mall parking lot and drove up and down the aisles looking for the perfect spot, which was difficult since the snow was plowed into rows that were at least five feet high. She mentioned on the way over that Alan wanted a brand new Escalade, but he conceded that they couldn’t afford it. Autumn always managed to keep him and their funds in check. She played the financial advisor at home and on the job. With the downturn in the economy, she said her client list was down. Still she did reasonably well. She wanted to help me invest for my future, but I couldn’t even afford my present. She said I liked to make excuses.
“Autumn,” I said, “I think my ass is burning.” The SUV’s leather seats were complete with heaters. I much preferred my cheaper cloth seats.
“Relax, I’ll be parking in just a sec. Aha!” she shouted. An old lady was trying her best to back out of a tight parking space. Autumn inched up but still had two car lengths in front of her.
“Autumn, get closer, someone’s going to sneak in front of you.” My impatience was strangling me. “You’ve got plenty of room grandma!” I shouted, though she couldn’t hear me.
Grandma didn’t think so. She whipped Autumn the bird.
“Did you see that? What’s the world coming to?”
“Cripes. Back up and give her some room. She thinks she’s driving a tanker.” Autumn followed my advice and grandma zoomed away beeping her horn. “Nice,” I said.
“Honestly,” she said checking her cell phone for messages, “I don’t know how you stand working with all those old people. Have you killed anyone yet?”
“No, but the thought has crossed my mind a time or two.” She laughed.
We sprinted through the snowy lot to the main entrance. The rush of heat engulfed us as we moved through the main doors. I unzipped my jacket and removed my gloves. Autumn followed suit and led me to the lockers, where we stowed our winter gear. It’s bad enough looking ugly in the dressing room mirrors, no reason to be sweaty too.
After shopping for two hours, Autumn had purchased a designer outfit at eighty percent off and I had three pairs of sexy underwear at full price. I’m not much of a shopper. I don’t know if that would change if I suddenly inherited a few million dollars, but I’d like to find out—not enough to marry Aggy though.
We were hungry; however, I wasn’t excited about mall food. “Nothing sounds good,” I complained. Actually, cookies and giant cheese covered pretzels sounded good but not altogether healthy.
“There’s that Mexican restaurant, Bellos Mementos, on the west side of the mall in the parking lot.” Autumn pointed in the general direction. “We can get margaritas.”
“I’m game,” I said. I love Mexican food and margaritas, all flavors. It’s the only drink I can’t handle. Probably I should leave them alone, but that wouldn’t be any fun. Besides, I was older now and rarely drank more than two.
The restaurant’s atmosphere was lively for a Sunday and crowded. The interior was typical of a Mexican restaurant, with colorful flowers, senoritas, sombreros, and burros on the walls. As we waited at the bar for our table, we ordered margaritas. Autumn got raspberry and I chose mango, a flavor I had yet to try.
The bartender placed the drinks on the bar and took my money. I sipped slowly and licked my lips. “This is good,” I said to Autumn, “Want to try it?”
She took my glass and sipped. She nodded in agreement.
“Mmmm. Try mine.”
I took her glass and sipped, using my straw. “I think I like yours better.”
“Want to trade?” Autumn was the most agreeable person in the world.
“Okay,” I said and we swapped glasses. I usually don’t swap drinks because of backwash. Occasionally I make exceptions.
I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and turned slightly to see a man around my age, trying to get the bartender’s attention. His chestnut brown eyes followed the bartender and mine followed his profile. Straight nose, slightly flared, angled jaw with square, faintly dimpled chin, nice ear, sensual mouth, and…he caught me ogling at him. I turned quickly and almost knocked the margarita out of Autumn’s hand. Mango ice sloshed down her hand and dripped into her lap.
“Ahhh!” she cried, placing her dripping glass on the bar.
“Sorry,” I said and handed her a wad of bar napkins.
While she was mopping up, I felt a tap on my back. I turned and the dreamboat was holding my worn out black leather handbag by its strap. He looked familiar somehow.
“This dropped on my foot when you turned,” he said with a hint of amusement. “It weighs a ton.” He looked me in the eyes, and opened his mouth to say something else and then closed it again with a small shake of his head.
I noticed Ms. Voluptuous standing nearby latch onto his arm. Her long red fingernails dug into his cream-colored sweater sleeve. She gave me the evil eye and squeezed him tighter. “Come Lloyd, they called our table,” she said in a commanding, husky voice. He gave her a tight-lipped expression.
“Gee, sorry about your foot.” I took my handbag and turned back to face Autumn, barely suppressing my laughter.
We heard our party called next, so we grabbed our drinks and followed the host to our booth. Of course, it was right behind the hot guy named, Lloyd, and his bimbo. Autumn slid in, leaving me the seat facing him. He’s going to think I planned it this way, I thought irrationally. I glanced up and he was staring at me. I quickly looked down as our waiter placed a basket of tortilla chips on the table and several little cups of salsa. He asked for our order, but we begged off, saying we needed a few extra minutes. I began to feel self-conscious.
I took a sip of my drink and then dipped a chip into one of the little black salsa-filled cups. I placed the chip into my mouth and I had a hot flash. I started fanning my mouth.
“Hot! Ha-ot!” I yelled. Everyone turned and looked at me. Autumn shrunk down in her seat. I gulped some water. My mouth was on fire. I drained the glass, and regained my composure. “Stay away from that one,” I pointed.
Autumn moved the cup to far end of the table. “Jalapeños?”
“Must be.” I looked at the menu and snuck a glance at Lloyd. He wasn’t looking, so I stared for a minute. He really looked and sounded familiar. I ate another chip, avoiding the jalapeño sauce. Then it came to me. The guy I ran into at work, Mr. Harper’s son. I kicked Autumn’s ankle.
“Ow!” she cried.
“Look behind you,” I whispered. She started to turn around just as he looked up. I kicked her again.
“What!” she whispered.
The waiter stopped by just then and we gave him our order. We went with the shredded beef enchiladas and rice platter, and then splurged on their featured margaritas: Blue Lagoon and Cadillac.
“Come to the rest room with me,” I whispered. I got up and she followed me out of the restaurant area.
We stepped inside the restroom. “What is it?” Autumn said. “My ankle’s going to be black and blue for cripes sake.” She bent down to exam her leg and rubbed her ankle.
“Did you see that hot guy behind you?” I practically squealed.
“No! You kicked me when I tried to look!”
“Well, check him out on the way back to the table. He’s coming to Ageless Grace tomorrow morning. His father is a resident.” I explained how we met and she agreed that was a lucky break, seeing how I just dumped Sam.
“Okay, I’ll check him out. I’m going to pee as long as we’re in here,” Autumn said and headed toward a stall. While waiting, I looked in the mirror and spotted salsa on my face. “Thanks a lot Autumn,” I said, wiping off my cheek.
When we reached our booth, Autumn purposely dropped her keys just a little past his seat. She shot him a quick glance and rushed back to her seat.
I mouthed “Well?” and she gave me two thumbs up. Our order arrived and we feasted happily, sharing each other’s drinks. I felt psyched and for no good reason. The guy did have a girlfriend, who was far from homely.
By the time we left, we were tipsy and he had long left with the bimbo. It was a good thing too, because we started singing along with the mariachi band.
At a little past six, we left after some hot coffee. The roads were salted and Autumn drove fine until she reached my parking lot and the SUV slid on a patch of black ice and almost took out the mailboxes. I shot her a look that said ‘holy shit’ woman. I thanked her for the entertainment, threw her a goodbye kiss, and told her to drive safely. If it had been me driving, the mailboxes would be lying in a snowdrift and dented.
My semi-drunkenness kept the cold at bay until I reached my apartment. The door opened without my key, which meant Brandi was already home from work. I let myself in, hung my jacket on the leaning coat tree, and stumbled a little to my bedroom. I heard Brandi say something just before I dropped on the bed and passed out.
Chapter 8
I woke to the sound of strong winds slapping snow against the windowpane. Another snowstorm was in progress and it appeared to be dumping snow at a rate of two inches per hour. My alarm clock showed 11:30 p.m., so I got up and changed into my pajamas. I rubbed my eyes, yawned, and went to the bathroom. I needed a couple of antacids. When I came out, I noticed the lit kitchen, so either Brandi forgot to turn off the light or she was still up. I’d normally be in bed by ten, and with it snowing out, I knew I’d have to leave earlier in the morning, yet I wasn’t tired.
The worst thing about working at a nursing home is that like a hospital, it never closes. No snow days for me, and I already used two sick days last month due to the snow. So far, it was the snowiest year on record since 1959.
It’ll probably never happen in a hundred years, but I have this fear of being kept in the nursing home overnight due to a blizzard. The smell emanating from the kitchen at lunchtime is a combination of wet rags and pureed peas, so I’m positive I don’t want to be around for dinner. Plus, what if there was a breach in security due to a power failure and all the Alzheimer residents got out? I have these creepy images of the residents walking around like zombies after midnight, with blank unseeing eyes, griping their Social Security checks, coming towards me saying ‘it’s mine.’
The wind rattled the windows as I walked the short hallway, causing an involuntary shiver to run the length of my spine. Brandi had fallen asleep in the recliner, while watching television and was softly snoring. I went up and nudged her.
“Hmmm,” she uttered.
“Get up, and go to bed.”
She nodded, grabbed her quilt, and knocked over the wine glass resting on the coffee table. Oblivious to it, she retreated to her bedroom without a care, while wine dripped from the table to the carpeting. Suddenly I had a strong urge to suffocate her. Then I imagined the police hauling me off, while I justified my actions saying ‘but look what she did to the carpeting?’ I sighed. I retrieved a dishtowel from the kitchen and took my frustration out on the stain.
By midnight, the stain lightened to pink and I was dog-tired. I put the soapy rag into the sink, turned off the light, and called it a night.
Chapter 9
Monday, February 13th
The snowstorm picked up intensity overnight and by morning there was an additional foot of snow in the parking lot. My alarm sounded thanks to batteries, but the power was out. I heard the distant sound of snowplows. I knew the roads wouldn’t be clear for at least another hour. I refused to go to work without taking a shower, so I called work and left a message that I would be in later when I had power back. The administrator would be ticked off, but hey, she lived five minutes away and could walk to work if she had to.
Brandi’s snoring carried into the kitchen. I turned on my battery-operated radio to listen to the weather and I lighted a few candles. They were predicting snow to continue throughout the day and into the wee morning hours with a total accumulation of twenty inches. The winds speeds were to lessen by midday. Currently though, a blizzard warning was in effect. They started listing off the school closings.
