Oil of Roses Ch. 03

"Anna, the last six months have been hard on me and I want you to know that I've appreciated your efforts to brighten up the house with the fresh flowers and fruit. I was too messed up to appreciate them, but don't ever doubt that I appreciate the effort you went to. I know you know that my parents loved you and appreciated you. I feel the same. I hope I can show you how much."

"It was nothing Mr. Harry. You are a good man. Much better than that Ms. Angie deserves- "

"Anna, do me a favor, please don't mention that person again."

"Of course Mr. Harry, of course."

"Now if you'll excuse us, we'll get out of your way. We have an appointment this afternoon that we need to get ready for."

"Of course sir, you and Ms. Carol go ahead and get cleaned up and out of here."

* * * * *

It took longer to get out of the house than they had planned as the rest of the in-stock items from Madame Cornelius showed up promptly at noon and they checked them in and signed off on the shipment.

After a very late breakfast at a nearby bistro, Harry and Carol headed for the doctor's office.

"Baby Girl, I hate to bring up bad subjects and worse memories, but I need you to tell me all you can about Rick Cox."

"Harry, I've been thinking about that. There's really nothing at Rick's that I can't live without. I have you. There's nothing else I need. I don't want you to go to Rick's."

"Baby Girl, you're about half a heartbeat from a name change to 'Little Cunt'. Eddy and I are going to Rick's; we're getting your stuff. That's settled. Now, what can you tell me?"

"Yes sir. Rick is a small-time middle-man and drug dealer who likes to pretend he's big league. He thinks sticking metal through every part of his body he can makes him hard-core. His shipments generally arrive on Wednesday night and usually it's all been moved out or sold by late Thursday night, early Friday morning. He keeps a gun in his bedside table, but he's just as likely to be sleeping on the couch in the living room as in the bedroom, especially after a long night. He's a pretty deep sleeper. He is convinced he's a much meaner son-of-a-bitch than he is. The apartment complex is pretty dead during the day, most of the people who live there keep night hours, so a lot of noise will attract the wrong kind of attention and while I doubt they'd help Rick, no one much likes him, some of them might conceivably try to take you and Eddy for whatever you're carrying. It's apartment #257, Terra Nuevo Apartments, right off of San Jacinto."

"Charming neighborhood. Alright Baby Girl, the doctor I'm taking you to, Margo Wohler, well, she's an old friend. I trust her with you, the most precious thing I possess, so you shouldn't be nervous. You'll be fine. Do you want me in with you while she examines you?"

"No sir. I imagine she's going to ask me how I got some of these injuries. I don't think you need to hear that until after you've come back from Rick's."

"As you wish, Baby Girl, but when I'm back, I am going to want to hear everything."

"Yes sir, you will. After you're through at Rick's you have only to ask."

They pulled into the parking lot and made their way upstairs to Margo's office.

The receptionist smiled at them. "You must be Mr. Grimes. Dr. Wohler-Sapperstein had me clear the rest of the afternoon for the two of you. Go right on through, first door on the right."

When she saw them come through the door, Margo stood and made her way around the desk. She hugged Harry and it seemed to Carol that perhaps her hug was a little hungry and a little long and that both of their hugs were a little loaded with desire.

"Harry, you haven't changed a bit, still as handsome as ever."

Harry looked at Margo. She had changed.

Tall, with long limbs and a longish face, she had always reminded him somewhat of a newborn colt when they were in school together. Not that she was horse-faced by any means, Margo was a very pretty girl, and had grown into a lovely woman. With maturity her figure had filled out although in a longish fashion. Lots of voluptuous padding was there, it was just stretched out a bit. She had been beautiful and exotic when Harry had seen her last.

Now it seemed a weight was bearing down upon her, a sadness, and it was taking its toll upon her. As her soul slumped under the strain, so did all the rest of her.

"Margo, you look great. I see marriage agrees with you."

From the wince that barely flickered across her features Harry knew he'd found at least part of the problem.

"Yeah Harry, it does. Two years now, Dr. Benjamin Sapperstein, cardiologist. He's a good man Harry, we're happy."

And if that's true Margo, Harry thought to himself, I'll eat my own head.

"I'm sorry Margo, Carol, I'm being rude. Margo Wohler-Sapperstein, Carol Riley. Margo, Carol means more to me than words can express. I - I - I know that a complete physical takes a lot of time Margo, so why don't I get out of the way, let you get started. I'll be outside in the reception area."

Harry went out and exited into the hall, dialing the cell as he did so.

"Eddy, yeah, Harry here. You still in the same place? Yeah? Ok, I'll be there around eleven tomorrow morning, we'll take your truck, and I'm thinking we'll be in and out in about an hour, hour and a half. I need you to pick up some supplies for us, untraceable. Yeah, I'm thinking it might get a little messy. Here's what I need..."

* * * * *

When Margo called him back into her office, Carol leapt up to hug him. She seemed chastened, frightened.

"Harry, while overall she's in amazingly good health, you got to another one just in time. It'll be awhile before all the lab work gets in, but from the physical exam and the x-rays, this Rick character was slowly beating his way up to doing life-threatening damage to Carol. It's blind luck or the grace of God that he hasn't seriously injured her because he's come within a hair of it more than several times. There's evidence hidden in her body of torturous, systematic abuse."

"Harry, if she isn't screaming gibberish at you, I am."

Carol sat, looking confused, but Harry just nodded sadly.

"She did Margo. And we're going to."

Tears started to leak from Margo's eyes. She put her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him fiercely on the cheek.

"You're a goddamn good man, Harry Grimes, and don't you ever forget it; Eddy too."

She stepped away, wiping the tears away.

"Stupid Texas allergy season."

Harry smiled. "You gonna give Eddy a hug and a kiss like that if you see him?"

"You're goddamned right I will, Harry."

"I'll tell him. Have him come by and collect."

"Go right ahead. I owe him that."

"I will. Margo, I cannot thank you enough, and we'll be waiting to hear from you on the test results. I assume the receptionist will tell me how much I owe you?"

"Harry, there is no charge. And there won't be any argument. It's settled. Carol, it was a joy meeting you. Thank you for all you're doing for Harry. He deserves someone like you and I believe you deserve him. Be good to him."

Carol took Margo's hand.

"Dr. Wohler," she said, blatantly leaving off Margo's husband's name, "I will be good to him. And if you won't take money, will you please come for supper one evening, whenever it's convenient for you? Please? It's really the least I can do to thank you, and I'd insist on it if I thought I could get away with it."

"Carol, I'd love to but finding a night when Benjamin and I are both free is so difficult-"

"Dr. Wohler," Carol interjected, "I didn't invite you and your husband. I invited you."

Margo looked startled, taken aback by the breach of etiquette, but slowly she smiled.

"You're right, you did Carol, I'm sorry for assuming you meant the two of us. Let me see what I can do, I have Harry's number."

They left the office. After they had gotten into the car, Harry turned to Carol.

"Little Cunt, what the fuck was up with you slighting Dr. Sapperstein. She's married to him for heaven's sake. You were very rude."

"Sir, do you truly want an answer to that?"

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

"Very well sir. How did I put it? 'She's screaming, not verbally, not audibly'. Sir, she's in a lot of pain and you know as well as I do that her marriage is about as unhappy as they come."

"Alright, I'm with you so far, but what does a dinner invitation have to do with any of that?"

She turned to look at him somewhat quizzically.

"Harry, it's silly questions time again, I see. She wants you. I believe that deep down you want her too. I know that I want her. I think she can handle the truth of you and me."

"Little Cunt, even if you were right, and I think you're dead wrong about her wanting me, although you may be a little right about my wanting her, she is a very attractive woman, that still doesn't absolve you of your rudeness."

"You're right sir, it doesn't. And I stand ready to accept any punishment you see fit to hand out. I will apologize to Dr. Wohler-Sapperstein the next time I see her, sir."

* * * * *

As Anna stopped at the table to pick up her check, she noticed it was in an envelope. Opening it, she pulled out first a folded piece of note paper.

"Anna,

Sometimes it takes time in a hell where you don't feel you have anything to appreciate to remind you how much you truly do have.

The first check represents your new weekly pay.

The second is another of my crude attempts at thanking you.

Thank you again,

Harry Grimes"

Anna reached in the envelope to pull out the first check. Another fifteen or twenty dollars would be a good addition to the $150 a week he was already paying her.

The check was for $300.

Anna was in shock. Surely this was the second check, so she pulled out the other check.

$1000. It was a check for a thousand dollars! So the three hundred was the first check; he was going to be paying her three hundred a week for one day's work!

Sometimes, she reflected, God's will was that good things happened to good people. Or maybe it was God's will that Carol Riley happened to good people.

* * * * *

The two of them were quiet through the grocery and drug store runs, Harry lost in thought, Carol following behind him, doing the shopping.

As they made their way home, Carol broke the long silence.

"Sir, what was the doctor referring to when she said 'you got to another one just in time'? What did she mean about 'screaming gibberish'? Why does she owe you and Eddy?"

"Baby Girl, I would answer you if I could, but it's not my story. I won't forbid you to ask Margo but whatever you do, ask her in relative privacy, never in front of anyone but me."

"Yes sir. I can guess though that you and Eddy did something for her like you're going to do for me?"

"As I said, Baby Girl, I can't say. It's not my tale to tell."

* * * * *

After a quiet supper, Harry sat and thought while Carol put away the bulk of the groceries and other purchases, reordering the pantry and the bathroom cabinet and drawers Harry has said were hers...

As she worked she sang to herself and it was the sweet sound of her voice that finally broke through Harry's growing gloom. He dreaded the trip to Rick's, not out of fear for his safety, or Eddy's, but of fear for what he might do to Rick.

"What was that you were singing Baby Girl?" he asked.

"One of the old Irish songs my Grammy taught me," she said. "It's called 'She Moved Through The Fair'. "

"It's a lovely song and you sing it beautifully. When you're through putting things away, please come sit with me and sing me the songs your Grammy taught you."

"Of course sir."

And so they passed the evening, both lost in their own worries about what the next day would bring, to the music of a people born to sorrow.

* * * * *

When Harry saw Eddy Janak for the first time in over three years, it was like stepping out of a time machine. Eddy hadn't changed. Still a great hulking bear of a man, still looked like a biker, still lived in a shit heap and still drove a crappy piece of junk held together with the prayers of the surrounding property owners that it wouldn't break down near them.

"Eddy, you're working for a security firm and pulling down almost six figures a year. What the hell are you doing living like this?"

"Fuck you, Harry;" the giant said good-naturedly, "you know how it is. If I'm married, she finds ways to spend it; if I ain't its beer, bonging and bitches."

"Eddy, when they list the world's classiest acts, you aren't gonna be considered."

"You're goddamn right. Now, are we gonna go kick this punk's ass or are you gonna bore me to death?"

They climbed in Eddy's truck and made their way to the Terra Nuevo Apartments.

* * * * *

Back at home, Carol reorganized the closet Harry had given for the eighth time. There was nothing wrong with it, hadn't been anything wrong with it any other time.

She trusted Harry and his faith in his abilities and Eddy's, whoever he was. She knew that the odds were exceedingly low that Rick would be anywhere near his gun, or would get any nearer, while they were there.

She'd been lucky; she'd been 'blessed', for lack of a better word, a lot in her life. She'd come through some very bad times mostly intact. She'd survived a lot. She'd grown strong. But she'd also been taught that good things rarely lasted and as she power-fidgeted through the house, she prayed that she wasn't about to learn that lesson again.

* * * * *

Harry and Eddy pulled up at the apartments. As they got out of the truck and made their way upstairs, Harry said "Concentration Camp Chic, always a good design choice."

"Yeah," Eddy responded, "nothing puts you in touch with your oppressed brethren around the world like living as they do. Goddamn, I thought my complex sucked."

"No shit," said Harry, "this place looks like Beirut on Spring Break."

They came around the upstairs balcony into the central court yard. The pool below them had perhaps 3 feet of brackish water standing in it, as well as a dead cat and discarded household furnishings in various states of decay.

"Number 257, here's the place. Get out of my way Harry, let a security professional do his job."

In a flash, Eddy had picked the lock, his gloved hands leaving no trace. They slipped inside, pulled their ski masks over their heads and stood for a moment, letting their eyes adjust to the dim light, waiting to see if there was any reaction to their entrance.

After a bit they made out Rick, sprawled on a couch in dirty underwear, sleeping like a baby.

Harry whispered, "I'm gonna go check the bedroom, collect his gun, you keep an eye on him."

Eddy nodded and Harry moved across the trash-littered room and into the bedroom. In the light coming through the thin drapes what he saw nearly broke his heart.

There, in the corner at the foot of the bed, that was where this fuck had made her sleep- on a pile of dirty blankets. Near to the blankets a potted red mini-rose had been smashed to the floor. It lay crushed in the remains of its pot and soil. The blankets were covered with the shredded remnants of the books she had told him to retrieve for her. A pitiful pile of clothes, ripped and torn, was nearby.

Harry stood and slowed his breathing. These were things, mere objects, not worth killing for. His Baby Girl, the one priceless, holy treasure Rick might have destroyed, was safe and sound at the house.

He went to the bedside table and pulled the Glock 9 out of the drawer, checked the clip, made sure the chamber was empty. He put the unloaded gun in one pocket, the clip in another. Hanging off a bed post he saw what he was hoping to find; picking up the ball gag he returned to the living room.

* * * * *

Rick Cox awoke from a pleasant dream of the beating he was going to give that little cunt when she came back to a most unpleasant reality as someone strapped her ball gag over his mouth. As he tried to get a grip on what and who, his hands were duct-taped before him and a blindfold put over his eyes.

"Hey, Jimmy?"

"Yeah, Paulie?"

"Are you sure the boss said we had to let him live? I mean, he's a douche-bag and me havin' to breath the same air as him? It's makin' me sick, Jimmy."

"Yeah, unless he gets real fuckin' stupid, he lives."

A sharp pain erupted in the side of Rick's head.

"Hey you! You in there! You gonna get stupid?"

He shook his head, wincing at the pain as he did so.

"See, he ain't gonna oblige us by gettin' stupid. Alright, what's your name, Rick, yeah, Rick, hey, kinda sounds like 'prick', don't it Paulie? Yeah, Rick, see, what's happened is, Miss Carol has acquired a new owner. Miss Carol's new owner has, how would you put it, Paulie? Family connections? Yeah, 'family connections'."

"He is most upset at the way you treated such a sweet little girl as Miss Carol. Look at him, Paulie, looks like he wants to say something. You think we ought to take out the gag, let him talk?"

"Nah, Jimmy, he might say something stupid."

"Good point, Paulie. As I was saying, her new owner is very displeased and we are here to show his displeasure."

Rick's bound arms were drug to the wooden arm of the couch.

"Hold on, Jimmy, let me put these under there to muffle the sound."

A pile of what felt like towels were put under his bound wrists.

"Now Rick, this is gonna hurt a lot, but I'm gonna make it quick. Don't pass out though, you pass out and Paulie gets all weird and shit."

Rick tried to shatter his teeth against the ball gag as the hammer slammed down on his right wrist. As the bones shattered and pulped, urine flowed down his leg.

"Jimmy, I think he's tryin' to pass out!"

"No, no, no, no, nooo, Ricky-boy, don't you go passin' out or it'll get real ugly. You stay with us."

Gloved hands slapped his face hard, back and forth, until he could focus again.

"Now then, let's get this part finished."

As his left wrist suffered the fate of his right, he lost control of his bowels and gave in to the darkness.

* * * * *

He returned to consciousness as Paulie's voice murmured into his ear.

"Ricky, Ricky-boy, time for you to wake up... there you are! Hey Jimmy, he's back. Now listen, you pass out one more time and I'm gonna smack you in the mouth with a pipe. You pass out again after that, and you're gonna be suckin' my dick with a mouth fulla broken teeth. I feel anything sharp, and I'll be telling the boss you got stupid. Got it? Let's review. You pass out again; I rearrange your dental work. Another time after that, you get to learn a new profession- cocksucker."

Rick nodded furiously.

"Alright Paulie, I think he gets the message. Now Rick, that was to teach you that big man hands don't need to be beating no little girls. Ever. I trust the lesson has been learned?"

Rick looked like he was trying to break his own neck, he was nodding so hard.

"Fine, now we're gonna remove this ball gag. You're gonna tell us where all your money is, any dope you got left, because Miss Carol deserves something for what you did to her, and any of her stuff you ain't already destroyed, where that is as well. We're going to collect it, and then we're going to call you an ambulance, go away and leave you alone. If you ever see Miss Carol again, you leave, wherever it is, as fast as you can. You don't even look at her, because if she sees you, and mentions it to her new owner, you will see us again and we'll be the last thing you ever see. Got me?"

Rick's head spasmed back and forth.

They removed his ball gag.

* * * * *

Twenty minutes later, a garbage bag of clothing rags, book scraps, some jewelry, a bundle of cash, a pound bag of dope and a pitiful dying flower sat by the front door.

"Paulie?"

"What, Jimmy?"

"I don't think this is enough. This ain't enough. But yet Rick here says there's nothing else, and I believe him."