You never did know. The snow started early and came faster and heavier than expected. At eleven, when Tommy locked the doors and they headed into the parking lot to their cars, Bill told him he was sleeping at Mary’s and would bring her in in the morning. Tommy said he would call Mary if they were not going to open on time, but if she didn’t hear from him, all would be regular. He asked Bill if he wanted to stay over by him. Bill declined. He also offered for Bill to sleep in the office. That would have been the best choice.
Mary did not wear purple. She met him at the door barefoot and in her pajamas. But she hadn’t been sleeping. Her hair was done and her face made up. She wore deep red lipstick. Her toes and fingernails were deep red too. They kissed hello then she led him to the living room. Bill saw immediately that she’d been drinking and he knew she was high because there was an ash tray on the coffee table with two roaches in it.
“Sit down and fix your head,” Mary said. She pointed to a bag of weed and some Bambú also on the table.
“I need to call home,” said Bill.
He had tried three times to call his fiancé from work but she wasn’t home. He wanted to tell her he wasn’t driving far due to the storm. Mary led him to the phone in the kitchen and left him alone. He returned to the living room quickly, having discovered that she still wasn’t home.
He rolled two joints from her bag of weed. They smoked the first one together and sipped red wine. Mary told him to get comfortable, to take off his shoes and relax. Bill said he wanted to take a shower. He also told her that he brought some Quaaludes and that Tommy would call her in the morning if there was anything unusual about the opening.
While Bill showered, Mary fixed herself in red. She wore red high-heel pumps, red nylons, red garter belt, red panties and red bra. Just for fun, she put on a black mini, mini skirt and a very low cut white blouse.
“I need to keep some clean underwear in the car,” Bill said coming back into the living room. He was still wiping his hair with a towel and he was barefoot, but he had put on his jeans and his shirt.
“I have some skivvies for you,” Mary said. “They’re not new, but they’re clean.”
“Okay,” Bill said. He sat down on the sofa and tossed the towel on a chair a little bit away. Sitting there, he studied Mary as she had dressed for him.
“Remember what I whispered?” she asked.
“You bet,” Bill said. He filled each of their glasses with the wine then opened the pillbox he carried with him. Mary could see that there were black beauties inside along with the Quaaludes she liked very much. Bill gave her two Quaaludes and took two himself. Then Mary sat next to him and they smoked the other joint that Bill had rolled.
“You gotta stop giving me this shit,” said Mary. “This crap killed Yulie and it’ll kill you too if you ain’t careful. And you ain’t careful, I can see that plain as day.”
“Don’t mean shit to a train,” Bill said.
“Does to me,” said Mary.
They sat awhile like that. They drank more wine and waited for the Quaaludes to take effect. Bill did not touch Mary or even try to and Mary, for her part, sat beside him feeling extremely content. Most often there was that nervous tic-like sensation in the pit of her stomach. It was there now, but the Quaaludes calmed it considerably.
Bill tried twice more to call his fiancé before he and Mary started into anything. She still wasn’t home and Bill didn’t think much of it. She was probably staying over at a friend’s, he thought.
Coming Shortly
