From Riches to Rags (13 page)

“Toxic? That’s an interesting choice of words.”

“It’s true. She bribes people to get what she wants. That’s how she found out what apartment I live in, she bribed the landlord.”

“Oh yes, that was wrong of her. But she didn’t do it out of malice, I’m sure.”

“No, she didn’t, but that’s not the point.”

“Isn’t it?”

“She invaded my privacy, Norma, and she had no right to do that.”

“There’s something else, isn’t there? Something troubles you about her that you don’t want to say out loud.”

I nodded my head, feeling caught between a rock and a hard place.

“That’s all right, dear, I don’t mean to pry.”

“Oh, no, you weren’t prying, but you were right.” I took a deep breath, and dived in. “Norma, when I look at Melinda, I see myself ten months ago, driving fast cars and waking up hung over in a stranger’s house or someplace worse. My parents disowned me, my friends deserted me, and my money dried up. I was hopelessly lost, and painfully lonely. I don’t ever want to go back to that kind of hell again.”

“And Melinda?”

“Melinda enjoys driving fast cars and waking up hung over. And she says she wants to be my friend because I said no to her. That intrigues her, because apparently, she’s never been told no before. But you can’t build a friendship on that.”

“You’re right, but it’s a good starting place, don’t you think?”

“I guess, it’s just that I’m…”

“You’re afraid.”

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

“Listen to that fear, Chris, it’s there for a reason. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still be friends with her. You know what that kind of life is like and no one can make you go back to it, if you don’t let them. But have you thought that perhaps your influence can have a positive effect on Melinda? Have you considered that she is struggling to climb out of that life, and you are her life preserver?”

“My goodness, no I hadn’t.”

“Dear, you both are so much alike in so many ways, and if you do become close friends, you’ll have a lot to share with each other.”

“But how can I be sure, Norma? How can I protect myself without setting myself up to fail?”

“Communication. It’s the key to everything large and small. Communicate your fears to her and let her do the same.”

“I just don’t trust her enough to do that, I’m sorry.”

“Oh no, don’t be sorry, my dear, you have every right to be afraid. Might I suggest you find some way to test her?”

“Test her? Do you mean like trick her or something? That doesn’t seem right to me.”

“Oh no, not trick her, draw her out somehow.”

“Hmm, draw her out.”

Norma may be on to something. After all, finding Norma’s relatives for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do, is sort of a test. But is it enough? And why is it that Meg doesn’t like her? Is it really based solely on Melinda’s reputation? What am I saying, of course it is, and that’s exactly what I’m basing my friendship with her on. So, the bottom line is, do I want to be friends with Melinda? Yes, I do. Do I want to trust Melinda, and let her in? No, I don’t. Damn it, this is hopeless.

“May I offer a suggestion, dear?”

“What?” It took a second to realize that Norma was speaking to me. “Of course, Norma, go ahead.”

“I understand that you don’t want to go back to the place you think Melinda is in now, and I applaud you for it. But why can’t you bring Melinda to the place that you are in now?”

“I don’t understand, isn’t that what I’m trying to do already?”

“In a way, yes, but it seems to me that you are trying to mold her in your likeness.”

“Oh no. No that’s not what I want at all.”

“No, I didn’t think so. All I’m suggesting is that you show her, rather than tell her.”

Show her? Okay, sure.
I looked at my watch, and then back at Norma, “I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to go and get ready for work. I’ve enjoyed our afternoon tea together. Perhaps you’ll let me have you ov…”
wait, I can’t ask her to come to my tiny apartment where my living room is my bedroom!
“Um, let me pay for the tea and crumpets this time.”

“Oh, no, I won’t hear of it, my dear. I’ve enjoyed your company and that’s payment enough.”

“Well, I think I should reimburse you for burdening you with my troubles.”

“Not at all. It felt good to give someone my sage advice again.”

“And what good advice it is too.”

“Think about what I said, Chris, and let me know what you decide, will you?”

“Of course I will, Norma, and thank you.”

I walked over to my apartment and unlocked the door, then bent down to catch the kitten, should she dart out the door again. This time she was asleep on the bed, in the exact place I had left her before I went out.
Aw the cat’s life is a privileged one,
I thought, as I slipped out of my shirt and put on my work T-shirt.

My mind drifted back to Norma and her advice. She had certainly given me a lot to think about.
Test her. Bring Melinda to the place that I’m in now. Show her, don’t tell her.
“Well, I’ll have to show her later, right now I’ve got to move my ass before I’m late for work.”

Confessions ‒ Melinda Blackstone
and
Norma Shelby

“I’m sorry Melinda, you just missed her.”

“Oh, and how do you know that I’m not here just to see you, Norma?”

“I’m old, dear, not senile.”

“Okay, you caught me. I was hoping to take her to work but got held up. But I wanted to see you also because I have a present for you.” I had been hiding a copy of her movie,
Invaders from Pluto
, on VHS, behind my back, and I handed it to her.

“My goodness. Where ever did you find it?”

“At a book store in Blytheville, Arkansas, of all places.”

“Blytheville? Why, that’s an hour away from here. You shouldn’t have gone to such trouble.”

“Norma, it wasn’t any trouble at all, just a leisurely drive in my car. Say, maybe I’ll take you for a spin in one of my cars someday. Would you like that, Norma?”

“Only if it’s a horse and buggy, I’m too old for those fast cars they make today.”

“So, I seem to have the afternoon free, want to watch the movie together?”

“Oh, that would be fun, as long as you don’t laugh at my bad acting.”

“I promise, I won’t laugh. I might drool at your legs though”

Norma had an old television, with a top loading VCR from the eighties, but they both still worked.

“Oh, I wish we had some popcorn to go with the movie.” She said, and I grinned at her.

My other hand was holding a pan of Jiffy Pop popcorn, the kind you heat on the stove. When I was a kid, I loved scraping the pan across the coils and watching the tin foil balloon up until it burst open and popcorn pop out everywhere. Of course that wasn’t the way I was supposed to cook it, but it was too much fun seeing it flying every which a way.

“Oh my, you’ve thought of everything!”

“Not everything. I forgot the soda pops.”

“Well, I still have some of that wonderful wine you brought last time, will that do?”

“Norma, you’re a woman after my own heart.”

She looked at me pensively and I wondered if I had spoken out of turn.

When the popcorn was ready, I poured it into a bowl and took it into the living room, where Norma had the wine and glasses sitting on the coffee table. I slid the tape into the VCR and turned on the television. Then I joined Norma on the settee, and together we watched the movie. It was the typical science fiction movie genre where the damsel in distress, Norma, screams a lot and falls in love with the alien from Pluto. I loved it.

“Wow, Norma, you had some set of knockers back then.”

“I still do, my dear, they’re just down by my knees now.”

I laughed so hard I almost choked on my popcorn. Norma was a real treasure, and surprisingly, I was having a good time. Who’d a thought it, me, billionaire Blackie Blackstone, enjoying popcorn and a bad movie with an old lady? I reached for my wine glass, to clear my throat, but when I smelled the wine, I stopped, wondering if I should take a drink or not.

“If you are a true alcoholic, just the smell of it will lead you down the path to inebriation. But if you’re not, you will be able to have a drink, appreciate its nectar, and walk away from it.”

“Norma, how do you know so much about it?”

“I’m an alcoholic, dear.”

Wow, that came out of left field and hit me like a ton of bricks. And then I realized that I had brought liquor into her home.
Son of a bitch!

“Oh, shit! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” I picked the bottle up and reached for her glass, “Let me get this out of here.”

She smiled at me and patted my hand. “It’s all right, Melinda. I’ve always enjoyed a glass of wine before bedtime. I believe that’s how I’ve lived to be eighty-eight-years-old. But I draw the line at more than one glass a day. I learned sixty years ago that I can never be rid of the disease, I can only be diligent in managing it. I’ve conquered its power, and you can too, whether you truly are an alcoholic or not.”

“Honestly, I don’t believe I am, Norma. Recently I whimpered off back to Vegas with the sole intention of getting drunk and staying drunk. But I didn’t. For the first time in my life, alcohol was not the answer.”

“I’m proud of you, my girl. Even now, when you hesitated with the wine, I hoped that you would abstain, and you did. It takes real courage, and real strength to walk away from that life, and I believe you have both.”

“Do you really, Norma. Do you think I can do it? I want to so badly right now that I can taste it.”

“Yes, I do dear, but is this a lifelong commitment, or a short term path to get what you want?”

“And what is it you think I want?” I wasn’t being snotty, I was being curious as to how deep Norma could see into my psyche, because she was close to unnerving me with her insight.

“Chris.”

Oh yeah, completely unnerved now.
  I looked down at the glass of wine still in my hand and swirled the liquid around while I look for an answer in its reflection. Finally I looked up at Norma again and told her that she wasn’t wrong.

“You’re right, I do want to be friends with Chris. She represents everything good that I’m not. But Norma, I’m not doing all this
abstaining
just to get her into bed with me if that’s what you think. Her friendship would be worth so much more to me in the long term, than a romp in the hay would be.

“I’m glad to hear you say that, Melinda. May I offer you some advice about your quest?”

“Yes, please do.”

“It’s going to take a long time to change how people perceive you, so you must let that go. It’s slowing you down. The most important thing is that you are proud of yourself. When you can feel that pride deep inside of you, so will everyone else and they will begin to look at you differently.”

Finally, the first piece of advice that I understood.
“Can I let you in on a secret, Norma?”

She smiled and nodded her head.

“I am starting to feel some of that pride inside of me and I like it, I like it a lot.”

She patted my hand and said, “Oh, my dear, I am so glad to hear it.” She pointed to the television, “Do you see that handsome young man in the background there? The man fighting with the alien from Pluto?”

“Yes, quite handsome indeed.”

“We did a few movies together, and even had a clandestine love affair that lasted a few years.”

“What happened?”

“We both drank ourselves out of love.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yes, it was heart wrenching. I finally sobered up, but he never did. In fact, you probably past by him on your way here today.”

Again I almost spit out my popcorn, “Are you talking about that old drunk lying in the entranceway outside? Damn, Norma, what the hell?”

“When I had first moved here, over thirty years ago, this was a swank town house in an upscale neighborhood. Richard, that was his name, Richard Burke, found me and asked for my help. He needed money to pay off a gambling debt or they were going to break his legs. Of course, I couldn’t let that happen so I loaned him the money. He never paid me back, and in fact, a few years later, he came back and again asked me for money. He was drunk and abusive and I pushed him out the door and down the stairs with my broom.”

“You’ve got spunk, Norma. But why is he still downstairs?”

“I’m not sure, maybe it’s because he’s as close as he can get to my bedroom. I look out my window every once in a while, just to see if he’s still there. I even argued with him once from my window, when he wouldn’t stop shouting my name. But you can’t win an argument with a drunk, so I stopped trying.”

She looked at the young, viral man on the television and sighed, and then she turned back to me.

“Melinda, when Chris sees that drunk downstairs, she sees herself.”

“I think perhaps she also sees me, Norma.”

“Yes, I think you’re right. Now what are you going to do about it?”

“You tell me, because honestly I don’t know what more I can do.”

“You must decide what you are willing to give up and then adhere to that decision as if your life depended on it. Your future does not have to reflect your past, and you have your whole future ahead of you. Choose wisely.”

Choices ‒ Christine Livingston
and
Melinda Blackstone

Quitting time! I rushed out the back door of the restaurant and onto the street, looking both ways this time, before I crossed it, and there she was, waiting for me in her golden carriage. I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I probably would have been disappointed if she hadn’t been there, but I was definitely relieved because I felt safer with her around. When she saw me, she got out and leaned against the car, crossing her arms and grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked cautiously.

“Frankie thinks she may have located one of Norma’s grandsons in Texas.”

“That’s wonderful news!”

We got into the car and continued our conversation as she drove me home.