The Queen of Cool (3 page)

“
Well Mom,” Lo said. “I
guess I’m home.”

Q

CHAPTER TWO

Sunday morning—11 a.m.
Fairmount Historic District, Fort Worth

Days: 8

“
You know what I think,”
Don Downs touched her shoulder to wake her.

“
Hmm.”

Loraine “Lo” Downs rolled onto her side to
look at him. The crisp white sheet lay across his tanned muscular
shoulders. He reached out to move a piece of blonde hair from her
face.

“
Good morning.” He leaned
over to kiss her.

“
Hello beautiful,” she
said. “What did you have in mind?”

“
I think we should spend
the entire day laughing,” Don said.

“
You’re in court all week,”
Lo said. “I have the no-carbs grumpies. How…?”

Don tossed the sheet in the air and scooched
across the bed to her. She rolled onto her back. He kissed her face
and her eyes and then wrapped his body around her.

“
Love you,
Lo.” He began tickling her. “Love you.”
Tickle.
“Love
you.”
Tickle.
“Love you.”

Lo laughed.

“
See! We’ve already started
the day laughing,” he laughed with delight. “Never let the bastards
get you down.”

“
You know how to keep me
from being down,” Lo said.

“
No I don’t, little lady,”
Don laughed. “Why don’t you instruct me in the finer
arts?”

In one swift motion, Lo pushed him to the
bed. Her lips moved across his face until they caught his mouth. He
tugged at her, but she resisted engaging. She just wanted to kiss
him this morning.

Pound. Pound. Pound.

“
Don?” Lo sat up in bed.
“Don?”

Her voice rose with panic. Don wasn’t in bed
with her. In fact, she wasn’t in her bed. She rotated around to sit
on the side of the twin bed. Looking around the room, she had no
idea where she was.

Where was Don?

He was just here. He was just right here.
She patted the bed where he’d been. They had started making love
and Don was never distracted from love making no matter what
happened and…

Pound. Pound. Pound.

A shard of pain shot through her core.

Don was dead. She’d forgotten. Again. Don
was dead.

She was at her mother’s house; the house she
was born in; the house her mother had hanged herself in. Her house,
Don’s house, their house was foreclosed while she was burying
him.

She should have thrown herself in that
hole.

She had to fight to take a full breath. If
she didn’t know better, she’d have sworn she had a gaping hole
where her heart once lived. She put her head between her knees to
keep from throwing up.

Pound. Pound. Pound.

Wearing only a Dolly the Sheep T-shirt and
panties, she went down the wide oak stairwell to the ground floor.
Her memory filled in the image of her mother’s lifeless body
hanging from the living room ceiling fan.

“
Hi Mom.”

Waving, she continued walking to the front
door. She flipped the lock and peeked out. Her little sister Lisa
stood on her doorstep wearing her “get things done” outfit – blonde
hair in braids, a bandana over her head, old jeans and one of her
husband Earl’s old work T-shirts. She had four or five plastic
grocery bags in her hand and her purse strap over her shoulder.

“
It’s eleven o’clock!” Lisa
said. “What the hell are you doing? You can’t sleep all
day.”

Lisa pushed her way into the house.

“
Why didn’t you call me?”
Lisa asked. “I sat next to you at the funeral and a few hours later
you’re homeless?”

“
I don’t know,” Lo’s eyes
filled with tears. “This whole thing… I…”

“
Never mind,” Lisa said.
“I’m here now.”

Lisa stopped in the doorway to the living
room and stared.

“
Do you see her there?”
Lisa whispered.

“
Larry too,” Lo
nodded.

“
I know she’s not there,
but…” Lisa said. “God that’s creepy.”

Lisa pushed and prodded Lo into the kitchen.
She set the bags on the Formica table in the middle of the room and
began unpacking groceries. Lo leaned against the door frame to
watch her sister. Within minutes, Lisa had bacon and eggs sizzling
on the stove. She revealed a box of cinnamon doughnut holes and a
bag of coffee grounds. Lisa gave the coffee to Lo.

Lo rummaged through the cabinets until she
found her mother’s old percolator. She filled it with water and
dropped the basket of coffee. She watched the coffee bubble in the
little glass handle on top of the pot. This simple act was the
first thing Lo had accomplished since she’d heard Don was sick.

“
What’s that?” Lo pointed
to a clump of grey-green leaves tied with a bright-red
string.

“
This is sage,” Lisa said.
“We’re going to burn the sage, open the windows, and let the ghosts
out of this place.”

Lo lifted her lips in a partial smile.

“
Where’s your car?” Lisa
asked.

“
In front,” Lo
said.

“
Of this house?” Lisa shook
her head.

Lo ran out the front door to where she’d
parked her car. Gone. She dropped to her knees to touch the ground
where the vehicle had been. Overcome, she began keening with
grief.

“
They came this morning,” a
woman’s voice said.

Lo felt a hand on her shoulder. Through
blurry eyes, Lo looked to see who was there.

“
I asked them,” a
dark-skinned woman said. “They told me they had to take it. It was
their job. I told them that wasn’t much of a job. They told me
about the economy and a bunch of other garbage.”

“
Mrs. Williams?” Lo
whispered.

“
Yes, child,” the elderly
woman said.

“
Mrs. Williams,” Lo
repeated. She looked up into the lined face of her mother’s next
door neighbor. “I’m glad to see your face.”

“
I’m glad to see you too,”
Mrs. Williams said. “I usually see that husband of yours. Great
man. He brought me groceries. Once a week. Not ‘cuz I can’t afford
them, just ‘cuz I don’t move around so good anymore. I cried when I
heard he’d passed.”

“
Don’s dead,” Lo
said.

“
Yes, child,” Mrs. Williams
said.

“
Lo!” Lisa screamed from
the porch. Lisa ran across the yard to her sister. She stopped
short when she saw who was standing next to Lo. “Mrs.
Williams.”

Lisa did an odd curtsey and Mrs. Williams
laughed. The elderly woman held her arm out to Lisa and gave her a
hug.

“
Now, I read in the
Star-Telegram that you bought that car after winning that Olympia
thing,” Mrs. Williams said.

“
Three years ago. Lo bought
this car when she won Ms. Fitness Olympia the first time,” Lisa
said. “Don insisted she get something she’d use every day, so she’d
remember she’d won.”

“
Paid cash for my car,” Lo
said.

“
Why did they take your
car?” Mrs. Williams asked.

“
Nothing makes any sense
right now.” Lo shook her head.

“
I’ll tell you what we do,”
Mrs. Williams said. “We call the police and tell them that someone
stole your car. We let them sort it out.”

“
That’s a good idea,” Lisa
said.

“
Let’s get you up,” Mrs.
Williams said.

Mrs. Williams and Lisa dragged Lo to her
feet. A leering man jogged by them before turning into Fairmount
Park. Mrs. Williams took Lo by the elbow and passed her to
Lisa.

“
You take her inside,” Mrs.
Williams said. “I’ll call the police.”

Leaning on her cane, the elderly woman began
a slow journey to her home next door. Lisa navigated Lo back into
the kitchen and sat her down on a cracked-vinyl padded chair at the
Formica table. Lisa returned to cooking. Lo picked at the chair’s
stuffing through the cracks in the vinyl. Neither sister said
anything until Lisa set a cup of coffee with half-and-half in front
of her sister.

“
What do you think is going
on?” Lisa asked.

“
I have no idea,” Lo said.
“Really. None. Don and I went over our finances every single
Sunday. We’d sit down with a bottle of wine and go through them.
The house was paid off. My car… his car… he had money from his
father. Money for the girls… Oh God! I bet they froze Mandy’s
school funds.”

Lo dropped her head to the table. She rolled
her forehead on the cool Formica surface.

“
What am I going to do?” Lo
asked.

“
Better yet,” Lisa
grimaced. “What are you wearing?”

“
Oh,” Lo looked down at the
shirt. “I found this in my old room last night.”

“
Dolly the
Sheep?”

“
I was pretty fascinated
with cloning,” Lo picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite.
“Still am. Do you think I could clone Don?”

Lisa shook her head. Turning her back to her
sister, Lisa finished making breakfast and set two plates on the
table. She poured Lo more coffee and sat down across from her.

“
I’ll tell you what,” Lisa
said.

Lo looked up over her coffee cup at her
sister.

“
Someone gave
this a lot of thought, a lot of energy, and
a lot
of
time.” Lisa emphasized her points with stabs of her fork. “This is
no random screw up, Lo. Someone
planned
to screw you.
They methodically planned it and waited for their chance. The
question is, who? Anyone really hate you?”

“
The hex-wife Sue Ellen’s
got to be at the front of the line,” Lo said.

“
She’s more likely to sic
her little yappy dogs…”

“
Miss Princess Barbie and
Mr. Ken?” Lo asked.

“
They’d bite your ankles
for sure,” Lisa said.

“
She’s not very bright,” Lo
said. “What about Ruth Ann?”

Lisa laughed at the mention of Larry’s
wife.

“
But that’s right,” Lisa
said. “I can’t think of anyone either. Who hates Lo? Who hated Don?
No one.”

Lisa shrugged.

“
Maybe there’s something
else going on,” Lo said.

“
Oh God, Lo,” Lisa said.
“What if Don was murdered?”

Lo gawked at her sister. Lisa nodded so hard
her blonde braids jumped from her chest. Shaking her head, Lo went
back to staring at her coffee.

“
No really,” Lisa said.
“Think of it. If someone killed Don, they are now killing you. Or
who they think you are.”

“
Who do they think I
am?”

“
Gold digger,” Lisa said.
“That’s always what the press said about you. You and Don never
talked about… you know… everything that happened in our family. No
one knew I lived with y’all either. And before you
start…”

Lo looked up at her sister.

“
I lived with
y’all from the time I was fourteen until you and Don sent me to
college. I’d never have even tried riding bulls or broncs if Don
hadn’t encouraged me. Seriously, I’d be some boring barrel racer,”
Lisa said. “Your house and Don… Well, you and Don and the girls
were
my
family and that was
my
house. Don
even walked me down the aisle. So, I know how things were between
you and Don.”

“
And?”

“
You were everything to
Don. He worshiped you,” Lisa said. “Don’t let the press run down
your marriage. They weren’t there. They don’t know.”

“
What about this
Jean-Jean?”

“
I looked her up on the
Internet,” Lisa said. “She’s really famous.”

“
So? In some circles, I’m
famous.”

“
Do you think one of your
competitors did this to you?” Lisa’s eyes went wide. “What about
that girl who always gets second place?”

“
No, none of the girls
would do this,” Lo said. “They’re too worried about themselves to
bother with me. Plus, everyone loved Don. He was like the gdfather
of women’s fitness competitions.”

“
Very true.” Lisa took a
drink of coffee and stared off into space.

“
You were talking about
Jean-Jean?”

“
Oh, right. She’s famous
for healing people,” Lisa said. “Like the real deal.”

“
And?”

“
Maybe Don was with her
because he knew he was going to be murdered,” Lisa said. “Think of
it. Don would do everything in his power to stay with
you.”

Lo smiled at Lisa’s confidence.

“
Larry’s going to be here
in a bit,” Lisa said. “Let’s see if we can find you something to
wear. I brought a pair of jeans and shirts and stuff, but… You’ve
lost a lot of weight, Lo.”

“
I’ve lost everything,
Lisa,” Lo said. “Weight is just… another thing.”

“
You listen to me.” Lisa’s
index finger came out to wag at Lo. “You cannot give up. Larry
thinks we’ll be able to get in the house today. If we can’t, I’m
breaking in. The hex-bitch can call the cops. The girls and I grew
up in that house. Our stuff is there too.”

Lo nodded because she didn’t know what else
to do.