Chapter 12
The phone rang seven times before she managed to reach out and pull the receiver to her ear. Her wrist watch told her it was six-thirty!
"Hello?" she stammered.
"Christy? It's Larry! Did I wake you up?"
"Yes," she replied, shaking her head in an effort to rouse her brain.
"I'm sorry, honey, but I have to get down to the factory and this is important ..."
"Larry, when are you coming home?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't catch the desperation in her voice.
"That's what I'm calling about, honey," Larry said on the phone. "Now listen carefully. We have a big, important decision to make."
"What?" Christine asked, wishing the throbbing pain in her head would ease for even a moment.
"I've been offered a big opportunity," Larry said excitedly. It's a long story, Christy, but I've been offered a partnership in a small dealership up here. The money is about the same, but within five years my stock in the dealership could be worth plenty. It's a real opportunity for us! What do you think?"
"Gosh, Larry," Christine replied cautiously, "I don't know. What do YOU think?"
"Well, I've thought it over a lot the last few days, and I think I'd be a fool to pass it up. The problem is that we would have to move up here. And, in a sense, it would be like starting all over. We'd have to make new friends, buy a house, the whole thing."
"Larry," Christine said with her heart skipping a beat, "that sounds exciting."
"You wouldn't mind starting all over?"
"Darling, I'd love it!" Christine replied enthusiastically.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive, Larry darling!" "Great," he said excitedly. "Maybe you'd better hear the rest of it, though."
"The rest?" she asked.
"They want me right away, Christy. If I accept, I have to start work on Monday morning. That means you would have to handle everything there ~ put the house up for sale, arrange for movers to haul our furniture up here ~ everything ..."
"I don't mind!" Christine cried with joy.
"Honestly, Larry, I don't mind! You tell me what to do, and I'll get it done."
"Okay, sweetheart," Larry said. "You're one helluva wife! Got a pencil and paper?"
Christine put the phone down on the bed and ran to the den to get a pencil and note pad. She flew back to the bedroom and cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she wrote down Larry's instructions. She interrupted him with questions to make sure she understood all the details as she covered two pages of the pad with notes.
"The important thing," Larry concluded, "is to sell that acreage we bought outside of town. I'll need that money for my stock investment in the dealership. Our best bet is to have my realtor friend in the capital offer the property, so you should drive up there as soon as you can."
"I'll go today, darling," Christine said joyously. "And let's talk again tonight in case I have more questions. Will you call me?"
"You call me," he suggested, "because you don't know what time you'll get back, and I definitely will be here in the motel all evening."
Although Christine was floating on a cloud thousands of feet above the ground, her body was in miserable condition! Her stomach churned and her head throbbed with pounding pain! She went out to the kitchen and put a pot of coffee on.
Oh, to start all over again - to get out of this crazy alcohol and sex life-style and return to reality.
This was the answer to her dreams - the end of her nightmare! She would sell the house and join Larry where they would start all over! The neighbors could go fuck themselves!
She took a sip of the hot coffee and felt her stomach cramp with pulsating nausea and pain. And her headache was so intense it almost made her dizzy! She had to hold on to the counter for a long moment to keep her balance.
A thought nagged at her. Now that she had become so dependent on sex, lots of sex, how could she get on with Larry, who's physical interest in her had declined so terribly? She'd have to rekindle his sexual desires, or maybe just have to settle for much less sex. But that didn't matter! It was a small price to pay! Nothing mattered now that she was free! It seemed too good to be true. Gosh, I didn't dream it, did I, she thought. She wanted to run back to the bedroom and call Larry to be sure it really was true! Lately her mind had been as fuzzy as a fresh peach and she had trouble separating dreams from reality.
Where was that black cloud that had been following her? There it was, far away in the distance. It had retreated, but why was it still there at all? Why hadn't it completely disappeared, vanished, disintegrated? Her problems were now over, weren't they?
"How in the world can you smile like that so early in the morning?" Carol moaned, as she walked unsteadily into the kitchen. "I feel perfectly awful!"
"So do I!" Christine replied in a bright voice.
"Well, you certainly don't sound so terribly bad!" Carol groaned. "We must have set some kind of record yesterday! I haven't had a hangover like this in years! Will the coffee stay down?"
"I don't know," Christine replied, bringing the cup to her mouth and taking a deep swallow. The minute the coffee reached her stomach, she retched in a series of dry heaves that left her weak.
"You're in as bad shape as I am," Carol commented. "I think we'd both better take a hair of the dog."
"I don't think I could keep it down!" Christine replied, holding onto the kitchen counter for support.
"It's probably the only thing that will stay down," Carol commented, reaching for the half-filled bottle of rum and taking a long swig from the neck.
"Here."
Christine accepted the bottle and held her breath as she brought it to her lips. She had vowed to swear off, but somehow she had to pull herself together for all the things she had to do! She took a long swallow and gasped as the burning liquid seared her throat and stomach.
"Better?" Carol asked, reaching for the bottle again.
"Yes," Christine said softly when the burning sensation faded.
"It always works. A couple of shots and your hangover is gone."
Christine felt the pounding in her head ease as she watched her younger sister take a second long swig from the bottle. She had never done this before, but Christine could rationalize that it didn't matter as long as she could pull herself together and get to work on the thousand and one things she had to accomplish. In a desperate attempt to ease her tortured body, she took the bottle from Carol and took another long drink, letting the fire sweep through her.
"Who called?" Carol asked. "I heard the phone and thought you'd never answer it!"
"Then it wasn't a dream!" Christine cried excitedly. Slowly, she told her sister all about Larry's call and their decision to move away.
Carol shared her sister's new excitement. "Oh, Christy! That's wonderful! You see? I told you everything would work itself out! Oh, I'm so happy for you, honey! Now you and Larry have a chance to start all over."
"I'm so lucky!" Christine sighed, bringing the rum bottle to her lips for a last swig. "There's so much to do! I think I'll drive up to the realtors first and get them started selling the farm we bought."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Carol asked.
"Would you call the movers and get an estimate on how much they'll charge to move us to Detroit? They have to come out and look at the furniture and all, and I have to tell Larry how much it will be when I talk to him tonight."
"Sure," Carol responded.
"Want some breakfast?"
"Let me scramble some eggs," Carol suggested, "while you shower and dress. I think I can handle something to eat now."
"Okay," Christine smiled.
Christine showered and dressed in her most conservative outfit. She realized she was starving when she sat down to breakfast with Carol, and she devoured two eggs, four strips of bacon, and three pieces of toast.
"I probably won't be back much before dinner," she told Carol when they walked out to the car. "I'll call you when I get ready to leave the realtors. I wish this damned headache would go away!"
"Take another snort," Carol suggested. "I'll open another bottle while you start the car."
Christine had the motor running when Carol returned with the rum. She took a generous swallow, but refused Carol's suggestion to take the rest with her.
"Thank heavens it's all over," she sighed to Carol as she put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. She waved again to Carol, then turned the car toward the old road to the capital.
Christine was thankful she had chosen the old road instead of the freeway. Traffic was light, and she cruised along at a conservative fifty miles an hour. She felt flushed, and she knew she was a little high from the rum, but she was so happy she felt like singing!
Suddenly the sky turned dark, and Christine stopped singing to pay closer attention to the road. How could the sky turn dark when there wasn't a cloud in sight? She wracked her brain for an answer and suddenly remembered that an eclipse was due. That must be it, she told herself, relaxing her hands on the wheel. It'll be over in a minute or two.
The speedometer climbed steadily to
eighty miles an hour as Christine relaxed and sang happily. The sky became so black she reached down to the dashboard to turn her lights on. As she did, the speeding car veered out into the opposite lane. And at that moment a huge oil-tanker trunk came around the bend ... In her last few seconds, Christine was only aware of the black cloud swooping down to engulf her in its warm folds. She died on impact, and did not see her car roll seven times and then explode in a ball of bright orange flame.