“We try to keep them from getting upset,” she said, as if Mamie wasn’t able to hear her.
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to upset anybody.”
I shut off my phone. But Mamie spoke up.
“Leave it on,” she said.
“I’m sorry?” I said.
“Your little camera gadget. Go ahead and leave it on if you want. It’s okay.”
She turned toward the hairdresser.
“You can set me in a minute, Jordan.”
The hairdresser puffed out a breath and walked away. I turned my phone back on and leveled it on Mamie Lee’s face.
“I didn’t want to give it up,” she said. “There’s the truth.”
She wiped a tear from the top of her cheekbone.
“I married a man from back here, a friend of the family, and he told me I was through with it. He was real conservative. Nice enough, but manipulative. I learned too latethat’s the worst quality in a man. He wanted to reform me, I guess. That was his kick.”
“Why didn’t you say no?”
“I didn’t know what options I had. It was hard to get a straight job afterward, so I came back to become a housewife. I guess I was comfortable enough, but I always regretted giving everything up so quick and not keeping up with the girls. My husband died a few years ago and left me some money. I’d like to put some of it toward something a little wicked. You understand me, Tilly?”
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
“I spent too much of my life being good. It’s killing me.”
I turned off my camera. I squeezed her hand and told her I would be back soon with a plan. Then I walked out of the commons, my thoughts already churning. Who would even attend Mamie’s ceremony if we could pull it off? She told me she wasn’t close with her children and she had very little other family.
I was driving back, playing my recording in the car, when the answer came to me. And when it did, I found myself pulling over to look up a number and make a call to a place I hoped actually existed.
23
Daniel didn’t call that night. Or the night after.
Of course, I had told him not to, but I was still surprised when he didn’t. I knew the last thing I told him had been an ultimatum of sorts. And I knew it had been abrupt. But I didn’t care. I was growing closer to yet another person I didn’t really know. And I was trying to put an end to that stage of my life.
I’d already gone that route once and now that person, who had never really let me in, was gone for good. That’s why my computer was at the bottom of a lake, confusing the hell out of local bottom-dwellers. That’s why I was home planning funerals instead of getting a high school diploma.
And I needed to get better, not worse. So, I decided I wouldn’t call again, even if I was tempted. I would let him go if that’s what it took. And in the meantime, I would try everything I could not to think about him.
Instead, I would concentrate on Mamie’s funeral. Nowthat I’d heard her story, I knew I had to help her whether my father was on board or not. But in order to do it, I had two big problems to solve. The first was finding a venue. And the second was getting in touch with Mamie’s old friends.
I started with the first.
Unfortunately, my early attempts were a bust. Sunrise Commons refused to do anything related to funerals or stripping, let alone a combo of the two. Funeral homes preferred dead bodies to half-naked living ones. And community centers seemed to have a limited definition of a “community event.” So late that morning, I went to the only other place I could think of: a strip club.
¦¦¦
By noon I was standing outside of a place called Harry Palmer’s. It was a dive, which is why I chose it. I had to have a better chance at a place so run down. Also, according to horny high school boys I’d once known, HP’s was notorious about not carding. So, it came as a bit of a surprise when a man in a plaid Western shirt and a leather vest stopped me at the door.
“Not so fast, honey,” he said. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To see some sad naked women?” I said.
