'Yeah. Well after they were married and he got caught stealing from the house and had himself worked over and wound up in the hospital they moved to Reno to start things over. Anyway she went on dancing and if you'll remember she was a good little dancer too, made Line Captain in just about every show she worked, Lenny just got into this thing where he couldn't keep his hands out of the pot. I mean it was lucky that he was able to get a fob sweeping floors in the state of Nevada after the first time let alone getting a job dealing again. Of course he got caught after a bit and he was bounced, this time for good-black balled in every casino in town. So he gets this job as a bartender in that place where the Silver Concho used to be, remember that place, it was where that Mafia guy had that ice pick shoved through his brain?'
'Yeah.'
'So he straightens out for a bit but then he gets back into his sticky fingers routine again and like a schmuck he's caught and gets sacked. Sharon's dancing her buns off and doing really good. She got this great offer to go back to Vegas in the Lido Revue, but she turns it down because Lenny can't go back to Vegas or says he can't or doesn't want to and then things really start going downhill. Now he's not working at all and he starts in dropping all kinds of pills and smoking a lot of shit and drinking and lying around the apartment all day while she's out working as a waitress in the afternoon and getting fallen arches at night so that they can someday have that little dream house somewhere over the rainbow. Then he starts beating up on her. He suddenly becomes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. All that crap he's pouring into himself mixed with all that undiluted sun warps his mind until he's completely around the twist. He starts dropping in where she's waitressing and harasses the customers and sounds her out, calls her a rotten cunt and a stupid bitch and so naturally the boss says later with your husband baby' and they bounce him out on his ass which of course only makes him crazier. She gets home that afternoon to change for work and grab a bite to eat and he belts the shit out of her. Whacks her with a strap on the ass and thighs until she's got welts like tire tracks. She poured the body makeup on good and thick but it didn't help in the slightest. When she arrives for work that night they take one look at her and say 'Hey Sharon you can't go on looking like that.' So she's out of the line for a week before the black and blues go away. And of course after that scene in the restaurant the boss is a bit edgy about her old man because he's seen that thing happen before and he's just waiting for the next time the guy gets pilled and insane and decides to drop in and pull the same number all over again. Sure enough he does. The boss is out making the afternoons deposit at the bank and when he gets back there's poor Sharon in tears and the place just empty, people got up and left what they were eating and drinking and split. The joint looked like an air raid had been called for real and no one was wasting anytime in diving for cover, I mean he was that kind of crazy.'
'Poor fucking Sharon.'
'The boss goes for the phone to call the cops but Lenny stops him and takes a swing at his head which I guess was the wrong thing to do to that guy because he picks up a lead pipe and cracks Lenny's skull down the — middle so that he lands back in the hospital with a concussion and not just a few broken fingers and a sprained ankle.'
'Christ what a nightmare.'
'So of course Sharon gets fired and it doesn't take too long for the word to get around town that her old man has flipped his top in a bad way. She becomes a person to avoid. No one wants to know her. All of this shit is doing a real number on her head and her hoofing is not any the better for it but she hangs in there.'
'Why didn't she just leave the guy, take off?'
'Because she loved the creep and figured he was just going through a bad time. She was a solid little lady- you know that, I mean up until then they really had it together. They were both knocking down dynamite salaries, they didn't have any kids to hang them up and they were really a groove together. They were one of those couples that you really dug together or apart. It wasn't a question of 'Well I love her but hate him' or vice versa. He just got the Vegas shakes and wasn't strong enough to pull himself out of it.'
'So anyway, what happened after he landed in the hospital?'
'From bad to worse. His being in the hospital for all that time, I think he was in for almost nine weeks, was a mixed blessing. It gave her time to sort her head out but of course it, was costing a fortune to keep him there and when they finally sprung him it was obvious that crack on the head had produced some permanent brain damage. Lenny just got meaner after that and really started in on her. He wouldn't leave that poor chick alone. Followed her everywhere she went. When she danced at night he'd be in the audience working himself into a lather, tearing himself up with jealousy as she flashed her tits and ass across the stage just so they could eat and put some bread away.'
'I don't think I could have hung in there like that for anyone.'
'Well she did. She was determined to give it the old college try but of course even the patience of a saint has its limits and she started cracking up as soon as hers was exhausted. Strong as a horse but then when she got sacked from that show and couldn't find any more work dancing except doing go-go shit in those cowboy bars it was all over. One night he comes home after some bar crawl where he could hardly see straight and starts beating the crap our of her. She's screaming so loud that the neighbors figure this time it's murder for sure and they call the cops. When the bulls arrive they kick down the door and there she is with only her under pants on and Lenny getting ready to top her for good with a poker. When he sees the cops he gets even crazier and attacks them. Well for that effort he gets his hand shot off and at that he was very lucky to be alive 'cause those guys shoot to kill and never to just wound you.'
'What did she do after that?'
'Left town, filed for divorce and said never again ran into her and got all the gruesome details. The thing that struck me so funny, and I don't mean 'ha-ha' kind of funny, was that that seemed to be your run of the mill Vegas serenade. It was just such a common, sad story. I don't know whether or not that's a fair judgment to make, but that's the way it's always seemed to me. Heartaches by the pound.'
'Could you go for something cold to drink?'
'Sure could. There's some lemonade in the refrigerator. You feel like getting it?'
'Sure.'
'Hey while you're at it why don't you roll a joint?'
'OK.'
Toni crossed the stretch of the patio slowly. She walked, testing the ground with every step, feeling a bit woozy from the intense bombardment of the sun, half blind. When she entered the cool, bright kitchen sun spots exploded in front of her eyes and it was a few minutes before she could focus properly on anything. Looking out at Lisa she smiled to herself and watched as she turned over onto her stomach exposing her ass to the sky.
'I could get hung up here for a long time if I'm not careful,' she thought to herself, reaching for the frosted bottle of lemonade. 'But then what's wrong with that?' she concluded in the next breath. She poured two glasses out and went hunting for a couple of paper napkins. Then she sauntered into the living room careful not to brush up to examine herself.
The tan lines across her ass and breasts were already fading and Toni figured it would only take another three days before she was the same color all over. She peered at the sculpted mound of her butt and traced an invisible line with her finger over its curving sweep and then she remembered what it was she was after. The canister with the marijuana was on the coffee table and without taking her eyes from the mirror she bent down and began to roll a joint. She did it without spilling any of the grass and noted with satisfaction as her tongue flicked across the lightly gummed surface of the cigarette papers that she had managed to knock off that excess three pounds she had wanted to lose for some time now. 'Must be all that sun,' she thought moving towards the pool.
Lisa propped herself on her left elbow and traced the flight of what she thought was a 747. She took the joint from Toni and sipped greedily on the lemonade before taking a drag on the already damp stick of marijuana. 'Who's taking care of the motel while you're making yourself gorgeous?' Toni wanted to know.
'Oh I've got help. After lunch I'll show you around. Mind you there's not much to see but what there is is ok. The place just about runs itself these days which suits me just fine.'
'Do you go into Reno a lot?'
'Umm not too much. I try and stay out here as much as possible. I just go in to do some shopping now and then and make deposits at the bank. I'm pretty self contained and like to keep it that way. I've turned into a bit of a desert rat and a recluse at that. Whenever I get horny though I go cruising or if I'm horny and feeling lazy then I'll just call someone up and invite them out for dinner.'
