Flamethrower - Maggie Estep [59]
Ruby was offended on Spike’s behalf. She picked him up so he wouldn’t further violate the big woman.
“You don’t think Jody’s dead, do you?” the woman asked out of the blue. She was still standing under the archway, still wiping her hand on her dress.
“What?”
“She didn’t look good the other day. She sick or something?”
“No, of course not.”
“Okay,” the woman shrugged, “I’m just trying to help.”
Ruby said nothing. Spike was already getting heavy, so she put him down. He instantly trotted over to the big woman, sat, and stared up at her.
“My husband looked kind of funny and gray about a week before he dropped dead,” the woman said, ignoring Spike. “Name’s Dolly, by the way.” She suddenly seemed to warm to Ruby. She took a few steps toward her and extended her hand.
“Ruby,” said Ruby, shaking the hand. Ruby hated people with weak handshakes, and her estimation of Jody’s large neighbor improved when Dolly gripped Ruby’s hand firmly.
“Jody looked ill?”
“I dunno really. I’m just saying she was kinda gray looking same as Gil, my husband. Turned out he had a big of clot in his brain. One night he’s lying on the couch eating chips and watching TV. I go into the kitchen to get some juice. I come back. Boom, he’s dead. I knew right away he was dead. Just one look at him. Death is funny that way—how you know it right off.”
“Uh huh,” said Ruby. She hadn’t seen many dead people, but she did agree that dead people looked dead. No doubt about that.
“You know,” Dolly said after a pause, “I think Jody’s probably at Delaware Park.”
“Delaware Park? Why?” Ruby asked.
“That’s what they were saying. Her and the boy she had with her,” Dolly shrugged, making her chest jiggle. “I guess the boy had a lead about a job at the track there. They were asking me for directions. I’ve been known to go to the races, you know.” Dolly lowered her voice and looked over her shoulder, as if upholders of the community standard might be lurking there, waiting to incriminate Dolly as a filthy horse-player.
“But wouldn’t they have come back? What, they’re just going to go to Delaware Park and stay there? What’s Jody going to do?”
“I don’t know about none of that,” Dolly said. “All’s I know is they asked me about how to get there. Then, next thing I know, they’re driving off and ain’t been back since. Look, I’m enjoying chatting with you, but I gotta put my feet up. I got bad varicose veins. Ten minutes standing up and I’m in pain.”
Ruby watched Dolly, who seemed familiar with the layout of Jody’s house, go into the living room, sink into an armchair, and make herself comfortable propping her legs on an ottoman.
“I’m sorry,” Ruby offered, not knowing what else one said under such circumstances.
“Ain’t your fault. It’s genetic. My pop had ’em too. Plus I’m fat. That don’t help.”
Ruby didn’t know what to say to that either, so she offered Dolly a glass of water. Dolly declined.
“Just give me a minute and I’ll be good as new,” Dolly said.
Ruby had no reason to hang around Jody’s any longer, but she didn’t want to rush Dolly. She sat down on the couch opposite Dolly and arranged Spike in her lap. He’d probably be too big for anyone’s lap in another few weeks, but for now it was nice having him there.
Ruby glanced up at the wall clock and saw that it was just after 10 A.M. Outside, clouds had drifted over the sun and the day had turned dark.
17. STALKED
Before Ruby could come up with something to talk to Dolly about, the big woman started snoring. Ruby stared at Dolly in disbelief and wondered if maybe the woman was narcoleptic. She thought of the Gus Van Sant movie where the late River Phoenix played a narcoleptic male hustler. She tried remembering how River Phoenix had died in real life but couldn’t. She moved on to thinking about River’s brother Joaquin Phoenix in the movie Gladiator. Which led her to thinking of Gladiator director Ridley Scott, who had made one of Ruby’s favorite movies, Blade Runner. She managed to thoroughly distract herself until her cell phone started ringing in her back pocket. She maneuvered to get the