Couples of South Pointe Lake

6. Conversation Started

In the Miller’s household, Angie was moving fast so as not to be late to work.  She dashed out of the bathroom and wasted no time getting dressed in her outfit consisting of a grey jacket and skirt, looking like the corporate lawyer she was.  She took a moment to dab some perfume, as well as admire her hair in the mirror.  Her brunette hair was curly and lush down to her shoulders.   

Angie grabbed her handbag but stopped when she heard a phone ring.  She thought it was hers first and then realized it was coming from Steve’s side of the bed.  She went and grabbed it, and went downstairs with it.

Steve was in the library, which also functioned as his workplace: his base for his graphics design software company.  Steve preferred conducting his work from home instead of having an office in the city; it was way too convenient for him this way.  He sat in front of his desktop computer, scribbling on a notepad when Angie came to find him.

“Honey, you left your phone upstairs, and you’ve got a call.”

Steve kissed her after accepting the phone to answer the call.

“Hi, Larry, good morning.  Yeah, of course, I’m home, where I always am.  Sure, you can come by.  No problem, I’ll be waiting.  See ya.” 

He ended the call.  “That was Larry.”

“Figures.  What does he want this time?  Another time-sharing lease?”

“No, and God, I hope not.  He didn’t say much, except wanting to know if I was home or not.  That’s his way of saying he wants to pow-wow.”

“Whatever you boys need to pow-wow about is none of my business.  You know how I feel about Larry.”

“I know, Ang.  But that was a one-time thing; he’s been good ever since.”

“Yeah, right.  When you get caught spying under your best friend’s wife’s skirt, that isn’t what I’d like to think of as a one-time thing.  That’s an unchecked habit.  But anyway, I’d best be off.”

“On the news, they said there’s going to be morning traffic on I-22.  So, you might have to cut through Flatbush to make it to the city.”

“That’s what I’ll do.”  She gave him another kiss.  “Don’t work too hard.”

“I’ll try not to, hon.  You have a great day.”

Angie headed for the front door, leaving Steve to return to his work.  He was a little distracted by the vibe he got from his brief conversation with Larry, though he had no idea why.  It was safe to admit that chances are it was something to do with their weekend huddle concerning Garry.  Larry had sounded quite animated, like something he wanted to get off his chest.  Whatever it was, Steve hopped it wasn’t another one of his ingenious schemes of getting them to purchase more time-sharing options like before.  

Larry worked for a consortium of hotel travel agencies.  For nearly a year, he had bugged them about picking up some time-share destinations for whatever summer vacation they intended, preferably in or around the Caribbean; of the Caribbean hotels’ time-share, Larry had been most adamant that they comply.  He had dogged them with a persistence that Steve couldn’t help admire Larry’s pursuit with wry amusement.  Angie was never impressed when it involved anything involving Larry.  Always she considered an obnoxious snob who thought too highly of himself, always opinionated of anyone who didn’t share his worldview.  She had listened to him in several neighborhood parties giving insufferable admonitions whenever someone didn’t share his argument when it came to politics.  He loved nothing but to rub his idealism in anyone’s face, especially anyone he considered as far-left.  Steve was less indignant regarding this trait. He knew how to stomach his friend’s bullshit than Angie could stand.  Of course, Angie didn’t mind his wife, Blondie, with whom she was friends with.  She could never figure out whatever it was she saw in Larry—they were entirely opposites.  I guess that’s ‘opposites attract’ really means Angie quipped to Steve days after the incident that led to her despising Larry.

The incident was four years ago—or was it five?—at one of their neighbor’s home who was celebrating a baby shower event.  Angie had some food spill on the end of her dress and was bent over to wipe off the stain when she happened to glance over her shoulder.  She caught sight of Larry pretending to nurse a drink while leering at her inappropriately.  Angie kept mum about it, not wanting to spoil the scenery, but didn’t hold back afterward when she informed Steve.  Since then, Angie did her best to avoid the sight of Larry at any function they attended.  She was more than happy to be out of the house whenever he dropped by to visit Steve.

Steve did an hour’s work before calling it a break.  He rose from his chair and stretched his limbs, slipped his phone into his pocket, and then left the room.  He went into the kitchen and fetched himself some water to drink from the sink. He nearly spilled his drink when he felt something furry rub against his ankle and laughed when he saw it was Snuggles, Angie’s male cat.  

“Hey there, you,” Steve scooped the feline creature into his arm.  “Did your mommy leave you a treat?  Come on, let’s get you something.”

Steve went rummaging in one of the cabinets above the kitchen counter and found an opened cat treats box.  He poured some into Snuggles’s bowl, and the cat scooted off his arm to enjoy himself.  

At that moment, the doorbell rang.  Steve finished his water then went to investigate.  As he had expected, it was Larry.

“I figured you’d get here sooner,” Steve shook hands then invited him inside.

“Sorry.  I would have made it early, but Blondie had me doing some cleanup around the house.  I might as well do that to kill some time.”

“Kill some time for what?”  Steve asked as he led his friend into his den.  He caught the suspicious look in Larry’s face and knew what he meant.  “You ought to give that a rest by now.  Angie ain’t as angry with you as she once was.”

 “That ain’t the vibe I get whenever she sees me.  I know I’ve got some issues, and I’m trying hard to work on them.”

“So you say.  You want something to drink?”

“Nah, I’m good.  I‘m here because I saw something this morning, though.  Something that’s got me shook up, and you’re about the only one I can talk it over with.  I haven’t told the others yet.”

“Yeah, I got that when we spoke on the phone.  Spill it out then.”

Larry sat down and leaned forward, his brow knotted into a frown as he gathered his thoughts like a preacher about to kick off a sermon.  “I saw something this morning over at Garry’s home.  I’d returned from my morning jog when I saw two black men in coverall outfits spill out of his front door.  They looked like the sort of guys you’d think came to fix a cable set-up or a plumbing mishap, except they weren’t alone.  Ellie came out with them.”

“You’re talking about Garry’s Ellie?”

“You know of any other?” he said with agitation.  “I’m serious here.”

“So you saw two black men leave their home with Ellie . . . you’re not saying she went off with them, are you?”

“No, no, she didn’t.  But it was the way she was with them.  It kinda looks like . . . I know this is gonna sound crazy, but it looked like they were into something.  Something like what we saw that day.”

“You think she just got done f*****g them?”

“I hate to admit it, but yeah, that’s what I thought the moment I saw her and those two men.”

“Garry wasn’t around?”

“No.  It was just her.”

Steve looked away from his friend, lost in thought.  He stared at Snuggles, who had slinked from the kitchen doorway to come and curl around his feet.  Steve scooped the cat in his arm and stroked its fur while he tried putting Larry’s words into context.

“And you’ve told nobody about this except me?”

“You and Blondie are the only ones I’ve told.  You think it’s something to get worried about?”

Steve offered a shrug.  “What can we get worried about, Larry?  It’s not our business what goes on in anybody’s bedroom, you know that.  That’s like me wanting to know what you and Blondie are up to in your bedroom.”

“I know, I know,” said Larry impatiently.  “But this is Garry we’re talking about here.  I’m not saying he can’t have himself a filthy kink—I mean, whatever it is that gets him excited ain’t got s**t to do with me—but don’t it strike you as weird coming from him and Ellie?”

Steve thought this was where he needed to be careful.  On the one hand, he did agree this was as unusual a thing to be learning about a close friend.  Had they been aware of this before, then maybe he never would be this concerned.  It sure as hell didn’t concern any of them, and he was vexed with Larry for presenting this matter to him.  The last thing he wanted was to be the designated fact-finder for his friends.  Right when he started to forget about what they had witnessed in Garry’s home, this was brought back to the forefront of his imagination.  

“What do you propose then, Larry?” he asked out of exasperation, sensing already where their conversation was heading.

“I figured, well, you’re a lot closer to Garry than I am.  Maybe you can get to finding out what he and Ellie are up to.”

“You live on the same street with him.  If anything, you ought to know him more than me.”

“If that were the case, then I wouldn’t be here in the first place, would I?"

Steve was growing irritated by the minute and didn’t know how best to express it.  Such was what it felt like whenever he had to deal with Larry.  “What the f**k would you want me to ask him, Larry?  You expect me to go knock at his door and make like I was the one that saw two black men leave his home this morning?”

“I dunno.  If you can, then that would be great for sure.”

“It’s a kinky fetish thing, Larry.  Plenty of couples are into such these days.  You can go online and read up hundreds of stories, for Christ’s sake.  It’s not like they’re in some danger.”

“We don’t know that?  Those men could have been there for a shake-down.  It won’t hurt to find out.”

“And what happens if Garry tells me to f**k off?  How do you think that’s gonna make me feel?”

It was Larry’s turn to shrug his shoulders.  “I dunno.  Just figured it’d be worth a shot.  If it’s anybody that can get to the bottom of this, it’s you.”

Steve sighed with exasperation, completely divided into his thoughts.  As much as he was bitten by the bug of curiosity compelling him toward wanting to investigate whatever particular type of exotic kink Garry and Ellie were indulging into, a part of him wished none of this was occurring.  He wished Larry had gone to the others instead, possibly Ollie.  If any of them was supposed to be deep into this kinky stuff, Steve always had his bets on Ollie.  And why not?  He’s got himself a wife that’s twenty years younger than him.  Ollie had been twice divorced before he met Hanna. Nothing wrong with that, except compared to Ollie, who looked like a Volkswagen Bug, Hanna was a Cadillac V6.  They were childless, though Ollie had kids from his previous marriages, all of whom he barely maintained a relationship with and barely saw them year-round.  

But Garry?

“What say you, Steve?”

Larry was staring at him, awaiting his response.  Snuggles squirmed in his arm and purred to get his attention. 

“I’ll have to think about it,” he relented.  “It won’t look good if I just marched over to his home and confronted him about it.  Likely he’s off at work by now.”