Maybe one day I could deal with them all at once but right then I’d been attacked (again!) by a Balducci and Daisy was in no shape for anything but whatever a screaming orgasm was.
So I looked away from them and kept going in a beeline toward the backdoor while I went on, “Maybe we’ll order one of those sex on the beaches too.”
* * * * *
We all (that was, every last one of the Rock Chicks, Ralphie and me) had our screaming orgasms then we had our sex on the beaches then we tried fuzzy navels.
Hector, Lee and Eddie didn’t join us for our Festival of Shots but Buddy and Tex came back, faces tight and set and they looked like they were standing guard.
No kidding, standing guard.
I looked around, tried to find the bartender who gave me the note but he was nowhere to be seen.
Indy disappeared then for some reason Diva Drag Queen of the Evening, Burgundy Rose came out (Indy at her side), walked right up to me and pulled me into a deep hug.
I stood there rigid with shock at this new unexpected turn of events but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, after she was done hugging me, she gave me a huge, loud kiss on the cheek then leaned back and started swiping at the lipstick with her thumb.
“I’m Tod,” she said in a male voice, still swiping my cheek with her thumb.
“Hi Tod,” I said without anything else to say like “What in the heck are you doing?” or an Ice Princess “How dare you touch me?”
“I’m a Rock Chick by default,” Burgundy Rose/Tod said.
“Oh,” I replied, sounding stupid. Well, that explained it.
“I’m Indy’s neighbor,” he went on and stopped swiping my cheek. Thankfully, it was my good cheek, but still.
“Okay.” I still didn’t know what to say.
“What size shoe are you?” he asked, apropos of nothing.
I stared at him then thought it best to answer. “Six and a half.”
“Damn,” he muttered, “I could work those boots.” I kept staring and he kept explaining, giving a flick of his hand to the Rock Chicks. “All the girls share shoes; we’re all the same size.”
“Oh,” I repeated, a little stunned that he might want to borrow my boots. Not that I minded, of course, just that I’d never had a girlfriend (or a g*y boyfriend for that matter) who wanted to borrow my boots.
For some reason, the idea of him wanting to borrow my boots made the weird cold I’d felt since Harvey got hold of me melt clean away.
“Oh well, I can admire them from afar. Not like I haven’t had tons of experience with that,” Tod shared then his head snapped around toward the stage and he muttered, “Shit, gotta go, song’s about over.” He gave me another cheek kiss, another thumb swipe at the lipstick he planted there and then he was off.
I stared at his beaded-gowned back.
Now, seriously, how bizarre was that?
I was still staring when Hector and Lee appeared.
I hadn’t yet recovered from my encounter with the Drag Queen when Hector took my hand in his, firmly in his, and without a word to me or anyone, he walked me out the front door through the parking lot, straight to his Bronco.
I didn’t struggle. My night was way too weird to struggle. I didn’t have it in me. I was just going to let the rest of my night ride out to its conclusion. I figured that was best.
Veronica Mars would have a wisecrack to deliver but I hadn’t yet made it to the Wisecracking Sadie version of my new self. I couldn’t even order shots competently. I was in no position to offer a smart-mouthed remark.
He stopped me at the side of his Bronco with a tug on my hand and then got close. I did a quick scan of the parking lot but there was no sign of Eddie or Harvey.
“Where’s Harvey?” I asked, looking anywhere but at Hector.
“Mamita, look at me.”