“Put on a camisole, I’m doin’ the neck too,” she ordered.
“Daisy, I’m in the middle of cleaning the house.”
“You can clean the house any ole time. Now’s a special time. Now’s facial time.”
“I’ve never had a facial,” I told her.
Her head snapped up from looking at the bag and her eyes bugged out at me. “Never had a facial?” she asked, like I said I’d never breathed oxygen outside of my little bubble room.
I shook my head.
She snapped at me with her fingers. “Camisole. Now.”
I put away the window cleaner and put on a camisole.
I was lying on my couch, a big pillow from my bed under my head and shoulders, a towel draped over the pillow, mud-colored gunk smudged all over my neck and face, cotton wipes doused in lavender water on my eyes, when there was another knock on the door.
I sat up and the cotton wipes fell into my lap. Daisy was sitting in my armchair, foot on my pub set, painting her toenails. I was supposed to be relaxing and letting the facemask dry.
“Get that, will you, Sugar? I’m wet,” Daisy said, not looking up.
I rolled off the couch, tossed the wipes on a towel on the pub set, walked across the room and opened the door.
“Fuckin’ A, Law. What’s all over your face?”
Tex was standing at my door.
I stared at him. “What are you doing here?”
“Came by with these,” he said, indicating an old, beat up workout bag he was carrying and he shoved inside. “Yo, Daisy,” he called to Daisy.
“Yo, Tex,” Daisy called back then she stuck her tongue to the side of her mouth and concentrated on her toenails again.
“What’s this?” I asked as Tex dumped the workout bag by the chaise.
“Tear gas. You don’t have to use ‘em but they ain’t goin’ nowhere at my place. Thought I’d drop ‘em by, just in case. What’s that smell? Somethin’ burnin’?”
Damn.
“My brownies!” I yelled and ran to the kitchen.
The brownies were burned to a crisp. Total disaster. I set them on the stove top and walked back into the living room.
Tex was lying on the chaise, stroking Boo who was lying smack in the middle of Tex’s big, barrel chest. They both looked like they were going to stay awhile.
“You got a cat,” he told me like I didn’t know.
“That’s Boo.”
“Hey Boo,” Tex said to Boo.
Boo purred.
“You ever need a cat sitter, call me, I got a business on the side,” Tex offered.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I told him, thinking it was a bit strange Tex was a cat sitter on the side. But then again he’d just dumped a bag full of tear gas in my living room, pretty much everything about Tex was strange. “I never go on vacation,” I went on.
“Vance’ll take care of that. Indy and Lee are goin’ to Grand Lake for Thanksgivin’. Jet and Eddie are goin’ to Cabo for Christmas. And Hank and Roxie are goin’ to St. Thomas in January.”