With a loud stripping of the gears, she made an illegal U-turn on Hyde Street's cable car line, and headed for North Beach where she knew Ertha would give her a spare blanket for the night. Anything would do… as long as she wasn't alone.
Ertha answered the strident ringing of the doorbell as quickly as she could, despite the fact that she was in the middle of giving her late date an oil massage. When she opened the door she was expecting to see one of her boy friends, drunk and horny, but instead she hid the slight disappointment when she saw Julie's weeping figure collapsed against her doorway.
"Julie… for Godsakes. Now what?" She pulled her inside and sat her down in the living room. "Good God, what's… what's wrong?" Ertha rubbed the excess oil on her terry cloth robe before stroking Julie's hair back from her face. "What happened?"
Julie haltingly began to tell the saga she had just been through, still unable to believe it herself.
Halfway through, with the guts of the story out, and the emotional epilogue yet to come, Ertha excused herself and headed toward the back of the apartment to call to her date to come join them. His name was Joshua and he was the emotional sort. Maybe he could help get Julie out of her blues with a little affection.
The three of them sat in the living room sipping wine, all attention on Julie who kept repeating, "I should have known better… it had to happen sooner or later…"
Joshua and Ertha watched as Julie became more inebriated.
"Go ahead, baby. It'll make you feel better," urged Joshua, who sat between the two females, wishing one of them would get back to the rubbing and forget the sad storytelling. Julie felt somehow relieved by the stranger's soft voice and mannerisms.
"Here, have some more wine, Julie…"
Finally, Julie collapsed against the edge of the sofa arm, so tired and drunk by this time that it didn't matter if it wasn't a bed… or home. Ertha put a quilt over the girl and gently lifted her head to slip a pillow under her head so she wouldn't wake up with a stiff neck.
"Poor baby," she whispered to Joshua. "She's gotta loosen up and learn to live or she's gonna be miserable for the rest of her life."
Joshua pulled Ertha close, his half-erection giving an ominous jerk. He cradled her head in his hands and, looking her in the eye, whispered, "You're just the woman to do that. And you know it."
CHAPTER FIVE
"Julie, honey, there are some things we're gonna have to talk about," said Ertha setting a cup of steaming hot Italian roast coffee at her friend's side. For the second day in a row, Julie had woken up hung over and depressed and, if she followed yesterday's pattern, she'd lay on the sofa all day and watch television. Any question would be answered in a brief monosyllable with no inflection. A picture of depression, if ever there was one.
"Huh?" Julie raised her head reluctantly off the pillow and ran her fingers through her unbrushed hair.
"I said there are some things we're gonna have to talk about." Ertha waited for Julie to sit up, then sat down on the sofa beside her friend, lifting the quilt and warming her own legs with it. "Drink some coffee. It'll straighten out your head," she pointed to the steaming mug, refusing to dote further on the girl whom she'd been waiting on hand and foot for the past two days. It was time Julie did something for herself, unless she wanted to remain an emotional invalid for the rest of her life.
"What is it?" Julie winced at the first acrid sip of coffee, its acid scorching her inside that had known nothing but wine and a few morsels of food in the past torturous days of sorely needed emotional cleansing.
"It's you, Julie. What's going to happen to you?"
Julie shrugged recklessly and took another sip of coffee. Again she ran her fingers through her unkempt hair, a blank expression on her face. Then her eyes narrowed, as though squeezing back the tears, and she concentrated on a loose thread on the sofa's arm, twisting it around her finger then, forming it a ball, she gritted her teeth and yanked it off. "I knew this was coming…"
"What?"
"That you'd get tired of having me around," she muttered, barely audible.
Ertha tutted and stroked Julie's knee through the quilt. "Now that's not it at all, and you know it. God, how can you say that after we've been friends… roommates for awhile… as a matter of fact, since college? Man, you've got to get your head together, Julie. That's what I'm concerned about. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Move in, if you wish. But it's that crazy head of yours that concerns me…" She playfully rapped her knuckles on Julie's head.
Julie gave a faint chuckle, the first expression in two days and lifted her head to stare into her friend's eyes to see the honesty and concern harbored there. "You've been really good to me, Ertha. I don't know what I would have done…"
"Hey, come on. Let's not play humble, okay?" She gave Julie's hand a squeeze, startled to feel it cold and clammy. "We've got to get you back on your feet, girl." The sofa gave a teasing squeek as she pumped Julie's hand up and down on the nubby fabric, hoping to bring some strength and life back into the frail figure of her long-time friend. "Tell you what… you get up, take a shower and get dressed. We'll go to a nice little Italian place I know of… ravioli's superb… and have lunch."
"Oh, that's sweet of you," Julie managed. "But you know Roy was paying for almost everything and I'm embarrassed to admit I have barely a cent to my name."
"On me… now think it over. I'm going to make myself presentable. God, it was five o'clock by the time Bill left last night," she yawned.
"She's right," Julie thought, standing under the shower. "Why should I be so put down because one creep turned out to be a first class bastard?" She would get dressed, put on some make up and strut the streets as she used to do before Roy destroyed her life.
While she was getting dressed in the bathroom, Ertha came in. "Is it all right?" she asked, rapping on the door. Julie opened it to find her friend staying there with her arms full of clothes. "I brought these in for you to try on. I've put on a couple of pounds…" she laughingly patted her bosom, "and most of them don't fit. Damned shame too. Paid a lot for those rags. Oh, and Julie," she sat down on the edge of the tub. "Don't take me wrong, I'm not prying or anything, but take a couple of pointers from me, okay?" She reached up to tickle her friend under the chin. "North Beach is a special kind of place, you know. I mean there are a lot of men around and it's best to be seen alone. But you have to dress right… that means no bra, lots of make up… they're into the casual look around here," she laughed. "They all think they're 'arty', but when it comes down to it, they want a real woman. Just strut your stuff and walk tall and I promise, you'll be out of your doldrums before you ever knew what hit you."
When Ertha left, Julie looked in the mirror once more for reassurance. With her make up on now, she saw a very womanly body facing her… her short curly blonde hair shone from the many brushings she'd given it, and her features were even and delicate. No, she was not a destroyed woman, she decided with a determined nod of her chin. She stepped into the dress Ertha had given her. It was a perky summer sundress with buttons down the front and a bolero jacket to match. The bodice made her look like the "after" photographs in a bust development ad, even without a bra. The creamy mounds of her breasts protruded several inches in front of her, cradled precariously by the cut of the dress.
"Oh, well," Julie thought. "Why shouldn't I show my best features?" Another wave of anger shot through her, an anger that had been carefully rekindled by Ertha each time it showed the least bit of flagging. Any time she felt sad over her faithful loyalty to Roy, the memory of something Ertha said would set her bristling.