“So, anyway,” Lily said, “now Charlotte’s parents want to contest my custody of Mimi — they don’t think I should be allowed to raise her.”
Big Ben drained his can of beer and crushed it. “Now is that on account them thinking there was somethin’ between you and Charlotte?” His steel-gray eyes were focused on Lily.
“Well, uh . . . there was something between Charlotte and me,” Lily said, as Ben shot her a warning glance. “But that was before I met Benny Jack here.”
“Hmm.” Big Ben scratched his beard thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t even pretend to understand what it is you young people do today, but what I want to know is this: The two of y’all has a real marriage, right? You’re devoted to each other, with no hanky-panky on the side?”
“We are,” Ben and Lily said in unison.
“And y’all wanna make a real family for this little girl?”
“Yes.”
“All right, then. First thing in the mornin’, I’ll get ole Buzz Dobson on the phone ... he’s our family lawyer. And Lily, you just tell Charlotte’s parents to come on down to the Faulkner County Courthouse, and we’ll have a big can o’ whupass waitin’ for ’em.”
Lily and Ben lay in their marital bed, not consummating a thing. “You think you’re gonna be able to do this?” Ben asked.
“Do what?” Lily gasped. She was a little nervous about his question, given where they were.
“Fake this whole marriage act for as long as it takes?”
“I think so. It’s awfully fucking weird, though. This whole day has reminded me of when I was experimenting with hallucinogens in college.”
“I know what you mean — not about the drugs, but about the weirdness. Tomorrow we’ll see if we can rent an apartment ... that way we’ll be out from under my parents’ watchful eyes. Plus, we won’t be stuck in the same bed.”
“That’d be cool. This isn’t so bad, though. When I was little I used to sleep in the same bed with my cousins. It’s kinda like that.” She listened to her stomach rumble. “One thing we’re definitely gonna have to do tomorrow is find some food I can eat. The only thing I could eat at the barbecue was that fruit salad with the little marshmallows in it.”
“Yeah, my folks aren’t much on vegetarian cuisine.”
“No shit. Even the potato salad had bacon in it.” They lay in awkward silence for a few minutes until finally Lily said, “Good night, husband.”
“Good night, wife.”
Lily closed her eyes and slept the sleep of exhaustion.
CHAPTER 6
Mimi had gone to the park with Dez. Finally, Lily and Charlotte could have some time alone.
Since Mimi had come onto the scene, time alone had become Charlotte and Lily’s euphemism for the lovemaking that occurred all too infrequently between them. Their nighttime attempts at intimacy were often interrupted by Mimi howling for formula or climbing out of her crib to scratch pathetically at their bedroom door. As a result of this syndrome of caught-us-interruptus, Dez had agreed to take Mimi out for a couple of hours every two weeks so the women could enjoy some uninterrupted time alone.
Although sex had become less frequent since Mimi’s arrival, the rule seemed to be quality over quantity. Lily and Charlotte craved their time alone — ached for those couple of hours when they could be free of the responsibilities of mommyhood and lose themselves in each other.
Lily was aware of Charlotte behind her as they walked upstairs to the bedroom. Her breath caught in anticipation of what they were about to do. She let Charlotte follow her into the bedroom, taking pleasure in the fact that there was no need to close the door behind them.
Lily lay on the bed, barefoot in the little black dress she knew Charlotte liked, and watched Charlotte take off her watch and rings and set them on the bureau. Charlotte looked at Lily sprawled on the bed and smiled.
“C’mere,” Lily coaxed, scooting over to make room. “Just a second. I want to look at you first. “ Lily laughed. “You look at me all the time.”
But I never tire of it.”
Lily lay on the bed, feeling Charlotte’s gaze burn through her. In everyday life, Lily felt she was passably attractive in a sloppy, bohemian kind of way, but she certainly wasn’t the kind of person who turned heads — male or female.
In the world of their bedroom, though, Charlotte made Lily feel like a high-femme fantasy figure.
In Charlotte’s eyes, in Charlotte’s hands, she was Rita Hayworth ... Marilyn Monroe.
When Charlotte finally joined Lily on the bed, their lips met in a fierce, bruising kiss. Lily wrapped her arms and legs around her lover, who pressed down on her, as each of them tried to get as close to the other as possible.
Charlotte pulled down the shoulder strap of Lily’s black dress and kissed her from shoulder to collarbone to breast. And when Charlotte’s hand slipped between Lily’s legs, Lily was ready for her — so ready that as Charlotte entered her, a sound escaped her mouth, the sound a woman can only make at the height of passion — a breathy, desperate...
SNORT!
Snort? Lily awoke from her dream to find that her arm was wrapped around not the curvy form of Charlotte, but the flat, hairy chest of Benny Jack McGilly, who was snoring with the volume of a sea lion with bronchitis.
Disoriented and still not quite removed from her dream state, Lily leaped out of bed. Where the hell was she, and what in the name of Sappho was she doing in bed with a man?
SNORT! Ben’s snoring shook the bed.