Chapter Ten
A few days later, Tania met Jesse Larabee at the Ole Bull statue in Loring Park. She kissed him on the cheek; he put his arm around her. They walked to a secluded spot under a burr oak.
“I want to read to you,” said Tania.
“I’d like that,” said Jesse.
They settled under the tree, and Tania handed him an apple. Then she unpacked the rest of the fruit and cheese in her backpack. Jesse bit into the apple, and Tania took a book from the pack. She opened her jacket.
“I’d like you to unbutton my sweater while I read.”
She sat between Jesse’s legs, leaned her back against his chest, and opened the book.
“The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Chapter one.”
Jesse wrapped his arms around Tania and squeezed her breasts. He slowly undid the top button of her cardigan. By chapter two, Tania’s sweater was completely undone. She lay with her head on Jesse’s lap; he inched her skirt up her thigh. Tania rested the book on her chest, looked up at him, and put her hand on his.
“I’ve gotta go home and get ready for work,” she said.
Jesse moved her hand over the boner inside his pants.
“What if I don’t want you to?”
Tania stood up.
“I’ve gotta go.”
Tania made it to the cafe in time to see Jack’s son, Billy, struggling to carry a loaded bus tub to the dishwashing station; Randy blocked his path.
“Got a match, kid?”
Billy tightened his grip on the tub.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“No, I don’t have a match. Now get out of my way.”
Randy didn’t move; Billy dropped the tub. The sound of the crash grabbed the attention of everyone in the restaurant. Randy raised his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and addressed the crowd.
“Hey, I just asked the kid if he needed help.”
Billy picked up the tub; Tania brought a broom and dustpan.
“Cut the crap, Randy,” she said.
“You can’t talk to me like that; I’m telling the boss.”
Tania swept food, glass shards, and broken plates into a pile; Billy went to the kitchen to get a mop. A moment later, Jack came on the scene.
“What the hell’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing,” answered Tania.
She bent down and whisked the debris into the dustpan.
“Need some help?” asked Jack.
“Sure.”
Tania impaled the handle of the dustpan on the broomstick and handed it to him.
“Thanks,” she said.
Tania turned and walked away. Billy returned with the mop; Jack handed him the broom and dustpan.
“Goddammit, clean this shit up,” he said.
Right before closing time, Ray Scalise phoned Jack.
“I just got a call from my brother-in-law, the cop. Your brother-in-law’s gotten himself into some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Just meet me at the station near Chicago and Lake,” answered Ray.
John Potter sat on a metal folding chair in a small interrogation room and loosened his tie. Ray’s brother-in-law, Dominic, clasped his hands behind his head and leaned into the upholstered back of an office chair. A small metal desk was wedged between them.
“Relax, John; your brother-in-law’s on his way,” said Dominic. “It must be tough marrying into a family like the Rawson’s. I bet there’s a lot of pressure to measure up.”
“I thought it would be better after the old man died, but my wife’s just as bad,” said Potter.
“I know how that goes,” said Dominic.
Just then, the door opened.
“Jack, thank God you’re here,” said John. “It’s really no big deal . . . just a . . . just a little misunderstanding.”
Jack and Ray stepped into the room.
Dominic interjected, “It’s more than a little misunderstanding, Potter. You solicited an undercover cop for sex.”
“She tricked me.”
Ray said, “C’mon, Dom. We’re all friends here.”
We are? thought Jack.
“That’s right,” said Potter. “We’re all friends. Isn’t there some way we can make this all go away?”
“What do you think, Dom?” asked Ray.
“I don’t know. This is pretty serious stuff.”
He tapped his index finger on his lips. Then pointed at John.
“I like you, Potter,” he said. “I get where you’re coming from. Sometimes, guys like us have to let off steam.”
“That’s what I was doing. I was just letting off steam, but the voters won’t see it that way. I could lose the election over this.”
Dominic nodded his head and drummed his fingertips on the desk.
“Okay, okay. I’m thinking,” said Dominic. “He hasn’t been booked.”
“Maybe we could help him, and he could help us,” said Ray.
Jack thought I think I saw this on an episode of Miami Vice.
He heard his brother-in-law sniveling.
“What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything; just let me go.”
Dominic and Ray left the room. John Potter wiped beads of sweat from his forehead.
“I think it’s going to be okay,” said Potter. “They seem like nice guys.”
“We’re fucked, you stupid ass,” said Jack.
Ray and Dominic came back into the room.
“I’ve got a brother named Alfonse,” said Ray. “He’s in construction, but he wants to be a developer. Dom and I think it’s a good idea. In fact, Dom and I want to be his partners . . . silent partners, that is.”
Scalise tilted his head in Potter’s direction.
“We’re thinking John here could help us if he was on the city council,” he said.
Then Ray leaned into Potter and whispered in his ear.
“Dom’s gonna keep your name off the blotter, and I’m gonna get you elected.”
When John Potter got home, Peggy was waiting.
“Where have you been?”
“I was over at Jack’s,” blurted out Potter. “We were talking about the campaign, and one thing led to . . .”
Peggy cut him off.
“I called Jack’s, and nobody answered.”
“Well, we went out. We ran out of beer, so we went to the Boozery.”
“I called the Boozery. The bartender said he hadn’t seen you all night.”
“That’s because we were just there.”
“I called ten minutes ago. Stop lying to me. Where have you been?”
“If I tell you the truth, will you promise not to get mad?”
On Thursday morning, Peggy stormed into Jack’s office as he was digging into an order of huevos rancheros.
“John Potter can kiss my ass,” she announced. “I was sittin’ at home cryin’ in my beer when I thought, Screw this. I’m Peggy Rawson. I can find a job and get out of here.”
“Uh huh,” said her brother.
“I want a job, Jack. Dammit, I’m your sister, and you owe me.”
Rawson gagged on his huevos.
I do? Well, you did set her Howdy Doody ventriloquist dummy on fire.
He went back to that Fourth of July in ’55.
The smoke bomb came out perfect. I shoved it way back in Howdy’s mouth and lit the fuse. I raised his lower jaw, and smoke came out the space between his front teeth; it was great. Then the damn thing exploded and burst into flames.
“Jack, did you hear me?”
“Are you good at bookkeeping?”
“Not really,” said Peggy.
“Great; you’re hired.”
Around 5:15, Jack passed through the bar and stopped in his tracks when he heard a local newsman on TV mention his brother-in-law’s name.
“John Potter’s headquarters got a fresh coat of paint today, but that’s not all that’s new with the candidate’s campaign. Frank DiLeonardi is now managing Potter’s bid for election to the city council. DiLeonardi’s the man who helped Ward Thomas gain support and endorsements before that campaign fell by the wayside when Thomas was arrested for soliciting a prostitute in an undercover police sting. Thomas got off with probation and a fine.”
Meanwhile, Peggy was sharpening pencils in Jack’s office when Randy walked in.
“You’re not Jack,” said Randy.
“I’m the new bookkeeper.”
“Hey, can you sign off on my time-card?”
He raised his right hand.
“I swear I was here at five o’clock; I just forgot to punch in. Really, I’m not shitting you.”
He handed the card to Peggy. She filled in and authorized the earlier time. Randy read her signature.
“Peggy Rawson Potter. Your name’s Rawson?”
“I’m Jack’s sister.”
Randy extended his hand. Peggy placed her palm on his; he drew her fingers to his lips.
“How do ya do, beautiful?”
In the dining room, Tania picked up a copy of the Twin Cities Reader. She noticed an ad that read “Acting classes with Bobby Steinberg” and ripped it out of the paper.
That night, Tania passed the service window on her way to punch out. She caught a glimpse of Holly and her mother standing behind Jack’s barstool, watching him watch the Bulls on TV. His head lay on his forearm as he stared up at the screen.
Tania thought, Boy, that looks like a fun date.
She took a closer look at Holly’s mother.
I bet she sure can sing. What makes you say that, Tania? Cuz she’s got legs like a canary.
Tania shoved her card in the time clock.
I don’t care what he does or who he does it with. I’m moving on. He’s in my rearview mirror. Honk, honk, I’m turning the corner, Jack.
When she got home, Tania checked her answering machine for messages. She returned a call from Jesse Larabee and got ready for bed.
You know, every cloud has a silver lining, and there are plenty of fish in the sea, thought Tania. Everything’s coming up roses; my life’s a hundred percent better without Jack in it.
Tears streamed down her cheeks; she stomped her foot.
“Fuck you, Jack, you fucking fuckhead!”
The next afternoon, Tania walked into the acting studio at the Twin Cities Performing Arts Center and introduced herself to Bobby Steinberg. Then she stood in the middle of the rehearsal space, and he sat in the second row of the house.
Tania cupped her hands around her mouth and called out.
“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”
She stopped and looked at Steinberg.
“I’ve been married three times.”
She paused.
“Now, when I meet the object of my desire, I say, ‘I don’t want to fuck you.’ ”
She went on.
“I don’t want to pee in your toilet or have you pee in mine. I don’t want to see what’s inside the garbage can in your bathroom or meet your family. If you have a car, I don’t want to ride in it. But, most of all, I don’t want to talk a lot of blah blah blah blahbullshit.”
Tania raised her index finger.
“But . . . I would like it if you chased me and knocked me down and kissed me.”
While Tania was at her audition, John Potter was having a conversation with Peggy in Jack’s office at the Good Karma Cafe.
“Have you been drinking? It’s two o’clock, for God’s sake!” said John.
Peggy took a gulp of Southern Comfort-laced coffee and popped a peppermint Life Saver into her mouth.
“What do you mean ‘Have I been drinking?’ ”
“You know what I mean. Shit, you sound just like your mother.”
“Yeah, and you sound like a warmed-up version of my father. Anyway, what do you care?”
“You could get a DUI; then where would we be? Don’t you understand? I’ve gotta win this election, or life is going to be very hard . . . for both of us.”
“Jesus, you sound even more like my father. Well, I’m not my mother; I want a divorce.”
“Stop talking like an idiot; that’s impossible right now.”
John pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.
“Here’s a list of events I want you to attend . . . sober. The voters don’t need to know that you’re a drunk and that I live in our basement.”
Potter left, and Peggy started to cry. Randy walked in the door.
“Who was that creep?” he asked.
“That creep’s my husband.”
“No wonder you’re cryin’.”
He wiped a tear from her cheek with his fingertips.
“Maybe you need a new man to help you forget your old man.”
“Maybe I do.”
That evening, Tania came up behind Jesse at Boogie’s Dance Club.
He turned around. She kissed him on the cheek; Jesse kissed her on the mouth. Tania kissed him all over his face.
She said, “Once upon a time, there was a penniless princess who had to work as a waitress in an ogre’s cafe. One day, a handsome prince came in, ate a seitan sandwich, and carried her away. The end.”
“Now, let me tell you a story.”
“Okay.”
“There was a guy named Jessie, and he went to a house party thrown by two girlfriends. He really hit it off with one of them; her name was Tania.”
The corners of Tania’s lips curled into a smile.
“So, he and Tania went up to her room. When they finished screwing, Jesse went to take a piss. When he came back to the room, a voice said, ‘Come and join us.’ It was Sonia, Tania’s roommate.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I want to introduce you to Sonia; she’s been waiting to meet you.”
Tania staggered out of the dance club. She covered her face with her hands. Jesse came up behind her.
“Stop acting like a baby.”
She took her hands away from her face.
“Don’t you ever come near me again,” she said.
Tania ran down the street.
“Get back here!” shouted Jesse.
She came up to Calhoun Square and hailed a cab.
“Get back here right now!” screamed Larabee.
Tania got in the taxi and was driven away.
