Part 8 (1/2)
”Oh, yes,” Nick said. ”I'm raring to go!”
”Then let's get out of here! I hear the call of the links!” Sam said and then added in a falsetto voice, ”Play me! Play me!”
”Someone needs a caffeine intervention,” Olivia whispered to Nick. Nick smiled.
”I have sun block for everyone,” Buddy said. ”And lip balm. What are you girls going to do today?”
”I'm going for a hike to find the lemurs!” Olivia said.
”That figures.” Dorothy said, sighing with deep boredom. ”I'm getting a hot stone ma.s.sage with ancient Vedic oils.” She glanced in Bob's direction. ”My skin will feel like velvet for days.”
In a pig's eye, Olivia thought. It was an expression of Nick's that she loved.
Hearing Dorothy, Ellen frowned. Compet.i.tion was one hundred percent unwelcome, even from a cadaver. Bob looked straight at Dorothy as though she were crazy. But Maritza was completely composed; either she had not heard or she was ignoring Dorothy's overt invitation to Bob.
”That sounds yummy,” Maritza said.
”Interesting word choice,” Dorothy said and cut her eyes in Bob's direction again. ”It's true. My skin will taste yummy.”
Dorothy was just too much, even for Bob. He found himself unable to politely overlook her words. ”Sam,” he said, ”please, sir, tell your wife I struggle mightily not to think of my guests as edible.”
”Lighten up, Dorothy,” Sam said and shook his head with a trace of annoyance.
”Oh, please,” Dorothy said. ”No one has a sense of humor anymore.”
Then Bob laughed like a polar bear and all the other guys except Nick, joined in, guffawing like the pandering frat boys they were. Bob ignored Maritza but wagged his manicured (no polish, thank you) finger at Dorothy on the way out.
”You're a very bad girl,” Bob said to Dorothy.
”Thank you,” Dorothy said. ”I'd like to be.”
Olivia and Anne saw the sadness in Maritza's eyes. Lola was engrossed in her phone but looked up to see the tiny drama that had just unfolded. Lola frowned at Anne.
”Jesus Christ,” Ellen muttered, but loudly enough for all the women to hear.
Dorothy was pleased with the attention and knew, or at least thought, that the first hook had been sunk into the soft tissue of Bob's curiosity. All men are the same, she thought. He'll be back for more.
Anne Fritz made note of Dorothy's wide grin of satisfaction, wondering what Dorothy was up to. Was she actually making a brazen play for Bob or did she think she was funny? And Ellen? There was no doubt in her mind that Ellen was engaged in some sort of inappropriate behavior with Bob. You would have had to be made of stone not to feel the electrical voltage in the air between them. But since any of them had yet to catch the lovebirds in flagrante delicto, she really did not feel it was within her professional boundaries to deliver a judgment call to Maritza. At least not yet. Still, she felt very badly for Maritza. Anne had thought numerous times that Maritza was too sweet for her own good.
When the men were out of earshot, Ellen stood up and said, ”I'm taking Gladdie for a swim. Anyone want to come along?”
Gladdie hopped off the sofa and ran to Maritza's side, grabbing her around the legs.
”Come, Mommy! Come with us!”
”Not right now, sweetheart. I think I'd like to take a walk with Olivia and Anne, if y'all want to go? Mommy needs some exercise.”
”Bad mommy!” Gladdie said and put a pout on her pudgy pint-size face about the size of China.
Provoked for Maritza's sake, Olivia said, ”Gladdie, sweetie, that's not a nice thing to say. Your mother loves you very much and deserves your respect.”
”Why?” Gladdie said.
”Because she's your mother,” Olivia said. ”If you didn't have a mommy, I think you'd be a very sad little girl, wouldn't you?”
Maritza gasped but then started to laugh. Ellen looked at Maritza as though she'd lost her last marble, but then that was how the majority of them looked at Maritza all the time.
”Ellen? You and Gladdie go on for a swim and meet us back here at one thirty, okay? And, Gladdie? Don't even think such things. If you're a good girl, I'll take you for a swim this afternoon. How's that?”
”I don't want to go swimming with you anymore!”
”I'll get you chocolate ice cream?” Maritza said in a singsong voice, reaching out to tickle Gladdie's ribs.
Unfortunately, as Maritza got close to her, Gladdie slapped her hard right across the face. The women fell silent.
Whoo! That kid can pack one h.e.l.luva wallop for a four-year-old, Olivia thought.
”Somebody needs to show that kid who's boss!” Dorothy whispered.
Mich.e.l.le's face was expressionless, but her jaw was slack, as was Anne's.
Ellen said, ”No comment.”
”What happened?” Lola said, looking up from Words with Friends on her iPhone.
For as much as Ellen, probably Mich.e.l.le, and definitely Dorothy wished Maritza would simply vaporize; and as much as Anne and even Lola just wanted a chance to enjoy a few days in a place like this without a dramatic presentation; and as much as Olivia felt genuine concern for Maritza's emotional and mental health, they all wished Gladdie had not slapped her mother. It was a terrible thing to witness.
Ellen said with exasperation, ”She's just disappointed in her mother. Again.”
Olivia gasped. How dare Ellen say such a thing? Didn't she realize how impressionable Gladdie was? Or did she?
Dorothy muttered in Mich.e.l.le's direction, ”She's quite the tiny sack of h.e.l.l, isn't she?”
Mich.e.l.le said, ”Oh, mon Dieu!” And she laughed.
Anne Fritz said kindly but authoritatively, ”Gladdie? Why did you do that?”
Gladdie looked at Anne and said, ”'Cause she made me mad!”
”I see,” Anne said.
”That wasn't nice,” Olivia said firmly. ”You should apologize to your mother at once.”
”Sorry, Mommy.” Gladdie said. Then, having enough sense to be embarra.s.sed, she began to cry and suck her thumb, burying herself in Ellen's shoulder, kicking Ellen's legs in frustration.
”Poor Gladdie,” whispered Dorothy with a large dollop of sarcasm.
”It's okay, baby,” Maritza said.
But it wasn't okay and Maritza just wanted peace.