It was dark when we left the mall. I had the button open on my skirt to accommodate the fried chicken and french fries, and I was having a panic attack over my new clothes.
“Look at this,” Lula said, sidling up to her Firebird. “Somebody left us a note. It better not be that someone put a ding in my car. I hate when that happens.”
I looked over her shoulder to read the note.
“I saw you in the mall,” the note said. “You shouldn't tempt men by wearing dresses like that.”
“Guess this is for you,” Lula said. “On account of I wasn't wearing no dress.”
I did a quick scan of the lot. “Unlock the car and let's get out of here,” I said to Lula.
“It's just some pervert note,” Lula said.
“Yeah, but it was written by someone who knew where our car was parked.”
“Could have been someone who saw us when we first got here. Some little runt waiting for his wife to come out of Macy's.”
“Or it could have been written by someone who tailed me out of Trenton.” And I didn't think that someone was Bunchy. I'd been alert for Bunchy's car. And besides, I was pretty sure Bunchy would watch Mabel, like I asked.
Lula and I looked at each other and shared the same thought . . . Ramirez. We quickly jumped into the Firebird and locked the doors.
“Probably it wasn't him,” Lula said. “You would have seen him, don't you think?”
MY NEIGHBORHOOD IS quiet after dark. All the seniors are tucked away in their apartments by then, settled in for the night, watching reruns of Seinfeld and Cop Bloopers.
Lula dropped me off at the back door to my building at a little after nine, and true to form, not a creature was stirring. We looked for headlights and listened for footfalls and car engines and came up empty.
“I'll wait until you get in the building,” Lula said.
“I'll be fine.”
“Sure. I know that.”
I took the stairs, hoping they'd help out with the chicken and fries. When I'm scared, it's always a toss-?up between the elevator and the stairs. I feel more in control on the stairs, but the stairwell feels isolating, and I know when the fire doors are closed, sound doesn't carry. I had a sense of relief when I reached my floor and there was no Ramirez.
I let myself into my apartment and called hello to Rex. I dropped my shopping bags on the kitchen counter, kicked my shoes off, and stripped out of the pantyhose. I did a fast room-?by-?room check, and no large men turned up there, either. Whew. I returned to the kitchen to listen to my phone messages and shrieked when someone knocked at my door. I squinted out the peephole with my hand over my heart.
Ranger.
“You never knock,” I said, opening the door.
“I always knock. You never answer.” He handed me my jacket. “The little sheik said you weren't any fun.”
“Scratch chauffeuring off the list.”
Ranger studied me for a moment. “Do you want me to shoot him?”
“No!” But it was a tempting idea.
He glanced down at the shoes and pantyhose on the floor. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No. I just got home. Lula and I went shopping.”
“Recreational therapy?”
“Yeah, but I also needed a new dress.” I held the dress up for him to see. “Lula sort of talked me into this. What do you think?”
Ranger's eyes darkened and his mouth tightened into a small smile. My face got warm and the dress slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor.