Chapter Eleven
An Impromptu Celebration
I craned my neck to look past Bertha and saw Oscar come inside, the soles of his boots thumping on the floorboards.
“Oscar!” I said, placing my hands on Bertha’s waist to try to nudge her aside, and realizing how I must have looked and what Oscar might be thinking.
Fuck.
“Hmph. I see you’re entertainin’ yourself in my absence,” he said in cool tones, staring at me and the girls with narrowed eyes.
“No, I— I only came downstairs to wait for you,” I said, gazing about me at the girls, who seemed to be highly amused at my situation.
“Oh, really?” Oscar frowned and stepped forward. “You seem to be mighty comfortable in the middle of all these pretty girls. I know for a fact they’ve been wantin’ to get their hands on you.”
Bertha laughed, standing up and putting her hands on her hips as she regarded Oscar and me with amusement.
“Well, you’re right about that, Mr. Yates,” she said.
Oscar gazed pointedly at the women gathered around me.
“Git. All of you. Off my man, if you don’t mind.”
’Twas exciting in a way to be claimed, though I still thought I might be in some trouble, until I noticed a quirk in the corner of Oscar’s mouth as the girls sighed and retreated to spots a bit farther away.
“I swear, Oscar, I—”
“Quiet,” he said, as he took off his boots and gloves and laid them on the table beside the door.
He took off his hat and placed it on a hook.
Then he stalked forward and climbed into my lap real careful, so he didn’t put pressure on my stitches, snuggling against my chest like an affectionate cat, then kissing me on the mouth in a calculated show of possession.
I kissed him back, putting my arms around him to hold him against me, so relieved to have him back and to show that he didn’t care a whit about the girls. He knew I’d never do anything to take advantage of his absence like that.
The kiss softened and sweetened, and when he pulled away, he held my lower lip between his teeth to stretch it out before he released me with a smile.
“I’m back.”
“I see that.”
“So, you don’t gotta be worried no more.”
I was a little breathless from that kiss, and I raised my brows. “Until next time.”
Oscar shrugged, playing with the stubble that had grown in on my chin and seemingly quite content to show off how close we were. He turned to the girls.
“Thanks for keepin’ Jimmy busy. I know you’d never think of getting too friendly with my husband.”
Gasps and exclamations of surprise filled the room.
“Your husband ?” Sally said. “How on earth did the two of you get married? I ain’t never heard of such a thing!”
She gazed at the others. Some of them shrugged, and some of them smiled. Bertha gazed between us with a calculating expression.
“You ain’t got rings. And I reckon ’twasn’t a legal ceremony.”
Oscar nodded.
“True. But, uh…” Oscar smirked and moved closer, snugging into my neck to run his tongue along my throat.
I gazed at the ceiling as shocks of desire shot through me.
Who ever knew I’d love to be possessed so boldly by anyone.
But I did love it. “Jimmy and I are husbands in every sense of the word, if you know what I mean. And I would ask you to respect that.”
Bertha gave Oscar a wink. “Of course, we will, sweetie. Your husband is safe with us, I promise.”
Oscar looked doubtful, but he got off my lap as the door opened. Trick came in, looking flushed and the better for having been out in the wider world.
“Hey, Jimmy. I kept him safe for you. See?”
I smiled at her, cupping my hand o’er Oscar’s shoulder where he sat in my lap.
“I do see. Thank you.”
Oscar laid his cheek against my chest. “How’s your injury?” he asked, glancing at my other side, which he’d been careful to avoid in all his petting. “We oughta get you back into bed.”
The girls hooted and hollered and laughed until Oscar held up his hand.
“Not for that,” he said. “Jimmy needs to rest.”
“Uh-huh,” Bertha purred. “Sure. That’s why he needs to get to bed.”
“Oscar, I don’t want to go back to the room. I’m losin’ my mind ’tis so borin’ up there. Let’s stay down here for a spell.
Oscar opened his mouth, probably to tell me to get my tail upstairs, when Miss June came into the room carrying two bottles of wine and a little cloth bag full of something.
She placed the wine bottles on the table and tossed the bag to Bertha, who caught it with a cackle. “The girls and I are taking a night off to properly celebrate your return.”
“Woohoo!” Bertha exclaimed, taking what looked like a little notebook out of a drawer and sitting down near the table with the bag, which she opened and bent to sniff. “Oh! Is this the good stuff you got from River?”
“It is. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. Can you roll us a few, please?”
“Of course, I can. Mmm.” She frowned and gave Miss June a questioning gaze. “We got any peanuts or dried fruit to bring out? You know this is gonna make everyone want a nosh.”
“I’ll ask cook. I’m sure we’ve got something.” Miss June nodded, as if ’twas the only thing missing with her plan and could be remedied with ease. “You girls work hard for me and The Angel. It’s only fair to give you time off for a party.”
“Is that what we’re doin’?” Sally said as Gus came into the room carrying a big bottle of whiskey and some glasses.
Gus was a giant man from some faraway island in Polynesia, Miss June had said, where’er that was.
His English wasn’t too good, but he understood enough, and he took real good care of the folks livin’ and workin’ at the Angel.
I knew for a fact Miss June paid him a good wage to do so, but he was also a caring, friendly fella, and I reckoned he felt a part of the family.
Someone shrieked and Bertha came and hugged Miss June, burying her face in the older woman’s plump neck.
“Put the Closed sign on the outside of the door, Gus,” Miss June said. “And latch it shut. We’re havin’ a party.”
“A party?” Oscar said from his spot on my lap. “Truly?”
“Yes, Oscar Yates. Now why don’t you stop hogging Jimmy all to yourself and come get him a glass of something?”
Oscar got off my lap and went to grab a glass that Gus had half-filled with whiskey. He brought it to me.
“Why, thank you kindly,” I said. “You get one for yourself, too. You been workin’ hard.”
“But we ain’t found Cal yet—or gotten a lead or anythin’,” Oscar said, a little morosely.
“Never mind,” Miss June replied. “Something will turn up. I’m sure of it.”
“You feel better, Jim?” Gus asked from where he was pouring drinks.
“Yes, thank you. Much better,” I said, raising my glass.
“Good. Miss June, she know how to heal. She a healer.”
I nodded, smiling at Gus. “You sure don’t need to tell me that. Probably neither of us would be here if she weren’t.”
There were a couple of girls upstairs with clients, and when the men came down, they were let outside. Then the girls showed up, surprised at the state of the parlor, with all the whores, and me, Oscar, Gus and Miss June, drinking and laughing and talking.
Trick was happy to stay in the clothes she’d worn out, which were a pair of brown trousers, suspenders and a gray-and-white striped shirt.
She’d hung up her cloth jacket and she had her shirt sleeves rolled to the elbow.
I’d say the look suited her pretty well.
She caught me staring and raised her eyebrows, lifting her glass of whiskey to her lips and taking a sip and a swallow before speaking.
“Yes, Jimmy?”
I grinned. “Nothing. Only”—I gestured at her—“you look very comfortable and fetching in them things, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
“Well, Jimmy, turns out I ain’t workin’ this evenin’, else I’d take you upstairs and show you what’s inside these trousers and under this shirt.”
Oscar, who’d gone to sit in one of the armchairs and was nursing a glass of wine with a drunk girl at his feet with her head on his knee, blinked and opened his mouth in shock.
“Trick! What did I tell you while we was ridin’ and you told me you ‘ liked the look of my man ?’ Hmm?”
Trick snorted and rolled her eyes, before dragging them from my feet to my face in a deliberate way. “You said I’d better not try anythin’ or you’d talk to Miss June about having my hourly rate reduced.”
“Now stop it,” I told them. “You look comfortable and cool, is all. Must be nice to not wear corsets for a spell.”
“Yes, that is refreshing.”
“Jimmy, you should have seen her. She handled Dixie as good as you.”
I raised my eyebrows and folded my arms o’er my chest.
“Is that so?”
“Well, Dixie’s a mighty fine horse, and I reckon she knew I wouldn’t put up with any nonsense,” Trick said.
Oscar laughed. “Is that how you deal with clients, Trick? Let ’em know who’s boss?”
“As a matter of fact, sometimes I do. Other times I let them think they’re in charge, but really, ’tis still me guidin’ things.”
Oscar grinned and raised his glass to Trick, who did the same.
“I do not doubt that one bit,” I said.
We drank, joked and made merry that whole entire evening, and ’twas a welcome respite and a good way to mark a return to this special place.
The girls were glad to relax and not have to worry about turning tricks for one night, and Miss June seemed content to let them.
Oscar enjoyed being among people again, and so did I.
We even took turns smoking paper rolls of quality hashish that Miss June had brought out in her little bag, and it gave me a cozy, floaty feeling that I did enjoy.
Some of the girls started singing bawdy ditties that had me blushing and Oscar about dying with laughter.
Miss June had Cook bring out platters of meat and cheese and bread and fruit for everyone, and you’d have thought we’d never eaten anything so tasty before.
But along about ten-thirty I was struggling to keep my eyes open, and I pushed myself up to standing, wincing at the pain in my side that seemed a bit worse for all the sitting and standing I’d done.
“What’s wrong? You need to use the privy?” Oscar asked.
“Yep. Then I should go to bed. I’m beat,” I said, and shrugged. “Even though I didn’t do anythin’ today.”
’Twas embarrassing, but I knew ’twas because my body was using its resources to heal the sewn-up gash in my side—and because of the lingering fatigue of our journey and the shock of being injured.
“It’s okay. I’ll help you,” Oscar said, getting up out of his chair and weaving a little.
I narrowed my eyes. “You can barely stand. I’ll manage fine on my own.”
“I go wit’ you,” Gus said, standing up from his chair and not looking like he’d had too much to drink. “I need to piss.”
Gus made sure I was all right. He waited for me to finish before using the facilities himself. We walked back inside, and I found Oscar waiting for me by the stairs.
“I’ll take you up.”
“Oscar, I can move around on my own.”
He frowned. “Excuse me? Maybe I wanna go with you? You gotta problem with that?”
“No, of course not. Come on, then.”
We made our way upstairs, and I let Oscar put me to bed, since it seemed to make him happy to do it. I enjoyed the care that he took with me, and I figured ‘twas good for him to be looking after me for once, since it was generally the other way around—or had been.
Oscar was a man as capable and as strong as me, and ’twould be good to remember that.