The Trouble Way Read online

  “Oh God, oh my,” she said, still struggling to breathe. “Oh my goodness, Mr. Forest, that is absolutely magnificent. That is unbelievably wonderful.”

  “It makes me feel very sexy that I could give you so much pleasure. I am really glad that you liked your little adventures,” Jake said as he moved his head from her chest once again and nestled his head next to hers.

  “Oh Honey, I more than liked them, I absolutely adore them.”

  They lay for several long minutes, holding and kissing in each other’s arms. She turned toward him, put her head on his shoulder and let her hand roam over his chest and to his stomach. She looked down at him.

  “Now, Hon, it’s your turn,” she said. “If you can’t find it in your heart to screw me, maybe I can satisfy any special needs you might have in some other way. That is, of course, if you are still curious about anything and still want to be friends.”

  “Do you have something in mind?”

  “Hmmmm. Let me think.” She lowered herself and rested her head on his chest. “My goodness, I can see someone who obviously needs immediate attention. You’ve been neglected, my poor dear, haven’t you?” Her unanticipated touch gave him a satisfying, amusing start. “How about I give you some extra special care? You like my big soft lips, don’t you? Are you curious about my boobs? I see some Vaseline on the nightstand. What do you think?”

  As Jake watched, he saw her wet her lips and soon felt the tickle of her hair as it brushed his stomach and then the wonderful warmth of her lips. It was not long when she reached to the nightstand and picked up the Vaseline. He watched as she applied it to him and to her cleavage. She flung herself beside him and pulled him on top and scooted down to position him between her breasts. She held her ample breasts tightly around him and he slid between them. They made it last for a long time. As he was about to go over the edge, she slowed him down and made him rest. It was a long time before she sensed he was about to lose control and she gripped his hips and wrestled him down to meet her.

  “Now, Mr. Jake, get that thing in there,” she whispered and wrapped her calves around his legs and locked him to her. It was all the persuasion it took to make him do her bidding. She finished him off in style, blissfully accepting the burden of his weight as they rocked excitedly to their mutual, ultimate peak.

  “Oh, my god, Hon, you are wonderful. You are wearing me out for sure. And we didn’t have to wait for another time after all, did we?”

  “Well, Sweetheart, I can resist just about anything but temptation.”

  “Oh my, I’d better scoot on home, Hon; it’s nearly two.” He felt the puff of cool air as she untangled his arm from around her chest and moved her comfy bottom from his lap. She slid from the bed and dressed by the faint light coming in through the curtains from the parking lot.

  He must have dozed because he was startled when he felt the weight of her breasts on his chest and her luscious lips on his as she bent and kissed him. “I’ll make sure the door is locked. I had a wonderful evening. You absolutely exhausted me. It’s the most exquisite evening I’ve ever had. You wore me out. I’ll never, ever forget tonight. Maybe next time, if there is a next time, we can probe a little deeper into our friendship. Good night, Hon.”

  “‘Nite, Mrs. Rebecca Brinks.”

  “You are so funny, Mr. Jacob Forest.”

  “Well, Alice, are you all set for the crowd?” Jake asked the cafeteria manager just before the lunch rush. “Have you tasted everything?”

  “Of course, Mr. Forest, that’s my job,” Alice said.

  “Just checking,” Jake said. “You know I’m supposed to follow up with you on this stuff. What’s that smell?”

  “I don’t know Mr. Forest. I noticed it a few days ago but can’t figure out where it’s coming from.”

  “Has the grease trap been cleaned lately?” Jake knew that was the most obvious causes of distasteful aromas in the kitchen.

  “The maintenance crew cleaned it a few weeks ago, Alice said. “I’m sure that is not the cause.”

  “It might be a good idea for maintenance to check it again tonight, just to make sure it is not stopped up,” Jake said. “I’ll make sure the assistant on duty tonight follows up. But, you tell them too, okay? Now, I think I’ll have a cup of your delicious coffee.” Jake pulled a Styrofoam cup from the dispenser and helped himself to some coffee and found a table near the serving line where Ann was sitting. “Mind if I join you?”

  “Be my guest, Mr. Jake,” Ann said with a big smile, “anytime.”

  The moment he sat, something caught the corner of his eye. He kept his eyes focused in the direction he thought he saw the movement and it happened again. When Jake realized what had fallen from the ceiling, it was too late. He jumped up from the table and looked closely at the stained sagging ceiling tile. There was a line of wiggling fat white worms squirming their way through the gap in the tile. He’d seen them before on the farm on a dead calf; there was absolutely no doubt in his mind he was looking at a line of maggots. He saw one drop and land in the middle of the customer’s mashed potatoes, then another. Jake wasn’t the only one who noticed, the scream from the customer confirmed that, she too, saw what landed in her instant mashed-potatoes, trying unsuccessfully to swim their way out of the lukewarm gravy lake to the mash potato shoreline.

  Berserk was how Jake relayed what the lady’s reaction was when he later described the incident to Mr. Hedd.

  Before he had a chance to calm her, or even approach her, she launched her tray and was running to the service desk. Before she came within ten feet of the desk, she demanded the supervisor obtain the number for the King County Health Department. Her next demand was for the use of the phone. The supervisor did not dare refuse either demand.

  It was up to Jake to handle the situation since Mr. Hedd had left the store for lunch, a rare thing for him. This incident would undoubtedly insure he would never leave the store again for any reason, if at all possible.

  Seeing the futility of trying to reason with the distraught lady, Jake returned to the cafeteria and used a chair to block off the serving lane and instructed Alice to shut the lights down in the area and explain to customers already cuing for lunch that there was an emergency and the cafeteria was closed.

  “Remove all the food from the steam table immediately, Alice.” He grabbed the phone and called receiving. “Dwight, bring the tall ladder out to the cafeteria. Make it quick. Ann, would you go back to receiving and get a mop and bucket and bring it right back. Please hurry.”

  “What’s the matter, Mr. Forest?” Alice asked. “We just opened the line for lunch. Mr. Hedd will not be happy, I can tell you that for sure.”

  “Shutting down for lunch will be the least of Mr. Hedd’s worries, I can tell you that for sure. I’ll take care of Mr. Hedd, just do as I ask, Alice.”

  Dwight arrived with the ladder and set it up beneath the row of worms inching their way along the edge of the ceiling tile.

  “Want me to take a look?” Dwight said when he saw what Mr. Forest was looking at.

  “No, I want to see what’s going on up there myself.” Jake climbed the ladder and pushed up one of the tiles, knocking several more maggots from the ceiling, and took one step higher on the ladder to see what was in the ceiling space above the tiles.

  “Holy shit,” Jake said ducking his head to get a breath of fresh air. He looked again to determine a solution to his immediate emergency. “Dwight, get that small shovel in receiving and a small cardboard box. There’s a goddamned dead rat up here. Make it quick.”

  “Dwight, get up there and shovel that rat into that bag,” Jake said as soon as Dwight returned with the shovel and a bag. “What happened to a box?”

  “All the boxes were crushed,” Dwight said. “So, I brought this.”

  Dwight climbed the ladder set to scoop the rat into the bag. The body was way too decomposed to shovel and Dwight tried to loosen the tile and remove it that way but the tile was soaked from the decomposed rat and it
broke in half.

  “Jesus Christ, Dwight, what the hell are you doing?”

  The wet tile with the decomposed body fell on top of the table where Jake and Ann were sitting moments earlier and splattered on the floor, mingling with the instant mashed potatoes and gravy the lady dropped and the coffee Jake had just poured for himself. Several dozen worms were floundered in the hog slop.

  “Couldn’t help it boss, the tile collapsed,” Dwight said. “Looks like feces everywhere.”

  “What the hell are you talking about Dwight?” Jake said.

  “You know, feces ... shit,” Dwight said.

  “Oh, right, very eloquent,” Jake said and then heard his name over the P.A.

  “Just my luck. Things just don’t get any better than this,” Jake said when the service desk supervisor called him over the intercom to call the service desk. She informed him of the arrival of the rep from the King County Health Department. “Jesus, how did they get here so goddamned quick?”

  “The representative was in the parking lot. He’d just completed the annual check on the Triangle Tavern,” the supervisor informed him. “Their dispatcher radioed him and he just got out of his truck and came in. Just lucky, I guess.”

  “Right, just lucky,” Jake said and hung up and started to the service desk to deal with his latest emergency of his short tenure at Big Richards.

  “We have a problem,” the rep said when he got a close glimpse of what constituted the moving mess on the cafeteria floor.

  Chapter 10 Linda Bonnét She intended to take care of some real pig and pancake business. It weighed about the same as a new pair of athletic shoes, to be exact, one kilo. Well … good, bad thoughts.

  Early 1970’s

  She had just finished her shift in the deli department in Big Richards and now she intended to take care of some real pig and pancake business. When she arrived there was a black and white parked nose out in one of the spaces near the entrance to the Dennys restaurant parking lot. When she spotted the cruiser she decided to drive past the lot and circle the block. On her second pass the police car was edging its way onto the street. One more turn around the block just for security’s sake and she entered the lot and parked. She glanced around the lot, retrieved a bag from the trunk, and entered the restaurant.

  “Thank you so much,” she said in a soft voice to the man holding the door for her. The restaurant was located in the small town of White Center, a few miles north of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and five miles south of Big Richards on Delridge Way. Dennys was an ideal location for what she had in mind.

  She spotted Joe toward the rear sitting in a horseshoe booth. He was facing the front door and observed her as she walked to his table. Sitting on the table were two coffee cups, a creamer, and a carafe of coffee. He picked up the carafe and began pouring as she neared.

  He rose from the booth and greeted her with a hug.

  “Hi Joe. How nice of you to have coffee ready for me,” she said as she scooted into the booth and settled.

  Joe slid toward the center of the booth but left Linda some personal space.

  “If I remember right, you take cream.” He hesitated with the creamer at the ready.

  “Yes, I do take cream,” she said. “Just a little dollop, please.”

  She placed the JC Penny’s bag at her feet and nudged it with her foot until she felt it bump Joe’s. Inside the bag was a parcel about the size of a shoebox, vacuum-packed in plastic shrink-wrap and that in turn was wrapped in heavy brown wrapping paper. It weighed about the same as a new pair of hefty athletic shoes, 2.2046 lbs. To be exact, one kilo. Her supplier in Hawaii was precise.

  “Linda … you’re looking so fine … it’s always a pleasure,” Joe said, ignoring the parcel at his feet, and gestured to the coffee.

  She snugged the lapels of her coat close around her. “Thank you.” She poured a bit more cream in the coffee then cupped the coffee in both hands and took a sip. “Mmmm, that feels so nice.”

  She dropped her hand beneath the table and rubbed her leg as if to warm it and Joe transferred the neatly folded stack of bills wrapped tight with a thick rubber band palmed in his hand and nudged her leg with it. Drinking a sip with her free hand, she took the bills from Joe, gave him a pleasant smile and raised her eyebrows, and slipped the bills into her coat pocket. She hugged the coffee cup with both hands again and took another sip. “It is so chilly out tonight.”

  Their encounters were exactly the same each time and lasted just long enough not to attract any attention and take care of their business. She spent the bare minimum of time with Joe. She did not intend to be known as someone who hung with him. She often changed the location where their transactions occurred, keeping them primarily in family restaurants. She would change the location and notified Joe at the last minute. More than once she even cancelled the meeting and rescheduled to keep the meetings random. If something seemed the slightest suspicious to her, she’d abort and refused to enter the meeting place. They avoided conducting their transaction in the many bars in Seattle area as Joe had often suggested. Too risky. Sometimes they met at the Pike Place market near the waterfront and made the exchange while strolling among the throng of fish and fruit vendors. They melted in with the tourists carrying packages and looked as though they might be a couple on a date. Even then, she kept their encounter brief.

  She had become acquainted with Joe through a friend in Hawaii where she had worked as a waitress in one of the plush hotels on Hawaii that catered to the wealthy tourists. It was when she lived in Hawaii that she had entered into a business relationship with the man who had given her an introduction to Joe after she had returned to the states. Their relationship was strictly business. She didn’t have any idea where Joe lived or where he worked, or whether he worked at all. If he began talking about friends or family, Linda would immediately redirect their conversation to some inane subject like the weather or traffic; she did not want to know anything about him and she told him nothing of her personal life.

  “Want to stop for a drink someplace?” Joe offered. “My treat.”

  “I’m sorry, not tonight,” Linda said with a pleasant smile. “My boyfriend would have a fit if I’m not home soon.” That was a lie but she no intention of becoming involved with Joe.

  He had offered her a drink each time they met and she found an excuse to turn him down each time.

  “Suit yourself,” Joe said and took a sip of his coffee. “Would you like a warm up?”

  “No thank you, I really better scoot; I promised my honey I wouldn’t be long.” When she finished the coffee, she smiled and slid to the edge of the seat and stood. “It was nice seeing you again, Joe. I’ll see you again in a few weeks. I’ll let you know of a location,” she said and excused herself.

  She left Joe at the booth and glanced back once and noticed him gathering his coat and package, preparing to leave.

  She walked toward the exit where a state policeman held the door for her on her way out. She put her hands deep into her pockets and hugged her coat closely around her. The Seattle rain had not let up.

  “Don’t get wet Miss,” the officer said. A common pleasantry she heard all too often in Seattle. If she had been entering, it would most likely have been, “Did you bring this weather with you? Ha-ha-ha.”

  “Oh, I will certainly try my best, Sir.” She bowed her head, as much to shield her face from the policeman as against the drizzling wind, and hurried to her rain sprinkled new gray Audi.

  Linda kept her little side business to herself. None of the coworkers at Big Richards had a clue that she was making quite a bundle on the side. She even kept her little secret from Dwight, not yet a boyfriend, but someone she had gone out with on several occasions. No need to take any risks and she was not entirely sure if she could trust Dwight. He had his own little scam going. He got back at The Man every chance he got and he took a few too many risks for her taste.

  The only one she had come close to telling was Ann, her cl
osest friend who worked in the deli department with her. She was schooling Ann on a few of the things she had picked up over the years. Ann was an excellent student and kept her mouth shut. She did provide Ann with all the pot she wanted, free of charge.

  The fact was Linda made a lot more money from her side venture than she did at Big Richards, including the supplemental income of her skimming operation. The fewer people who knew what she was up to the better.

  With so much cash on hand, Linda had to exert all of her willpower not to go on a spending spree. She kept several safe deposit boxes at several banks in the area but had only a small amount in her checking account; just enough to cover household expenses and for entertainment.

  The one thing she did do was to splurge on the new Audi. She didn’t have the legitimate income to apply for a loan. Not a bank in Seattle would grant her one on the basis of her W-2 statements. And, she definitely could not include her side income on her taxes even if she were so inclined. So, what she did was to fork over four-thousand and some change in cash to the Audi dealer. He didn’t ask diddly about where she came up with that kind of cash other than to raise his eyebrows slightly when she handed him the cash. She was prepared to say that her father was not particularly well off but had enough to offer to buy her a car or give her money for college as her belated graduation present. Her uncle had died and left her father a bit of money. However, she was relieved she didn’t have to lie because the dealer was more than happy to accept the cash and the subject never came up. Keeping lies straight always had risks and she avoided lying if she possibly could. The salesman did, however, ask her if she would like to join him for a drink after his shift and celebrate her purchase, on him, of course. Again, she had no intention of becoming involved with someone who could link her with a suspicions cash purchase should someone come nosing around, a narc for example. She had no inclination of ever setting eyes on the dealer again and never intended to take her new Audi to that dealer, even for routine maintenance.