The Sassy Belles by Beth Albright

know like that song says? So I thought, What the hell. I slung my leg over and sat straddling
him with Deputy Dick in my hand. ‘Ride it first,’ he said, so I did. Did you
know that with each little movement that damn thing turned a different
color?”
    “Vivi!” I said with my eyebrows up. There was no time to be
polite—I needed to stop her before it got any worse. “Stop! That’s enough. I
think that will do. You’ve said plenty.” I was talking with my eyes bugging out,
trying desperately to make her stop, but Vivi being Vivi and after a few drinks,
she just kept right on talkin’.
    “Lewis threw me over on my back and crawled under the covers to
the end of the bed and started suckin’ my toes and lickin’ my calves. His body
was to die for—he had bulked up a little lately, trimmed down some. He was in
amazing shape, and those great big shoulders and that thick black hair… God, I
was so into him.”
    “Can’t you stop her?” Harry mumbled to me as he took a big swig
of his scotch. “I don’t think she’ll ever get to the finish line. And this is
making me queasy.”
    “Miss Vivi, please. That’ll be all for this part. Can we try to
skip to the place where he stopped breathin’. Please?” Sonny tried to redirect
her, but Vivi didn’t hear anything, she was lost in the story, unfortunately
reliving it for all of us like it was a sick skin flick. With all that had
happened to her today, none of us felt ready to be harsh with her. There was
nothing to do but keep right on listening.
    “Lewis kept licking—all the way up to my thighs, then I felt
his mouth on my abdomen, sliding his tongue below my navel. Just as he was on
arrival, he slipped the toy out of my hand and flipped me back over on top of
him, and said, ‘How ’bout a ride on the real horse, Red? Let’s go for a trot.’
He was full of the devil! And I loved it. I positioned myself just right. He was
primed and ready. He started buckin’ like a wild bronco. I was bouncin’ up and
down when…when it happened.”
    We all sat up, backs straight on our bar stools, bug-eyed,
mouths dropped open. I was afraid to ask, but someone had to do it. “When what
happened, honey?”
    “When suddenly, I felt him stop,” Vivi continued. “No sounds.
No movement. No nothin’.” Vivi stopped talking. Her face dropped. She took a
minute and we were all sitting still in the hushed silence.
    Then she added, “I looked down at him, and he looked a little
purple. But his eyes were open. So I…dismounted.”
    By this time we could tell she was feeling her alcohol.
    “I called his name out. ‘Lewis, Lewis!’ I got louder and louder
but he just turned bluer and bluer. I slapped his face and nothin’. So I jumped
up, and buttoned my dress and kept shoutin’ and shoutin’ the entire time. I
shook him and still he didn’t budge. So I reached across his chest to the chair,
grabbed my purse and fumbled for my cell phone and called Blake while running
out of the room to my car. I just started driving aimlessly. Not sure where I
was headed—I just knew I needed to be doin’ something. When I couldn’t get a
hold of Blake, I called Harry.”
    “Vivi? You okay?” I said. She looked at me, her eyes drooping.
She heaved a big sigh. We all sat quietly. We had been through all of the
emotions. No one spoke. I could hear the noise of the bar, but the mood had
dropped. We all stared at Vivi. Sadness was hanging in the air like a wet drape.
It was a crushing heaviness suffocating us.
    “Okay, Miss Vivi, is that your statement?” Sonny was trying to
remain professional, but I could see even he was shaken. “Would you like to add
anything else?”
    I motioned to Vivi to say no, but she couldn’t focus anymore.
With all the Jack Daniel’s she had, she felt she needed to jabber.
    “Mr. Sonny,” Vivi said, her eyes brimming with tears, “I never
meant to hurt Lewis. He is my dear friend. I love him. Please find him. He may
be out there confused.