Lethal Fetish by Jeffrey Alan Lockwood

Author:Jeffrey Alan Lockwood [Lockwood, Jeffrey Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781683131915
Publisher: Pen-L Publishing
Published: 2019-10-25T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

I rolled out of bed and winced. Our lovemaking had been lively but not the stuff of morning soreness. Rather, my muscle ache was the result of those last two dozen sit-ups at Marty’s. I headed to the bathroom hoping that a hot shower would soothe my tender abdomen and allow me to stand fully upright. Nina came in as I stepped out of the bathtub and her help toweling me dry got me thinking that maybe there was enough time for an encore romp before we started the day. But she gave me a maidenly kiss and gently shoved me out into the hall which was undoubtedly the wiser course for the morning. Tommy had a difficult enough time waiting for a weekend outing without our being late.

He came lurching down the stairs of my mother’s Victorian house as I parked at the curb. Tommy was bundled in a wool sweater that hung below a yellow rain slicker. He was shouting over his shoulder to my mother, who had come out to make sure that her boys were going to behave themselves. Having Nina along to keep us in line alleviated much of my mother’s concern. Even so, she wanted to know my plans for breakfast before our visit to the museum. She insisted that a hot meal was essential to staving off pneumonia, which Mrs. Nagy had contracted—almost surely from becoming chilled while walking home from church in dress shoes, in my mother’s medical opinion. Tommy was wearing galoshes.

I answered like any halfway intelligent son would do when confronted by a stern, maternal figure. I lied. Assuring her that we’d stop for omelets and sausages—acceptable if not quite up to the Irish standard of rashers and eggs, along with tomato, mushrooms, black pudding, and Irish beans—I herded Tommy and Nina toward the truck to forestall further questioning. My mother would have the day to shop and cook for the extended family dinner, which gave her incalculable joy.

I headed toward Nob Hill, which was not exactly on the way to the museum. Once we’d passed by City Hall on Van Ness and failed to turn toward Golden Gate Park, Tommy knew what was up.

“We’re going to Bob’s, aren’t we?” he shouted.

“So it appears,” said Nina. “Riley seems to have been less than honest with your mother.” I could hear the disapproval in her voice, mixed with an undertone of conspiracy.

“This will be our secret,” I said. “It’s sort of like tricking people without being mean.”

“I can’t tell mom or else we’ll be in trouble, right?”

My kid brother could cut through philosophical hair splitting and get down to the core of the issue.

“That’s right,” said Nina. “But remember it was Riley’s decision, not yours. You won’t be in trouble if she finds out.”

“Thanks, sweetie,” I said. Tommy was not the best keeper of secrets and now he’d been assured of immunity from prosecution. Bob’s Donuts is one of the San Francisco’s culinary gems—a Formica and linoleum temple to the gods of fried dough and sugar.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.