World of Women by Carol Caine

Author:Carol Caine [CAROL CAINE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cleis Press
Published: 2012-03-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

I came awake suddenly, as though shot from a cannon. The lumpy mattress felt strange to my back. I looked around at the men's toiletries scattered on an old dressing table. Sluggishly, my mind came round to realizing where I was.

A cold sun glittered high in the sky. I stretched my arms and ribcage and yawned with luxurious pleasure. For the first time in a long while, I felt content.

Sounds of rattling papers and liquids being poured told me that Jimmy was busy again with yesterday's pictures. I sat up, found my clothing and took all the time in the world getting dressed. When I finally came into the living room, Jimmy was standing in front of a long display of dripping prints pinned to a clothesline he'd strung across the room.

I took everything in with one glance and saw that he'd developed the pictures of Raf, too. They were crude and stark; much more obvious than I'd imagined. The ones with Tess on the sidelines looked bluntly obscene. I'd caught her with her skirt too high and her thighs were visible all the way up. Plainly, she wasn't wearing any underthings.

"You did a good job," Jimmy said, referring to the pictures of Tess.

I ignored the acid comment and proceeded to examine the series of myself struggling with the fishing rod. Some of the snaps were blurry in a way that added drama to my fight with the sea.

"Don't I look authentic? I said.

'Yeah. Like you're bringing in Charlie Tuna."

"Quit kidding. They're good." To prove it, I went directly to the telephone and dialed Fly &Dive.

It was lunch hour and that day luck was with me. Jerry Steel had gone out and wouldn't be back until three. I hung up the receiver with a little snap of impatience. Now that I had the goods, I felt confident about facing Jerry Steel squarely. So what if they weren't my pictures? I felt glad to give Jimmy a break. And, most important of all, Jerry would think well of me for bringing him new talent. Jerry and Jimmy. The names, so similar, rolled over my tongue and mingled.

Jimmy, occupied with his pictures, motioned for me to answer. I picked up the phone and said hello.

"So you're back," Marg's voice said.

She wasn't angry. Her voice sounded tentative as though I had nipped at her and she was waiting to see if I would go ahead and bite.

I wasn't in a rush for Jimmy to know about my relationship with Marg. In a way, I had almost forgotten about her. It seemed a very long time ago that we had made love and I had to work at recalling the details of her face.

"We had a nasty trip," I said. "We're both exhausted, still." I laughed cheerily. "At least I am. It seems that Jim here is indestructible. Or maybe he's happy because we got some very good pix."

"I'm glad for that." Her voice hung in the air, waiting . . . waiting.

"In fact, I was just on the phone trying to get through to some magazines.

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