Chapter Eight
The news of Calliope’s incarceration spread through Villa Maria-Sedona like a brush fire.
She was the evening’s main attraction and enjoyed center stage tremendously. She took bows and lapped up every second of the attention, making sure, as well, that Wilson joined in on the fun and received his fair share of the recognition for riding in and coming to her rescue with her beloved son, the lawyer, in tow.
Her one phone call had been to L’Escargot Bistro ― the young officer who arrested her was kind enough to look up the telephone number in the directory ― where the manager was kind enough to fetch Wilson off the street where he awaited her for their luncheon date. Her second phone call, which she knew was not proper police procedure but since she had smiled nicely when she asked, the police had accommodated her, was to the administrator of the villa wherein Calliope advised him of her precarious situation and her anticipated arrival back at the villa.
Following an announcement over the PA system that Calliope would receive questions in the gathering room, she had changed into a leopard print dress and pushed her hair back off her face with a matching wide headband. The plastic multi-colored bracelets jangled on her wrist with every hand movement.
Not even Dottie whizzing around the gathering room in her motorized chair, singing, “Whee, whee!” could compete with Calliope’s notoriety.
She posed for pictures in front of the floor to ceiling window that overlooked Orchard Lake and answered questions from her fellow golden-agers. Her friends were eager to hear about her adventure, speaking all at once.
“One question at a time, please,” Calliope said.
“Were you fearful for your life, Calliope?” Madge asked from the back of the crowd.
“Of course. I was in a very dangerous part of Chinatown among all sorts of dangerous people and shady characters. Any one of them could have taken my life at any moment, and I would have been defenseless against them.”
“Why were you there in the first place?” Bitsy asked from the front row. “Did you get lost?”
Honestly, the woman should have been named ‘Ditzy’. Didn’t she remember that Calliope went to Chinatown to score drugs, as was sanctioned by The Saving Grace Brigade, of which Bitsy was a member and who was present when Calliope presented the plan? Calliope, however, let on like nothing was amiss.
“Moi? Lost? I think not, dearie. I was there doing a favor for a friend.” She scanned the crowd, making a point of looking at everyone and everything. No one outside of the Brigade but especially The Third, could know exactly what her business had been in Chinatown.
“What was this favor?” Bitsy asked.
God love a duck but the woman was a peck short of a bushel! “Rambutons. They have the best anywhere.” Calliope had no choice but to give Bitsy her evil eye and hoped it was the last of her questions.
“Who were the rambutons for?” Bitsy asked.
Calliope ignored her and stood on the toes of her sandals to reach out to Olive in the middle of the crowd. “Yes, Olive.”
“Was it scary in jail?”
“I’ve been in lock-up before, so I pretty much knew what to expect.” The golden-agers needn’t know she wasn’t actually put in a jail cell or that she swapped recipes with those nice police officers while waiting for the paperwork to get processed.
She remembered Wilson standing beside her and included him into the conversation. “Of course, if it were not for my dear hubby,” she linked her arm in his, “I’d probably be spending the night in the crow bar hotel!” She planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled when he said as he kicked an invisible stone, “Aw, shucks, Calliope, t’weren’t nothing.”
Wilson had been a little pissed at her for almost landing in jail again, but she was able to explain the big misunderstanding once she put the unfortunate happening in perspective for him. Wilson understood, as she knew he would.
Not too much got by Calliope, and there wasn’t much she couldn’t talk her way out of. What irritated her the most was that she, more often than not, got caught doing something she shouldn’t.
Now that…that she had a hard time coming to terms with. After all, her escapades were for good, deserving causes. It didn’t seem fair she should pay any price for her well-intentioned actions.
Calliope tired. The day had been long and arduous, and she needed to get off her feet. She panned the crowd. “Just one more question, please. Wilson and I need a little alone-time.” She exaggerated a wink. “If you get my drift.” She reached around him and pinched his firm buttocks.