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all in one. I joined the group already gathered at the truck. However,
my bravado may have faltered a bit as I stumbled in the parking lot, realizing
that high heels were definitely not the appropriate foot fashion for gravel. As
I approached them I overheard Vivi.
    “Harry, I just cannot discuss this.”
    “Vivi, you have to. You have no choice. You were the last one
with Lewis and you reported him dead—although his body is, well, not where you
left it. You are still at the center of this investigation. And Officer
Bartholomew is the chief investigator. You have to tell us the details of the
day as you remember it.”
    “This will help us find Lewis,” I explained to Vivi. “Harry, I
think we better move this discussion elsewhere if you want all of this from
Vivi. This is the scene of the…well…whatever it is, and Vivi has already fainted
once. Let me help you with her and we’ll get all we need.”
    I turned to talk to Vivi.
    “It’s okay, honey. I’ll be right there with you. What do you
need?”
    “Oh, Blake, I can’t possibly discuss this tête-à-tête in mixed
company. I’ll die of total embarrassment.”
    “Sweetie, you don’t have a choice.” We all stood there in
silence waiting for Vivi to tell us what would make this easier for her. It was
an awkward moment. We knew what we were asking her to do. We knew what we would
be hearing. The very last dirty details of the sexual escapades of Lewis and
Vivi. It was a lot to ask for any of us to sit through that! But everyone stood there, the hot sun baking the long minutes
that dripped by like molasses from a hot spoon. Then finally—
    “Well, okay,” Vivi said, letting out a deep breath. “About five
Long Island iced teas might do it.”
    “What, honey?” I asked.
    “You asked me what I need, right? So I’m tellin’ you. I’ve got
to have a drink or three or this story will, through no fault of my own, stay
locked in my head. It’s just not somethin’ I can discuss without lots of help,
from Jack or Jim…. As in Daniel’s and Beam—drinks I mean, not more men!”
    “Okay,” Sonny said, “let’s run over to the Tutwiler. It’s close
by and the bar opens at four, and that’s right about now.”
    Harry and I looked at each other and nodded our heads in
agreement.
    “Fine,” Harry said.
    So, we would go to the Tutwiler and sit and watch Vivi get
stone drunk while listening to her recount her last day with Harry’s estranged
baby brother, Lewis, screwing his brains out till he was dead, while my former
lover sat across from us taking notes. Yes, it looked like Harry and I would
have our anniversary date at the Tutwiler, after all.

3
    W e got in our cars and headed back
across the bridge to the Tutwiler, looking for all the world like some sort of
procession. Driving across the Warrior River to downtown, I looked over at Vivi.
She sat motionless, white-knuckling the door handle as we rode to the old
historic hotel.
    “I can’t do it.” The words shook loose from her mouth. “Blake,
I just cannot tell all this to Sonny. You can’t tell me they need to know everything. ”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “Why in the world do they need to know that Lewis was a
licker?”
    “What?” I said, in utter confusion at what I thought she
said.
    “You know. A licker. He wasn’t much of a kisser but, God, he
sure loved to lick. Can you tell me just why Sonny needs to know that?”
    I started feeling drops of perspiration dripping down between
my breasts, and my breath had left me. But I grabbed Vivi by the arm and
explained, “We are trying to clear all of this up so we can find Lewis.”
    “And by learnin’ all about Lewis lickin’ me from my knees to my
neck, I’m a free woman?”
    I slammed on my brakes, realizing we had reached our
destination and I was about to jump the curb getting into a parking space. Vivi
and I looked at each other.
    “Maybe we can leave that little detail out.” I was already
feeling nauseous.