Corpse Suzette

Suzette and I were
always very close.”
    “If you don’t mind me
asking... what happened?”
    “He happened.” Suddenly,
Clare’s face went hard and her eyes cold. “That piece of crap that we buried
today. He happened.”
    “Oh. I see.” Of course, she
didn’t see, and Savannah wasn’t sure exactly what to say in the face of such
sudden vehemence. But this was definitely a conversational road she wanted to
travel. “I was no big fan of Sergio’s,” she said choosing her words carefully.
“And I can understand that you might not be either.”
    “I went to his funeral
today just to make sure that he’s dead. That’s the only reason I was there
today in the rain, listening to all those lies about what a great human being
he was. I wanted to see that he’s dead and buried, once and for all.”
    “If you were close to your
sister and he came between you—”
    “I was, and he did. I’ll
never forgive him for that. Suzette is the only family I have left.”
    “I realize this is probably
a painful topic, but may I ask how it happened? Your estrangement, that is.”
    Clare handed Savannah the
photograph. It was of the two sisters, arms around each other’s shoulders,
goofy, happy smiles on their faces. Behind them was a large neon sign that
read, “Diamond Bill’s Casino.”
    “That was us,” Clare said,
“my sister and I on our last outing. Sergio took Suzette, Jeremy, Myrna, and me
out on his cabin cruiser for the day. We went to Santa Tesla Island, like we
often did, to hang out in the casinos there, rent some mopeds and bop around
the island, have a nice dinner, and then come home.”
    “Casinos?”
    “Yes, there are a couple of
nice ones there and it’s a lot closer than Vegas. Plus Suzette loves the
lighthouse. We always had to rent bikes and ride out to the lighthouse. She’s a
nut about lighthouses.”
    “Some people are,” Savannah
said. “And then...?”
    “And then we were on our
way back home. Jeremy was at the helm. Myrna and Suzette were knocking back
margaritas. So was I, to tell the truth. And I had one... or maybe even two...
too many. I got a little sick and went below to wash my face and lie down out
of the sun.”
    Clare paused, took a deep
breath, and continued, “And that’s when Sergio came down, said he was checking
on me to make sure his shipmates were all okay.”
    Savannah had a feeling what
was coming, but she waited quietly for Clare to tell her story.
    “I was lying on one of the
berths, still wearing my bathing suit, a cold, wet washcloth over my eyes. And
the next thing I know, he’s sitting on the bed beside me, leaning over me, his
hands...” She gulped, and Savannah could see she was trembling.
    “He started touching me
inappropriately,” Clare said. “I couldn’t believe that he would do that. Not
that he was above it. I knew he was a jerk where women were concerned. I always
figured he fooled around on Suzette. But to try it with me ! He should
have known I’d never go for it. And with her right there on the boat with us! I
still can’t believe he was that stupid.”
    “Oh, it’s pretty amazing
how stupid men can be when their brains get deprived of oxygen. Did he stop
when you told him to?”
    “I did more than tell him,”
she said proudly. “I hit him. I slugged him in the face and bloodied his nose.”
    Savannah laughed. “My kind
of girl. How did he explain that to the others?”
    “I got out of there, joined
the girls on deck and didn’t say anything... at least, not then. He washed up
and came up later, after he got the bleeding stopped. Needless to say, he
didn’t mention it either.”
    Clare took the picture back
from Savannah and looked at it for a long time, running her fingertip over it,
as though caressing her sister’s face. “I agonized over telling her for three
days after that,” she said. “Finally, I decided that I had to. These days, a
promiscuous partner can cost you your life. And I figured if she had to find
out, it would be better if it came from me. So, I dropped by here unexpectedly
that Saturday morning, and I told her what he’d done.”
    “How did she take it?”
    “She told me that he had
already told her that I had come on to him, thrown myself at him.”
    “And she believed him?”
    “Yes, she did.” Clare began
to cry. She reached into her pocket and brought out a lacy-edged handkerchief.
“At least, at that moment she did. She threw me out, said she never wanted to
see me again. I called