Have You Heard?

         Yolena Russell set two cups of coffee on the low slung glass table, her blond hair shading half her face. “Already doctored just like you want.” She grinned at her best friend and snuggled into a corner of the sofa.

         Carrie blew on the surface of the hot drink before savoring its flavor. “Ummm … you make it like I like it.” She inhaled the steam, allowing the cinnamon Yolenda added to the blend to fill her senses. “So good on a winter day.”

         “All right, what’s in the gift bag? You promised if I gave you coffee you’d share.” Yolena took a sip, one eyebrow slightly lifted. “You and your secrets.”

         With a giggle, her friend sat her cup on the table and reached for the crimson bag. “Just wait ‘till you see. Dawn Smith thinks she’s so smart. Wait ‘till she opens this.”  Carrie slid the tissue paper in the top to one side and held the open bag toward Yolena. “Look.”

         When Yolena gasped and drew back from the sack, Carrie chuckled. “Isn’t it the best idea I’ve ever had?” She used some of the tissue to push the furry, huge-eyed spider deeper into the bag.

         “Are you nuts? Dawn will have a stroke. She hates spiders more than I do.” Yolenda shivered as she shook her head. “Carrie, you can’t. Why would you want to do that?”

         Carrie pushed more tissue on top of the creepy “gift” and tossed the bag toward the end of the sofa. “It’s really harmless. The guy at the pet store said it won’t hurt anyone.”

         “I don’t care. You get that thing out of my house, and don’t you dare give it to Dawn. No one deserves that kind of shock. No one.”

         Suddenly, Carrie’s usually friendly eyes turned into an icy blue glare. “You mean you haven’t heard? Everyone else has. She’s made me a laughing stock, and I won’t tolerate that, not from anyone.” Her face twisted into a mask of hate and malice surrounded by her dark red hair. “She’ll pay.”

         “What are you talking about? What could anyone do to deserve such … such hate?” Yolena tried to vanished into the cushions. “I don’t know you. I don’t know you at all.”

         “Ha, anyone can hate this much, with enough motive.” Carrie shook her head until strands of hair whipped across her face. “She deserves it. She does.” She stared into space through squinted eyes. “I’ll be nicer to her than she deserves.”

         Jumping to her feet, Yolena sloshed some coffee from her cup, but she grabbed the other cup from the coffee table. “I think you need to leave. I … I can’t believe …” She half-trotted toward the back of the house. At the door to the kitchen, she whirled to face her friend. “How can you be so, so cruel?”

         Still sitting on the sofa, Carrie bowed her head. “She’s the one who’s cruel.” Her voice barely carried across the room. She raised her head, tears pooling in her eyes. “You really didn’t hear? You don’t know what she told Wayne?”

         “No, I have no idea. Just a minute, let me warm these up, and I’ll be back.” Yolena started through the door. “But,” she called back, “get that spider out of here.”

         “All right. All right.” Carrie rose from the sofa, hooked a finger through a loop at the top of the bag, and stomped to the front door.


         A few minutes later, the two sat on the sofa again, each holding a cup of cinnamon-laced coffee. Carrie peered into her brew and chewed on her lower lip but said nothing.

         “Carrie?”

         “I … I don’t know where to start.”

         After a sigh, Yolena replied, “The beginning, maybe?”

         “You know how moral Wayne can be.”

         “Of course, so what? Come on, stop stalling. What did Dawn do?”

         Carrie sipped her drink and placed the cup on the table in front of her knees. “Well, she’s been very ‘friendly’ to Wayne for several months.” She shrugged. “He didn’t try to keep it secret, even joked about her not knowing he was a one-woman man.” She raised a trembling hand to cover her eyes. “Then she began the rumors, how I’ve been visiting the casino, drinking, gambling and losing. How I hang over the men who work there.”

         “What? You’d never gamble, not with your family history.”

         “Huh, and you would think Wayne would take that into account, but, no, he believed the rumors. He believed her.” Tears dried in Carrie’s eyes. Her face twisted again. “He believed her when she told him she saw me. He believed her!” She bounced to her feet, her fists clinched by her sides. “He believed her, and then he had the gall to forgive me.”

         “I didn’t know.” Yolena wrapped one hand around her friend’s fist. “I didn’t know. Oh, Carrie, I’m so sorry.”

         Carrie glanced toward the woman still sitting on the sofa. “You believe me?”

         “About what? That you didn’t, wouldn’t do something like that? Yes, I believe you. That Dawn spread the rumors, told Wayne? I don’t think you would say she did unless you knew for certain. That Wayne dared to forgive you? Sounds like him.” She pulled Carrie down beside her. “But, is she worth it? Is he?”

         “Worth it?” A frown wrinkled Carrie’s brow. “Worth what? You lost me.”

         “Look, you’ve gift-bagged a hairy, ugly spider. You want revenge. That damages you, just you, inside. Are they worth it?”

         “But … but …”

         A grin spread her lips as Yolena asked, “You really want to fix the two of them?”

         “Yolena Russell, what do you have in mind?”

         “What does Wayne want more than anything else in this world?”

         “He wants to become a junior partner in that hoity-toity law firm where he’s a paralegal, well, after he passes the bar.”

         “Carrie Thomas, I believe I know what to do. They’ll both suffer the results of lying and of being so sanctimonious.”

         “Sanca what?”

         “Thinking one’s above or better than others,” Yolena mumbled as she pushed herself off the seat. “I need to make some calls. Help yourself to more coffee or a sandwich or something.”

         “Wait, stop! What are you planning? Let me know what’s going on in that mind of yours.”

         “I need to check something first. Then I’ll tell you.” Yolena strode to her home office, muttering under her breath.

         “What’s the idea? Come on, tell me,” Carrie called. “Wonder what …” She dropped to the sofa and picked up her cup, sipping the now-cooled coffee.


         Nearly an hour later, Carrie heard the front door open and then slam before her friend strode into the kitchen. Carrie placed a plate with a sandwich in her hand. Yolena stared at the food. “What’s this?”

         “Guess. Now, sit down and eat while you tell me what’s going on.” Carrie dropped into a chair at the table and picked up her sandwich.

          “Hmmm … good,” Yolena mumbled around the bite in her mouth. After swallowing, she added, “Wayne wants to be brought into  Cruthers, Cruthers, and Dodson, right?”

         “Definitely right. That’s all he wants.” Carrie laid her sandwich on the plate. “What have you done?”

         A sly smirk flashed across Yolena’s face. “And who’s my mother’s brother?”

         The other woman’s eyes widened. “Oh, my, that’s right, he’s Dodson.” She blinked several times. “What, what did you do?”

         “Nothing yet, but I did invite Uncle Charles and Wayne over, told them I thought they needed to meet since Charles has been traveling since Wayne began at the office.” She brushed some blond hair back from her forehead. “And you, my dear, need to leave before anyone arrives. I don’t want Dawn to know you’ve been anywhere near here.”

         “Dawn?” Carrie rose and took plates and glasses to the sink. “How are you getting her here? And more important, why?”

         “Let’s just say you need to leave your gift on the porch. Hopefully neither of the men will notice it.”

         “What are you doing?”

         “Just get out of here. The men are supposed to arrive about fifteen minutes before Dawn. Now, scoot. I’ll call you later.”


         Neither man mentioned the red bag sitting on the porch beside the door when he arrived. After introducing her great-uncle and Wayne, Yolena motioned toward stuffed chairs in the living room. “Have a seat. I’ll fix coffee and be back in a bit.” As she walked toward the kitchen, she glanced out the front window and grinned. I knew she couldn't resist coming over if she knew Wayne would be here.

         The door bell rang. “Wayne, would you mind seeing who’s at the door? I’ll be back as soon as I get the coffee.” Without waiting for his answer, she hurried into the kitchen, poured the coffee into cups waiting on a tray with a plate of cookies, sugar, and cream. She bit her lip to keep from smiling when she entered the living room to see Dawn standing by the sofa, a bright crimson gift bag in hand.

         “Hi, Dawn.” Yolena set the tray on the coffee table. “Please help yourselves. Mom sent over some of her oatmeal cookies.” She turned to Dawn. “Oh, what a lovely gift bag.” She took the bag from Dawn’s hand, who didn’t seem to notice as she gazed at Wayne. Yolena pulled out the envelope sticking from the open top. After quickly reading the card, she smiled at the other woman. “You shouldn’t have. Let me see what you brought me.”

         “What? I didn’t …” Dawn began before Yolena pulled some of the tissue from the bag and screamed, throwing the bag and its content at Dawn. The furry, bug-eyed spider hit Dawn’s chest and latched on to her jacket. Dawn flopped her hands, screeching, “Get if off me. Get it off me.”

         Charles Dobson grabbed a napkin and plucked the spider from her coat, walked to the front door, which he opened and threw the spider outside.

         Yolena shuddered and demanded, “Why would you do such a terrible thing? You know I hate spiders. Why?”

         “I … I … I didn’t. I didn’t.” Dawn's dark eyes turned to Wayne. “You don’t think I’d do such a horrible thing, do you?”

         “Why are you asking Wayne, Dawn? I’m the one you scared half to death.” Yolena sunk into a chair. “I don’t understand why you would do that. I don’t understand.”

         “But, but I didn’t.”

         “Oh, really?” Yolena handed the card she still held to her uncle. “That’s her signature. She brought the bag into the house. Now, she lies about it. Ha!”

         “I found it, on the porch. I didn’t bring it.”  The frantic woman continued to brush the front of her coat over and over. “I didn’t do it.”

         Charles Dobson looked from the card to Dawn and back to the card. “Mighty suspicious, young lady.”

         Dawn touched Wayne’s sleeve. “You don’t think I would do something so childish, do you?”

         Wayne frowned. “I don’t see how you can deny it. You did bring in the gift bag. A card from you was in the bag. Who else could have?”

         “But, Wayne, I didn’t do it. I didn’t.”

         He shook his head. “I didn’t know you were a liar. Wonder what other lies you’ve told?” He raised his eyes to Yolenda’s uncle. “Could we try meeting somewhere else, some other time?”

         Charles nodded. “That might be a good idea. Wait, I tell you what, let’s get this, uh, person away from Yolena, and then we can enjoy our coffee and cookies here.” He placed a ham sized fist around Dawn’s arm. “Let’s go. I don’t believe you’re welcomed here.”


         Later that night, Yolena shared the experience with Carrie. “It was so funny.”

         Carried chuckled. “I wondered why Wayne called, apologizing all over the place. Guess maybe they both learned a lesson – maybe.”

         “Ready to forgive and forget?”

         “Forgive, maybe, but not forget.”


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