165
Continued from page 162…
Monday, July 27th, 1987, 9:02 P.M.
KATHY
I’m not worried
about that.
JANE
Are you sure?
Belinda can get pretty
pissed-off sometimes.
And if this goes on any
further… It’s already
been a year now that
you’ve been keeping this
from her.
KATHY
She won’t get
mad at me.
JANE
Oh, that’s right…
KATHY
And if you call us
‘lovebirds’ again, I’m
gonna toss this whiskey
right in your face.
JANE
(smirking)
I wasn’t going to.
KATHY
Yeah, right.
JANE
(still smirking)
What if she kicks
your ass?
KATHY
Oh, please..
I can handle myself.
JANE
She’s pretty tough.
KATHY
Get outta’ here..
Belinda’s a total sissy.
I could whoop her butt
and you know it.
JANE
I don’t know about that.
I’ve seen her in action.
Back in the early days.
KATHY
Yeah, back in the early days..
That was a long time ago. She’s
changed a lot since then.
JANE
Ehh, not that much.
She’s still pretty feisty.
KATHY
Oh, come on, she’s a big
star now… She’s lost a lotta’
weight.. Her attitude’s changed..
She couldn’t beat up a fly now.
JANE
And you’ve changed a lot
right along with her..
You’re a big star now too!
KATHY
Yeah, but you forget
where I’m from.
JANE
(not buying it)
Oh.. ya’ know..
I’m getting a little tired about
hearin’ about how you’re from
Texas… You don’t act like a
Texan! You act like a hippie
from California just like the
rest of us.
KATHY
Excuse me?
JANE
I don’t see you ridin’ up on a
horse.. with a ten-gallon hat..
and some spurs on, goin’
(exaggerating a cowboy)
“Howdy, folks.. Would y’all like
to come over by the campfire and
have a cup o’ Joe.. while I wipe
my ass with my bandana?
A-heh, a-heh, a-heh.”
KATHY
(astonished)
Is that the way you
think Texans act?
JANE
Well, I don’t know!
I’ve never been there…
I was just makin’ fun
of you, that’s all.
KATHY
What do you mean,
you’ve never been there?
We’ve toured there.
JANE
You know what I’m
drivin’ at, Kathy Jean
Sue Billy Bob.
KATHY
You’re being prejudiced.
JANE
Oh, I’m being prejudiced?
How bout’ the time you told
me to go shuck some corn?
KATHY
(laughs)
That’s just an expression.
JANE
Oh, yeah, right, that’s
just an expression.
KATHY
I think we’re getting off
the main subject here.
JANE
Would you like to get back
on the main subject here?
KATHY
(still amused)
I would like that
very much.
JANE
Fine…
Would you like me to start?
KATHY
By all means.. please..
go ahead.
JANE
Thank you.
Jane takes a
dramatic
pause before
continuing.
JANE
So…
when we were standing in
Belinda’s bedroom… standing
there staring at a dead body…
KATHY
Yeah?
JANE
… and Charlotte… comes up
with this grand idea… to bury
this mother-fucker… in the
back yard of our house…
KATHY
(conceding)
I know what you’re
gonna ask me.
JANE
… Do you think she was
Charlotte at the time? …
I mean, the real Charlotte?
KATHY
I don’t know…
I don’t think so.
JANE
Why?
KATHY
Because the real Charlotte
wouldn’t do that…
The real Charlotte would
have called the cops.
JANE
(pauses)
I think so too.
KATHY
So.. in essence.. Charlotte’s
sickness may have saved
our butts.
JANE
What do you mean?
KATHY
You don’t see it?
Jane.. where do you think we
would be right now if we would
have called the cops?
JANE
Uhhh, on a yacht in
the Caribbean?
KATHY
No!
Well, maybe.
We got pretty good lawyers.
But, no!
We would have been kicked
out of Hollywood!
JANE
You think so?
KATHY
Oh, absolutely..
Without a doubt.
The press would have had a
field-day with that..
“Man Found Dead
at Go-Go’s Mansion…”
“Suspected Overdose The Cause.”
Our show would have been cancelled…
Nobody would hire us anymore…
You gotta’ remember Jane, we’re
still women… No matter how many
strides we’ve made in the entertainment
industry.. we haven’t made that many.
They would have crucified us…
Somebody would have gone to jail.
And we’d be outta’ business.
Jane is
silenced.
JANE
Yeah…
I guess you’re right…
It would’ve been a mess.
KATHY
You’re damn right
it would’ve…
It’s not something I would’ve
been interested in going
through, that’s for sure.
There is a
long, long
pause.
JANE
There’s more to this
sordid, little affair,
isn’t there?
KATHY
What?
JANE
Don’t give me that ‘what?’
You know how Khudobin died,
don’t you? …
You already spilled your guts
about Charlotte’s condition…
You might as well tell me
the whole story.
Kathy is
ready.
KATHY
Alright…
This is gonna exonerate
Charlotte anyway…
And Rocco, the poor bastard.
It’s bad enough you already
think the worst of the guy.
JANE
I hope there’s not
a third party.
KATHY
No…
There’s no third party…
It’s not what you think.
JANE
(pauses)
I’m waiting.
KATHY
Jane…
Khudobin died of
a heart attack.
JANE
What?!! Oh, bullshit…
A heart attack from what?
Seeing Belinda naked?
KATHY
Belinda did not sleep with
him.. You told me that!!
You said you believed her!!
JANE
I know, I know,
I was just kidding.
Kathy accepts
this and pauses.
KATHY
He died of a heart attack
outside of the house.
JANE
What?!
I don’t get it.
KATHY
Look…
when Charlotte found out that
I was investigating her… she
wanted to find out how much
this guy knew before she confronted
me.. Why, I don’t know. Maybe
she figured if he didn’t know that
much, she would let him go or
something, I don’t know… All I know
is that she wanted to speak to him
first.. before she confronted me.
JANE
Okay?
KATHY
So…
Actually, this is where
you come in.
JANE
What do you mean?
KATHY
Remember the little conversation
you overheard in Charlotte’s
bedroom? … When you snuck
into her room to snoop around?
JANE
Yeah?
KATHY
What did you hear?
JANE
She was talkin’ about bringing
someone over to the warehouse…
(realizes)
OHHH!!! That was it!!!
She was talkin’ about Khudobin!!
KATHY
Yes. Exactly.
JANE
Woooow!!!
Wow, that was a
helluva’ coincidence.
That I just happened to be
standing behind the door
at that precise moment.
KATHY
I would say so.
JANE
So what happened?
KATHY
So.. apparently.. she had
Rocco track this guy down
and kidnap him somehow..
I don’t know how he did this,
she never told me about that..
and he took him back to
the warehouse.
JANE
Yeah? And?
KATHY
So, at some point.. Charlotte
comes waltzing in.. all
ready to interrogate the guy.
JANE
What? Was he tied up
or something?
KATHY
Yes! Exactly!
He was tied up in a chair.
JANE
Holy shit.
KATHY
So, Charlotte comes walking
up to the guy.. in a pantsuit if you
can imagine.. That one still
bothers me… and she starts
asking him questions, I guess,
about what he knows about her.
JANE
(engrossed)
Okay?
KATHY
Yeah, so.. eventually.. she
starts scarin’ the shit outta’
the guy… She even told him
that she was gonna have Rocco
start manglin’ his fingers with
a pair of pliers if he didn’t start
tellin’ the truth!
JANE
Nooooo!!!
KATHY
Yes..
She was really
proud of that.
JANE
That doesn’t sound
like Charlotte.
KATHY
No, it doesn’t.
JANE
She’s more likely to
start with his balls.
KATHY
Jane.. seriously..
Are you the comedian today?
Are you tryin’ to steal
my thunder?
JANE
Yes, I’m sorry..
You’re the joke-maker
in this group, I’m sorry.
KATHY
Thank you.
JANE
Go ahead.
KATHY
So.. eventually, they scare the
shit out of him so bad…
JANE
He has a heart attack.
KATHY
Yup.. Right on the spot…
He just keeled-over and died.
JANE
Woooow…
That’s unbelievable.
KATHY
Isn’t it.
JANE
And all of this happened in
the week leading up to our
party?
KATHY
Yup…
You overheard the conversation..
then.. a couple of days later..
he croaked in the warehouse…
And that was it.
JANE
Woooow…
But, wait… That doesn’t
make any sense.
Kathy knows
what’s coming
next.
KATHY
What doesn’t?
JANE
If he died in the warehouse…
How did he end up
in Belinda’s bed?
Kathy
pauses.
KATHY
This is the part
you’re not gonna like.
Copyright 2025
by Clark Wright