Rear Windows
"Where are you going?" I asked.
She was dressed up in a blue dress and strappy wedges, looking like she was someone's blue belle.
"I'm going to meet Meri."
"Where this time?"
"Oh, her house," she let fall from her lips as if that were no big deal.
"Her house?!" I asked, concerned. "In COVID Times?"
"Don't worry, silly. We'll be at a safe social distance from one another."
"How's that?"
"I'll tell you when you're older."
"When I'm older you'll have to tell it to the funeral director."
"Love you!" she said as she blew me a kiss and walked on out the door, hopped in her car and drove away with a little beep-beep.
I hadn't expected to spend that Sunday alone. It was beautiful out. The sky was as blue as Lo's dress and the sun as bright as her disposition. The air was warm, but not oppressive, as it had been most of July.
Without plans or partner, I ventured to the local park with my folding chair, thermos full of G&T and ice, and the novel I had been reading, My Mother by George Bataille.
Simultaneously, as I was sitting in the park, reading, watching the youthful frolics of the people around me, reminiscing of my Lola in the park with Meri a couple of weeks prior, and comparing the scantily clad flirts around me with my slut, Lola (there is no comparison, really), Lo was off in the burbs engaged in the following activities.
She arrived at Meri's picture perfect suburban home around eleven. It was in one of the wealthy bedroom communities around our city, about a half-hour away from us. She pulled up along the curb in the cul-de-sac and texted Meri, "I'm here."
From the car, she observed the blue hydrangeas, the yellow black-eyed Susans, and the rose bushes. She wondered, Did Meri tend those? Hired help, probably.
Due to COVID, there was no going in the house, except for use of the bathroom. Lo put on her mask when she saw Meri come outside. Lo got out of the car and had that awkward moment when, during normal times, there would have been a hug and maybe a little kiss hello, but not now. Not during COVID. They just smiled, delighted to see each other.
Meri said, "I love your dress. And those shoes!"
"Aw, shucks," said Lo with faux modesty.
"And what do you have on under that dress?" asked an eager Meri.
"We're tanning in your backyard, right?"
"Yep."
"I've got on a bikini."
"Perfect," said Meri, smiling a devilish grin that looked even more authentic given her red hair. "I'd give you a tour of the house, but. . ." She didn't have to say anymore.
She led Lo around the side of the house, through a little gate, to the backyard.
"Is anyone home?" asked Lo.
"Everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Yep. Scott and all three boys."
"Oh," said Lo, "I thought it was going to be just us."
Meri didn't answer. She simply extended her hand to the lounge chairs in the backyard, separated by many feet from each other, and behind them, the blue inground pool. "How's this?" she asked.
"It's lovely!"
"Come on in and get comfortable. Can I make you a drink?"
"What do you have?"
"Anything you want."
Lo looked at Meri and said, "Something wet that will make my head spin."
"Coming up!"
Lo removed her shoes and walked around barefoot in the backyard. She looked at all the flowers in bloom, the lush green grass, the tall trees in the distance, and then back at the house. Soon she saw Meri emerge from the sliding doors in the center of the house that led into the kitchen. She was carrying two tall drinks. When she had gone in the house, Meri was wearing jeans and a blouse. But now she was wearing only a tiny thong bikini bottom and a just as skimpy, matching solid yellow bikini top.
"Here you go, Lo," she said, passing her a glass filled with pink bubbly liquid and a red striped straw in it.
"Thanks," said Lo, sipping and staring at Meri.
"Don't you want to change?"
"Oh, yeah."
Lo pulled her dress up over her head, revealing a more modest bikini than Meri was wearing and than Lo had worn the previous time they met in the park.
"If you feel like going for a swim, help yourself. You can even skinny dip if you want. None of the neighbors can see. Not that that matters to you," she added, referring to Lo's exhibitionism in the public park.
"What about. . .?" Lo nodded in the direction of the house, indicating Meri's family.
"Oh, them?" She shrugged her shoulders. "They've seen you naked already."
"What?!"
"I told you. Remember?"
"You said that you found me through your husband looking at the blog and that your son also discovered it, but you didn't say everyone had."
"Well, I don't know that for sure," said Meri, "but it wouldn't surprise me. It's a house full of testosterone. It is unbearable for me sometimes. It's nice to have another woman here for once. You're my first guest since COVID."
They were lying down now and Lo couldn't help suspecting that she was being watched by four pairs of eyes in the house.
"Is your husband going to come out and say hello?"
"Probably not," said Meri. "He's shy. He knows that you know and he's embarrassed."