Debra tried consoling him. "Corky--"
"And damn me for going along with you!" he said half-heartily.
I was surprised, but Flea wasn't. "That's Mrs. Debra Lawson."
I asked, "Any relation to Ivy Lawson?"
"That's her stepmother."
Inside the cabin Corky set up a sleeping bag atop that stack of mattresses, while Debra Lawson shucked her clothes. She climbed inside the bag, while he stripped off his clothes. Then they were both naked, massaging each other.
I was amused and in no hurry to leave, but Flea was paranoid and wanted only to be gone. I told him to wait.
Corky Collins said, "I don't care any more how it's done. I don't want to know all the details. Why can't you just take care of everything?"
She kissed him tenderly. "Corky honey, all these details help cover for us. They make it easier and safer for us. And that's better protection for both of us." She kissed him again and massaged him under the covers. "Do you still like me doing this?"
Corky gave up. "Aw, honey ... "
They clutched together, and their body heat was enough for combustion. They started making brutally passionate love.
Flea turned away from the window, started to sip at a pint bottle of Irish whiskey. "She owns the bowling alley. She's the one's got me between a rock and a hard place with those checks."
I had some choice words for Flea.
I ended, "I thought it was Corky alone."
Flea shook his head. "She's his main squeeze. And almost nobody but me knows about it."
I was outraged. "You knew she was his main squeeze, and you didn't tell me?"
"I knew you'd find out," Flea said defensively.
I was spitting the words: "What bullshit are you giving me now!"
Flea started scrambling. "You don't do any deal unless you know the whole set-up, and knowing who Corky's been fucking is something you'd have to find out before you'd agree to any deal with him."
I gave up. "How'd you find them out?"
"They were smooching in the back booth in this bar I went into in Waikiki."
The outdoor marquee read: "CONGRATS, CORKY & SAUNDRA TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY." When I saw the sign, I just had to stop.
The Club Ilima was a cocktail lounge for locals, not tourists. Neon beer lights flashed on and off, on and off. The parking lot was large enough for thirty cars. Many loud drinkers were in the main lounge. There was much cigarette smoke and barroom noise.
The Club Ilima lobby looked like Davey Jones' locker. Female ship figureheads, life preservers and fishing nets, stuffed marlin from long-forgotten charter trips, a glass case with model clipper ships. There were yacht pennants around the gilt bar mirror.
I walked through and spotted Corky. He looked like he was looking for someone. Then, just two hours after his rendezvous with his mistress, Corky Collins spotted a middle-aged blonde chitchatting with friends at the end of the bar. He walked up behind her, embraced her, pecked a kiss on her cheek.
I pegged her for his wife and ankled closer to hear what I could.
I heard Corky as he spoke to his wife.
He said, "Saundra honey, how you doing? Can I get you another drink? Do you want another?"
Saundra looked at her husband as if he had too much to drink already.
At first I was amused by Corky's public demonstration of affection and by his wife's obvious reluctance. Then I got annoyed.
Corky moved through the crowd past me, his back to me. Feeling mischievous, I followed him across the lounge, then came up behind Corky, tapped the man on the shoulder, then let fly with a playful sucker punch to Corky's kidneys. Corky turned, found a sucker punch headed for his midriff. Caught off guard, he panicked and flinched.
I stayed my punch. "Corky, how ya doing?"
Corky was shaken. "God, don't do that ever again!"
I was smiling. "Is that the old lady? Helluva charmer you are. Just like Judas himself."
"Back off!" Corky growled. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.
"I saw your name in lights."
Corky got depressed. "I told them next month, and they thought I said next week."
"Let's go talk in private."
Corky held back. "The parking lot in five minutes."
I agreed. We walked away from each other.
I walked through the main lounge to the lobby. There I bumped into Ivy Lawson. Ivy's smile was only for me. Our lust drew us together and we kissed. Our kiss went on for a long while, like two magnets fusing together. Once we realized other people could be watching us, Ivy blushed and I got self-conscious. But no one seemed to have noticed us.
We moved into a darker corner of the lobby.
"Wanna go somewhere, sailor?" Ivy asked.
I noticed Corky leaving. "Give me twenty minutes, okay?"
Ivy only had eyes for me. "Sure, Michael."
I gave her some money. "Buy yourself a drink."
As Ivy disappeared down the hallway towards the ladies room, I followed Corky outside.
I caught up with Corky in the parking lot of the Club Ilima, a swatch of gravel along the shoreline. White thundering surf and the black night along the ocean were beyond us. Next stop, Tokyo.
I said, "When is Debra Lawson coming forward?"