Luckiest Man In The World - 5. Lola

Flying to California was not bad. For some reason, Lola had moved to Northern California, several hundred miles above San Francisco. We flew to Redding and rented an SUV and took two security men with us. Yes, they had to come. She was now living in a house near Eureka. I had no idea where she was or how to get there except head west until we hit the ocean. That away was all I knew. So Rain drove.

“Lola is a bit different.” Rain warned. “She still hates cops and doesn’t care much for military people.”

“She is aware that the war in Vietnam is over.” I looked back at the security men. “She’s not gonna give Chet and Mark a hard time is she?”

Rain shrugged. “They look military.” He ran across his hair, indicating their military cuts. “And the only technology she has in electricity. A refrigerator. Oh, and a phone. That’s it.”

“How did you survive without TV?” I asked.

He shrugged again. “Didn’t know it existed until I was eight really. I read books. Hell, I never saw a movie until I was 12!”

“No way.” I marveled. “Nothing?”

He shook his head.

When we arrived at the house there wasn’t much to impress. It was a blue house and old? In the South people had blue houses, in a lot of cases, to ward off evil spirits. It was clean. The yard was natural, no lawn. We went to the side door and met an elderly woman. My first thought on seeing her was the lady in that series, Charmed, the old crone? Long black hair with grey about 70 years old? Not fat, but not thin anymore. She wasn’t attractive but must have been once. No makeup. Rain had grown up without TV, but I did. Her eyes were alert and looked as we entered that lit up on seeing Rain. The tie-dyed shirt and dark skirt said it all.

“Rain! My boy.” She greeted and hugged him. “It’s great to see you.”

He hugged her back. “Lola, it’s great to see you, too.” He stepped back and held her arms out. “You look well.”

She chuckled. “As well as any old woman my age.” Then her gaze went to me. “Is this him?”

Rain looked at me, then back to Lola. “Him who?”

“Your new boyfriend.” Her eyes hardened on me. “My friend Maxine told me she saw you on TV with a man, he's supposed to be rich. He looks rich.”

Rain nodded. “Yes. This is Eric Mitchell. My boyfriend.”

I stepped forward. “Hello, Ms. Stevens.” I put my hand out.

She took it and shook it, but there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm. She looked behind me. “Mmhum. And these other two. Baby killer buddies?”

Rain stepped in front of her. “They aren’t baby killers, neither am I. Be nice.” He warned.

“Chet and Mark are here to protect me,” I stated.

“Protect you from who, me?” Lola challenged.

“If necessary,” I said honestly. “Mostly from the world at large. It seems people might want to do me harm.”

Lola still didn’t let up but shook her head. “Nothing to protect you from here.”

“It’s not up to you, Lola. Or Eric. It’s part of the tour.” Rain defended. “Can’t we have a nice visit?”

She shrugged. “I don’t see what there is to protect, but…”

“Now, Lola,” Rain began. “Stop it. Or we’ll head off now. I won’t be back for a year…”

“A year! You were gone for several years…”

“I was on duty.” Rain said, then sighed. “I was serving our country overseas and you know it. I wrote every week, so cool it.”

She looked at him. “So you can go to school. You can have a nice life here.”

“I want my own life. Not yours.” He reached and took my arm. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll quit.” Lola agreed relenting. “Not another word. I promise.” She looked at me. “Well, at least he’s nice looking.”

“Lola!” Rain put out.

The whole thing could have been serious if it weren’t so funny. I had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing. It was when I was helping her with dinner preparations that I asked her why she was so against someone having a relationship.

“All men lie.” She said a little more angry than normal. “They lie and leave.”

“I don’t,” I said softly.

She laughed. “If you and Rain are together in a month, I’ll be surprised. Every man I’ve known lie and leave. Rain’s father did, his grandfather, my father.”

Rain, who had been setting the table had come in at the last part of the conversation. “Great-grandpa died, Lola.”

Lola nodded. “In a war. He said he would be back. He lied. He went to fight a war and died. He shouldn’t have gone.”

Rain walked over. “He was drafted, Lola. He had to go, or break the law.”

“He could have gone to Canada, anywhere.” Lola defended. “They all leave. Your grandfather did.”

Rain’s brow furrowed. “I thought you didn’t know.”

Lola shrugged. “I don’t, but they all left.”

After a few minutes of silence. “I was married. To a woman I loved, but she lied to me. I could, and probably have blamed all women because of what she did. She cheated on me. Now, if I let that happen over and over again, I would blame all women, but I try not to. At least give me a chance to prove otherwise. I love Rain and I can’t see me hurting him ever.”

She regarded me a moment, then nodded.

In the room she’d put us, Rain was getting ready for bed. I was looking through some pictures of Rain.

“Damn, you had long hair,” I commented.

He looked at the one I was pointing to. He chuckled. “I did. I had my first haircut at five.”

My brows rose. “Five!?”

He nodded and lay beside me.

I looked at another and was startled. There was Rain. High school prom? In a dress!! “What the…”

Rain chuckled. “Don’t get twisted.” He said. “A friend of mine had wanted to bring his date, who was a guy. Well, the principal made this decree. Every guy was to wear a tux and every girl had to be in a dress. One tux and one dress. That was the rule. So, my buddies and I went, in dresses.”

I looked at this young man, a teenager and with his hair longer than I would have liked and in the dress. “Well, it was a nice dress.”

“Thanks.” Rain pulled the photos away. “How about a little fantasy satisfaction?” He grinned.

“What fantasy?”

He shrugged. “Doing it in my room.”

“Doing what?” I pretended.

He kissed me. “You’ll see.”

At the end of the next day, Lola was a lot sweeter and nicer. Still, we had to go.

“Twenty-five cities!?” Lola said when we told her.

I nodded. “In a year.”

Rain kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll get you something from each one.”

She patted him lightly in the chest. “Just come back, that’s all I want.”

“I plan to.” Rain promised. “We’ll both be back.” He kissed her again and got in.