Page 67 of Precise Justice

“Saturday night. The place will be crowded. He won’t do a thing. We’ll confront him with the photos and Holly. I’ll get Naomi to come with. She’s a big girl.”

Stephanie was alone in her car with the duty to follow Junior Bonner Saturday evening. It was easy enough. She saw him leave his home after 7:00. He picked up his gay friend then took the direct route to the nightclub.

There was a line at the door. A cold, snowy, December night was not the place to stand outside in a line, especially for girls in skimpy, stylish dresses and heels.

Junior and partner were two people ahead of Stephanie. Even if they saw her, they would not know her. While she waited in the slow-moving line, Stephanie made a very brief call to Robbie.

Once inside, Stephanie held out a fifty-dollar bill to the hostess and said, “I need a table for five.”

The hostess, an attractive woman who looked Stephanie over with a come hither look, took the fifty.

“Right this way, doll,” the hostess said.

While she led Stephanie to the table, Stephanie looked for Junior. When they reached the table, she spotted him. The two of them had been given a table for two. It was under a faux palm tree along the back wall.

Perfect, Stephanie thought.

At the table, the hostess held a chair for Stephanie. As she placed a reserved sign on the table, she whispered, “If you’re not with anyone, maybe later?”

“Oh, sorry. I am. But I’ll keep it in mind,” Stephanie said.

“Sweet,” the hostess smiled, winked then walked off.

It was thirty minutes before the others showed up. Stephanie, of course, had been watching both Junior, his friend and the entrance. She finally saw them being escorted by the lesbian hostess.

Robbie sat down next to Stephanie. When she did, with the hostess still watching, Stephanie leaned into Robbie and kissedher on the lips. When she saw this, instead of annoying the hostess, the woman winked and smiled at her.

“What?” Robbie asked. It was too early for the music so conversing was easy.

Stephanie explained it, which produced a laugh.

“How much is a Coke?” Holly asked.

“Twelve dollars,” Stephanie answered.

“Twelve dollars, for a Coke?” Naomi asked.

“Yep, they assume you’re gonna fill it with booze,” Robbie replied.

“This place is a cash machine. We should open one ourselves,” Amanda said.

“There he is,” Holly quietly said, ignoring the conversation, staring at Junior.

They ordered soft drinks and watched the crowd. All the time Holly continued to stare at Junior.

“Stop, he’ll notice it,” Amanda told Holly.

“I want to hurt him, hurt him bad,” Holly replied.

“How do we want to do this?” Robbie asked.

“We go over to his table, tell the boyfriend to get lost and drop the photos in front of him,” Amanda said.

“Let’s drop the photos in front of him first,” Naomi said. “Don’t give him a chance to deny it. Throw it in his face.”

“What if he doesn’t care?” Stephanie asked.

“He’ll care,” Robbie said. “He’s one of those macho guys. He acts like that to cover up for being gay. Let’s just go over and do it. Like Naomi said, throw the photos in his face. Threaten to put them on the internet.”