When we went out to the car, I noticed the back windows were tinted. My first thought was it was better for making out.
“We made a couple of modifications and additions. The most obvious is the back windows,” Chuck showed me, and then went to the trunk. “Tami suggested, and I agreed, you need a full first-aid bag with everything you might require.”
Tami opened it up and showed me all the supplies. I hated to think what all this had cost me.
Chuck pointed out another box that looked like it was bolted down inside the trunk. It had a combination lock and then you had to use your thumbprint to open it. It was a gun safe. It had two slots for pistols plus room for your ammo.
After the tour of the car, we went to Emeril’s. The chef and owner was Emeril Lagasse. He was a famous TV chef who when cooking would add his special spice and shout, ‘Bam!’ I talked Tami into sharing the barbecue shrimp appetizer. Chuck and Tiffany went for gumbo. For dinner, I tried his andouille-crusted drum. Tami loved the grilled pork chop, while our other couple shared the whole truffle-fried chicken for two. For dessert, I ordered the cinnamon cheesecake. The other three were talked into the banana cream pie.
They about had to wheel us out of there. If this was any indication of what we could expect as far as cuisine in New Orleans, we were each going to gain ten pounds this week.
When we finished, everyone else wanted to go out, but I was done. I wanted to go back, swim in the pool, and then relax in the hot tub. I planned to be in bed early. Tami called Kendal and Cora, who decided they wanted to join Tami, Tiffany, and Chuck, so when we pulled up, I got out and the two ladies got in. I had a big smile on my face as Chuck pulled out of the drop-off area and you could hear the deep rumble of the Charger as it edged out into traffic. I was going to really enjoy my new car.
Wednesday June 3
I WENT TO BREAKFAST to find only Tami there.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“If I were to bet, they’re all still in bed.”
I noticed Tami looked a little rough around the edges. It looked like she had either gotten very little sleep or was hungover.
“Why, what happened last night?”
“Let me give you the good news first. Chuck and Tiffany really hit it off. They make a cute couple. I got to know Adrienne and Tyler. They love you to death and are a lot of fun. I was allowed into the bars we went to because of those two, but not allowed to drink ... much,” she said.
“What do you mean, ‘much’?” I asked
“They have this drink called a Hurricane. After watching everyone last night, I would guess it was maybe half alcohol. Did you know that if you flashed your boobs, you get beads?” she asked.
I got a mental image of Adrienne being drunk and flashing her tits to get beads. I put my head in my hands and groaned. Then I looked up expectantly.
“Tell me you got pictures.”
I could tell by the look she gave me she had, but she wasn’t sharing. She knew Adrienne was one of my dream crushes. Heck, Tami got me magazines with Adrienne in them for my birthday. Then I realized it wasn’t just Adrienne she would have pictures of. She might have some of the rest of the girls, including Kendal.
“I know what you’re getting me for my birthday,” I told her.
“We’ll see. Anyways, now for the bad news. We invited Sandy to join us and she showed up with Devin, Lou, and Caryn.”
My birthday present was sounding better and better if those two were there and flashed their breasts.
“Did Caryn and Sandy get any beads?”
“And the Ferrell twins. Now stop worrying about boobs and focus. You have a potential problem. Cora made her move on Devin in the middle of a bar,” she said cryptically.
“Just tell me.”
“I couldn’t see for sure, but it looked like she went down on him. All I know is they suddenly had to leave. Both of them were drunk out of their minds.”
“Great. What time did you get in?” I asked, trying not to worry about Cora.
“I got to bed about four in the morning. Chuck and I had to help most of them home. It’s good that we’re all staying here. I would bet the twins are a no-show today. The last I saw, they both had their heads in a toilet.”
“Damn it. We’re supposed to meet in the lobby in forty minutes to go to Lake Pontchartrain.”
TAMI AND I WERE IN the lobby when Chuck pulled up in an extended van. I was surprised when the twins showed up. They looked like hell. I had to give them some respect for at least trying. Sandy, Adrienne, Tiffany and Kendal rounded out our group. Cora was missing in action.
I was in the back seat between Tami and Kendal. I decided to play dumb and see what info I could get out of everyone else.
“So, what did you guys end up doing last night?”
Tami gave me a shot in the ribs, but I wanted to hear this.
“Oh, we went to a couple of places in the French Quarter, listened to some music, and basically kicked back and relaxed,” Sandy ventured.
“Abby, you don’t look so well, are you okay?” I asked with some real concern.
“Chuck, you might want to pull over,” Adrienne suggested.
The twins both got out when he stopped. I turned away because I have a weak stomach. Chuck stopped at a drug store and purchased Gatorade, antacids and aspirin. We then stopped at a drive-through so everyone could get something in their stomach.
I could tell no one was in the mood to talk about last night, so I let it go. I had the rest of the week to get dirt on what happened.
THE TWINS WENT INTO makeup looking like a wreck and came out better than fine. They even had a bounce in their step. We were going to start by kayaking. I was confused when I saw Adrienne was suddenly livid. I don’t remember ever seeing her get seriously mad before. I mean, I’d been around her enough to see her get irritated, and it wasn’t always because of me. This was different.
I was even more surprised when I saw she was mad at Abby and Andi. She marched them off to makeup and I heard raised voices. It didn’t look like they were coming back anytime soon, so I went ahead and got into the kayak. Normally Lou showed me what to do. Luckily, Sandy taught me enough so I wouldn’t drown.
The next segment was going to be canoeing and I was surprised when Adrienne got in the canoe with me.
“Do I dare ask?”
“I’ll tell you later. Kara will be here this afternoon, and she and I will finish the shoot,” Adrienne partially explained.
Obviously, the twins weren’t going to finish the week. I wondered what had set Adrienne off like that.
KARA SHOWED UP LATE in the afternoon. Adrienne and I had just gotten done riding on Jet Skis. I saw Cora and Devin finally make an appearance. Neither one of them would look me in the eye. I wondered what Devin would get me for this one. I was thinking he should give me his corporate jet since he’d gotten laid this time. For once I kept my snarky remarks to myself.
We didn’t get a chance to talk because Adrienne and I had to change clothes. We spent the rest of the afternoon fishing. We were using shrimp as bait and were catching speckled trout that were keepers in anybody’s book. I probably caught close to forty fish over the next two hours. I wasn’t surprised when I saw most everyone else out on boats fishing with us towards the end.
Kara had the most excitement when she hooked a bull shark. It was about four feet long. When it got close to the boat, it shook the hook. That was for the best, as there was no way I wanted to land that beast.
ADRIENNE TOOK DEVIN, Sandy and me to dinner.