The Bouncing Buns Gentleman's Club

Chapter 5

Beverly was awakened by the roar of heavy rain pounding the deck and cabin of the boat. A squall had moved into the area overnight and was in the process of dumping a torrent of water on Clear Lake. She loved sleeping to the sound of rain hitting the boat and looked forward to these short downpours, except for times when she'd been caught out in one. Besides, she knew the area needed fresh water. It would rinse everything down, including her boat, which was a good thing.

The water in Clear Lake was anything but clear and Beverly hoped that all the rain would wash some of the muck away for a day or so. At best, it looked like watered down split pea soup most of the time. The lake was fed by Clear Creek and seemed to be more of a bay off Galveston Bay than a lake.

It was separated from the main bay by a channel that meandered in an S-like fashion as it passed under the Route 146 bridge. Just beyond the bridge was the outlet into Galveston Bay at Kemah Boardwalk, which saw hundreds of boats each week heading into the main bay leading to Galveston and the Bolivar Peninsula. Beyond that, was the Gulf of Mexico, what the mariners call "blue water."

Beverly had long suspected some of the lake's nauseating greenish color was algae, well-fed by the illegal dumping of a boat's holding tank every once in awhile. She couldn't understand why anyone, let alone people wealthy enough to own boats there, would dump their sewage into the marina, only to eventually have the stuff float around everyone's boats. She had decided it was likely a weekender issue, as she rarely noticed it at times other than late Sundays, or early Monday morning.

The downpour was letting up some just as Beverly was forced to make the decision to leave for work regardless of getting soaked. It could be a long and potentially dangerous run down the pier to her car. There was usually plenty of stuff on the pier to slide on and always the danger of going over the edge and having pea soup for breakfast. She'd seen just about everything on the pier at one time or another, from fish that had the misfortune to jump out of the water at the wrong time, to gull goo. Beverly had even been bombed once by a passing gull during an unlucky walk one afternoon.

The rain squalls in the Clear Lake area didn't seem to last long, but they dumped a lot of water before moving on and leaving the air like a steam bath afterward. Her decision to wear her blond hair short and straight had been a good one.

Heaven help girls with curls around here, she thought.

Once off the pier, Beverly ran to her white BMW Z4 and jumped in for the short drive to the clinic. This was the car she'd dreamed of owning all through training, but just out of residency and with money still tight, she had to settle for pre-owned. After a few minutes, Beverly arrived at the underground parking for her building just as the rain was starting to let up.

Go figure, she muttered.

Inside the clinic, Beverly was shocked to see that the reception area was nearly empty for seven forty-five. She'd arrived at the office a little later than usual due to the rain and the intake area should have been bustling by then.

Typical Friday, she thought somewhat annoyed. Everyone is always too eager to get their weekend started to keep a Friday appointment. Few of them were able to work, and with little money, what could they be doing? She remained perplexed.

"Happy Friday, Dr. Anderson," Sue said in her somewhat loud and overly animated voice. Beverly was continually irritated by Sue's bubbly personality when she often had a hard time even putting on a happy face this early.

Thinking, how does she do it? She said, "Hello, Sue, what does the schedule look like today?"

Beverly was secretly hoping for a light one, but felt conflicted as she knew her clients needed to be seen. An easy day would be nice after one of my weeks, she thought.