A DOLL NAMED LOUISE….
Tuesday, July 12th, 2005
As a joke, my brother used to hang a pair of panty hose
over his fireplace before Christmas. He said all he wanted
was for Santa to fill them.
What they say about Santa checking the list twice must be
true because every Christmas morning, although Jay’s kids’
stockings were overflowed, his poor panty hose hung sadly
empty and grew increasingly threadbare.
One year I decided to make his dream come true. I put on
sunglasses and a fake beard and went in search of an
inflatable love doll. Of course, they don’t sell those
things at Wal-mart.
I had to go to an adult bookstore downtown. If you’ve
never been in an X-rated store, don’t go. You’ll only
confuse yourself. I was there almost three hours saying
things like, “What does this do?” “You’re kidding me!”
“Who owns that?” “Do you have their phone number?”
Finally, I made it to the inflatable doll section. I
wanted to buy a standard, uncomplicated doll suitable
for a night of romance that could also substitute as
a passenger in my truck so I could use the car pool
lane during rush hour. I’m not sure what a complicated
doll is.
Perhaps one that is subject to wild mood shifts and
using a French accent for no reason at all. (That also
describes a few ex-girlfriends.)
Finding what I wanted was difficult. Love dolls come in
many different models. The top of the line, according to
the side of the box, could do things I’d only seen in a
book on animal husbandry.
I figured the “vibro-motion” was a feature Jay could
live without, so I settled for Lovable Louise. She was
at the bottom of the price scale. To call Louise a
“doll” took a huge leap of imagination.
On Christmas Eve, with the help of an old bicycle pump,
Louise came to life. My sister-in-law was in on the plan
and cleverly left the front door key hidden under the mat.
In the wee morning hours, long after Santa had come and
gone, I snuck into the house and filled the dangling panty
hose with Louise’s pliant legs and bottom. I also ate some
cookies and drank what remained of a glass of milk on a
nearby tray. Then I let myself out, went home, and giggled
for a couple of hours.
The next morning my brother called to say that Santa had
been to his house and left a present that had made him
VERY happy but had left the dog confused. He would bark,
start to walk away, then come back and bark some more.
I suggested he purchase an inflatable Lassie to set Rover
straight.
We also agreed that Louise should remain in her panty
hose so the rest of the family could admire her when they
came over for the traditional Christmas dinner. It seemed
like a great idea, except that we forgot that Grandma and
Grandpa would be there.
My grandmother noticed Louise the moment she walked in
the door. “What the hell is that?” she asked.
My brother quickly explained. “It’s a doll.”
“Who would play with something like that?” Granny snapped.
I had several candidates in mind, but kept my mouth shut.
“Where are her clothes?”
Granny continued. I hadn’t seen any in the box, but I kept
this information to myself.
“Boy, that turkey sure smells nice, Gran,” Jay said, trying
to steer her into the dining room. But Granny was relentless.
“Why doesn’t she have any teeth?” Again, I could have
answered, but why would I? It was Christmas and no one
wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance saying, “Hang
on Granny, Hang on!”
My grandfather, a delightful old man with poor eyesight,
sidled up to me and said,” Hey, who’s the naked gal by
the fireplace?”
I told him she was Jay’s friend. A few minutes later I
noticed Grandpa by the mantel, talking to Louise. Not just
talking, but actually flirting. It was then that we
realized this might be Grandpa’s last Christmas at home.
The dinner went well. We made the usual small talk about
who had died, who was dying, and who should be killed,
when suddenly Louise made a noise that sounded a lot
like my father in the bathroom in the morning. Then she
lurched from the panty hose, flew around the room twice,
and fell in a heap in front of the sofa.
The cat screamed, I passed cranberry sauce through my nose,
and Grandpa ran across the room, fell to his knees, and
began administering mouth to mouth resuscitation.
My brother wet his pants and Granny threw down her napkin,
stomped out of the room, and sat in the car.
It was indeed a Christmas to treasure and remember.
Later in my brother’s garage, we conducted a thorough
examination to decide the cause of Louise’s collapse. We
discovered that Louise had suffered from a hot ember to
the back of her right thigh. Fortunately, thanks to a
wonder drug called duct tape, we restored her to perfect
health.
Louise went on to star in several bachelor party movies.
I think Grandpa still calls her whenever he can get out
of the house.