Capital Sins (28 page)

'But ...
you might never find her, Connie.'

'I will, if
it takes me a lifetime. I must, don't you see?' She crossed over to him and
touched his shoulder. He brushed her hand with his cheek. He raised his eyes
and she smiled. 'She's my only hope, wouldn't you agree? She'll be my reason
for living.'

He left her
then, for there was nothing more to say.

Five
thousand miles away, another country, another generation, the spotlights were
on Tamara Came. She finished her song and left the stage to a smattering of
applause. The night club would be more crowded later. She went backstage to her
tiny dressing room which always smelt stuffy from sweat and heavy perfumes. It
was a sweltering evening, and Tamara flung open the window to let in some fresh
air. The breeze that entered was sharp and tangy from the sea, and she breathed
deeply, trying to get the fumes of cheap cigar and cigarette smoke from her
lungs. She leant on the window sill and stared up at the amazingly vivid
blue-black sky. It was impossible to count the stars. It was a beautiful night.

The club,
in which she worked as a singer, was just one of many others situated in the
same squalid, narrow alleys leading from the docks. It was a sleazy
establishment, but no worse than all the others in the area. Tamara Came had
worked there for over a year, and before that had sung in a similar club
nearby. They were all the same to her. Tamara didn't care where she worked as
long as she made money, and she always
mad
.!
enough
to live on, one way or another. She had wanted to
sing as long as she could remember and even her folks at home had not been able
to stop their adopted daughter from doing what she wanted. A gambler for a
father and a genteel, ladylike prostitute for a mother – what a couple! Christ,
but it was good to be away from the lash of his tongue and the incessant whines
of Mrs Came which had got worse as Tamara grew older and Mr Came grew poorer.

She lay
down on the rickety bed and lit herself a joint, breathing in deeply as she
smoked. The faded, yellowy nets that hung at the window billowed gently inwards
from the salty breeze, cooling the girl's sticky skin as she tried to relax
before the next show. The nights were always hot and sultry, heavy and
oppressive, and Tamara reckoned she was lucky that the room faced the sea.

The
hootings
from the tugs in the harbour afforded her ears no
peace. Flicking the stub through the window, Tamara went to sit at her dresser
and pinned up her long, blonde hair to allow some coolness on to her neck. Her
skin still felt damp, so she shrugged off the costume she wore for her act and
slipped into a cotton housecoat.
cut
low to reveal a
deep cleavage of which she was proud. She lifted the material from her breasts
and blew downwards, then fanned the air with her hand. Blasted fan never worked
when you wanted it to, she thought grumpily, and thought of the cold,
refreshing shower she would have later. When there was a knock at her door, she
sat up straighter and pulled the still revealing housecoat closer around her
slim shoulders.

'Yeah?'

'It's only
me,
Miz
Tammy. Jim.

'What
d'you
want?' she asked as he entered. 'I
ain't
on for another hour. Can't a girl get some peace when
she wants it around here?'

Jim, one of
the Negro bartenders, eyed her heavy breasts appreciatively, but his voice was
as polite as ever when he said:

'
Dere's
a visitor for you in de bar.'

Tamara
wagged her finger at him cutely, the silver frosted nail varnish she wore
sparkling in the
light.'Now
. Jim, I told you that I
size up the customers on my own. I don't allow just any old person to take out
Tamara Carne, you know that!'

Jim wagged
his big head. '
T'aint
a customer,
Miz
Tammy; is the sea captain you
waz
so fond of. He's
come back. His ship sailed in a while back in de port.'

Impulsively,
Tamara stood up and raised her hand to her mouth unbelievingly. Her eyes
shined.

'The Captain?
Here?'

The waiter
smiled broadly.
showing
large white teeth. 'He said
he'd
a be
back now,
di'n
he?'

Tamara
breathed out slowly. 'Yeah, but I didn't believe it. Where is he, Jim?'

'
Havin
'
hisself
a
quiet drink at de bar.'

Tamara
looked flustered. '
Jeeze
, anyone can get to him
there, and I bet that that Sophie's already showing him her tits. Bring him to
me here, Jim.
Quick now!'

'Yes, Miss
Tammy.'

When he'd
gone, she sat down at the dresser again, fluffed out the ruffles on her gown,
wished she had time to change, decided it didn't matter, and quickly ran a comb
through her shiny hair. She went to recline on the bed, changed her mind, and
positioned herself strategically before the window to wait for her man.

When the
expected knock came, she cleared her throat and lowered the tone of her voice
to a well-rehearsed sexy drawl.

'Come in.'

In two
strides, the Captain was before her and she was in his arms and being kissed as
if there were no tomorrow. When she found her breath and could speak, she
smiled up at him from the warmth of his strong arms.

'Been a
long time, Yank,' she
sai
<
i
huskily. 'I missed you terribly.'

'A might
too long a time,' he agreed, his eyes hungrily devouring her lovely face. 'And
I
ain't
leaving you behind this time when I sail,
gal.'

'Aw, honey,
do you really mean it? You'll take me with you?'

'Tammy, I'm
asking you to be my wife. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you for
months.'

'Same here,
darlin
',' she said softly. 'Kiss me again.'

When they
parted, he smiled into her violet-coloured eyes. 'I didn't tell you how good
you look, and how fresh and pretty you smell.' He frowned. 'You know, you sure
do remind me of someone, Tammy. Something about your face
...
'

'Some other girl in another port, perhaps?'
Tamara said jealously, her eyes
clouding. 'I don't
wanna
know about her, not now I'm
gonna
be your girl.'

'No one has
ever been
so
important to me as you, my lovely. No
need to go green inside.'

She moved
closer to him, rotating her hips against him lewdly,
her
eyes laughing at the expression her movement caused. 'Do I turn you on, old
man?' Tamara said throatily.

'You know
you do, honey.' He laughed.
'And not so much of the old.'
He kissed her possessively and any lingering image of the other face was
obliterated as Captain Alan Ho made love to his Tammy Came.

If you enjoyed
Capitol Sins
perhaps you’ll like:

Travel and the Single Girl

Jenny
Stallard

Chapter one

Travel
And
The Single Girl

Welcome. If you’ve booked a ticket to
go travelling and you’re a single girl, you are now a member of an exclusive
club that many dream of joining but only the very amazing and fabulous actually
sign up. Congratulations! You’re so brave! Heard that phrase yet? If you
haven’t, you will. “
Ooooh
, you’re SO brave! I wish I
was you!”

You might not be feeling that brave
right now. After getting confirmation of my ticket I felt… petrified, crazy,
reckless… petrified! And then straight away, people are so excited because
you’re doing something they would love to do. They’re instantly living through
you and your adventures.
Errr
, no pressure then…

Brave. Firemen and soldiers are brave.
Going on a three month jolly never seemed brave to me.
Reckless,
naughty, silly, fun.
But not brave.
Until someone says
it.
And another person says it. Then you start to think about it. Then
you start bricking yourself. Thanks stay-at-homers. Is this their little nudge
to make themselves feel better? Of course they actually admire you but it’s
likely you don’t believe that yet because you’re caught up in the web of denial
that you’re just off on a little trip. But as the days go by, you realise that
you’ve booked a ticket to the other side of the world.
A
ticket for one.
And while everyone says it’s exciting and they’d like it
to be them, they’re not the one trying to get ten dresses and minimum make up
(ok, and a pair of easy-dry trousers that zip off at the knee, but we can’t
bring ourselves to talk about that just yet) into a 70 litre backpack.

In those final weeks, days and hours
you must perform a ritual superseded only by those of the indigenous people of
the countries you are going to visit. Please pay attention as you may be a
frequent traveller, but all trips are different.

You’re at a crossroads, and while you know,
deep in your heart, that you want to walk forwards, there still is that feeling
that for some reason, backwards, left and right seem like they need double
checking one last time. What if… you’d stayed in your job? You’d have been
running the place by Christmas!
OMG,
should have
stayed! Missed out on the career opportunity of a lifetime! Missed out on
..
shall
I tell you what you’ve
really missed out on? NAFF.
ALL.
Three months of
moaning, late evenings, budget cuts, management issues, jovial work nights out
and team bonding days. Admit
it,
the post arriving was
often the biggest part of the day.

So, as one friend who took herself off
to Australia for a month on her own told me, when I asked for advice about how
you do it without going into meltdown: “Two words.
Gin,
tonic.”
And so it begins, with a sip of Dutch
Courage
,
and a 70 litre bag with your entire world inside. It’s time to go travelling!

To continue reading and discover more great Endeavour Press titles, go
to:
www.endeavourpress.com