Music for Chameleons (26 page)

I called Mrs. Bennett, who was very excited: “Oh, honey, they’re looking for you everywhere! It’s all on the TV!” I decided it was better not to let her know where I was, but assured her I was all right and would call again tomorrow. Then I telephoned a close friend in Los Angeles; he was excited, too: “Your picture is in the
Examiner
!” After calming him down, I gave specific instructions: buy a ticket for a “George Thomas” on a nonstop flight to New York, and expect me at his house by ten o’clock the next morning.

I was too cold and hungry to sleep; I left at daybreak, and reached Los Angeles around nine. My friend was waiting for me. We left the Chevrolet at his house, and after wolfing down some sandwiches and as much brandy as I could safely contain, we drove in his car to the airport, where we said goodbye and he gave me the ticket for the noon flight he had booked for me on TWA.

So that’s how I happen now to be huddled in this forsaken telephone booth, sitting here contemplating my predicament. A clock above the departure gate announces the hour: 11:35. The passenger area is crowded; soon the plane will be ready for
boarding. And there, standing on either side of the gate through which I must pass, are two of the gentlemen who had visited me in Palm Springs, two tall watchful detectives from San Diego.

I considered calling my friend, asking him to return to the airport and pick me up somewhere in the parking lot. But he’d already done enough, and if we were caught, he could be accused of harboring a fugitive. That held true for all the many friends who might be willing to assist me. Perhaps it would be wisest to surrender myself to the guardians at the gate. Otherwise, what? Only a miracle, to coin a phrase, was going to save me. And we don’t believe in miracles, do we?

Suddenly a miracle occurs.

There, striding past my tiny glass-doored prison, is a haughty, beautiful black Amazon wearing a zillion dollars’ worth of diamonds and golden sable, a star surrounded by a giddy, chattering entourage of gaudily dressed chorus boys. And who is this dazzling apparition whose plumage and presence are creating such a commotion among the passers-by? A friend! An old, old friend!

TC
(opening the booth’s door; shouting):
Pearl!
Pearl Bailey! (A miracle! She
hears
me. All of them do, her whole entourage) Pearl! Please come here …

PEARL
(squinting at me, then erupting into a radiant grin): Why, baby! What you doing hiding in there?

TC
(beckoning her to come closer; whispering): Pearl, listen. I’m in a terrific jam.

PEARL
(immediately serious, for she is a very intelligent woman, and at once understood that whatever this was, it wasn’t funny): Tell it to me.

TC:
Are you on that plane to New York?

PEARL:
Yeah, we all are.

TC:
I’ve got to get on it, Pearl. I have a ticket. But there’re two guys waiting at the gate to stop me.

PEARL:
Which guys? (I pointed them out) How can they stop you?

TC:
They’re detectives. Pearl, I haven’t got time to explain all this …

PEARL:
You don’t have to explain nothing.

(She surveyed her troupe of handsome young black chorus boys; she had a half-dozen—Pearl, I remembered, always liked to travel with a lot of company. She motioned to one of them to join us; he was a sleek number sporting a yellow cowboy hat, a sweatshirt that said SUCK DAMMIT, DONT BLOW, a white leather windbreaker with an ermine lining, yellow jitterbug pants [circa 1940], and yellow wedgies.)

This is Jimmy. He’s a little bigger than you, but I think it’ll all fit. Jimmy, take my friend here to the men’s room and change clothes with him. Jimmy, don’t flap your yap, just do like Pearlie-Mae say. We’ll wait right here for you. Now hurry up! Ten more minutes and we’ll miss that plane.

(The distance between the telephone booth and the men’s room was a ten-yard dash. We locked ourselves into a pay toilet and started our wardrobe exchange. Jimmy thought it was a riot: he was giggling like a schoolgirl who’s just puffed her first joint. I said: “Pearl! That really was a miracle. I’ve never been so happy to see someone. Never.” Jimmy said: “Oh, Miss Bailey’s got spirit. She’s all heart, know what I mean? All heart.”

There was a time when I would have disagreed with him, a time when I would have described Pearl Bailey as a heartless bitch. That was when she was playing the part of Madame Fleur, the principal role in
House of
Flowers
, a musical play for which I had written the book and, with Harold Arlen, co-authored the lyrics. There were many gifted men attached to that endeavor: the director was Peter Brook; the choreographer, George Balanchine; Oliver Messel was responsible for the legendarily enchanting décor and costumes. But Pearl Bailey was so strong, so determined to have her way, that she dominated the entire production, much to its ultimate detriment. However, live and learn, forgive and forget, and by the time the play ended its Broadway run, Pearl and I were friends again. Aside from her skill as a performer, I’d come to respect her character; it might occasionally be unpleasant to deal with, but certainly she had it: she was a woman of character—one knew who she was and where she stood.

As Jimmy was squeezing into my trousers, which were embarrassingly too tight for him, and as I was slipping on his white leather ermine-lined windbreaker, there was an agitated knock at the door.)

MAN’S VOICE:
Hey! What’s goin’ on in there?

JIMMY:
And just
who
are
you
, pray tell?

MAN’S VOICE:
I’m the attendant. And don’t sass me. What’s goin’ on in there is against the law.

JIMMY:
No shit?

ATTENDANT:
I see four feet in there. I see clothes comin’ off. You think I’m too stupid I don’t know what’s goin’ on? It’s against the law. It’s against the law for two men to lock themselves in the same toilet at the same time.

JIMMY:
Aw, shove it up your ass.

ATTENDANT:
I’ll get the cops. They’ll hand you an L and L.

JIMMY:
What the hell’s an L and L?

ATTENDANT:
Lewd and lascivious conduct. Yessir. I’ll get the cops.

TC:
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary—

ATTENDANT:
Open that door!

TC:
You’ve got it all wrong.

ATTENDANT:
I know what I see. I see four feet.

TC:
We’re changing our costumes for the next scene.

ATTENDANT:
Next scene what?

TC:
The movie. We’re getting ready to shoot the next scene.

ATTENDANT
(curious and impressed): They’re making a movie out there?

JIMMY
(catching on): With Pearl Bailey. She’s the star. Marlon Brando, he’s in it, too.

TC:
Kirk Douglas.

JIMMY
(biting his knuckles to keep from laughing): And Shirley Temple. She’s making her comeback.

ATTENDANT
(believing, yet not believing): Yeah, well, who are you?

TC:
We’re just extras. That’s why we don’t have a dressing room.
ATTENDANT:
I don’t care. Two men, four feet. It’s against the law.

JIMMY:
Look outside. You’ll see Pearl Bailey in person. Marlon Brando. Kirk Douglas. Shirley Temple. Mahatma Gandhi—she’s in it, too. Just a cameo.

ATTENDANT:
Who?

JIMMY:
Mamie Eisenhower.

TC
(opening the door, having completed the transference of clothing; my stuff doesn’t look too bad on Jimmy, but I suspect that his outfit, as worn by me, will produce a galvanizing effect, and the expression on the attendant’s face, a bristling short black man, confirms this expectation): Sorry. We didn’t realize we were doing anything against the rules.

JIMMY
(regally sweeping past the attendant, who seems too befuddled to budge): Follow us, sweetheart. We’ll introduce you to the gang. You can get some autographs.

(At last we were in the corridor, and an unsmiling Pearl wrapped her sable-soft arms around me; her companions closed about us in a concealing circle. There were no jokes or jesting. My nerves sizzled like a cat just hit by lightning, and as for Pearl, the qualities about her that had once alarmed me—that strength, that self-will—were flowing through her like power from a waterfall.)

PEARL:
From now on keep quiet. Whatever I say, don’t you say anything. Tuck the hat more over your face. Lean on me like you’re weak and sick. Lean your face against my shoulder. Close your eyes. Let me lead you.

All right. We’re moving now toward the counter. Jimmy has all the tickets. They’ve already announced the last boarding call, so there aren’t too many people around. Those gumshoes haven’t moved an inch, but they seem tired and kind of disgusted. They’re looking at us now. Both of them. When we pass between them the boys will distract them and start jabbering. Here comes somebody. Lean closer, groan a little—it’s one of those VIP guys from TWA. Watch Mama go into her act … (Changing voice, impersonating her theatrical self, simultaneously droll and drawling and slightly flaky) Mr. Calloway? Like in Cab? Well, aren’t you just an angel to help us out. And we surely could use some help. We need to get on that plane just as fast as possible. My friend here—he’s one of my musicians—he’s feeling something terrible. Can’t hardly walk. We’ve been playing Vegas, and maybe he got too much sun. Sun can addle your brain and your stomach both. Or maybe it’s his diet. Musicians eat funny. Piano players in particular. He won’t eat hardly anything but hot dogs. Last night he ate ten hot dogs. Now, that’s just not healthy. I’m not surprised he feels poisoned. Are you surprised, Mr. Calloway? Well, I don’t suppose very much surprises you, being in the airplane business. All this hijacking
that’s going on. Criminals afoot all over the place. Soon as we get to New York, I’m taking my friend straight to the doctor. I’m going to tell the doctor to tell him to stay out of the sun and stop eating hot dogs. Oh, thank you, Mr. Calloway. No, I’ll take the aisle. We’ll put my friend in the window seat. He’ll be better off by the window. All that fresh air.

Okay, Buster. You can open your eyes now.

TC:
I think I’ll keep them closed. It makes it seem more like a dream.

PEARL
(relaxed, chuckling): Anyway, we made it. Your friends never even saw you. As we went by, Jimmy goosed one, and Billy stomped on the other guy’s toes.

TC:
Where is Jimmy?

PEARL:
All the kids go economy. Jimmy’s duds do something for you. Pep you up. I like the wedgies especially—just love ’em.

STEWARDESS:
Good morning, Miss Bailey. Would you care for a glass of champagne?

PEARL:
No, honey. But maybe my friend could use something.

TC:
Brandy.

STEWARDESS:
I’m sorry, sir, but we only serve champagne until after takeoff.

PEARL:
The man wants brandy.

STEWARDESS:
I’m sorry, Miss Bailey. It’s not permitted.

PEARL
(in a smooth yet metallic tone familiar to me from
House of Flowers
rehearsals): Bring the man his brandy. The whole bottle. Now.

(The stewardess brought the brandy, and I poured myself a hefty dose with an unsteady hand: hunger, fatigue, anxiety, the dizzying events of the last twenty-four hours were presenting their bill. I treated myself to another drink and began to feel a bit lighter.)

TC:
I suppose I ought to tell you what this is all about.

PEARL:
Not necessarily.

TC:
Then I won’t. That way you’ll have a free conscience. I’ll just say that I haven’t done anything a sensible person would classify as criminal.

PEARL
(consulting a diamond wristwatch): We should be over Palm Springs by now. I heard the door close ages ago. Stewardess!

STEWARDESS:
Yes, Miss Bailey?

PEARL:
What’s going on?

STEWARDESS:
Oh, there’s the captain now—

CAPTAIN’S VOICE
(over loudspeaker): Ladies and gentlemen, we regret the delay. We should be departing shortly. Thank you for your patience.

TC:
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary.

PEARL:
Have another slug. You’re shaking. You’d think it was a first night. I mean, it can’t be
that
bad.

TC:
It’s worse. And I can’t stop shaking—not till we’re in the air. Maybe not till we land in New York.

PEARL:
You still living in New York?

TC:
Thank God.

PEARL:
You remember Louis? My husband?

TC:
Louis Bellson. Sure. The greatest drummer in the world. Better than Gene Krupa.

PEARL:
We both work Vegas so much, it made sense to buy a house there. I’ve become a real homebody. I do a lot of cooking. I’m writing a cookbook. Living in Vegas is just like living anywhere else, as long as you stay away from the undesirables.
Gamblers
. Unemployeds. Any time a man says to me he’d work if he could find a job, I always tell him to look in the phone book under G. G for gigolo. He’ll find work. In Vegas, anyways. That’s a town of desperate women. I’m lucky; I found the right man and had the sense to know it.

TC:
Are you going to work in New York?

PEARL:
Persian Room.

CAPTAIN’S VOICE:
I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but we’ll be delayed a few minutes longer. Please remain seated. Those who care to smoke may do so.

PEARL
(suddenly stiffening): I don’t like this. They’re opening the door.