The Girl Is Murder (16 page)

Suze grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the doors, freeing my hand from Benny’s. “We got to make tracks, baby girl. Can you get the others, Benny?”

“I’m on it.”

We entered the stairwell, where the music dropped by several decibels. “Have a good time?” she asked.

“The best ever.”

“Looked like you and Benny were getting friendly.”

Every part of me blushed, I was certain of it. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Not as long as you don’t expect to wear his ring come Monday.”

“Oh.” So what happened with Benny wasn’t likely to happen again. I was disappointed but not completely surprised. After all, what could he see in a girl like me?

Perhaps the same thing Tom had seen in Grace?

“You’re going to be beat to the socks tomorrow.” Suze leaned toward me and took a whiff. “You’re lit.”

“Rhona gave me something.” I looked around for the flask, but it had vanished at some point during my time on the dance floor. I hoped Rhona wouldn’t be mad.

“I should’ve warned you: never take what Rhona offers.” We started down the steps, arm in arm.

A breeze greeted us outside, drying the perspiration that had turned my skin damp and clammy. As we waited for the others, we leaned against the building and took in the people still walking the streets at that late hour. Black and white, young and old, men in uniform milled about the crowd. They gave us a look that unnerved me. Didn’t they know I was only fifteen years old? Or had one kiss transformed me into someone who seemed as mature as Suze?

Suze lapped up the attention and tried to get me to return their winks and smiles. But even as looped as I was from Rhona’s booze, I wasn’t ready to cross that line.

“How you doing, doll?” asked a sailor as he passed us by.

“Never been better. How ’bout yourself?” asked Suze.

“Fine until it looked like you were leaving the party. Don’t tell me you’re cutting out.”

“If I don’t get home by twelve-thirty I turn into a pumpkin.”

“And your friend?”

I blushed as I realized he was talking about me.

“She’s my fairy godmother,” said Suze. “Wherever I go, she goes.”

“I ship out tomorrow. Don’t you want to help me celebrate my last night?”

“What’s to celebrate? You’re leaving and breaking my heart.”

“Maybe if you stick around I’ll decide to stay.”

“If you did that and we lost the war I’d never forgive myself.”

He blew her a kiss and continued on his way.

“Did you know him?” I asked.

“No.”

Would I ever feel comfortable talking to a stranger like that? I didn’t think so. “Rhona told me Tom was seeing a Chapin School girl. Grace Dunwitty.”

Suze tossed an impatient look toward the club and fished through her pocketbook. “Is Rhona still going on about that?” She did a double take. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Tom? No … I mean—”

“That’s why you’ve been asking about him. Rhona warned me, but I just assumed she was overreacting.”

So they’d talked about me after our chat at Normandie’s. “She is overreacting. Or she was. I mean, Tom was nice to me, but I knew he had a girlfriend.” She didn’t look convinced. “I know Grace. That’s why I brought it up just now. We went to school together. I was just surprised to hear he was dating her.”

“You and Rhona both.”

“So how soon after he broke up with Rhona did he start dating Grace?”

She checked the air behind us, like she was worried that Rhona was there, listening over our shoulder. “He didn’t dump Rhona. She dumped him.”

“Really?”

She lit a cigarette and blew smoke at the moon. “Hand to my heart. That’s why she was so surprised when he hooked up with the little princess right away. Rhona thought she was worth at least a week of mourning.”

“She sure seems like she regrets the breakup.”

“She was hasty, for sure. But she had her reasons.”

“That had to be hard, losing Rhona and then being tossed aside by Grace. Do you think maybe that’s why he went away?”

She cocked her head at me. “Honestly, baby, I can’t speak to what’s in his mind. If it were me and my heart were broken twice, maybe I would’ve gone away for a while to get my head in order. It’s hard to say.” She narrowed her gaze. “For someone who claims not to care, you sure ask a lot of questions.”

I wanted to tell Suze the truth. But there was no guarantee she’d keep quiet about what I was up to and there was no benefit in tipping your hand too soon. Besides, if I told her I was conducting an investigation, she might put two and two together and figure out my pop wasn’t overseas. “Sorry,” I said. “Rhona just seemed so upset tonight. I know what it’s like to say something you regret and not have a chance to apologize for it.”

Her face softened. “That’s sweet of you, baby girl. We’re not used to people giving us second chances.”

The others joined us just then, their faces slick with perspiration. Benny had his coat off and slung over his shoulder. Even though we could no longer hear the band, he danced as he moved across the sidewalk, swinging his slim hips to a tune only he could hear. The motion exaggerated the strange feminine lines of the suit, and yet seemed sexual at the same time. I felt like I was watching something forbidden. And I liked it.

“You cold?” he asked me. I was all of a sudden, so I nodded. He wrapped his jacket about my shoulders. It was so large it swallowed me whole.

Maybe Suze was wrong. Maybe that kiss had meant something to Benny.

We hailed a cab and hit the road. This time, I was one of the ones seated two by two in the back—I reclined on Benny’s lap while a drunk Rhona leaned out the window and tried to sober up with the fresh air. The journey was punctuated by laughter as everyone recalled the evening, describing dancers they’d seen, moves they’d made, and hot new songs the band had dragged out and filled the night with. Dino had a memory for music, and he sang snatches of the lyrics to refresh our memories when we couldn’t recall the pieces that had been played. Benny joined him on the melody, my back serving as his percussion section. As he played the song’s rhythm on my spine, I relaxed against him, feeling the warmth of his breath on my neck. My whole body tingled.

The trip home went much too quickly. We were dropped off in front of Normandie’s, where the street was alive with other late-night partygoers. I ponied up what money I had left to cover the cab fare and relinquished the jacket to Benny, wishing I could take it home with me and sleep with it in my arms instead of my baby blanket. Rather than dispersing right away, we all continued chatting, reluctant to call it a night. Another group of soldiers and sailors passed by, and I expected them to say something to us just like the ones in Harlem. I wondered how Benny would react if one of them flirted with me. Would he tell them to back off?

Sure enough, the group paused and looked us over. Rather than addressing Rhona, Suze, Maria, or me, though, it was the men they were interested in.

“Look,” said one of them. “Pachucos. Shouldn’t you be back in the barrio?”

“I didn’t think they had those out East,” said his friend.

“They don’t,” said a third man. “These aren’t spics, these are dagos.”

“Even better,” said the first guy. “We got us a bunch of fascists here.”

“We don’t want any trouble, man,” said Dino. “There’s no signifying going on here.”

“You should’ve thought of that before you picked out your clothes for the night. Don’t you know there’s a war on? All that fabric, all that waste.” The first guy clucked his tongue. And then he and his friends surrounded Dino. I thought they were going to beat him up, but they had something else in mind: they each grabbed ahold of his waistband and yanked down his pants.

As Dino stood on the sidewalk in his underwear, his canary pants around his ankles, the military boys turned their attention to Benny. Now that he was aware of what they were doing, he put up more of a fight. Unfortunately, he didn’t stand a chance. With five of them, and Dino momentarily restrained, Benny’s attempts to keep his pants on and retain his dignity only made things worse. They struck him repeatedly, the fists on his face sounding like a mallet hitting a bass drum. With his fight beaten out of him, they pulled off his pants and then, to add insult to injury, took his hat and threw it into the street.

The men howled with laughter and slapped each other on the back before turning and walking away.

I rushed to Benny’s side. He looked so small and defeated, as different from the boy I’d danced with as Pop was from the handsome man in uniform whose picture used to decorate our fireplace mantel. I offered him my hand, wanting to help him to his feet, but he pushed me away, insisting on standing without my assistance.

The rejection was completely understandable, and yet it broke my heart all the same.

While Maria and Rhona tended to Dino, Suze retrieved a handkerchief from her purse and moved to mop the blood from Benny’s face.

“Back off.” His voice was a growl. I was secretly glad I wasn’t the only one he was pushing away.

“Should we call the police?” I asked, wishing I could do something.

“No,” said Rhona. “They’ll only make things worse.”

I didn’t see how that was possible. Both boys were humiliated, and neither had done anything to deserve it. How was it fair to let the men responsible for it get away?

“Why did they do that?” I asked.

Suze met my eyes and shook her head. I got her meaning: not now. If you have to ask questions, save them for later.

Benny pulled his pants up and helped Dino to his feet. Without saying another word, they started their way up the block. I wanted to follow them, but I knew in my heart that it was the last thing Benny would want. Suze watched them for a moment, her weight shifting from one foot to another. “You okay getting back to your cubby?” she asked me.

“Sure.”

“Be safe.” She took off toward her tenement. Seconds later, Rhona also turned a corner, leaving Maria and me alone to find our way home.

We walked side by side in silence. But I couldn’t stop the flow of questions welling up in me.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “Why would they do that?”

“They thought our boys were pachucos.”

“What’s a pachuco?” I asked her as we lumbered in the direction of Orchard Street.

“Mexican zoot-suiters out West. They don’t mix with the military.”

“Why?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“So they punished Dino and Benny for what boys out West are doing?”

“It’s more than that. They think the zoots are unpatriotic because a ton of fabric is needed to make them—fabric that should be used to make uniforms. Here they are risking their lives, and boys like Dino and Benny are mocking them. And I’m sure they weren’t happy to see them out on the town with pale girls like you and Suze. Brown skin stays with brown skin. Get it?”

“But Benny and Dino are Italian.”

“Where you been, little girl? The Italians aren’t on our side in this war. Benny and Dino are lucky they’re not being locked up like the Japs.”

I felt so young and stupid. How had the evening gone so wrong? Just an hour before I’d been chalking it up as the best night of my life.

“I should’ve gone after them,” I said.

“Benny’s not yours to worry about.”

“He kissed me,” I said.

“And if it happens again, maybe it will mean something. Or maybe it means exactly this: there wasn’t anyone else around to kiss.”

For the second time in so many minutes, I recoiled in pain. I willed her to turn up the next street so I could finish my walk alone.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “That was evil.”

I didn’t respond, terrified if I did she might take back the apology or add some comment that made her earlier remark cut even deeper.

“It’s just hard to trust girls like you,” Maria said.

I almost laughed. Did the girl in the gang of petty thieves really just tell me that I was the one they couldn’t trust? “Girls like me?” I asked.

“Come on now—we all know you’re Upper East Side. I’m surprised you’re willing to be seen with people like us.”

And here I’d been thinking that it was amazing that Suze would agree to be seen in public with me.

“This is my turn,” said Maria.

I paused beside her. “Oh. Thanks for walking with me.”

“No problem.” She hesitated. There was something else she wanted to say, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear it. “Pearl Harbor was wrong, you know. That’s why Rhona was so upset.”

I was thrown off guard by the mention of Pearl’s nickname. “Oh?”

“Rhona wasn’t pregnant then. She was sick, but it was legit. See you on Monday.”

“Yeah,” I said. “See you.”

I WAS SOBER BY THE TIME I got home. I expected to find the house dark, but a light was on in the parlor. As I passed through the room on the way to the stairs, Pop cleared his throat.

“Iris.”

I turned and found him in his office, the door wide open so he could observe my comings and goings.

“Do you know what time it is?” he asked.

His tone was icy. Above his shoulder the clock tattled that it was one-fifteen.

“Just after one.”

“And what made you think that that was an appropriate time to stay out until?”

I wasn’t quite sure how to take the question. Was he mad? Seriously? “You didn’t tell me to be back at a specific time.”

He left his roost and came around to me. He had his leg on. Had he just returned from somewhere, or was he getting ready to go someplace? “That’s because I thought you knew better. I’ve been worried sick. I went to that boy Paul’s house and neither he nor his sister knew where you were.”

Had Pearl squealed on me? Seriously?

“I told you—a dance.”

“With who?”

“Some other friends from school.”

“And just where was this dance?”

My mouth fluttered. My impulse was to lie and I wasn’t sure where that was coming from. I’d never overtly lied to Pop before. Well, except for telling him who I was with that night. “It’s a club called the Savoy.”

“And just where is this club located?”

I hoped by giving him part of the truth, I might squeak by. “Lenox and 141st Street.”