Authors: Stephen; Birmingham

The LeBaron Secret (56 page)

BOOK: The LeBaron Secret

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Gabe has moved to the window, and is looking out on Washington Street. An afternoon fog is drifting in from the Golden Gate and, across the street at the Russian Consulate, the guards are changing.

“I think you're about to have a visitor,” he says.

“Who?” She wheels herself to the window, and pulls aside the curtain. “Look!” she cries. “It's EricâEric coming to apologize to me for all the worry and heartache he caused me! Isn't this exciting? It's Eric, coming to apologize!” But then, as the figure on the entrance walk draws closer, and disappears under the porte cochere, she lets the corner of the curtain drop. “It isn't Eric,” she says. “It's only Peeper. What do you suppose he wants from me?”

“Sari, Sari, you'll never change,” he says.

“But quickâquick before Peeper gets hereâpromise me you'll write our story. Make it a love story, Gabe, because that was what it wasâa love story about three women in love with the same man, each in her own way. Even the three women in the story loved each other, once upon a time. Please do it, Gabe. But promise to write it as a special kind of love story, and try to write it with love. Will you do it, Gabe?”

And we waited there in her big White Wedding-Cake House that afternoon, waiting for Peeper and whatever it was he wanted, and the house and all its possessions seemed to say,
You own us. But we also own you. We are your memories
.

“Write it about a kind and simple man who wanted to love us all as much as we loved him,” she said. “But couldn't, and died of a broken heart. Put that in, too. Promise me.”

And so that is what I promised her I'd try to do, because I loved her too in my own way, though I sometimes wonder if she ever really understood my way, and that is what I tried to do, and this is it.

Envoi

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

FATAL CRASH ON BAYSHORE FWY APPARENTLY CAUSED BY PEDESTRIAN

A fatal crash on the Bayshore Freeway today, involving six passenger automobiles and a 24-wheel semi-trailer rig, was apparently caused by a pedestrian crossing the freeway.

The pedestrian, a white male, had stepped across the 3-foot-high median divider into the southbound lanes, about 300 yards from the foot of the exit ramp from the Bay Bridge, during the busy morning rush hour, according to Gary Costello, the driver of the rig. Costello, braking to avoid hitting the pedestrian, caused his truck to jackknife and overturn across all three southbound lanes. The automobile behind him, a 1980 Ford Pinto, crashed into the side of Costello's truck and immediately burst into flames. Its driver, an unidentified female, was burned beyond recognition. Five additional automobiles, skidding to avoid the flaming wreck, crashed into each other and into the median divider, one of these jumping the divider and landing in a northbound lane. Its driver, David Rust, 40, of Petaluma, was taken to Shriners' Hospital with multiple rib fractures and possible internal injuries. His condition was described by hospital officials as guarded. Others involved in the accident were treated for minor injuries and released.

Police immediately closed off a 3-mile section of the freeway between Exits 9 and 11, and southbound traffic was diverted through Daly City. Two northbound lanes remained open, but were impeded by curious motorists slowing to examine the fiery crash. In all, the 8Â½-hour traffic jam was the worst in San Francisco history.

Following the crash, the pedestrian, apparently unaware of the death and destruction that lay in his wake, continued walking southward along the freeway. Costello, who had been able to escape from the cab of his truck uninjured, stood weeping in the center of the highway, shaking his fist and shouting, “He's the one who should be lying dead!” at the retreating figure.

Police later apprehended the pedestrian about a mile from the scene of the accident, and brought him to the station house where he was detained, pending identification.

Police also declined to release the license number of the Pinto, pending identification of the female driver and notification of next of kin.

From the same newspaper, the following day:

IDENTITY OF PEDESTRIAN WHO CAUSED FATAL BAYSHORE CRASH IS REVEALED

The identity of the pedestrian who caused yesterday's fatal rush-hour crash on the Bayshore Freeway has been revealed. He is Maurice Littlefield, 23, who gave his address as the Airport Marriott Motor Inn. The Marriott's manager, Bill Oakley, confirmed that Littlefield had been a guest at the motel earlier this year, but had not been seen there since February 24, when he departed without paying his bill. Littlefield was unable to give a clear account of his whereabouts during the two months since that date.

Earlier this year, Littlefield, a rock guitarist who uses the stage name “Luscious Lucius,” had performed with a group that called itself The Dildos at the refurbished Odeon Theatre on Market Street. It was Littlefield who horrified young concertgoers by beating to death, onstage, a live rock python which he had been using in his act. Littlefield's rock group has since disbanded, and it had not been realized that Littlefield himself had apparently remained in the city.

The identity of the young woman burned to death in the crash, which resulted from Littlefield's attempt to walk across the busy freeway, has also been established. She is Mrs. Martha Tennant, 34, mother of three, of San Mateo, a grade-school teacher in the San Mateo school system.

After being detained for questioning in the accident, Littlefield was fined $28, the maximum fine permitted for obstructing traffic on an Interstate highway. Among Littlefield's possessions, police noted, was a live baby alligator which he was carrying with him in a plastic bag. Littlefield explained that he often uses exotic animals in his act, such as the python he clubbed to death on the Odeon's stage after it had bitten him in the arm. The alligator will be part of his new act, Littlefield added.

Littlefield explained that he had been on Bayshore yesterday trying to hitch a ride across the Bay Bridge on his way to New York. Having no luck in obtaining a ride in that direction, he had decided to change his plans and crossed the freeway in hopes of hitching a ride to Los Angeles.â¦

About the Author

Stephen Birmingham is an American author of more than thirty books. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1932, he graduated from Williams College in 1953 and taught writing at the University of Cincinnati. Birmingham's work focuses on the upper class in America. He's written about the African American elite in
Certain People
and prominent Jewish society in
Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York
,
The Grandees: The Story of America's Sephardic Elite
, and
The Rest of Us: The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews.
His work also encompasses several novels including
The Auerbach Will, The LeBaron Secret, Shades of Fortune
, and
The Rothman Scandal
, and other nonfiction titles such as
California Rich, The Grandes Dames
, and
Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address
. Birmingham lives in southwest Ohio.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Angela Goddard

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2637-6

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com