“Did you press charges?” Dett asked, shallow-breathing through his nose.
“What happened was, Sherman Layne came in. I didn’t know his whole name back then, but I remembered him, from the time my parents… he was the one who told me to go and see Mr. Beaumont He remembered me, too. I asked him, what should I do? He said the best thing would be for Joey to just leave and not come back. I told him Joey would never do that. But Sherman-everyone calls him that, Detective Sherman-he said he would.”
“Did he?”
“Yes,” Tussy said, as if still surprised at the memory. “That’s just exactly what he did. He moved out. He didn’t really have that much stuff to take, anyway; all the furniture-what you saw-it was mine. And then he had a lawyer send me some papers saying we were going to get divorced. I showed the papers to Mr. Gendell, and he started laughing. ‘Stupid punks,’ is all he said. Then he took the papers from me, and said not to worry about anything.
“A few weeks later, Mr. Gendell came into the diner. He gave me some legal papers, with seals on them and everything, and said I was divorced, and Joey had to pay me sixty dollars a month for alimony! I told him I didn’t want any money from Joey, and Mr. Gendell just smiled. He told me he knew I was going to say that. Joey was never really going to pay me a dime-the alimony was just for insurance, he said. In case Joey ever made trouble for me, I could have him locked up for nonsupport.
“I was so grateful. I asked Mr. Gendell how much money I had to pay him, and he said Joey paid him. He laughed when he said it. Like it was this terrifically funny joke.”
“He sounds like a good man, especially for a lawyer.”
“Oh, he is. But, you know, the way he laughed that day, I wouldn’t ever want him to be mad at me. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes.”
“Well, now you know. My whole sad story. Still think I’m so pure, Walker?”
“Even more,” he said, holding her hand.
1959 October 06 Tuesday 00:13
“It didn’t even hurt, Daddy,” Lola whispered.
“You sound like you mad about it, sweet girl,” Silk said.
“Well, those other girls, they said it did. They said it burned like fire, and they couldn’t-”
“So you think they was gaming on you, playing you off the trick, so they could have him for themselves?”
“It was fifty dollars, Daddy!” Lola said, proudly. “Who gets that kind of money?”
“You do, little star. And that’s the truth. Be the truth forever,” Silk said, pulling his whore closer to him on the leather seat of the Eldorado. “Now tell Silk what you remember. Every little thing, right from the beginning.”
1959 October 06 Tuesday 00:41
As Dett nosed the rented Buick out of the clearing, a black Cadillac Coupe de Ville flashed past. Moving too fast for these dirt roads, Dett thought. He’ll put a lot of chips in that paint job.
“Anyone you know?” he asked Tussy, keeping his voice casual. Back where they had been parked, Dett had felt another presence. A lurker of some kind. Probably kids, looking for a thrill, he had thought at the time, not picking up any sense of danger. And, whatever it was, it had moved on quick enough. But now the Caddy…
“Why would I know anyone who comes here?” Tussy said, more angrily than she intended.
“I didn’t mean… that,” Dett said, holding his hands up helplessly. “I meant the car itself. It looked pretty fancy for a teenage kid to be driving.”
“Oh. No, I… I mean, it just looked like a car to me. I can’t tell them apart, the way some people can.”
“Sure. I thought it looked like it belonged to one of the people I’ve been talking to. About buying property.”
“Well, it was a big one.”
“Yeah. A Cadillac. But there’s no shortage of those around.”
“I guess that depends where you live,” Tussy said, chuckling. “You won’t see any on my block.”
“That’s sensible,” Dett said, seriously. “Some cars cost so much, you could buy a nice little house instead.”
“I can’t understand why anyone would do that. Have you ever noticed how some colored people buy big cars? I’m sure they buy them on time, but that’s the same way you’d buy a house, isn’t it? I mean, either way, you have to make payments every month. So why do you think they do that?”
“Well, what if you couldn’t buy a house?”
“I don’t understand. I, well, maybe I couldn’t, with what I make, but some of them-”
“No, I mean, what if nobody would sell you one? You walk into a showroom, I don’t care if you’re black or white or purple they’ll sell you a car. But if you want to buy a house…”
“Oh. I see what you mean. I never thought of it like that.”
“I didn’t, either,” Dett assured her. “Not until someone pointed it out to me.”
“And now you pointed it out to me,” she said, seriously. “I guess that’s the way people learn things.”
“It’s only learning if it’s the truth, Tussy. If a lie gets passed from person to person, they’re not learning, they’re being tricked.”
“Did you get this way from the business you’re in?”
“What way?”
“Thinking so… black all the time. Like everything is crooked and rotten. Is that from being in real estate? I heard, from people who come in the diner, it can be a real cutthroat business, real estate.”
“No. I learned it… a long time ago. And not in any one place.”
“I… Oh, good Lord! Do you know what time it is?”
“It’s… almost one o’clock.”
“In the morning.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“Neither did I. My goodness.”
“I’m sorry if I-”
“Oh, you didn’t do anything. I just got… lost. In talking. And I don’t have to go to work tomorrow, anyway.”
“Right. No Mondays or Tuesdays. I was hoping…”
“What, Walker?”
“That you would let me see you again.”
“Tomorrow, you mean? Well,” she said, grinning in the darkness of the car’s interior, “later today, actually.”
“Yes. Anytime at-”
“Would you like to come over for lunch? In the daytime, it would be perfectly fine.”
“With your neighbors?”
“You think I’m silly, don’t you? I’m just not a… flashy person. My girlfriend-”
“-Gloria.”
“Oh, you really listen, don’t you?”
“I listen to you. Every word you say.”
“I guess. Anyway, to show you what a flop I am at being, well, not wild, exactly, but… one time, Gloria talked me into trying out at the Avalon.”
“What’s that?” Dett asked, images of strip joints stabbing his mind.
“It’s a dance hall. You know, one of those dime-a-dance places. It’s very classy, actually. The men had to wear ties. And they didn’t serve liquor. Gloria said it would be fun. Plus, we could make some money.”
“But you didn’t like it?”
“Well, I was a little afraid of it, at first. I mean, can you see me as a dance-hall girl? I’m way too short, and way too… plump.”
“No you’re not.”
“Oh, you have a lot of experience with dance halls?” she said.
“I was never even in one,” Dett told her, truthfully.
“I was just clowning around, Walker. I know you were being nice. I’m no good at taking compliments-I never know if someone’s just being polite.”
“I wasn’t. I mean-”
“Oh, stop it!” Tussy said, smacking him playfully on his right arm. “I understand. Anyway, one night in that place was enough for me. At first, I was afraid nobody would ask me to dance, and I’d just sit there, a little wallflower, until Gloria was ready to go home. But a man came over right away. And then another. I could have been on my feet all night.”