by Steph Post
Smith enthusiastically clapped his broad hands and soon the crowd followed suit and the ceremony officially ended. Everyone began milling around, jockeying against each other, some rushing toward the shade of the storefront awnings while others began forming tight circles of commentary and influence. Daniel didn’t move. He was transfixed by the wired box in front of him. A man walking with another man passed behind him and Daniel overheard him say that even Henry Ford was thinking of finding a way to put radios inside of his Tin Lizzies so people could drive and listen at the same time. The men chuckled about the absurdity of this, especially considering that at the moment the only folks who could pick up radio stations were tinkering kids with homemade crystal sets in the attic. Daniel looked after the men and then turned back to the stage. A motorcar with a radio. He was stunned. Could it be true?
Daniel laughed out loud, startling a group of women still standing behind him. If the world kept progressing at this rate, he wouldn’t even need to meddle with humanity to get his kicks. He could just sit back and enjoy the show.
Hayden had been skirting around the fringes of the crowd, trying to peer over the wall of straw boaters and cloche hats to see into the heart of the gathering. After trying to jump and landing on the foot of a woman who responded to his apologies with a look of contempt that could whither a snake, he retreated to the edge of the street where he could safely wait until the crowd had dispersed. The ground was still muddy from the rain the night before and he dug the toe of his boot in the muck while he halfway listened to the speaker on stage. He had seen no sign of Daniel yet and still wasn’t convinced this would be the best place to find him. Ruby had seemed sure of it, though, and he had nothing else to go on.
The crowd went silent around him and Hayden was suddenly startled by the piercing crackle reverberating from the stage all the way back to him. Like most people, he had never heard a radio broadcast of any kind. He looked down into the mud and strained to hear the scratchy, muffled sound. Hayden couldn’t make out any of the words, but he’d heard the noise and that meant something. He had heard the future. Just as he’d felt when he had first ridden in his visiting uncle’s Model A at nine years old, he was now aware that something would be different from this day forward. Then, he had been conscious of the possibilities of being able to embrace speed and go in any direction at all, for as far as the road would go. Now, it was the same with sound, with voices and music and ideas. The thought ran a chill of excitement up his spine. He wished Ruby could have been there to hear it.
The sound soon faded out and the man came back on stage and promised something about music and news. The crowd was beginning to turn restless and Hayden moved in closer. Yet another round of clapping broke out and then it appeared that the ceremony was over. As people began to push past him, heading for the coolness of the drugstore and diner across the street, Hayden squeezed his way through the oncoming crowd, keeping his eyes open. He turned around in frustration and was shouldered on both sides by men striding past him with an air of importance and impatience. He was starting to think he should have gotten a better vantage point and tried to view the scene from a distance, when he saw a flash of black. In a sea of white shirts and the occasional beige or light gray jacket, a solid black suit shone out like a sliver of obsidian in the sun.
Hayden quickly darted around a group of women, all clucking about the approaching season and their respective daughters’ chances. He trailed behind them and then cautiously looked over his shoulder. The crowd was thinning rapidly and now Hayden could clearly see Daniel, his pale face turned upwards and his slick black hair gleaming. He was standing right up against the stage and appeared engrossed in contemplating something in front of him. Hayden suddenly realized that the tangle of wires and the strange cone rising above it must be the famous radio receiver. Ruby had been right; Daniel was bewitched by it. Hayden edged his way around the lingering knots of chattering ladies and boasting husbands until he found a spot where he thought he could safely keep his eye on Daniel without being seen himself. He put his hands in his pockets, hunting for cigarettes, but realized he had left them at The Anchor with Ruby. Then, out of nowhere, one appeared before him. He jumped and turned to face a woman smiling and holding out a cigarette between lavender-gloved fingers.
“Want one?”
The woman was older than him, maybe in her fifties, and had too much powder pressed onto her damp face and too much rouge brushed on top of that, but she had a frank, inviting smile. Her voice was deep. Hayden smiled at her.
“Aren’t I supposed to offer you one?”
She waved the cigarette at him.
“I’m sure you would if you could. As for rules of decorum, I tend to find those preposterous and tedious. Now, if you happen to have a light, I’d let you have the point for that.”
Hayden pulled a squashed box of matches from the breast pocket of his vest and lit both of their cigarettes. The woman blew a stream of smoke out of the side of her crimson lips and looked toward Daniel.
“I don’t know who was staring more intently. You at that man in the black suit or the man in the suit at the radio.”
Hayden didn’t know what to say so he just smiled weakly and smoked. The woman was quiet for a moment and then held out her hand.
“Anita Bosch, by the way.”
Hayden turned from Daniel and took her hand. She had a firm grip.
“Hayden Morrow. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Bosch.”
Hayden had no idea where the conversation was going, so he just shrugged inanely. Mrs. Bosch dramatically blew out another plume of smoke and gestured toward Daniel.
“Do you know him? The mysterious man in black?”
Hayden abruptly looked away from Daniel.
“No. I just thought he looked odd. Standing out here, all in black in this heat. I was just gawking, I suppose.”
Mrs. Bosch frowned and absently fingered the long, triple strand of pearls cascading down the front of her dress.
“Pity. I’ve seen him in the dining room of the hotel where I’m staying. He seems such a character, all trussed up in that black suit of his no matter if it’s breakfast or tea time.”
She cocked her head thoughtfully.
“I wonder if it’s the same suit every time or if he has a whole trunk of them. I was the lover of a man like that once. In Brussels. He had an entire wardrobe full of the exact same suits, all hung up together. Completely identical. Though they were all pale blue, not black. He was my husband’s half-brother, if you really must know. Poor soul. Poor Ruben. He didn’t make it long after the German invasion.”
Hayden had stopped listening after the mention of the hotel. He couldn’t believe his luck and had to force himself to speak calmly and casually. He tried to appear disinterested, but polite.
“The same hotel, you say? Which hotel might that be?”
Mrs. Bosch flicked her gaze up and down Hayden, taking in his rough appearance, and then she gave a little shrug.
“The Plaza, of course. It’s really the only place in this city to stay. My daughter has just married her second husband, a wretched weasel of a man who has more money than God, and I was forced to come down here and meet him. I don’t know how you people do it, living in this heat all year round. It’s dreadful up in Boston, but this is almost unbearable. I constantly feel as if I’m going to faint and, trust me on this, I am not the swooning type. I usually summer up in the Catskills with friends, but no, Pricilla just couldn’t wait. She’s an absurd, spoiled woman.”
Mrs. Bosch smiled broadly at Hayden again and reached out to touch his arm.
“But then, I suppose, so am I. Hayden, wasn’t it?”
Hayden smiled back at her. He was trying to figure out how to steer the conversation back to Daniel. He was also worried that Daniel would turn around at any moment and see him. Daniel was standing with his head cocked, peering closely at the pile of wires, as if trying to figure out how the radio worked. Mrs. Bosch continued to prattle on bes
ide him.
“Now, Hayden, I don’t know if you’re married or not, though with a face like that you should be, but there’s something you need to know about women. We are all outrageous and fickle and it is better to just do what we ask than try to reason with us. Pricilla’s poor weasel of a new husband, Ernest, is already finding that out. I can see the terror in his beady little eyes whenever she walks in the room. I tell you, it’s best just to let us have our way and pay the bill later.”
Hayden decided that just outright interrupting would be the best course of action. Mrs. Bosch could most likely go on for days if he didn’t stop her. He nodded toward Daniel and then leaned his head conspiratorially toward her.
“That man. Have you spoken to him? At your hotel?”
She seemed to have forgotten Daniel and had to turn around and look behind her. Hayden’s heart began to beat faster as he watched Daniel take a few steps back from the stage, taking in the view of the radio one last time. Then he turned and slowly began to walk away with his hands in his pockets, as if deep in thought. Hayden tried to turn so his back was to Daniel, but he didn’t have to worry; Daniel was walking in the other direction. Hayden was at a loss as to whether or not to follow him, but he was hoping he could wheedle more information out of his new acquaintance, so he stayed put. Mrs. Bosch swiveled her head back toward him and raised both her painted eyebrows.
“Well, let me tell you. I haven’t spoken to him yet, but Pricilla said that when she accidentally dropped her handkerchief near him yesterday afternoon out on the veranda, he walked right past it. Right past it. She said he must have seen it, but deliberately ignored her. I mean, the rudeness. The arrogance. Too proud to stop and help a lady. I don’t think Pricilla has ever been treated that way by a man. To tell you the truth, I think she found it quite thrilling. As for myself, I can’t wait to see how he acts at the ball tonight.”
Hayden watched Daniel disappear around the corner, but he quickly turned his interest back to Mrs. Bosch.
“There’s a ball tonight?”
Mrs. Bosch laughed.
“Of course there is. It’s in all the columns.”
She frowned, looking at Hayden’s faded vest again.
“But then, maybe you don’t read those.”
Mrs. Bosch brightened up again, charmed by this.
“I mean, who does, really? Only old ninnies trying to spy on one another. Those ladies who don’t have enough oomph anymore to go out and live life to the fullest.”
Hayden nodded.
“The ball is tonight, you say?”
“Oh, yes. It’ll be the talk of Atlanta. Senator Smith, that bore who was yapping away up there, is putting it on. And all of things, it’s a masquerade. I mean, how very European! I didn’t think the old stuffed-shirt had it in him to be interesting. You should see my costume. One of my companions, Gustave, oh, I don’t travel anywhere without him, has been working on it for weeks. He’s a true artiste. He has a vision of me as a sea queen and my dress and mask are just to die for.”
She paused for breath and then gave Hayden a strange look. Mrs. Bosch handed him her burned-out cigarette and cupped his chin with her gloved hand.
“You should see it, you know. A costume like this only comes along once every decade or so. It’s going to be quite magnificent. Yes, you should come. I’ll put you on my list.”
She let go of his chin and slapped his face playfully. Hayden was stunned.
“Pardon? You want me to come to the party?”
“Yes, yes, of course. It’ll be a gas. A hoot. You’ll probably want to bring a girl, though. With your looks, the debs will be swooning all over you, and that’s the last thing their mothers need. Rally up a girl and bring her on your arm so they won’t have a fit and throw you out. Think you can manage?”
Hayden swallowed and nodded.
“Good. And now I better be off. That ferret Ernest has been standing over there waiting for me this whole time. Do you think he looks more like a ferret or a weasel? I just can’t decide. Anyway, simply wonderful to meet you. Just say your name at the door and they’ll let you in. And don’t forget, you’ll need masks. I’m not sure what you can scrounge up this late, but you look resourceful. I’m sure you’ll work something out. And do remember to bring a girl. Even my Pricilla might be tempted otherwise, and we can’t have that, now can we?”
She winked at Hayden before flouncing past him. He watched her walk away toward a man who did indeed look like some sort of rodent. Then he glanced around the empty ceremony area with wonder. Forget radios. Women like Anita Bosch were the true marvels of the modern age.
The plan all came together when Ruby pulled the mask out of the bag and held it between her hands. She ran her fingers along the feathered edges and smiled. Hayden chewed on the toothpick between his teeth and grinned.
“Well? What do you think?”
Ruby held it up against her face and looked in the mirror on the dresser.
“It’s perfect.”
She laid the mask down on the bed and stood back to consider it. Her mind was racing.
“There’s another one in there, too, of course.”
Hayden rummaged through the paper bag.
“And clothes. A dress, a suit.”
Hayden dug all the way to the bottom of the bag and felt around.
“The man tossed in a sewing kit as well. We might have to work at it a bit, but I think we can pull it off.”
Ruby put her hands on her hips and nodded.
“Really, it’s perfect. Where did you get all this?”
Hayden sat down on the bed next to the mask and looked up at her.
“It wasn’t easy. But there’s a lot to Atlanta, if you start looking in the right places. Cleaned us out, though. I hope you’re not hungry. Or can wait until we crash the ball.”
Ruby frowned.
“You spent everything we had left?”
“Which, between the two of us, wasn’t much. But hey, I figure we might as well. It could be the end of the world tonight. We might as well go out in style.”
Ruby looked from the mask to Hayden. He was no longer smiling and his face had a tight, pinched look to it. She sighed.
“The world is not going to end.”
Hayden shrugged.
“Sure. You’re going to just waltz in, have a little chat with him, he’ll say he’s sorry, you’ll forgive him, the balance will be restored to the universe and then we’ll all raise a glass of champagne in the spirit of forgiveness and go home. Easy peasy.”
“Hayden.”
He rolled the toothpick along his bottom teeth and then spit it out on the floor.
“Or Daniel could see you, get angry and bring the entire hotel down around our ears. Start a fire. Kill everybody in it. Maybe he’ll try something new. I’m sure he’s full of surprises.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I’m just saying that there are options.”
Ruby bit her lip and looked up toward the ceiling.
“What do you want me to do, Hayden?”
“I want you to tell me that this plan of yours is going to work. That confronting Daniel is the right thing to do and that it’s going to be worth it all. Everything that we might lose.”
Ruby looked down at her hands. When she thought about Daniel, his hands on her hands, holding her wrists, that uncanny, almost maniacal look in his eyes, something inside of her began to burn. After her mother had died and she had felt nothing, nothing, for weeks alone on the side of the mountain, she had slashed at her thighs with her Barlow knife, to make sure she could still feel. The pain had been breathtaking, excruciating, and she had fallen back onto the forest floor and let the tears run down the sides of her face. They were not tears of tribulation, but tears of relief. The pain had meant that she was not a shade, as she had begun to fear. The pain meant she was still alive.
Hayden knew the plan, but he didn’t know everything. He didn’t know about the burning in her chest. He didn’t know what
she had felt in the geek tent, when Daniel had put his hands on her and she had let him in. He didn’t know the real risk she was taking.
“You said you were with me. No matter what.”
Hayden sighed and rubbed his hands up and down her arms.
“I am with you.”
Ruby looked up at him.
“I can tell you that it’s the right thing to do. I can’t tell you if my plan will work and I can’t tell you if it will be worth it in the end. But I know it’s the right thing to do.”
Hayden pulled her to him and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“I can’t stop you.”
“No.”
Hayden shook his head and let her go.
“No. This whole damn thing is absolutely insane. But when I said I was with you, I meant that I was with you.”
He picked up the mask and held it to her face.
“Come on, Ruby Chole. We’ve got a party to go to.”
They were late. But not too late, Hayden hoped. As they climbed the white sandstone steps leading up to the broad veranda of the Grand Plaza, he tried not to think about what was actually happening. The absurdity of what they were about to do. Or try to do. Though the rest of the street was brilliantly lit up at ten o’clock at night, the lights on the hotel façade had been dimmed, giving it a hushed, mysterious feel. It was almost too quiet, as the usual line of cabs and chauffeured cars had come and gone and wouldn’t be needed again for hours. No one was checking in or out until the morning.
Under any other circumstances, Hayden would have appreciated the sharply cut steps and towering mahogany doors, inlaid with gilt designs and held open to them by men wearing black tailcoats and purposefully vacant stares. Despite his nerves and ill-fitting tuxedo, he was determined to walk proudly, with Ruby’s hand resting lightly on his arm. He couldn’t look at her, though, or the fist of dread that was already clenched in his stomach would twist and he would falter and drag her back down the steps and away from the madness she was walking into. But the time for doubt had passed. Hayden held his head up stiffly and escorted Ruby past the row of fluted columns and through the imposing doors, ignoring the doorman who cut his eyes at him with unconcealed disapproval, and into the reception area.
