“Damn!” I said. “It seems like the whole world has gone crazy.”
“Ain’t it the truth!” Rita answered. “But Eddie and me appreciate what you tried to do for us. As long as we stay here I’ll let you know about your Aunt Lila.”
“Thanks, Rita,” I said. “You’re a real friend.”
“I love you, Jerry,” she said. “Just don’t get yourself killed in the war and I’ll pray for you. Good luck.”
“And good luck for the two of you, Rita. I really mean that. So long,” I said, and hung up the receiver.
It took me a half an hour to make my way back to the barracks. It was dark; all the lights had been turned off. Through the windows, the streetlights showed some of the bunks as I walked into the barracks. I could see Buddy sitting up in the dark on the edge of his bed, his legs dangling, a cigarette glowing from his lips. “Where the hell were you hanging out?”
“I was on the phone,” I answered.
“What was goin’ on?” he asked.
“My Aunt Lila is dying in the hospital,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “She is a very nice lady. I liked her.”
“That’s only part of it,” I said. “Uncle Harry got Eddie into the horses again and when he couldn’t pay his markers he took his business.”
“The next thing you’re going to tell me is that Harry took over your girlfriend, Kitty.”
“You’re right,” I said flatly. “But Harry kicked out his colored girl and moved Kitty into the apartment. Then he made Kitty the manager of the business. The first thing she did was fire Fat Rita.”
“And what about the money you had in Eddie’s business and the money Kitty had stashed in the bank for you?” Buddy knew everything I had done.
“Gone,” I said. “He says that it’s all money that my father skimmed off from him.”
He took a deep breath and squashed out his cigarette in an ashtray. “You’re fucked.”
“I don’t give a damn,” I snapped. “AWOL or not, I’m going over to the city and I’ll give them both hell. You taught me how to use a knife.”
“And you spend the rest of your life in the can,” Buddy said. “Let me take care of it for you. I can get in touch with a couple of friends of mine from Harlem. They will do something quietly and you will be as clean as an angel.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s not the same thing.”
“The same thing might look like the electric chair,” Buddy said. “You should get into your bunk and get some sleep. By the morning you will cool down. In a week we’re moving out of here to Detroit and yesterday is another world.”
I looked at him as I thought. Finally, I nodded in agreement. “You know, you’re a pretty damn smart son of a bitch!”
Buddy laughed.
I walked over to my bunk, stretched out, and went right to sleep.
5
We arrived in Detroit, but not at a regular army base. We were sent to an automobile school at the Willys Overland factory. This was the company that manufactured the jeeps, shipping them to the armed services by the hundreds every day. Outside the factory, the army had built large Quonset huts which became the barracks for the two hundred soldiers assigned to the school. It was not too bad. Much better than the training camp at Fort Dix. At least here we only had an eight-hour day.
It was Buddy’s heaven. He had a crap game running every night and booked the horses all day long. I wondered how he ever got his auto mechanic lessons done. But he managed to do it all.
After being in Detroit for two weeks, I was worried. I hadn’t heard anything from Fat Rita and I wanted to know what was happening with Aunt Lila. It was a Sunday evening when I placed a call to her. The phone rang a few times before she answered.
“Rita?” I asked.
“Jerry!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for the last week but the stupid army wouldn’t give me any information. All they would say is that you will get a postal number before you go overseas and I could write you at that time. They said it would reach you wherever you went.”
“I haven’t got it yet,” I said. “When it comes through, they’ll just send it to my family.”
“I guess they’ll send it to Harry,” she said softly. “Your Aunt Lila died last week. I thought about you and wished you could have been there. I liked your Aunt Lila and I went to her funeral.”
I was silent for a moment. “Harry’s a prick,” I said. “He’s a relative. The army would have let him call if they knew it was about a death. He didn’t give a damn because he knew that I loved her.”
“He didn’t want to see you,” Fat Rita said. “He had Kitty with him at the funeral, all dressed in black. He knew that you would have killed them.”
“Why was she in black? She’s not even in the family,” I said.
Fat Rita took a deep breath. “She is now! Two days after the funeral they got married.”
“Jesus! She’s only half his age!” I exclaimed.
“I worked for him for nine years,” she said. “He always had young girls. Rosey, his little black girl, was only seventeen when he took her in.”
“I had to be stupid,” I said. “I never knew he liked them that young.”
“It’s over,” Fat Rita said quietly. “Now we can all get on with our lives and to hell with him. I’m so glad that you called me tonight because tomorrow we will take the train to California.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll find a way to keep in touch with you and Eddie. Have a good trip, and good luck. And thanks for giving me the news.”
I put the telephone down. It wasn’t Harry alone that I was angry with. I was even angrier at Kitty. The bitch! She turned everything I had, my money, her pussy, over to Harry. Love at first sight, I guess.
6
Buddy and I did well in the mechanics school. As a matter of fact, we were real experts. They decided to keep us in Detroit as teachers for each new mechanic platoon. In six months we were promoted to sergeant and each of us was put in charge of a teaching section. I was motor repair and rebuilds. Buddy had the best part of the work. He was in charge of painting all parts and exteriors of the jeeps. He wanted to paint the jeeps black, but the army only called for olive green, so his artistic endeavors came to nothing. As sergeants we were entitled to use a jeep on every third weekend leave. It was immediately after our promotion that we requested leave.
The sergeant gave us the weekend pass. We used one of the older jeeps and Buddy drove us into town. Downtown Detroit was all black. The tenements were filled with black families who worked for the automobile factories nearby. They were not building automobiles now, only tanks and engines for airplanes and PT boats. The blacks had nothing but money. They were paid high hourly wages and as much overtime as they wanted.
Buddy knew exactly where he was going: a tenement that seemed to look a little better than the others. Painted. Cleaned. As we walked up to the entrance, a big man was standing guard at the door Buddy spoke up to him. “My cousin, Leroy, in there?”
The guard seemed to know Buddy. “He’s downstairs in the club.”
“We’ll go down to see him,” Buddy said.
“Not so fast,” the guard said. “He’s working out a new show an’ he don’t want nobody to bother him.”
“You call him and tell him that his cousin, Clarence, is here,” Buddy said. “He’ll see me. I sent him the girls for the new show.”
I looked at Buddy. “I didn’t know you had those connections.”
He winked. “In the black world, all of us stick together.”
The guard came back from the telephone. “You can go down and see him. You know the way?”
“Tell me,” Buddy said. “I’m new in town.”
He followed the guard to the back entrance of the building. Then he led us downstairs and into an empty kitchen behind the club. We could hear a piano and the beat of the drums as we walked into the club itself. There was a long bar and about thirty tables tha
t could seat about ninety customers. One wall of the club was a small stage, a dance floor, and a place for a small group that could sit close to the piano and drums.
There were six black girls in rehearsal costumes and they watched as we came in the room. Leroy was a big, handsome black man sitting at a table near the drummer and the piano player.
Leroy started toward us. He waved at the girls. “Take ten minutes.” Then he held his hand out to Buddy. He grasped Buddy’s hand and pulled him toward him in a big bear hug. “Clarence!” He smiled. “The last time I saw you, you were hanging on to your mother’s skirt.” He laughed again. “Now, here you are in Detroit in the army.”
“I grew up a little since then, Leroy.” Buddy laughed. “It’s great to see you doing so wonderful.”
“I have some backup.” Leroy smiled. “The Purple Mob are my partners. Real good friends.” He took us to the bar. “What’ll you have?”
Buddy gestured to me. “He’s my friend, Jerry Cooper. We’ve been working together for about three years.”
Leroy took my hand. Practically broke it. “Clarence is a friend of yours, you a friend of mine. We all have a shot of Canadian.”
“We’ll take ours with ice and water,” Buddy said. “We’re not used to the hard stuff. Just beer.”
Leroy smiled. “Okay. We’ll have a beer. Now what else can I do for you?”
“How did you like Rosey?” Buddy asked. “She was really a star at Small’s.”
Leroy looked at him. “Were you fucking her?”
“No,” Buddy said. “She was kept by Jerry’s uncle for a few years. Then he threw her out.”
“Why?” Leroy asked. “Was she stealing from him?”
“No way. She was straight,” Buddy answered. “We just want to talk to her a little. Jerry thinks that his uncle was screwing him on some things.”
Leroy looked at me. “Do you know Rosey?”
“I never saw her before,” I answered. “But I think she might be able to help me with some information.”
“Okay,” Leroy said. “But you can’t talk to her until after her show tonight. I’ve got her starring in the show tonight and this is her first solo performance. I don’t want her to get upset.”
“It’s okay, Mr. Leroy,” I said. “You tell me when you want me to talk to her and I’ll be here.”
He turned to Buddy. “Why don’t y’all hang around here while we go through this rehearsal. Then I’ll take you out to dinner.”
Buddy and I sat at the bar and nursed our beers. Leroy worked with the chorus line until it was perfect to his taste. He left the girls and came back to us. “Okay fellas,” he said in his deep baritone voice. “Let’s go to my place first. You’ll meet my wife while I get a shower and a new change of clothes. I’m the boss, and I have to look my best.”
We followed him out of the club. The guard at the door was already at the curb with a shiny black 1940 Cadillac limousine with the door open.
“We have a jeep,” Buddy said. “We’ll follow you.”
“No way.” Leroy smiled. “You’ll come in my hog. Give the keys to the jeep to Johnson. He’ll take care of the car for you.”
Buddy gave the keys to the guard. “Hide it,” he said. “It’s government property. I don’t want us to get canned for lettin’ somebody else drive it.”
Johnson smiled. “Don’t worry. I have all the tricks to keep a car safe.”
“Thanks.” Buddy smiled, and tried to hand Johnson a fiver.
Johnson shook his head. “No sir, you’re in the family.”
Buddy sat in the front seat with his cousin. I sat in the back. I had never been in a new car like this. It rode like I was floating on a cloud, and the upholstery was like regular furniture. The smell of the new car was like heaven. Pure pussy.
Buddy looked back at me. “Like the car?”
“Fantastic!” I answered. “I never have been in a car like this.”
“They ain’t many of them around,” Leroy said. “When the war started, all the new cars went to the big shots in the government. I paid for this one under the table.” He laughed his big laugh. “That usually gets you what you want.”
“It’s great, Mr. Leroy,” I said.
It took us only about fifteen minutes to get to Leroy’s house. It seemed like a newly constructed apartment and there was a driveway that led to the apartment entrance. A tall uniformed doorman opened the car door for us and then drove the car away. There were two elevators, each on one side of the building, each with its own elevator operator. Leroy’s apartment was on the top floor. Ninth floor. Penthouse apartment west.
Buddy looked at his cousin as we walked to his door. “Leroy!” he said with admiration. “You are one dickety nigger. How did you ever get so smart?”
“Connections,” Leroy said, and smiled. “With connections you can own the world.”
7
Leroy’s penthouse was something else. The living room was at least forty feet long, with windows that covered one whole side of the room that opened to a terrace that looked over the river to Canada. The furniture was beautiful. It looked like a picture in a magazine. There were expensive antiques, leather easy chairs, and a large sectional sofa, with oil paintings on every part of the walls.
Leroy saw the astonishment on my face. “It’s a beautiful place, isn’t it? My wife, Carolyn, decorated it herself. She went to Chicago, New York, and Europe and bought all of these things.”
“It’s great,” I said.
Buddy was staring with his mouth open. “This ain’t like no black folks’ house I’ve ever seen.”
“My wife ain’t black.” Leroy smiled. “I met her in Paris where she was a showgirl at the Moulin Rouge.”
“Is she here?” Buddy asked.
“She’ll be home in a minute,” Leroy said. “She has an interior decorating and furniture store over in Grosse Pointe. That’s where all the bigwigs in the auto business live. They love Carolyn’s work; she’s done most of their homes. But it takes about a half hour for her to drive home. She’ll be here soon.”
“You doin’ pretty good,” Buddy said, still gawking.
Leroy smiled. “You soldiers get a drink over at the bar while I get dressed. Just relax an’ enjoy.”
A small man wearing a white waiter’s coat came into the room and went behind the bar. “I’m Julian,” he said in a soft voice. “I’m the butler. What can I serve you gentlemen?”
“Rheingold,” Buddy said.
“Same for me,” I said. “Thank you.”
He filled our glasses and set out a plate of peanuts in front of us. “Is there anything else I can do for you gentlemen?” Julian said.
“We’re fine, Julian,” Buddy said.
“The door to the terrace is unlocked if you would like to go out, gentlemen,” Julian said. “If you need anything else just press this button on the bar.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Buddy looked at me. I followed him out to the terrace. Buddy shook his head. “I never knew that Leroy was so loaded.”
“He seems like a nice man,” I said.
Buddy laughed. “You didn’t know him when he was young. He was really tough. He was the collection man for the Purple Mob. Then when he made his mark they turned him over to the cabaret business and he ran all the games in a secret room behind the showroom.”
“He still seems like a nice man,” I said.
“He really is.” Buddy smiled. “If you don’t give him any trouble.”
“I’m an angel.” I laughed. Then we heard Julian open the front door and looked toward the doorway. Leroy’s wife came into the room. He was right when he said she wasn’t a black woman. She had skin that looked like ivory, platinum hair, and beautiful blue eyes. She was a beautiful lady who looked like a model off a magazine cover.
Buddy was up on his feet. He was off the terrace and into the room before she could get through the living room. I followed him but I was not as fast as he was. “Carolyn, I’m Leroy’
s cousin, Clarence.”
She shook his hand. “I’m happy to meet you.” She smiled back. “You sound like you’re from New York,” she said in a sultry voice. “I was born in New York, too.”
Buddy laughed. “I guess we’re all New Yorkers, then. This is my friend, Jerry Cooper.”
I nodded and held out my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.”
She held my hand. It was warm. “You can call me Carolyn.” She smiled. “What brings you to Detroit?”
“We’re working over at the jeep factory in the army. When we’re finished here we’ll be shipped overseas,” I rattled off. I couldn’t keep my mind on what I was saying, she was so beautiful.
“Jerry’s too modest,” Buddy chimed in. “We’re both teachers here and we’ll probably be here quite a while.”
“Good.” She smiled a radiant smile. “We’ll be happy to have you here. Most of our friends have already shipped out.” She turned to leave the room. “I’m going over to check with Leroy about what the plans are for this evening. Just relax at the bar and we’ll both be back real soon.”
Buddy looked at me after she left the room. “Man, she’s really a knockout. Cousin Leroy has done himself proud.”
I looked at him and went to the bar. “She’s a star. I’m surprised she never wound up in Hollywood.”
Leroy had just come into the room and had heard me. “You’re right, kid.” He laughed at me. “We went to Los Angeles on our honeymoon and the first night we were at dinner, one of the big producers at MGM wanted to take us over to the studio the next morning and give her a screen test. But she said no, no. She was staying with her man Leroy in Detroit.”
“You’re a lucky man,” Buddy said.
“Don’t I know it!” Leroy agreed. “You fellas like surf and turf? We got the best place in town. We’ll have dinner and then we’ll all go back to the cabaret and see the show.”
“You’re the boss.” Buddy laughed.
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