by C. S. Lakin
“You could do better than Della. Everyone says she’s so great, but all her characters come out the same. Besides, she’s got such an attitude.”
“She’s never said anything to me.”
“Exactly. You’re a nothing. I’m a nothing too. All she talks about is going to Hollywood to be a star.”
“Maybe she will.”
“I doubt it. You have to work hard to make it in Hollywood. I don’t get the impression that that Della knows the meaning of hard work.”
“I thought all you had to do is sleep with some producer.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then, by golly, there’s hope for her.” The two girls laughed, then covered their mouths. Jon, directing the play from the opposite wing, shot them a stern look.
After the final curtain, Lila began clearing the stage amid the celebrating actors. Della radiated, surrounded by admiring fans. Lila noticed Jon never left her side. Davis broke away from his admirers and put on his coat. He yelled over to the cast and crew.
“You guys coming?”
“Be right there,” Della answered.
Davis waited by the door, and caught Lila’s attention. “Hi, Lila Carmichael. Once again, you kept it together. Everything ran smooth as silk.”
“Thanks,” Lila managed to say. “You did a great job. I was impressed.”
Davis took a theatrical bow. “You wanna join us at the Rainbow? We’re going to do a little partying.”
Lila’s stomach tied in knots. “I think I’ll pass. I’m really beat.”
Davis winked at her. “Well, if you change your mind . . .”
“Thanks. I-I better finish cleaning up.” She took a step backward and bumped into Della.
“Yes, you don’t want to lose any of those precious props.” Della entwined her arm around Davis’s arm. “Ready?” she asked him.
“Is everyone coming?”
“They’re right behind us, love.”
Lila felt like Cinderella, left behind while everyone attended the ball. Millie was nowhere in sight. Probably tagging along with Dick.
Outside, Della and Davis walked to his sporty car. Della talked nonstop, pausing only to light a cigarette. “Wasn’t that great? I loved the effect on the audience when you smashed the binoculars. And did you feel the tension at the end of the first act? It was great! There’s nothing like being on stage. You were really fantastic tonight, Davis. How can you even think of giving up acting?”
Davis pulled her close and kissed her. He pressed her against his car and reached up her blouse.
“Davis, it’s sprinkling. Let’s get in the car.”
“How ’bout the back seat?” His hand roamed down her skirt and he found her mouth with his. Della nodded her head and opened the door. The party could wait.
At the Rainbow, Jon, Dick, Millie, and a half dozen cast and crew members started in on their third pitcher of Oly dark. The tavern was packed as usual for a Saturday night. Jon kept glancing at the door, wondering what was taking Della so long. When he saw her enter with Davis, her flushed face and rumpled clothes told all. A wave of jealousy engulfed him. It drove him crazy, the way Della teased him. At rehearsals she gave him looks that literally made him shudder. He scowled and drank his beer.
“Hey, there you guys are. Hope you don’t mind we started without you,” Dick said.
Davis and Della slid into the bench. “Was that a show, or what?” said Davis, pouring a round of drinks. “I’m glad we’re moving into a different direction, though. ‘Picnic’ is going to be great.”
“Yeah, and some of us will even get to act for a change,” Dick said. Dick was trying out for the role of Alan, the lead’s boyfriend, and he’d already memorized all his lines.
“Picnic” abounded in female roles and auditions were opening right after break. Millie hoped to land the role of the younger sister. Then she’d be in rehearsals with Dick night and day.
“So, what’s this about open auditions?” Greg, the stage manager, asked.
Davis grunted. “That’s the word. We’re supposed to give up at least one of the lead parts. Administration says there’ve been complaints that we’re hogging all the shows. There are students outside of Thespians who want a chance to audition. It doesn’t mean we have to pick anyone, though.”
“Wrong, pal,” Jonathan said. “I talked with Professor Russel today. We do have to pick outsiders and not only that—Russel has to consult two other teachers for a consensus.”
“Oh, great,” Dick said. “So what’s the point of being in a drama group if you’re gonna get pushed out?”
“Calm down, Ferrol,” Jonathan said. “You’ll see how few people will turn up for the tryouts. Most students are too busy with their core programs to have time for all the rehearsals. I say don’t sweat it.”
Della sat smoking cigarette after cigarette. What did she care about playing some dumb lead part again? The end of school was creeping up on her faster than she liked. Each day brought greater agitation. She had a sudden need to get out of that claustrophobic room and relieve some tension.
She looked at Jon, who caught her glance. The opportunity was ripe. Jon was the only one in their group going to Hollywood and he might be her ticket out. In fact, Jon had already been accepted into film school at USC. Della looked him over. He was attractive, if a little soft around the waist. But she could envision herself in bed with him and even liking it. His egotistic ravings annoyed her, but what did you have to talk about during sex?
After closing the bar at two a.m., Della ditched Davis and caught up with Jonathan as he walked home. He lived uphill on West Adams, a few blocks from the Rainbow. Jon was surprised to see Della sprinting along the sidewalk after him.
After weeks of unspoken messages between them, Della didn’t have to say a word. On the sidewalk, under the dull illumination of a street lamp, Jonathan gathered Della in his arms and kissed her. Della had clearly tired of Davis, the all-American bore, and was ready for a change. He’d show her a time she’d never forget. As he walked up his steps with his arms around her, he gloated. She had taken her time coming around, but his charisma and talent were too strong to resist. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Davis’s face when he found out.
Chapter 25
“Hey, over there.” Dick shone his flashlight at a thick grove of trees. “See, I told you there was a house.”
“More like a shed.” Della gasped for air. “And it’s dark. Forget it.” She felt so tired and unbearably sick of the whole stupid chase. Davis was probably back at the castle by now, snoring away. She looked over her shoulder. No sign of Millie, but Della didn’t expect her to keep up.
Images of the warm tropics permeated her thoughts as she wrapped her coat tighter against the assailing wind. She couldn’t bear living hand to mouth anymore. Lila was right—she would probably kill herself rather than succumb to a life of poverty and failure. As she stopped to catch her breath, Della tried hard to remember what it felt like to be on stage, under the lights with the audience cheering wildly. Lila could do it, even make me a star. The yearning was so intense, she thought her heart would crack. Her fists tightened involuntarily. Even though the idea was crazy, she wanted to believe Davis would make good his promise to Lila. He just had to.
Jon elbowed Dick out of the way as he neared the cabin. “I’ll take care of him.”
Jon stumbled, colliding into the cabin siding.
“Cut it out, Levin. We’re all in this together.” Dick was close enough to get a good look at the structure. “Hey, check this out.” He aimed his flashlight on the broken window.
“Got him!” Jon yelled.
Della and Dick hurried after Jon, who twisted the door handle. “He must’ve smashed the glass to get in.” Jon reached through the shards to the inside latch and the door swung open. “Quit hiding, Gregory. We know you’re here.”
Jonathan shone his light into every crack. “I’ll find you . . .”
Della and Dick raced around the small rooms, t
heir flashlight beams searching the corners.
Della shrieked. “He’s been here—look at the bed.”
“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed, said the papa bear, and he’s gotta be here somewhere,” Jon said.
Dick yanked on the cot and pulled it away from the wall. Jonathan ran over and flipped the frame onto its side. Finding nothing, he began pulling all the furniture away from the wall. Della and Dick joined him. They threw open cupboard doors and tossed the contents onto the floor. They rummaged through the closets and emptied the wood box by the cold pot-bellied stove. Soon, the cabin lay in shambles.
Dick ventured outside, panting and sweating. Damn Davis! How could he have given them the slip? In the back of his mind, prison doors clanged shut behind him. Dick forced the image away, replacing it with one of him seated in a fancy office at the State Capitol, and Penny running her long, manicured fingernails through his hair. Good riddance Millie! He wouldn’t have it any other way. No way he would go to jail and be disgraced. No way would he live in that suffocating box house with his fat wife breathing down his neck. No more petty, corrupt small town politics.
His mother’s face intruded in his picture. Ida, with her stern scrutiny. What is this? Someone just sent me disgusting photographs of you with another woman. How could you do this disgraceful thing? Dick’s gut wrenched in pain. No Mother, I’m going to be state senator, you’re mistaken. Then his mother scowled, and shivers shot down his spine.
Dick smothered the inner voices. First, find Davis. Everything in his world depended on it. Davis had destroyed their lives by his foolishness; making them all pay for fifteen years. Lila deserves some justice. What Davis did was unforgivable. But did Lila have a right to do what she did? There was no time to work out the moral ramifications—there was only one way out of the mess—Lila’s way. Dick scanned the ground.
“Hey idiots,” he yelled. “you coulda just looked at the footprints, see?”
Jon and Della joined him outside. They examined the wet sand. Footprints led out the door to the beach, footprints from a man’s sneaker.
“Well, you missed them, too, Ferrol,” said Jon.
Della heard a sound from behind her. She swung around and voiced her disappointment. “Oh, it’s only you.”
Millie panted, dragging her heavy, sand-caked hem behind her. “Thanks a lot. I feel real welcome.”
“You’re not, if you’re going to slow us down,” Dick said. His wife looked hideous. Her hair was a mess and she was still in that ridiculous dress. He was sure Lila would make her pay for ruining it, too. Millie disgusted him. If he never saw her again, what did he care? What did he need Millie and her stinking paycheck for now? He would set Penny up in a fancy house, even buy her that Jaguar she crooned over. He avoided thinking about his girls. That would work itself out in time, custody and visitation rights. He would be too busy for them, anyway, once he was in the Senate. Oh, where the hell was Davis?
Millie felt an odd relief in the realization that her marriage was unsalvageable. But, what if her daughters had to see their father in prison? A criminal. What a disgrace. Millie imagined Sally and Debby at school—humiliated by their friends’ jeers. Her babies coming home, crying. How did she get into such a mess? All she tried to do her entire life was stay out of trouble, but somehow trouble had tracked her down. If only I had told Lila the truth about Davis. But, she hadn’t. And now she was paying.
But none of this would have happened if Davis hadn’t done the unthinkable. Promising Lila he’d marry her just so she’d go to bed with him. How could he do such a thing? Like the others, Millie realized there was no way around it. Davis would have to pay. He had nothing to lose, anyway, since Lila already owned him. He was at her mercy.
“Come on, let’s get moving. He can’t be far.” Dick followed the tracks with Jon right behind him.
Jon’s thoughts kept drifting to the Academy Awards. He saw himself at the podium, reading aloud his short thank-you list to the adulating audience. He didn’t have many people to thank. He reached his pinnacle of success all on his own. He stifled a giggle. Maybe he’d thank fat old Lila. If it wasn’t for you, babe . . . What kind of picture would he win for? Some great epic, some fabulous sex-driven thriller? He thought of the flood of offers—and the money. Every step he took through the rain and muck brought him one step closer to his dream. Where was that jerk? He fought down his anger. He wanted to wring Davis’s neck. He trudged behind Dick, and the two women lagged behind. He wouldn’t need their help convincing Davis. Davis was ruined, finished.
The irony made Jonathan shiver. Jonathan would get the Oscar and Davis would get—Lila!
Cynthia raised her flashlight toward the canopy of branches. How long had she been wandering through the woods? Minutes stretched like hours as she wended through more trees. Finally, the congestion of vegetation gave way to a rocky wall. One pass with the flashlight told her the wall was insurmountable. The rain let up, but the wind still blew in powerful gusts, knocking her from side to side. The cold penetrated her layers of clothing, coating her with an unbearable chill.
She thought about her warm bed in her warm home and the tears started to flow. Her anger flared—anger and disappointment over Davis. He had showed her a side of his personality she had never seen before and it shocked her. The Davis she knew would never take delight in seeing people humiliated and mistreated. The Davis she knew would never lie to her, and break his promises. Somehow, in the course of one evening, her joy and contentment shattered. Could she ever trust him, or love him again? Cynthia shook the fears from her mind. If she didn’t find a way out of the woods, she might never live to find out the answers to those questions browbeating her heart.
With renewed determination, she followed along the base of the rock. Gradually, it opened up to sand and she could see over the rocks to another grove of trees. And barely visible against the dark backdrop was a small cabin. She exhaled in relief as she ran to the cabin door.
The footprints out front caught her eye. People had been here, and recently. She looked at the broken glass. She sucked in a breath. What if they’d found Davis and hurt him?
She pushed on the door and hurried inside. One sweep with her flashlight revealed the upheaval of furniture and the strewn contents of the house. Evidence of a struggle. Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs. How could respectable people be turned so easily into wolves? Quickly, she ran outside and reexamined the ground. Long grooves etched the sand, as if someone dragged their foot. Someone had been hurt.
Cynthia studied the footprints and found they led in one direction—toward the sea. The roar of the ocean carried over the expanse of sand. Cynthia knew she hadn’t a moment to waste. Turning headlong into the wind and beating rain, she kept her light pointed to the ground and chased the trail of footprints, dreading what she might find at the water’s edge.
On Christmas morning at The Evergreen State College, Millie told her roommate about the visit she had with Dick’s mother the night before. Although Millie had to endure the woman’s severe scrutiny, she nonetheless survived the evening without sticking her foot in her mouth. Lila seemed happy for her.
“Li . . . something happened. I mean, last night . . .”
Lila looked at her roommate. Millie knew she was blushing. “You went to bed with Dick?”
Millie nodded. “I guess you could say I’m no longer a virgin.”
“Wow. How was it?”
How was it? Not what she’d fantasized her first time would be. But it wasn’t Dick’s fault. They had no place private to go. On the way home, he parked at a place known as the local lovers’ lane. The back seat of a car sounded romantic, but it sure wasn’t comfortable. In moments, his hands roamed all over her. She would have preferred to wait, but Dick wanted her then and there. He told her how much he needed her and how she turned him on. She couldn’t refuse. They got tangled up in their clothes and Millie couldn’t seem to get past the logistics to be at ease. And then—they lay in awkward
silence. Millie stared out the window, trying to ignore the painful ache in her groin. Dick hopped into the front seat and drove back to Oly in silence.
“I guess it was nice,” she said.
“Oh, Millie, I’d be so scared. The thought of having to . . . well, get naked and all. And then, how did you know what to do?”
“You don’t have to worry about all that stuff. Guys know. I guess this means I’m officially his girlfriend.”
Lila hugged her. “Oh, Mil, I’m glad for you.”
Lila had a hundred questions, but Millie changed the subject.
“So, I hear casting starts next week. I’ve just got to get that part, Lila. That means I’ll be in rehearsal with Dick every day.”
Lila’s buried her nose in a textbook. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you prepare for the audition.”
“Thanks, Li, but it’s such a big part.”
“You’ll get it. Even the character’s name is Millie, too. It’s an omen, don’t you think? Do you want me to come along for moral support?”
“Would you? And maybe while you’re there, you’ll try out, too. There’re lots of small parts.”
“Stop nagging me already. I’m swamped with a full load this semester. When would I have time for rehearsals?”
Millie chuckled. “There’s always time for rehearsals, you know that.”
“Not this time. My hours increased at Jo Mama’s and I need the money. Speaking of which. . .” Lila looked at her watch. “I’ve gotta get to work.” She pushed her books aside and gathered her coat and scarf.
Millie waved. “Maybe I’ll pop in later for a bite.”
The next week, with school back in session, Lila walked with Millie to their classes.
“Have they picked the lead roles yet?” Lila asked.
