Black Hearts Dance

by Gerald Lopez

  “Thank you,” Alex said. “It was an interesting journey for me.”

  “I need to know the story behind why that guy’s cock is so shiny,” I said, pointing to the wooden statue with the glossy erection.”

  Shannon looked at it and laughed.

  “C’mon, Detective, you couldn’t figure that one out,” Rory said.

  “If you went with the thought that first popped into your mind when you saw him and his ginormous ‘gift’, you’d probably be right,” Mrs. Carson said. “People rub his dick for good luck.”

  The last comment by Mrs. Carson made everyone laugh loudly and Elise almost choked from laughing so hard.

  “Let’s go in the formal living room,” Elise said.

  We walked across the hall and Elise slid back the two pocket doors so we could enter.

  “I can still remember the grand parties my mother had in these rooms,” Mrs. Carson said. “They were a bit more civilized than some of my own. My daughter had her wedding reception here and I was hoping Elise would too some day.” She got a bit teary-eyed and wiped her eyes.

  “Maybe whoever buys Carson Court will let Elise use it for her reception,” Alex said.

  “Good Lord, I don’t even have time to date,” Elise said.

  I looked around the room. Two large, pastel colored area rugs were artfully placed on top of the gorgeous hard wood floors. There were also two tall, rectangular, floor to ceiling gold gilt frame mirrors leaning against the wall directly in front of us when we entered the room. On the far right wall was a portrait of a stunningly beautiful red-haired woman in a white Edwardian dress. I slowly walked up to the portrait, captivated by it. Alex’s hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my daze.

  “She’s beautiful,” Alex said.

  “That was my grandmother,” Mrs. Carson said. “She was a society beauty. After giving birth to twin boys she either turned into a cold-hearted bitch for a while or had a breakdown—or so I’ve heard.”

  “Grandma!” Elise said. “She probably had postpartum depression or something.”

  “More like a case of severe bitchiness,” Mrs. Carson said, then turned to Alex and I. “The grandmother I knew was kind and sweet; for a moment my mind turned to her ghost—now she can be a bitch. People have seen her ghost wandering the halls here. My daughter even caught a glimpse of her once.”

  “It scared the heck out of her too,” Elise said. “She told me.”

  We left the living room and went into a roomy kitchen that was behind the dining room. The layout was a reverse ‘L’ in shape, it had a granite topped island in the center with four bar stools around it, and cabinets that went up to meet the high ceiling.

  “We use that ladder hanging off that metal rail to reach the top parts of the cabinets,” Elise said, then pointed.

  I looker at what she was pointing to and noticed a metal ladder similar to ones used in libraries to reach high books.

  “I know I’m ready for a treat,” Mrs. Carson said. “How about everyone else?”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice,” I said.

  Mrs. Carson opened the oven door and pulled out a plate of cookies. The aroma filled my nostrils and instantly took me back to a time when I was out in the field with my fellow soldiers. It was a quiet time in the midst of the storm called battle. I felt, more than actually saw, the cookie she handed me and brought it to my lips. A couple involuntary tears left my eyes as I took the first bite and tasted its familiar, sweet flavors. Oh how we’d loved getting these in the field… and they came regularly. I felt it when Alex placed his hand firmly on my shoulder, but couldn’t respond. All my senses were honed in on that cookie.

  “Finish that cookie, soldier,” Mrs. Carson said. “It’s time.”

  After placing the rest of the cookie in my mouth I took her outstretched hand. The look Mrs. Carson gave me made my heart beat fast.

  “I know you,” I said, getting choked up. My heart and soul knows who you are—who you have to be. But my head can’t put it all together.”

  “Shhh,” Mrs. Carson said. “It’s alright, let’s go into my husband’s office.”

  “This next part will be impressive,” Rory said to the group.

  Mrs. Carson led me to the room across from the kitchen with the rest of our group in tow, she opened the door, ushered me inside, then turned me to face the wall to my right.

  At the sight in front of me I instantly went into full Marine mode. My back was straight and I stood tall, my hand flew up to my forehead to give the perfect salute as I looked into the eyes on the portrait—into his green eyes. This was his house and I stood tall as if waiting to be inspected. There would be no budging me until I was told to be at ease. A Marine never forgot his training. In front of me was a portrait of the now deceased owner of Carson Court. I believe in Jehovah God and his son Jesus Christ, but the man in the portrait was a small “g” god on earth. A four star, decorated, Purple Heart recipient Marine general. I glanced down quickly at the name plate on the portrait: General Joseph (Carson) Keene.

  “Holy shit,” Alex said. “Sorry, Mrs. Carson, but your husband was a four star Marine general—holy shit. I’m impressed… Layton must be—”

  “Layton looks sexy as fuck,” Rory said. “You are one lucky man, Alex.”

  “I’ll second that,” Shannon said.

  “Marines are the best of us,” Mrs. Carson said. “Layton could stay like that for days if I let him. A well trained Marine doesn’t forget what he’s learned. Soldier, face me!”

  I turned and saluted her—his woman. His lady and a person just as worthy of being saluted as her husband was.

  “Wow,” I’m glad I didn’t miss him,” an elderly, slim, black woman said from the doorway. She was dressed in gray slacks, black flats, and a lavender top. Her hair was gray and cut short. “He’s the best of them all.”

  “Of course he is,” Mrs. Carson said. “This is him. At ease soldier.”

  I relaxed and heard Elise gasp loudly before she ran toward me and gave me a huge hug.

  “I’ve heard about you for years,” Elise said. “I never knew your name, just that you were our soldier.”

  “We prayed a lot for you, soldier,” the black woman said. “I’m Miss Maribelle.”

  “Thank you, Miss Maribelle,” I said. “I’m appreciative of all the prayers.” I turned to Mrs. Carson. Tears rolled down my eyes. It was impossible to hold them back. The shame I felt at not instantly recognizing the woman who’d saved my life was intense. Everyone looked at me, but I could only look at her and reach for her hands.

  “I should’ve recognized you,” I said. “I’d only ever heard you referred to as Izzy, but no matter what, I should’ve recognized you the minute I laid eyes on you. You saved my life. The brooch you’re wearing is the same one you wore when you, the generals, and their ladies took me and the boys to high tea at The Dorchester in London. I feel ashamed.”

  “Don’t feel ashamed,” Miss Maribelle said. “She does this to all of you. Gets her face done up crazy so you can’t recognize her—never as wild as it looks now, though. And she always wears that same brooch. None of you soldiers could ever tell it was her.”

  “But why, Grandma?” Elise said.

  “She was right to do it!” Miss Maribelle said. “These soldiers need to stand in front of the general and show their respect first. It has to be done the right way.”

  “I would’ve come sooner, if you’d let me know,” I said to Mrs. Carson. “I would’ve raced over here.”

  “I know that,” Mrs, Carson said, gently placing her hand on the side of my face. “Tweetle got in a wreck driving here too fast and he ended up with a broken leg. After that we figured it was better to tell you men everything after you arrived at Carson Court.”

  “Tweetle,” I said, and laughed. “He always was unlucky that way. But I probably would’ve done the same thing.” She held her arms open to me and I hugged her, then laid my head on her shoulder and let my tears fall silently.

&
nbsp; “He’s reacting better than that Spangler guy did,” Rory said. “He was bawling like a baby.”

  I lifted my head, wiped away my tears and spoke. “Spangler always was a know-it-all, if you fooled him too it would’ve devastated him.”

  “Even after he saw the general’s portrait he didn’t recognize Mrs. Carson and it all had to be explained to him,” Rory said.

  “I’m surprised the shock of not figuring it all out didn’t kill him,” I said.

  “I think it almost did,” Rory said. “He was pretty shook up.

  “That’s for damn sure,” Miss Maribelle said. “Mrs. Carson and I had to give him some hot tea and rub his back he was so shook up. Marines are tough, hard men but they don’t like being shook up.

  “I knew they’d all been here,” I said. “The guys I served with. All of them but me. They never told me where ‘here’ was exactly. I just knew the general had summoned them and I waited my turn… but he never called.”

  “Listen to me, Layton Shayne, the general loved all of you—you were his boys,” Mrs. Carson said. “But he told me that each of you had an appointed time to come here. Spangler helped as only he could—with the paperwork and things that had to be dealt with after the general died. Tweetle, God bless him was there to comfort me when the general’s time had come.”

  “I would’ve come,” I said. “My partner at the time and I went to the funeral and showed our respect.”

  “I know you did,” Mrs. Carson said. “I recognized you and I remember. Your new partner’s a damn sight prettier.”

  I laughed, but felt hurt deep inside and I knew she could see it. “I’d admired the general so damn much, and he didn’t call for me.” Mrs. Carson held my chin firmly in her hand and looked into my eyes.

  “That’s because he knew you were special,” Mrs. Carson said. “He knew from the day he first laid eyes on you and gave you his piece of cake at tea. The general knew things that way.”

  “Yes he did,” Miss Maribelle said. “It was a gift from God and he knew you had to be the last one to come here to Carson Court.”

  “Why?” I said. I felt completely and totally lost at that moment.

  Chapter 9

  The Wisdom of a General

  “ALL OF THEM get like this,” Rory said. “Some of them I’ve witnessed, others I’ve just heard about. It’s him that does it.” He pointed to the general’s portrait. “If they get like kids in front of just the man’s portrait you can imagine how he was in real life.”

  “He was a great and honorable man, and he made us feel like what we did mattered,” I said. “Why did I have to be last?” Using my sleeve I wiped the wet spots around my eyes and stood, then tossed my flip-flops in a corner and walked around the heavy and imposing dark wood desk to get close to the general’s portrait. “Why, General? What’s the mission, Sir?”

  “He said that we always had to pray for you because there would come a time when we’d need help and you’d be the only that could provide it,” Elise said.

  I listened while I continued to stare into the general’s eyes, as if doing that would make him speak to me.

  “The general’s dead, Layton,” Mrs. Carson said. “But I’ll never forget what he told me at that tea years ago. The general said we have to be good to ‘our boy’ Layton because he’ll not only be the salvation of Carson Court but the guy who’ll see you through when you have need of someone and I’m not there, Izzy. We must always watch out for him and keep him in our prayers.”

  Her words touched my soul and I knew they were true. “I loved that man,” I said turning to Mrs. Carson who was now standing in the center of the dark wood paneled room, under the shiny brass chandelier. “All of us soldiers loved him. For more reasons than I could ever express. He was the best of us.”

  “Should I go stand by him?” Rory said. “You know what usually happens next.”

  “Leave him be,” Mrs. Carson said. “He won’t break down like the others. This time it’s gonna be different—I can feel it. The general left a note for you, Layton, in an envelope right there on top of his desk.”

  I walked a few steps to the desk and picked up the white envelope with my name on it. Then I opened it, read the note inside, and put the note and envelope back on the desk. Looking up, I saw everyone staring at me waiting. Reaching toward a crystal decanter and glass on the corner of the desk, I poured myself a scotch. After closing the decanter, I rolled the leather chair back from the desk, sat in it, leaned back, put my legs on the desk with a loud thump, crossed my bare feet, and drank the scotch. There were moans of shock from the room and I didn’t care. I put the glass down hard on the desk. Mrs. Carson walked up and poured me another, which I drank.

  “The note the general left for me was simple,” I said. “He wrote ‘Reclaim this land from the darkness, soldier.’ and that’s precisely what I’m going to do.” I leaned back and put my hands behind my head.

  “Holy shit,” Rory said. “I’ve never seen one of those soldier boys with balls big enough to sit at the general’s desk like that. It’s like he’s in his own home.”

  “That’s because I am home,” I said, before I’d even realized it.

  Suddenly I felt trembling from the floor and up the walls which made my body tingle all over. Everyone looked around with panicked expressions on their faces until the vibrations stopped as suddenly as when they’d started.

  “That was probably just a big truck going by outside, right?” Alex said.

  Lucky came running into the room, straight to Elise who picked him up and rubbed his ears.

  “It’s because Layton just said he was home,” Rory said. “The spirits here didn’t like that. They know he’s cut from the same cloth the general was… and they were scared of him.”

  No one responded. The silence in the room was broken by my cell phone ringing. I reached into my pocket, dug it out, and answered it—my hand still shaking from the tremors that had been in the room.

  “Yeah I’m here at Carson Court, you fuck, Spangler. Thanks for giving a guy a warning. … Don’t even go blaming the general or Mrs. Carson for making you keep it secret, you bastard. … Yeah, I fucking cried too. How the hell couldn’t I—it’s the general’s house? … I’ll get things figured out here. … Yeah, yeah… shut the fuck up, Spangler You can’t run over here and bring the new baby with you. Ghosts love freakin babies. … How do I know that? Shee-it! Everyone knows that. If I need you I’Il call. … Between all of us we couldn’t come up with enough dough to buy Carson Court for Mrs. Carson. … Listen… listen to me. If she doesn’t wanna go I’ll find a way to keep her here. I will. … No I don’t fucking need you leaving your wife and three-day-old kid to come here and help me. Did you forget I was a Marine too? Kiss the kid and Elaine for me. … Who the fuck knows, maybe we’ll end up having a reunion here one day?… I’m sitting at the general’s desk. … Yeah, well, we’ve all showered together and you know I have the biggest balls literally and figuratively, now hang up the damn phone. … Yes, I’ll call you, and let you know what happens, you damn girl.”

  After closing my cell I saw everyone staring at me yet again. “Sorry about the language,” I said. “It’s just soldier talk. I’ve gotta get tough with these guys sometimes. Spangler didn’t think I could handle things.”

  “When and how did I save your life?” Mrs. Carson said to me.

  Chapter 10

  Isabel

  LEANING BACK again in the general’s leather chair, I closed my eyes for a moment and smiled. Then I addressed the group. “Make yourselves comfortable, I’ve got a story to tell.”

  I waited while Mrs. Carson and Elise sat on the burgundy leather sofa with Lucky. Shannon sat in the matching leather armchair on one side of the sofa and Miss Maribelle sat in the armchair on the other side. Alex and Rory sat down on the rug in front of the sofa and soon had company—Lucky had jumped off Elise’s lap and gone to sit by Alex.

  “This story goes back to when I was a baby face boy soldier, w
ho’d yet to see action,” I said. “My boys and I had a few free days in London where we were greeted by an illustrious group of Marine officers and their ladies. One of the general’s ladies had arranged for me and the boys to be introduced to the custom of high tea and we were joined by other high ranking Marine officers and their ladies who took us under their wing.” Damn, I was tearing up again… a Marine just shouldn’t do that. “For a week they took us out on the town and made us feel like one of their own. It was such a special time that I swore I’d never forget it, or the people involved—and I feel ashamed that I didn’t recognize you, Mrs. Carson. You never forgot your boys. We got regular care packages from you with everything from flip-flops to candy, deodorant… and cookies.”

  “I helped bake those cookies, you know,” Miss Maribelle said.

  “She did indeed,” Mrs. Carson said.

  “And words alone can never express what it meant to us to get them,” I said. “And not just because they were the best damn cookies I’d ever tasted, but because they reminded us of home and what we were fighting for. I’m gonna make this short now, because I feel the need arising for another cookie.”

  Everyone laughed then gave me their full attention once more.

  “All the guys with me had crosses they wore, except for Liebowitz for obvious reasons. I’d lost the cross my mother had given me and Mrs. Carson noticed I didn’t have one.”

  “Oh, yes,” Mrs. Carson said. “I remember running around London with you, the general, Spangler, and Tweetle trying to find you a cross. You wouldn’t have thought it would’ve been so difficult to find one. We finally had to settle for that shiny silver one with the mirrored surface. It really was a bit gaudy for a soldier.” She chuckled.

  “Maybe,” I said. “But years later, while working a case it saved my life. I was in a tough fight and things were going bad for me. The other guy was a former soldier turned mercenary for hire, turned thug. He was bigger than me and stronger… and he had the edge. By all counts, he should’ve won the fight, but he hadn’t known Isabel Carson-Keene. That cross you gave me, Mrs. Carson, caught a ray of sunlight on that hot dusty day. The light bounced off that cross you called ‘gaudy’ and blinded that son of a bitch long enough to give me the win.”