I slipped in the service door of the Derby with my heart in my throat. In the back room, I quick-changed into my uniform and pinned on my cap. I’d spent the twenty-minute ride on the streetcar wracking my brains about the party. I practiced my story in case anybody asked. It had more holes than a moth-eaten sweater.
The Derby was packed like usual. The smell of liver and onions—the Saturday special—made my stomach turn an uncomfortable flip, but I switched on a bright smile for Norb as I checked in at the cash register.
“Take the back booths.” He eyed me up and down to make sureI passed muster, just like he had my first day, which had almost been my last.
I stacked the dirty coffee cups on a tray and headed toward the kitchen, remembering how Mr. Chaplin had rescued me from Louella’s wandering husband—and his wandering hands—and how Louella had treated me like dirt from that moment on. I stopped suddenly, the cups teetering sideways... Until yesterday, when she suddenly became my best friend. She’d invited me to Roy’s party and presented me to him like a prize sow at the fair.
Norb barked at me and I double-timed it to the kitchen to do my job. I seated Loretta Young—her name did her justice; she couldn’t have been more than eighteen and already a star at MGM—and an older man who must be her agent, and was pouring coffee for a foursome of boisterous publicity types when I looked up to see Max.
He looked terrible. My stomach dropped to my shoes. He knew.
He caught my eye and made a beeline for the back room. I followed him, my mouth as dry as sawdust, remembering what he said last night.Don’t come crying to me.But was he really going to turn his back on me? He was the only one I could count on.
I pressed my hand over my middle, took a deep breath, and followed him into the room the girls used for changing into our uniforms and fixing our makeup. I locked the door behind me. I didn’t need anybody walking in on this scene.
Max leaned against a row of metal lockers, his arms crossed, a look on his face I guess I’d describe as cold. I couldn’t say a word.
When I didn’t speak up, he bit out, “What happened last night, Mina?”
I swallowed. He waited. So I told him about Louella and Roy, and how she wanted me to keep him company. “After the drinks,I can’t remember. We went upstairs...” I stopped, looking at the cracked linoleum floor.
“What happened then, Mina?” His voice was kind of choked.
“I don’t—I mean, nothing. I—” I put my hands over my burning cheeks and turned around, walking to the sink so I didn’t have to look at him. “I can’t remember.” I wished I could disappear. “When I woke up, he was dead. I got out of there as fast as I could, but—” There was a knock on the door. Norb’s voice calling my name. I didn’t move and neither of us spoke until we heard his heavy footsteps fade away. I took a deep breath and turned finally to look at Max.
His face was set like one of those statues in the parks. “You didn’t think to call the police, tell somebody?”
He was right. I should have. “No, I—”
“You just left him there and took off?”
I hadn’t been able to think. I felt tears brimming behind my eyes, remembering the panic clawing up my throat. “I didn’t know—I was scared.”
Max turned away and paced across the room. “Good grief, Mina.” He turned at the door. “Did anyone see you leave?”
I told him about the man who had picked me up. He and his brothers could go to the police. They knew where I lived.
“Anybody else?” was all Max said.
“No, but Max,” I said quick before I lost my nerve, “you were right. About all of it. I never should have—” My throat closed, and my chest felt like a vise. There was so much I never should have done.
He paced back, coming so close I could see the worry in his agate-colored eyes. For a second I thought he’d put his arms around me and tell me it would be all right. Instead, he stuck his hands inhis trouser pockets. “Here’s the story. You were with me. If anyone asks, we left the party together. Went to my place.” His voice was staccato. Unfeeling. That scared me more than anything else. “Did you tell Lana anything?”
I shook my head.
“Good. Don’t say anything to anybody.” He walked to the door. “Go home after your shift like everything is peachy. Got it?”
I got it.
He walked out the door. No goodbye. No nothing. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t deserve anything more.
CHAPTER 4
Odessa, South Dakota
PAPA
Ephraim Zimmerman pulled on his heavy coat and wrapped a woolen scarf around his neck. The winter sun poured through the leaded-glass windows over the door, but he wasn’t fooled. It was February in South Dakota—darn cold and they’d see snow by nightfall.
