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“Yeah? Who’s that fella you’re living with?
That Roy knew about Henry terrified Theta. “Just a fella works at the show. Piano player.”
Roy laughed. “Oh. A theater type. A sissy, then?”
Theta’s cheeks burned at the insult. The less she said, the better. For once, her palms were stone cold. It was as if her fear were a breath blowing out the flame.
“Well, well. This is a nice reunion, ain’t it? Took me a long time to find you. Nobody knew where you’d got to. And then I was doing a job in Brooklyn and I happened to see that newspaper article on Theta Knight, the Russian princess turned showgirl,” Roy said, giving the last bit a showman’s flair. From the corner of her eye, she saw him wagging a finger at her, grinning. “You looked different in the picture, but I knew, I knew that Theta was my long-lost wife, Betty Sue. And that Russian baloney was made up by those showbiz people.” He took a deep breath. “I missed you, Betty Sue.”
Her mind could only absorb snatches of thought: Memphis. Flo. Scandal. All gone. All gone.
“See, I figured after that night and the fire, you musta had, whatchamacallit—amnesia or something. Walking around without a clue who you were or where you come from.”
Theta had spent her life not knowing that. All she could do was move forward. Roy was like falling back. He was studying her the way he used to, waiting to catch her for some invisible wrongdoing. But Theta had learned a lot the past two years.
“I don’t remember much at all,” she said, acting the part.
“You remember doing this? Look at me, Betty. Look.”
Slowly, Theta turned toward him. Roy moved into the light and Theta gasped. Half of his face was burned all the way up to the hairline. She could just see the faint outline of her handprint on his left cheek, a bumpy scar.
“You did that. I don’t know how, but you did.”
She was fighting to stay in her body. Her mind wanted to flee.
“I-I don’t remember,” she heard herself say.
“Well, don’t you worry, Betty. I’m here now,” Roy said, and Theta’s gut screamed at her like a scared child. Run. Go. Hide. She remembered how his threat used to lay coiled under caring words, like a venomous snake hidden deep inside a pretty velvet bag.
“Tomorrow we can go back to Kansas.”
“I got a contract,” Theta said, again too quickly. “At the Follies.”
“Yeah? You make good money? I’ll bet you make good money. Okay. We’ll wait till your contract is up. Tell the sissy you’re moving out.” He patted the bed. “After all, I’m still your husband in the eyes of the law.” Roy’s smile changed. “Or did you get yourself another sucker?”
Theta could only imagine Memphis’s fate if Roy found out.
“I told you, I work all the time,” Theta said.
“Work is good. Keeps a girl outta trouble,” Roy said meaningfully. And then, like a wind, his glowering face changed. He smiled. “You know, now I think about it, why go back to that lousy two-flea circus in Kansas? This town’s gonna be good for us. I could be your agent. Look after your career.”
He would own her. “People don’t know me as married.”
“So now they will.”
“It ain’t that simple, Roy.” Her voice had gotten so tiny.
A familiar shadow passed over Roy’s face. He didn’t like no. “Gee, if I go to the newspapers, this sure would look bad on you. I mean, lotsa people remember you was my wife. Lotsa people remember that fire. How suspicious it was. The whole place goin’ up like that? Police back home might wanna ask you questions.”
There it was, the snake in the bag. She had to stall him until she could figure this whole mess out. “I just have to find a way to tell Flo without him getting sore. He’s worked so hard on this Russian princess angle. If he got mad, I could be out of a job. Out of money.”
Roy searched her face. Theta spent every ounce of energy maintaining a look of pure truth. “Okay. You figure it out. I’ll give you till next week, but then I want a meeting.”
Theta’s heart sank. A week was no time at all. “Sure, Roy. Sure.” Theta inched toward the door. “I better
get some rest before tomorrow’s rehears—”
Roy crossed the floor in three quick strides and pulled Theta to him. Gripping the back of her head, he forced his kiss on her. When he pulled away, he was smiling. “Now I found you, Betty, things’ll be like they was again. Just the two of us.” He stroked her hair, wrapping a section tightly between his fingers. He put his mouth to her ear, and even his whisper felt like a violation. “If I find out you been lying to me about another fella, well, I wouldn’t want to be that fella, Betty Sue. Nod if you understand me.”
