Page 68 of The Happy Month
We left shortly after that. As I dropped Junior off at the house, he said, “That was amazing. Thank you so much. I can’t believe I got to meet Rocky Havoc.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that.I’m glad you had a good time?I mean, I was there to interview her about a murder, it shouldn’t be a good time. It shouldn’t be so easy to forget why we were there.
I drove back to the office. There were only a few hours left. I spent most of that time catching up on the letters we get from prisoners. There weren’t a lot, but I did take the time to really consider them. None were particularly compelling, though. Mostly, we looked for prisoners who could be exonerated by DNA testing. One of the letters was from a gentleman who’d been recently convicted using DNA. He wanted advice on how to prove it fallible. I was tempted to toss it, but then I went ahead and put it in the next box. The way he asked the question intrigued me. Maybe it would intrigue Lydia as well.
I tried the Markers again before I left. There was still no answer. Eventually I was going to have to drive out to Eagle Rock. It was about a forty-minute drive. Obviously, I wasn’t doing it before Monday. We’d be in Palm Springs until Friday night. I could do it over the weekend, but I should really put in some time working on the co-op. I didn’t want Ronnie to feel like he was doing everything himself, even though he basically was.
When I got home just before six, I found John andJunior in the living room reading take-out menus. After a bit of haggling, we agreed on pizza. We ordered two large pizzas, a meat-lovers and a mushroom and black olive. They’d arrive in forty minutes.
“I have a surprise,” Junior said. “I went to the video store.”
“That’s surprising?”
“You were talking about Ivan Melchor, so I rentedThe Girl From Albany. Ronnie said you haven’t seen it. We have to watch it.”
John rolled his eyes and said, “That calls for a cocktail.”
“Me too, me too,” Junior said.
We went into the kitchen. They made cosmopolitans, while I got a Calistoga out of the fridge. Of course, they made the drinks all wrong. A cosmopolitan is basically a kamikaze with a generous splash of cranberry juice. Theirs were really just Absolut Citron, Rose’s and cranberry juice shaken and strained into martini glasses.
“Should we make popcorn?” Junior asked.
“We’re having pizza.”
“As an appetizer. I’ll throw some in the microwave,” he scooted over to the pantry and pulled out the Orville Redenbacher. “It’s just not a movie without popcorn.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for Ronnie?”
“Oh, he’s seen it already. Besides, there’s no law that says we can’t run it twice.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it once. As it turned out, it was just okay.The Girl From Albanywas basically the story of a sweet girl from upstate New York who wants to be a Broadway star. She moves to New York City, and through a series of implausible coincidences makes her debut on Broadway. In many ways it was the same story Wallace Philburn was trying to tell, except this one ended in anextravagant sequined production number while that one ended in a beautiful girl being beaten and broken and left in an arroyo.
Junior couldn’t help singing along to all the musical numbers. After a second cosmopolitan, John joined in—though he didn’t know the words as well as Junior.
Ronnie arrived home about ten minutes after the pizza came. We were in an intermission, the titled girl, played by Wilma Wanderly, had just arrived in New York and met a Broadway producer when his car splashed mud on her only good dress.
Ronnie kissed me, grabbed a slice of pizza then went upstairs to change. I tagged along.
“What are you doing? You should eat your dinner,” he said through a mouthful of pizza.
“I already had two pieces.”
“Okay,” he said, skeptically. He set his half-eaten piece on our dresser then stripped off his clothes. To be honest, it was a much more interesting show than the movie. “Everything’s set for Palm Springs. I got us a room in a little hotel with a pool. It’s off season, so it was scandalously cheap.”
“I’m charging it to the Karpinski brothers. It doesn’t matter what it costs.”
“I’m excited about this place though. They give you breakfast.”
“Okay. Just letting you know that cost is not important.
He was putting on a tiny pair of shorts that were out of style anywhere but a gay bar.
“Junior and I met Rocky Havoc this afternoon. I didn’t realize you knew her.”
“I don’t know her, I know who she is. And I’ve heard things about her. She hasn’t been active at The Center for years.”
“She knew Vera Korenko.”
