CHAPTER 6
Now my eyes were wide. If my mother had heard even one word of any of that, we were in so much trouble.
The door opened. “Hello girls,” Mom said, coming right on in without being invited. “I just thought you might try a little chicken soup dear.”
“I… I’m not really that hungry,” I said, thinking that no matter what I ate today it was bound to come right back up as fast as it went down. But she looked so disappointed. I suppose she’d probably been cooking it half the day.
“Well… maybe a little,” I said, the guilt getting to me, probably because I’d completely broken every rule last night.
Mother’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning and I couldn’t help but feel like it was so sad that she didn’t have anything better to do than make stupid soup all day. How do most women put up with the same old routine day in and day out?
“I’ll make sure she gets some down Mrs. McKay,” Annie said, batting her eyelashes.
Now if I had tried that, there’s just no way I’d pull it off, especially with my mother, but for Annie it worked like a charm. I’d often wondered why my parents even let me hang out with her, what with her not having a father and all the rumors that swirled around her mother, but she had a way of making you like her, no matter what.
“Oh, thank you dear,” my mother said, eating it up. “You’re such a wonderful friend to our Sadie,” she said, even patting her on the head on the way out. “Just don’t stay too long dear, who knows how contagious this little bug is. We wouldn’t want you coming down with it too.”
“Sure thing, Mrs. McKay,” Annie said, beaming radiantly.
The second the door was shut, we both burst into giggles. “How do you do that?” I asked Annie.
“Do what,” she said, batting her eyes even more innocently than she had with my mother.
Of course, that just made the giggles even worse.
“Okay, okay, enough already. Tell me exactly what happened last night,” Annie said with a quick glance back at the door.
“Are you sure you don’t want to get going? What with me being contagious and all,” I said.
Annie snorted. “Yeah…” she said between giggles. “I’m sure I’m in grave danger of catching that little ‘bug’ you’ve got.”
We eventually settled down enough that Annie started pestering me about the evening all over again.
“I’ve already told you everything,” I said.
“Oh please, there were absolutely no juicy details at all in your silly little story.”
“Well then, why don’t you tell me how you got out of there and show me how a real story should be then.”
Annie rolled her eyes. “Fine, I will.” She cleared her throat. “After you went off to the lady’s room, which I couldn’t help but notice you were in for a very long time by the way…”
I gave her a little swat on the arm.
She snickered. “…this fellow came up and offered to buy me a drink.”
“No!”
“Oh yes my dear, and he was one handsome devil too. Oh, you would have died if you’d seen him,” she said, looking wistful. “He had these eyes that just sort of twinkled when he talked.”
I fought with all my might not to snicker. But maybe I wasn’t as good an actress as I thought though ‘cause she shot me a little glare. ‘Sorry,’ I mouthed.
“So anyway,” she said, annoyed, “when all the fuss broke out, he hightailed me right out the back door.”
“Weren’t there police back there?”
“Oh please, I swear, when it comes to the police force, there ain’t nobody home upstairs,” she said, tapping herself on the temple.
I couldn’t believe it. I could have just waltzed out the back door and avoided that whole uncomfortable encounter with Frankie? Of course, it hadn’t ended so bad really. Not so bad at all.
“Anyway,” Annie continued, “he took me to his car and we drove around for a while. I could tell he was waitin’ to see if he could ask me to neck, so finally I just suggested it myself.”
My mouth dropped open.
Annie just laughed at me in that way that always made me feel like I was the bumpkinist of all the world’s bumpkins.
“And he wasn’t even the guy I liked the most from last night either,” she said with a wink.
Now she had to be pulling my leg. Necking with a boy that you aren’t even looking for a relationship with? I couldn’t understand why anyone would do such a thing. Wouldn’t it be a huge waste of time, not to mention a terrible mark on your reputation?
I must have gasped—and really it deserved a gasp if you ask me—because she rolled her eyes one more time for good measure.
“We’ve got to get you a man. Otherwise I’m never going to be able to talk to you about these things.”
“I don’t see how that would change anything,” I said.
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t,” she replied.
“You don’t have to be so mean about it,” I said, waiting for her to take it back, even though it was no use.
The moments just kept ticking by, her with her gloating face, and me wishing so badly that she’d stop treating me like a three-year-old.
“Fine then,” I said. I’ll show her. “Let’s go out again tonight and you can show me this other guy you’re head-over-heels for.”
For a moment, Annie had nothing to say. Then a smile started slowly creeping across her face. But it quickly turned to a frown. “Wait, what about the benefit tonight?”
I shrugged. “I guess we’ll just get there later.”
“Now that’s the spirit,” she said. “It’s perfect, we’ll already be ready to go.” She had a little hop in her step as she left me alone to wallow in my “flu”.
The truth was that I had totally forgotten about the God forsaken charity event. I was in no mood, or shape for that matter, to put on my Mayor’s daughter face and attempt to mingle with the snootiest snoots in the city.
But of course I would have no choice. Sick or not, these things were attended by the Mayor’s family, no matter what.
A few minutes later, when my mother brought in my gown, my guess was confirmed.
“I know you’re not feeling well dear, but we made this commitment ages ago,” she said, even looking slightly apologetic, though it was clear there would be no backing out.
I sighed. “Yes mother, I know.”
“Thank you,” she said, coming over to kiss my forehead. She turned to walk out of the room. “And make sure you cover up those dark circles under your eyes dear,” she added as an afterthought.
Gee, thanks for noticing.
Appearances were everything in this bloody house. I did, of course, put extra time into getting ready, but the reason was certainly not some boring old charity benefit. Even with the way I was feeling, I couldn’t stop thinking about Frankie and wonder if there was even the slightest chance that I might see him again tonight.
My mother had somehow, miraculously, even picked out a beautiful dress that did not make me look like I was twelve. It was still conservative obviously, but at least the red satin showed that I had a waist and it was even slightly shorter than most of the monstrosities she usually picked out, and it shouldn’t be too much trouble at all to cinch it up before the speakeasy.
“Well, well, look at you,” Annie said, tucking up beside me as soon as I finished my dutiful hellos. “Even your mother is starting to come around.”
“Oh shush,” I said, in no mood to be teased.
The way I felt, I had no idea how I would make it through the benefit, much less through the wee hours later. After my all-day sleep I wasn’t tired anymore, but I was completely parched and could not seem to get enough moisture in me no matter how much water and punch I drank.
“You look like you’ve been to the desert and back,” Annie said, smirking as I downed another glass.
“Very funny.”
She chuckled, and took a sip of her own drink.
But a second later, her sip was practically coming out of her nose, she choked so hard.
“Annie! Are you okay?”
But she was too busy staring at the door to answer. I followed her gaze and nearly choked myself, and I wasn’t even sipping anything at the time. “Oh my God.”
Annie nodded, silent.
Never, in any of my wildest imaginings would I have pictured Frankie at a place like this, yet there he was, as mesmerizing as ever, sauntering right through the large double doors and into the ballroom. He was with several other people, but again, I couldn’t look at anything besides him. When I was finally able to tear my eyes away, it was clear that most of the other people in the room couldn’t help but stare either, most of them with mouths gaping, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of Frankie’s good looks, or if some of them actually knew who these men were.
“What are they doing here?” Annie finally found the composure to whisper.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet regained the wits to speak, so I just shook my head, astonished.
My heart leapt into my throat when I saw that the group of the mobsters had made a beeline right to my father’s table. Ever the politician, my father shook their hands cordially and tried his best not to look too uncomfortable, though there was something in his eyes, fear… no, panic, maybe.
Annie snickered beside me. “Well. That’s awkward.”
Thankfully, the men left quickly, away from my father’s table and on to the next, a shorter, plumper man in the lead clearly introducing only himself as they went along.
As the men made their way around the room, they were getting closer and closer to where Annie and I stood. My breath caught as they passed us by and went straight to the next table. I was both relieved and, to be honest, slightly offended that they had barely glanced in our direction. But, when the leader turned to talk to the man at the table, Frankie suddenly turned and walked right toward us, looking directly at me, effectively turning me to mush. I sucked in my breath just as Annie whispered “oh God,” under her breath.
“Good evening ladies,” Frankie said as if it were an everyday occurrence.
“Uh…” was all I could say, though of course Annie composed herself much more quickly and offered a quick curtsey and held her hand up for him to take.
“Annie Carmicheal.”
He followed her lead and took her hand. “I’m Frankie, lovely to meet you.” He glanced quickly at her as he kissed her hand, but turned his gaze straight back to me.
Heat crept up the back of my neck. Annie elbowed me and I finally came out of my daze, at least long enough to lift my hand and spit out my name. He took my hand and lingered just a moment longer than he had with Annie, when he kissed it. It took all my strength not to close my eyes, lean my head back, and sigh, relishing in the warmth of his lips on my skin. But somehow I managed to stare straight ahead, unblinking.
“May I have this dance?” he asked innocently, though he followed it up with a sly wink.
Beside me, Annie was trying to hide the fact that she’d just choked on the piece of hors d’oeuvre she was sampling.
Flashes of our dance at the speakeasy went through my mind. I wanted nothing more than to be that close to Frankie again, but… what if my parents actually knew who he was? And what he was? But no, there was no way these people could really know who Frankie and his associates were, could they? This room was full of the uppermost class of citizens, no way any of them had probably even heard of a speakeasy, let alone know what sort of businessmen ran such operations. No, all these people thought about all day were taxes, benefits, and silly luncheons.
Besides, wasn’t it my mother who was always telling me it was rude to turn down a dance when a gentleman asked?
My mind was still leaning toward ‘no, too risky’ but my mouth apparently had other ideas.
“Um… sure,” I finally answered.
Frankie’s face instantly melted into relief and he took my hand, guiding me to the dance floor.
The song was, of course, a civilized one, nothing like the sort of music at the speakeasy, but I was pleasantly surprised that Frankie looked just as at home here as he did at The Roxy.
The first minute of the dance I was completely lost in making sure I didn’t forget even a moment of it. Frankie smelled even more delicious than I remembered and in his arms, I felt more right than I had ever remembered feeling. We glided around that dance floor like we’d been practicing for months, and I even let myself wonder if maybe, just maybe he could become a real part of my life. After all, he was handsome, well-mannered, and now it looked like he could fit right in to my world. He’d just have to find something new to do, and say goodbye to his old ways.
But soon, I noticed that something was very, very wrong. Glancing around, my mood went from giddy to foul in the blink of an eye. Every single person was staring straight at us. I knew my parents would be curious, and of course Annie would be hanging on every detail, but I certainly did not expect that the entire ballroom would have their attention fully and completely on us. The other two couples that had been dancing were still on the dance floor, though they had stopped to watch us. Honestly, it was a miracle the orchestra kept playing.
Somehow, Frankie didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong at all. He just kept dancing away without so much as a glance around the room. Perhaps he was just used to everybody always staring at him and he didn’t realize this was any different. I didn’t know what to do, if I were to run off the dance floor, my parents would surely know that I knew what was going on. How would I explain that I agreed to dance with a mobster? No, the only choice was to finish the dance.
Unfortunately, there was no way I would be able to enjoy it at all. Already the ladies from my mother’s book club were pointing, whispering to each other. And two girls from school were giggling practically uncontrollably, goodness only knows how they knew what was going on, but Annie was there in an instant and their giggles came to an abrupt halt. I could always count on Annie, though even the threat of her wrath might not be enough to keep the school rumors at bay this time.
The worst part was that every time I spun back around to face my parents and I would see my mother’s face, the look of pure terror, like she was afraid for my life. Thank goodness her manners stopped her from actually doing anything about it. I couldn’t help but think back to The Roxy, when the bullets were actually flying. What on earth was I doing to her? And my father, well, that was even worse. He did look a little less terrified than my mother, but I could tell exactly what he was thinking. He knew that every person in that room was shocked and horrified that the Mayor’s daughter would dare do such a thing and he was silently counting all the lost votes. He was probably already practicing his damage control speech.
I’d wished before at these sorts of boring occasions that the earth would just open up and swallow me, but I had never felt it in such an excruciating manner. Finally, after about twelve lifetimes, the song came to an end and Frankie was letting go. I could not look anyone in the eye, least of all Frankie, who did not seem to have any clue as to what we had done.
“Thank you for the dance,” he said, smiling and even bowing politely.
He would probably wonder why I couldn’t look at him, and the truth was, I didn’t fully know myself. I just felt like if I did, my mother would be able to see that I knew him, or at least knew who he was, and that was something that I could not risk. I gave him a tiny curtsey and hoped beyond hope that it would be enough for him to know to just walk away, and his gang could leave the building.
Luckily, one of my wishes finally came true, although as Frankie’s gang stood by the door, they did not look too pleased at all that Frankie had made them wait.
He was only a few steps away before my mother was on me, pulling me by the arm, whisking me out the back door of the room. I barely had a moment to get my thoughts together before the interrogation started.
“What on earth was that?”
>
“Um…” was all I could spit out.
“Do you know who that man was?”
“No,” I said, in the squeakiest of voices.
“He is a dangerous, dangerous man!”
I tried my best to look confused. “What do you mean mother?” I asked, finally finding the will to look her in the eye, hoping she would mistake it as honesty.
“They… they…” she looked around wildly, looking for a respectable way to put it. Something that my ‘innocent’ ears could handle.
But she never did come up with anything.
A little more courage came to me from somewhere. “I’m sorry mother. But I thought you’d be happy. You’re always telling me how rude it is to turn down a dance from a gentleman.” I blinked a couple times for good measure, hoping I was channeling my inner Annie.
Her mouth popped open as if she were about to argue, but promptly closed right back up again. I nearly giggled, but I knew what was about to happen, and I settled down quickly. We would have to go back out there and face the wolves.
My mother shook her head as if she was trying to get something out of it. “Well,” she cleared her throat. “We don’t have any choice. We’ll just go back out as if nothing ever happened.”
“But… what did happen mother?” I asked, and wondered if I was pushing my luck. Honestly, I guess I just wanted to see if she would be able to say it.
But she just gave me a stern look. “Do not leave my side again for one second, young lady. And just hope that everybody will eventually forget about all of this.”
I knew the time for arguing was over. If I were to press the issue, she would know that something was up. I had, after all, always been the dutiful daughter, knowing not to ask unnecessary questions.
She led me back out to the ballroom and I could feel the eyes on us as we walked through. Sudden, whispered conversations started up all around us. Thank goodness it looked like Frankie was long gone, and hopefully soon just a memory to all these awful people.
My mother literally pulled me back to our table and forced me to sit beside one of the homeliest boys I had ever seen. I could barely look at him with the ugly, red pimples covering practically his entire face, but it was obvious that my mother had set up some matchmaking scheme before the whole dancing debacle, and she seemed more determined than ever to make it happen now.
We sat there in total silence while I actively avoided the boy’s gaze, which I could feel turn my way every so often. I tried not to shiver each time, shocked and horrified that this was the person that my parents would have me date.
My father spent the rest of the night shaking hands an no doubt explaining what a stupid fool his daughter was to not even know who the man was she’d danced with. I was sure he’d play me up as even more of a fool to everybody then I already was.
And even more awful was that was the last I was to see of Frankie.
Until, that is, Annie and I made our second social appearance of the night.