“You heard her.” Honoree stood and moved away from Trudy. “We’ve got a show to do.”
CHAPTER 19
HONOREE
The Rock Island railroad boys kept the chorus girls busy until well past the last show, demanding rotgut by the pint and passing out dollar bills by the fistful to sit in their laps.
Honoree avoided Trudy the rest of the evening, and as soon as she found the right moment, she slipped downstairs and dressed in a hurry.
Crossing in front of the bar, heading home, and leaving Trudy Lewis and her troubles behind her, Honoree was heading home until Crazy Pete called after her.
“Archie wants to see you in his office.”
“What for?” she asked, stopping in her tracks.
“Your girl done ratted on you.”
No doubt he meant Trudy. “What did she tell him?”
Pete was wiping down the bar, cleaning up spilled hooch. He gripped the rag in his fist and braced himself against the bar. “I believe it had to do with you not being sick the other night. Said you went to an audition at the Dreamland Cafe.”
A thousand pins pricked her flesh. “And that is what Trudy told Archie?”
Her body stiffened. “Is Archie mad?”
“Archie? Mad?” Pete gave her the side-eye. “I warned you, Honoree, you know how Archie can be.”
“Lord Jesus.” That she did. That she did indeed.
Archie’s office was in the back of the cafe, near the kitchen, in a small room with a desk, a couple of chairs, a moldy Persian rug, and two of Kenny’s paintings nailed to the wall. Holding a stinky cigar and a glass of whiskey, he sat behind an oak desk, looking like a large black bear in a cloud of smoke.
“Have a seat,” he grumbled.
Obediently, Honoree lowered herself into the armchair on the opposite side of his desk. But she twisted her torso at an angle, placing an elbow on the chair’s bridge to show off the mound of her breast. Then she crossed her leg, revealing as much of her upper thigh as the skirt’s slit allowed. “Pete said you wanted to see me.”
Archie took in every inch of her poise. His bulbous eyes ogled her, but not like she was meat. There was something else on his mind. “How are you? Feeling better?”
“Feeling just fine.”
He watched her over the rim of his glass, a dangerous glint in his eye. He might not be yelling, just yet, but it had to be on its way. Why else ask to see her?
“You wanna snort? Good whiskey.”
Common sense advised her not to refuse. “Sure, I’ll have a drink.”
A square crystal decanter and matching glasses rested on a tarnished silver platter. Archie filled a glass and passed it to her, but her nerves were fragile, and she blurted, “I know what Trudy told you.”
Archie rolled a cigar between his thumb and forefinger. “Trudy mentioned that the other night you took off for an audition.”
Honoree uncrossed her legs and adjusted the slit to hide her thighs. “What happened the other night doesn’t matter. I’m here now. You don’t need to be mad. When I got the invitation, I decided to go to the audition, so there’d be no bad blood between you and Mr. Buttons.”
He laughed. “So, as a kindness to me, you convinced Trudy to take your place, lied about being sick, and went to an audition to help me avoid trouble with William Buttons. How thoughtful, Honoree.”
“You’re welcome, Archie.”
The swivel chair creaked as he pitched forward. “Friday night, I saw you on the dance floor. You and my policy wheel operator. You two know each other well, don’t you?”
“Are you talking about Ezekiel?”
