Chapter 7
It was early the nextmorning when Sonya knocked at the screen door of Yolanda’s tiny and slightly neglected bungalow. Contrary to Sonya’s modest but tidy bungalow, Yolanda’s wasn’t welcoming. If anything, it almost screamed ‘stay out’. The porch was falling apart, the grass was yellow, and the door seemed ready to abandon its job.
“Come in,” Yolanda called out.
Sonya opened the door, surprised to see Yolanda sitting at her dinette table doing her makeup.
“I didn’t know you did your own makeup,” Sonya said. Why didn’t Yolanda have a makeup artist to assist her. “And you shouldn’t leave your door open like that. You never know what creep might be wandering about.”
“It wasn’t open.”
“Your inner door was wide open. That flimsy screen door doesn’t count. It’s not going to keep anyone out.”
“Spoken like a true big sister,” Yolanda said, her eyes wide as she looked at her reflection and applied mascara. “Don’t worry about it. I mean, there are no vampires roaming about looking for fresh blood.” She let out an amused chuckle.
Sonya smiled as she picked up a bright pink lipstick from Yolanda’s dinette table. How strange that Yolanda would mention vampires. “You never know. People out here can be a little weird.”
Looking around, she realized just how small Yolanda’s bungalow really was. Her bed was right there in the living room, and the small dinette table was pushed up against a wall of the barely there kitchen.
“I remember being told that a vampire would suck me dry if I didn’t behave. Folklore. Don’t you just love it?Fill kids’ heads with wild stuff so they listen to the adults around them.”
“I think it’s more than just controlling their behavior. These are cautionary tales, a way of telling children that it’s a big and, at times, dangerous world out there. Then again, you don’t want to fill their heads with too much violence and gore, but...when you’re young and naïve you can easily get caught in situations that are too dangerous.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I know all that. I think I maintain a pretty good balance of living my life all while keeping an eye out for any creep who might want too much of me.”
“Like Zwick?”Sonya said, pressing her to see the potential danger in the man.
Setting down the mascara Yolanda looked up at Sonya through the mirror. “Okay. Score one point for you.”
“I’m glad you see it my way.”
“And speaking of the creep, how did your visit with him go last night? Did you two have a nice chat?”
Sonya shook her head, not wanting to give her too many details. “Not really. He was busy and not in the mood to talk. I’ll try again tonight. But before I do that, I need to think it through.”
“Think what through?”
Sonya shrugged. “My reason for visiting him, for starters. What reason could I have for stopping by his office? I need a good excuse.”
Yolanda concentrated on her reflection as she carefully applied a bright red lipstick to her thin lips.
Watching the young actress/singer, Sonya considered all the things she wanted to share with her but couldn’t. Did Yolanda know that the FBI had their eye on Zwick? Did she know they suspected him of being a Russian spy? Did she know that Zwick was using her? That she was simply a way for Zwick to get to Songbird?
No. She wanted to know what Yolanda knew...about Zwick, about Rhonda Baker and about the FBI investigation.
“Did you know a beautiful blonde named Rhonda Baker?”Sonya asked, straight out.
Yolanda set the lipstick down and turned to face Sonya. “That blond. Such a classy woman. You know, good breeding and all. So straightlaced. So proper. What in the world could she be doing with Zwick?”
“Right.”
“On the other hand, you...You have so much talent, I mean the kind of talent that will bring you far. A talent like you doesn’t have to sleep her way to the top. Soon, every producer in Hollywood will be fighting to have you in their next project.”
