TWENTY-FOUR
The song in the next room slithered to an end, and the brief silence seemed to echo around them. Alba’s words hung in the air. Vivian stared at her, just as much in shock as Bea was.
“No.” Bea shook her head at last. “No, Pearlie wouldn’t have done that.”
“Of course he would have.” Alba ground out her cigarette in the ashtray on the dressing table. The anger coiled in the gesture made Vivian flinch. “Did you know him at all, girl? He left Baltimore because he’d swindled too many folks there and had to get out of town. Why did you think your mother didn’t ever want you asking him questions?”
Bea’s face had crumpled. “No. No, he wouldn’t… Pearlie didn’t want to hurt people. Iknowhe wouldn’t do that.”
“No, he didn’t want to hurt people.” Alba rolled her eyes, then grimaced, one hand going to the small of her back and the other gripping the chair next to her tightly. “But he didn’t mind taking what was theirs. New York was a big playground to a fella like him, and he planned to set himself up real sweet here. He meant to take his time doing it, but he had to get creative pretty quick after he found out he’dbe taking care of me and a baby, too. He wanted money fast, and we figured those letters were a way to get it.”
Bea was still shaking her head, and she reached out blindly to take Vivian’s hand like she was groping for a lifeline. Vivian squeezed it hard, wanting to comfort Bea, wanting to make it all go away. The band had struck up a waltz, and the sound of it—far too sweet for what was happening in the dressing room—made Vivian feel like she was floating in an ugly dream. She felt sick as she asked, “Whose idea was it?”
“Pearlie’s.” Alba was almost smiling, as if the memory amused her. “He asked me to draw the hemlock branch on it. He wanted some flair. Something that would make folks sit up and take notice, make them scared when they got it. It was working, too. Eventually, once folks got scared enough, he planned to start running a protection racket, and then he wouldn’t need to bother with actually stealing anything at all.”
“And what about Abraham?” Vivian demanded.
“What do you mean, what about Abraham?” Bea shook her head, hands raised as if to ward off whatever Vivian might say. “I can’t believe… He couldn’t have had anything to do with it. Not him too,” she added desperately. “God, is every man I know a criminal?”
“He had something to do with it,” Vivian insisted. “Isn’t that right, Alba? You got all nervous when you heard me mention him last night. And he didn’t get that necklace Bea’s wearing from a pawnshop. So was he stealing things, too?”
“Not him,” Alba sighed. Bea let out a long, shaky breath of relief, her hands rising to press against her eyes as though she were desperate to hide. “He’s got a cab, right? And Pearlie needed a driver to get him out of places quick. Abraham didn’t ask too many questions, because he’s not stupid, but of course he knew something was going on. After a few jobs, he decided he wanted out. Pearlie didn’t have cash to pay him that time, so he gave him that necklace.”
Bea’s hand went to her collarbone. “So it was stolen.”
“Yes,” Alba said, enunciating very slowly, as if spelling it out for them. “It was stolen, Beatrice. Your darling uncle stole it, and your sweet fella took it as payment, and he was smart enough not to ask any questions he didn’t need to ask. Which is apparently smarter than you.”
“But…” Bea pulled herself together with visible effort. “Pearlie couldn’t have sent that letter to himself, then. Or the one that Vivian’s sister got. And they didn’t have the drawing, so you didn’t send them either, did you?”
“Aren’t you sharp as a tack.” Alba regarded them scornfully, impatient with how long it was taking them to put the pieces together. “Why do you think I’ve been keeping my mouth shut? If it was someone else trying to weasel in on his game, it’s not like I could bring Pearlie back to life by telling anyone what was going on and taking the fall for him. And if someone was trying to get back at Pearlie for what he did…” She shivered, looking nervous for the first time. “I sure as hell didn’t want them to know I was involved.” Alba lit another cigarette, inhaling shakily as if to steady her nerves. “He wasn’t a bad man,” she added, her voice growing more gentle.
“He was stealing from poor folks,” Bea snapped. Vivian was glad; she had wanted to say it herself, but she didn’t feel like she had the right to, not with Bea standing there. “From people who were already barely hanging on.”
“If it makes you feel better, he’d have preferred to steal from rich folks. But he had to work with what he could.”
“Oh, okay, then.” The sarcasm in Bea’s voice was painful to hear. She had loved her uncle. If Vivian had known what would come to light about him, she would have kept her mouth shut. But there was no going back now. “You trying to tell me that makes him a good man?”
“I’m telling you that makes him a person, same as anyone else, and a lot better than some. He treated me better than my own family does,and he was crazy about you and the kids. He meant it when he said he was taking you all out of here,” Alba said, sniffing a little. “He mighta been a criminal, but family was everything to him. He was so excited when I told him about the baby. Said he always wanted to be someone’s dad.” Her mouth twisted as though she were trying not to cry, but her eyes were hard.
“So what am I supposed to do now?” Bea said, sounding lost.
“You move on with your life,” Alba said. Her voice was relentless but not cruel. For all she had said she didn’t love Pearlie, there were tears on her cheeks, and she brushed those angrily away. “Not many other choices.”
“But someone killed him,” Bea said. It sounded like a plea. “Don’t we have to—”
“No,” Alba said. “Yes, someone did it. And whoever it is, I’ll hate them until I die, because it’s their fault my kid’s going to grow up without a father. But I’m not stupid. I’ve got a baby to take care of. And I don’t have a death wish.”
“Beatrice?”
All three of them jumped as someone knocked on the dressing room door. Ellie poked her head in. “They want you back on the bandstand.” She frowned at the three of them. “Everything all right?”
“Everything’s swell,” Alba said, taking another drag from her cigarette. “Just a bit of girl talk, is all. Bea, you’d better hustle.”
Without another word, Bea turned on her heel and followed after Ellie. She didn’t look at Vivian or Alba as she left. Alba stubbed out her cigarette, then glanced at Vivian. “You coming?”
Vivian wondered if her friend would ever forgive her. She nodded and followed Alba out of the dressing room.
“Someone’s keeping it going, though,” she said. “They’re still threatening people. You and Pearlie might have had some rules that you followed, but they sure as hell don’t.”
