Eight
I walked the short distance to Felicity’s building, and decided that I ought to slow down a bit and check the scene out.
Something didn’t seem just right. She had a call girl type neighbor across her hall, she cleaned houses, but may have had only one client, and that was only from time to time. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to know. It was beyond being personal, I was now trying to figure out some apparent inconsistencies in how the facts were presented to me, and what I was actually observing.
There was a little coffee shop across the street, and it had lots of windows, so I decided to go in there, get some breakfast and watch the building for a bit. I was hungry, it had been a long time since yesterday’s sandwich at Mother Teresa’s and my feet were tired. I strolled over and entered the coffee shop.
It was a relic from the 50’s; gleaming Formica counters, stainless steel chairs, black and white tiled floor. The character behind the counter actually wore a white chef’s hat. The hat was spotless, starched and looked appropriate somehow. The entire facility was spotless. I relaxed, this seemed to be a good omen.
I found a table by a window where I could watch the place across the street, and sat down, my arches feeling immediate relief.
It wasn’t long before an aproned waitress came over with water and a menu. She smiled and said she’d be right back for my order, would I care for coffee? I smiled my thanks and said that I would, black please.
I took a look at the edifice across the street. It was another brownstone, and looked to be in much better repair than the first building I had visited earlier. In fact, it seemed to be the only reputable looking place in the area, other than this coffee shop. I glanced at the menu, where every type of wholesome breakfast appeared, and I settled on pancakes, sausage, hash browns and orange juice. I had no idea when I’d eat again, so I decided to make the best of it, and find something that would stay with me for a bit. The waitress brought my coffee, took my order and waltzed away.
I saw no one enter or leave Felicity’s building while I waited, and the street was generally devoid of significant activity. No panhandlers or street people nearby. The occasional customer to the coffee shop seemed to be the bright young business type, both male and female. I gathered that the neighborhood catered to people getting a start in life, and maybe the toothless girl at the Laundromat was the exception. It seemed more reasonable that a struggling artist, as Felicity claimed she was, might pick a place like this to live.
My breakfast arrived and it was as good as I had hoped. I savored it, and had a few more cups of coffee, which I rarely drink, as I usually get an upset stomach from it. I tipped the waitress, went to the restroom, and decided I was ready to visit Felicity. I was still carrying my plastic trash bag full of clothes with me, but otherwise I looked presentable. I left the shop and traveled the short distance to the front door. The wood was solid, the frame and windows in good repair. I wondered if her name would be on the mailbox, but then I remembered that I had already been told her apartment number, 2nd floor, apartment C.
I tried the door. It was locked, and that was no surprise. I rang the bell, and a male voice asked what I wanted and who I was. I replied that I was Mr. Coffman here to see Felicity.
“Who?”
“Felicity, tall brunette in Apartment C.”
“Who is this again?”
“My name is Mr. Coffman.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about, but I’ll tell the lady that lives in ‘C’” “I’d appreciate it.”
All I got was a grunt. I stood there for quite a while, figuring that Felicity might not even be there, then wondering if she was, and might be ignoring me. No matter what, I determined to only wait ten minutes until I tried the doorbell again. Of course, this side of the street was chilly, and in shadow, so the coffee shop was starting to look good again, and I was beginning to resign myself to a day of waiting there. It was a nice place, so I wasn’t sure how the management would respond to me hanging out there all day. Shifting my weight from foot to foot, I waited my ten minutes and rang the bell again.
“Who is it?” the same voice asked.
“This is Mr. Coffman, I was waiting to hear from Felicity.”
“You’re still here? No one answered her door.”
“Can I come in and leave her a note, so she’ll know how to get in touch?” “No.”
Just then, the door opened, and a very huge man came out. I smiled at him, but his face had no smile lines. He made Steroids look small. He looked me over and said, “Beat it.” It was the voice I had heard on the intercom.
I said, “Listen, this isn’t difficult, I just need to leave her a message, then maybe find a place to sleep tonight. I know she’ll want to talk to me.”
“You left your message…with me, now scram, before I have to get, you know, physical with you.”
He didn’t seem like a hood, just an overbuilt, overprotective house guard type. I had no idea how he fit into the picture. There was nothing else to do. I could leave under my own power, or be jet propelled someplace else. I nodded, and walked back across the street with as much dignity as possible.
I turned back to see if he was watching me, and he was, so I continued on past the coffee shop and turned the corner, out of sight. I found a doorway to stand in, out of the chilly breeze, and waited about ten more minutes, then went back to the corner and took a quick look. The large man was gone. I hustled into the coffee shop, took up my post by the window, and told the waitress that I was waiting for a friend, and if she could just keep the soft drinks coming. She smiled and tripped off to the urn, returning with a nice icy cola. I sat there, trying to figure what to do. The street still had no measurable activity, and it was still not quite lunchtime, so I figured it would be a long, slow morning.
I was correct, I saw the big man leave the building and go down the block. I was tempted to run over there and try the doorbell again, but I wasn’t pleased about the prospects for my survival should he return abruptly. For once, my instincts served me well, as he returned almost immediately. Nothing else happened there until the lunch hour arrived. I had drunk so much liquids while waiting, that I had to go back to the bathroom, and because of that, I almost missed my opportunity. As I returned from the bathroom, I saw the toothless wonder coming home from the Laundromat. I threw caution out the window, and ran out the door of the coffee shop and called out to her just as she was about to enter her building. She turned, kind of squinted at me, then smiled and waved me over. I shook my head no and gestured at the coffee shop, and then called to her. “How about lunch?”
She thought for a moment, then shrugged, and yelled back at me, “Let me do a few things and I’ll be right over. Order the special, whatever it is.”
I went back inside, and ordered two specials. My waitress looked at me strangely, and I assume she saw what I was up to. I smiled back innocently, and she went on her perky way.
I sat there hoping that the big guy hadn’t seen or heard anything.
I guess everything was cool, as the Laundromat girl came out again in a few minutes, a nicer coat on, another cigarette in her mouth, and as she walked across the street, I could see that she had even changed into a nice pair of jeans. I hoped I wasn’t getting in too deep here, and I determined to let her know my predicament up front. She entered the shop, came and sat down, put her cigarette out and smiled at me again. I noticed that she had dentures in, and she looked considerably younger. “Did you order?” she asked.
“I only get 45 minutes for lunch, so I need to eat fast.”
I assured her that I had, and it was only a short wait until we were served. “So, what did you want?” she asked directly. I knew that whatever she had to offer was on the table, it was probably just a matter of money.
I decided to play the gentleman. “Let’s just eat first, my matter won’t take long. Enjoy yourself.”
She seemed a bit taken aback, but then decided to relax, and she did indeed enjoy herself, making small talk about the weather, her day job, and asking me what the weather and city was like where I came from. She was doing all of this while wolfing her food down.
I called the waitress over and ordered my friend a large blueberry pie alamode and received another warm smile. I was in, if I didn’t find a way to screw it up.
She was about done with her pie, when I cleared my throat, catching her attention. “Um, I do have a favor to ask of you,” I began, “I need to get a hold of Felicity, but the guy at the door won’t even acknowledge that she lives there.”
“Oh, she lives there all right. She was there when I changed clothes a minute ago.” “She was?”
“Sure, she showed up yesterday, been gone for a week or two.”
“That’s right, that’s when I met her. She was back in her home town of Hustle.” “Sounds right,” she mused, then stuck out her hand, “I’m Sugar.”
I shook her hand, “I’m After.”
I got the usual look, and I shrugged and smiled. She grinned back saying, “Really, my name is Sugar. A lot of girls that work like I do use stage names, but mine is real. I dance at a club around the corner four nights a week.”
“My real name is After, no reason to make up something like that!”
She smiled again. “Well, After, you’ve given me twenty bucks and a great meal, the least I can do for you is hook you up with Spice.”
“Who is Spice?” I asked.
“That’s Felicity’s stage name, we used to do a dance act together, you know, ‘Sugar and Spice’?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” I said, totally taken aback. “She told me she was an artist, I assumed she painted, or drew, or something. She even told me she needed to be inspired more.”
“I don’t doubt that at all, she does paint, and she’s pretty good.
She gave up the dancing a year or so ago, and cleans houses now.”
I was relieved now, it appeared that she hadn’t been lying at all.
I ventured forth, “Well, how do you plan on getting me to see her?”
“I work till 5:00, meet me here, and I’ll take you up to my room. Then, we’ll try to find her from there.”
“I don’t think the big guy at the door will go for that.”
“He’d better, that’s his job. He doesn’t let people in unless they are with one of us girls, then he’d better or he’s out the door.”
“Won’t he think it odd that I was asking for Felicity, then show up with you?” “Naw, he’ll just think you’re kinky. Now, I have to get back to work, and I’ll be back here at 5:00. Be here, OK?”
“OK, and thanks Sugar.”
“No problem, thanks for the chow.” She got up to leave, and my only problem was trying to decide how to keep myself occupied for the next 4 hours.
Luckily, I was in one of the biggest cities in the world, and if you can’t find something to do in Chicago, then you have no imagination at all. The only problem was that I was in a mostly residential area, and there was no way to get somewhere else except by public transportation, cabs being out of my price range. I decided to see if I could find a newspaper and a park, so I tipped my waitress and asked her where I could accommodate myself. She gave me directions to both, and told me it was only a 10-minute walk, so off I went. I found everything just fine, and spent a nice quiet time reading in a very nice neighborhood park. Detective work requires patience, and a high tolerance for inactivity at times. I was an expert at inactivity, having practiced it since puberty.
It was a quarter to five when I found a waste can for the newspaper, and began the walk back to the coffee shop. People were out more, the weather had gotten considerably balmier, and my spirits were rising. I was about to confront Felicity, and discover the answers to quite a few questions, or so I hoped. It would have been much nicer if she had just told me she was Felix’s sister, but that explanation would have to wait until I talked with her.
I got to the shop just before five, and saw Sugar walking toward her house. She noticed me and waved me over, so I crossed the street and caught up with her at the door. She used her key, and sure enough, the big fellow was standing guard. He recognized me right away, and held up a meaty hand to halt our progress.
“What do you think you’re doing Thomas?” she asked.
“This guy was here earlier, asking about Spice,” he answered.
“So?” she retorted, “He’s with me now.” Sugar grabbed my hand and pulled me along. I decided not to look back, and followed her up the stairs. She was Apartment ‘D’, across the landing from ‘C’.
We went into her apartment first. It was simple and neat. She said, “This is where I live, I have another place where I work.”
I nodded, trying to appear worldly, but totally out of my depth.
She was bustling around, setting things just so, then went into the kitchen, returning shortly with a couple of bottles of beer. I smiled my thanks, and took a long draw from my bottle. She asked to be excused, and took her bottle into what must have been her bedroom.
She returned a few minutes later, with too much make-up on, a skimpy outfit and high heel shoes in her hand.
“Getting ready for my dancing tonight. Most of my costumes are at the club, but you have to keep up appearances when you enter and leave. Do I look OK?” I told her she looked fine, and she said, “Thanks, ‘cause, you know, people always say that, but you don’t really know if they mean it.”
I replied, somewhat guiltily, “I guess you do run into some shallow people in your business.”
She said, “Yeah, but then, everyone has to look after themselves, and I don’t hold it against them. Finish your beer and we’ll go across the hall.”
I gulped down the remainder and stood up. I wanted to find some way of thanking her, and began to pull out another twenty.
She placed her hand on mine and said, “This one is between friends, OK?”
I smiled, put the money back in my pocket, and followed her out the door, to the apartment across the landing. She knocked on the door a few times, and after what seemed an eternity, the door opened. Felicity looked out and saw Sugar first, started to smile, and then saw me. She turned pale, and began to close the door. I said quickly, “Felicity, I’m not here to cause problems, but I need some answers.”
I thought she was going to finish closing the door, when Sugar said, “C’mon girl, this guy’s been waiting to talk to you all day. I think he’s nice, give him a few….OK?” The door stopped just short of closing all the way, then opened slowly. “All right After, but five minutes is all you’re going to get.”
“That ought to do it,” I replied. Sugar smiled, gave me a peck on the cheek and said it was nice to meet me, but it was time to go to work. I gave her a hug and ventured into Felicity’s apartment.
It was a very charming, light, and airy room that she led me into. There were watercolor paintings in nice frames on the walls.
Mostly outdoor scenes, like trees, waterfalls, lakes and mountains. I remarked on how nice they were, and she said, “Thanks, they’re mine.”
“I thought so,” I replied, trying to find a comfort level that might not be possible. Then, a combination of relief, anger and fear caused me to blurt out, against any self-control I may have had, “Felicity, why did you leave, I was so worried, and Mother is worried, what were you thinking, how did you get away from that big guy on Monday night? Did you know I was almost killed?” I ran down, she didn’t move, just stared at me.
“I take it back, After,” she said. “Let’s go out and get a bite to eat, I think this may take awhile. Let me change clothes.”
I sat down, very relieved to finally have an opportunity to get somewhere on this thing. She was only gone five minutes, but she managed to do that simple, yet stunning look again. She flashed me a great smile, and I told her, “I’m underdressed. I have a change of clothes, maybe I could spruce up some?”
She pointed to the door, “The bedroom, go there and change, I need a drink.”
I went into her room, and started through my plastic bag. I found my clean jeans, and a tee shirt. I hadn’t planned on dressing up, I thought I’d be the next thing to a fugitive myself. I found my razor, and decided to use the bathroom off of the bedroom to shave quickly. I tried to keep my eyes averted. This was her private place and I wasn’t going to betray her trust in sharing it with me by snooping.
I made quick work of the shave, and came back into her room, feeling better. I grabbed my plastic bag and headed back into the front room. Felicity noted my bag, and said, “You can leave that here, no sense in dragging it all over town.”
I smiled my thanks and walked to the door. She turned on a few lights, and followed me out. I was happy to see her again, and it appeared that she was going to talk to me, and allow me to go back home with some answers after all.
I hailed a cab, and asked her to pick the restaurant. She told the cabby the name of an Italian sounding place and we were off on our little adventure for the evening. She looked me over and remarked that my eye looked better, and wondered if I had stayed out of trouble. I told her about Paul’s date, and that Soot had returned.
We stayed in this cautious mode all the way to the restaurant. It turned out to be a cozy place with checkered tablecloths, real linen, and the obligatory wine bottle with the candle in it. I have always been a sucker for those, and my mood kept getting better. The menu posted outside the door was within my price range, and I would still have enough money to get a bus home, if I were to miss my rendezvous with Grits tonight.
We sat at a table, I ordered a bottle of Lumbrusco, and salads with the house dressing, and then I decided it was time to talk seriously.
“I won’t get into too much detail, but did you hear about the attempt on my life, and the subsequent death of my kidnapper?”
“Yes, I did, and that’s why I left town. I have a bit of a checkered past there, and I figured I’d better get going or I’d be hauled in as a suspect.”
“I don’t believe you are a suspect, any more than I am, but the Lieutenant wants some answers. There are too many bodies, and with your brother missing….”
She had the courtesy to blush at this, and said, “After, I am so sorry I didn’t tell you everything, but believe me, I have my reasons. I think I can tell you most of what you need to know now.”
“OK, that’s fair enough, why don’t you talk, and I’ll listen.”
The waiter arrived with the wine and the salads, and she talked while we ate. “I left Hustle about ten years ago after I was suspected of prostitution.”
I raised my eyebrows, and she said, “Guilty, but the jerk that got me into trouble was a bad guy, and they didn’t believe him.
There was nothing to do but leave town and try again. I hit several towns before landing here. I worked the streets, but kept my eyes open for other opportunities. I also found that I had some talent in painting. I decided to quit the business and paint. There was no money coming in but I didn’t want to work the streets again, so I landed a job at a club….dancing. That’s where I met Sugar, and we came up with our act. It was lousy, but we got paid well. Then, all of a sudden, I was selling some paintings, and about one-year ago, I decided to quit the dancing and paint full time. I just wasn’t selling enough, so I began to clean houses.”
At this point, the waiter came back for our orders. We both ordered spaghetti with meatballs, and garlic bread. Her story rang true to this point, so I suggested we eat now, and finish later. She sighed heavily, said there wasn’t much more, but that sounded good.
Maybe we could finish back at her place when I got my bag. That decided, we sat back, and enjoyed our meal. I kept looking at her, wondering how she got into this mess. I guess she read my mind, as all she said was, “Like mother, like daughter.”
I nodded, that was enough for me at this point. She kept looking at me, and then a tear rolled down a cheek. “Do you despise me now, After?”
“Not at all,” I replied, and I meant it. I wasn’t to judge her, I was no raving success story myself. She smiled, took my hand, gave it a squeeze, and held it for a bit. I returned the squeeze, then we finished up without any more conversation, but I took the time to look into her eyes, and I thought I saw hurt there, as well as a prom[ 121 ] ise of, what? Friendship after all? I was probably deluding myself, but we were still here, and I thought the worst was over.
I paid the bill, and we went outside. I was looking for a cab, but she took my hand and said she wanted to walk a bit. That was fine with me, so we went by stores whose lights were just now coming on as dusk was settling. As we walked, she asked me where I was staying. I told her that I had made no plans, but now it looked as if I could return home tonight with a ride I had arranged. She was quiet for awhile, and we continued, hand in hand. It was much better weather than it had been during the day. There was no wind, and it seemed warmer. Maybe it was the wine, maybe the girl, but I was happy and content.
After a bit, she asked, “When is your ride?”
I replied, “I have to be at a truck stop by 10:00 tonight. I can get there via CTA.” “That’s good then, perhaps we should get back to my place and finish this up?” “That sounds good to me.”
I hailed a cab, and we returned. I met no resistance from the man at her front door this time. I was beginning to wonder if he ever did anything else. We walked up the steps and entered her cheery abode. She fussed a bit, setting things the way she wanted, then asked me if I wanted anything to drink. I told her that water would be fine, I still had a nice glow from dinner, and didn’t want to upset it any. She returned, gave me a nice tall glass with ice and water, then sat down in a chair next to me.
“OK, what else do you need to know?” she asked.
“Mainly, whatever you can tell me about your brother,” I said.
“Felix,” she sighed, “I never was too close to him He was five years older and truly wild. When I left home, I never expected to see him again, and did not keep in touch. Then, about 4 weeks ago, he shows up here. He’d made friends with Thomas downstairs somehow, and talked his way in. He never told me how he found me here.”
Felix went up a few notches in my estimation, as I would have figured Thomas to be immovable. I sat back, convinced that I was about to hear the salient facts at last. I didn’t expect any bombshells, but was about to receive one amidships.
She began, “Felix got up here, as I said. He told me that I was the only one he could trust. He said he’d found where I was a bit ago, and did a little ‘research’ as he put it to me. He thought I would be his ally. It seems that an acquaintance of his, the guy who owns the ‘Green Frog’ is into drugs, from the importing of them all the way through street distribution. Felix had been transporting some from the place where the stuff is packaged to whatever town the shipment was to go. He was never supposed to handle any money.
Anyway, apparently, one of the people he delivered the drugs to claims he gave Felix $2,000,000.00 in cash. Harold Gibbons asked Felix for the money, and Felix had no idea what was going on, or so he said to me. Gibbons told him he had 2 hours to bring it to him, or he would die, as would his family members. Felix got out of town fast. He found me after a short search and that’s when he came to visit me. I said we needed to go back to the guy who stiffed him for the two mill, and he agreed. He got the two guys that gave you a rough time, you know…Steroids and the Greaseball, and the four of us went to see the guy. After all sorts of problems, we got the money, but the Greaseball; Charlie Underhill, killed one of the man’s bodyguards. We went into hiding, but Felix thought it was time to try to square things with Harold Gibbons, so he went back to Hustle.
I guess that mom found out about some of it, and Felix set up a meeting with Harold, told mom he left some things in his apartment, and that she would be cared for, should anything happen to him. The most important thing was a key to a box he owns somewhere.”
She continued after a sip of water and a deep breath. “Mom says he never came back from that meeting, so she went to his apartment, found it ransacked and didn’t know what to do. She waited a few days, then went in, removed all that she could, cleaned it really well, and took everything she found apart, piece by piece, but whoever got there first, knew what they were looking for, and took it.”
I sat up straighter, “This is where I come in, and where your mother suddenly becomes a liability. I have no idea if you are safe, but apparently Steroids had nothing against you, it is Harold Gibbons’ goons that are eliminating people.”
She nodded, “That’s the way I see it, and now that they are gone, I really need to become scarce, at least until I find out if the two million dollars is still around somewhere.”
“OK, so we think that Harold Gibbons is eliminating anyone associated with Felix until Felix comes clean, or Harold gets his revenge. There’s a possibility that Felix is still alive.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it.” She started to cry. “We were never close, he wasn’t a good person, but now I have no family.”
I walked over to her, and stood near her. I said “The only questions I still have is why Steroids was kidnapping me, and who killed him?”
“I can’t help you there, we weren’t friends, and he was doing his own thing anyway. We had stopped talking. I think he showed at the ‘Green Frog’ to intimidate me as much as you.”
That was about it, so I went to pick up my bag and started for the door. I turned to say goodbye to her, and saw that she had followed me. She reached up and touched my cheek. “After….what time were you going to meet your ride?”
“I should be going now, the schedule is a bit tight.”
“What were you going to do if you didn’t find me?”
“Find a motel room, keep looking and take a bus back.”
“So, your ride isn’t expecting you?”
“Not really.”
“Do me a favor, sit back down and wait a minute, there is still one thing I need to do.”
“Sure.” I sat, a bit mystified, and expecting nothing much. Maybe she would offer a note from Felix, or names and addresses of the other participants in this mess. I wasn’t prepared for what happened though. Felicity had been gone for about 5 minutes when I heard the door open to her bedroom. I turned and saw her standing there, wearing nothing but a terry cloth robe and a smile.
“Maybe you’d like a good, hot bath and a nice bed to sleep in, before you catch your bus tomorrow,” she purred.
My bowels turned to water, my mouth went dry as a result. My pulse quickened, and I froze. She giggled and said, “I’ll run the tub.” Then she dropped the towel, turned around slowly and disappeared.
Well, damn….Grits was just going to have to get back to Hustle without me! I know that you want details, but you aren’t going to get many.
Let’s just say that we had a long, hot bath, went to bed with another bottle of wine, and didn’t talk a lot. We did manage to hug and kiss a lot, and I went to sleep for a while. About 1:00 there was nothing to do but see if I had anything else to learn about her body, one thing led to another, and we ended up getting ready to shower again.
She left the bed and told me to wait a bit, then follow her in. I thought that sounded reasonable, so I rolled over to the nightstand and fumbled for my watch, to get a better idea of the time. I had drunk too much wine, and as a result, I dropped my watch into the partially opened drawer. I found the light switch on the lamp atop the stand, turned it on, and then opened the drawer a bit further. I reached down, and couldn’t feel my watch, just a bunch of envelopes, pictures, trinkets and such. I got out of bed, pulled the drawer open, and saw my watch, I pulled it on, and noticed it was almost 2:00 AM. As I began to close the drawer, I noticed something else in it that froze my blood. I believe I even stopped breathing, the find was such a shock to my system. I grabbed the object, just to be sure, but I knew what it was. My long lost billfold, the one I last had the day I was searching Felix’s apartment. The implications were immense. Felicity had conked me on the head, or knew someone who had. I was in the web of a black widow spider, and I was about to be wrapped up and disposed of. That wasn’t the only explanation, of course, but in my addled condition all I wanted to do was get out of there…and fast! I grabbed some underwear, got into my jeans, found my shirt and shoes and ran for the front door, stuffing my reacquired billfold in the other hip pocket of my jeans. I managed to get into my shoes, and was pulling the shirt on as I stepped into the hall. It was funny, I noticed that the light was on under Sugar’s door as I careened down the steps and out into the now, very chilly air. I guess the big doorman did sleep at times, as there was no resistance as I fled into the abyss that passed for Chicago at night.
I got a few blocks before the panic left, and I hailed a taxi. I was torn between confronting her and forgetting her. I decided that the best thing to do was get back to Hustle and have a long talk with the Lieutenant, telling him what I had le