Chapter 79

DeLucca’s friend, Tyra, was even more striking than the last time I saw her. People around her actually moved back in awe as she stepped on to the patio. She was wearing a silky-looking white dress that accentuated her black skin, and she practically glowed. I think that she was looking for a place to sit or stand when she spotted me. She smiled, I nodded, and she started toward me. Meg had just finished her phone call, and she was staring, wide-eyed, as Tyra approached. Tyra doesn’t walk, she sort of glides, and she stopped when she got to me, and said, “It is most excellent seeing you again, Mister Baker,” in that musical voice of hers.

A little flustered, I answered, “It’s uhh, nice seeing you as well, Tyra. You’re looking wonderful, as usual.”

Watching her was amazing. Her liquid brown eyes were looking straight at me when she was talking, then, almost in slow motion, she tuned her head toward Sylvia, then to Meg, and said, “Ahh, and these beautiful women must be with you?”

I pulled myself together and introduced Sylvia and Meg.

She turned to face them and very formally said “Hello, my name is Tyra,” to each one of them.

She was wearing low shoes, so she and Sylvia were about the same height, but she bent slightly so that she wouldn’t tower over her when she addressed Meg. Sylvia had a curious look on her face, but Meg was in shock, and she was mumbling, “Nice to meet ya,” when a booming voice cried, “Hey look, it’s Pete!”

It was Robert Delucca, and he walked over, closely followed by Epstein and some others. It wasn’t until he got close that I noticed Ceil Cohen behind him. Epstein watched with curiosity when Delucca stuck his hand out and said, “Hi, Pete.”

I answered, “Hi, Mister DeLucca,” and he continued after we shook hands. “I just got in from New York. I saw that lovely wife of yours perform this week. She’s terrific.”

“Uhh, yeah, she’s seems to be doing okay.”

“Okay! You must be kidding. Kristen Baker is the hottest new singer around. She sold the place out. I hear that record people are knocking down doors trying to sign her.”

Not quite sure of what to say, I answered, “Yeah, she’s really something.”

Epstein had been listening with interest, and he raised his eyebrows when Ceil Cohen went to Sylvia, and the two of them walked a few feet away and began talking.

He finally shook his head and said, “Well, what do you know? It looks like you people all know each other,” then he nodded toward Ceil Cohen and Sylvia who were animatedly talking, grinned, and added to nobody in particular, “Look at those two talking. I think that they’re talking business, and I may be in trouble.”

Ceil Cohen turned and said, “Well, you just might be now that Sylvia is here, Saul. I’ve been telling these folks about what a great spread you put out all the way over here, and I’m hungry. Do you have some of that good caviar this time?”

Epstein beamed and replied, “Ahh, a connoisseur. Forget about the buffet table. Come inside, I just got a shipment of Iranian Osetra caviar. It’s lighter and I think that it tastes better than Beluga, plus I’ll break open a bottle of Jewel of Russia Ultra. It’s my favorite vodka in the whole world. We’ll have a drink and a nosh, Delucca can tell me about his latest movie, and you can tell me why you’re really here.”

He then turned to me and asked, “Did Candy show you the aviary?”

I answered that she had, and he said, “Why don’t you take Meg out there and show it to her.”

It was obviously a way to get rid of Meg and me, and I looked at Sylvia. She said, “Go ahead, Dear. You have your cellphone with you, don’t you?”

DeLucca said to Tyra when I said that I did, “Have Pete show you where the buffet table is. Have something to eat, and wait for me by the pool.”

It was an order, not a request, but she didn’t blink an eye. She just said, “Of course,” and walked over next to me and put her arm through mine. Meg stared at her for a split second, then she took my other arm, and we walked past the pool.

Meg is a very pretty girl, and Tyra is really exotic looking, so it was a kick watching the expressions on the people’s faces as the three of us walked through the crowd.

Meg joked, “Look, Pete, there’s my date,” when we got to the buffet table. The guy who Epstein had introduced as ‘Cliff’ was refilling things and setting food out. Meg and I each grabbed a plate of shrimp, but Tyra only took a few strawberries and a glass of champagne. She was looking for a place to sit, but it seemed a shame to leave her alone, so I asked her, “Would you like to come with us to see the birds?”

She answered, “Thank you, Mister Baker, but I’ll wait here if it’s all right with you.”

I said, “It’s only going to be okay if you call me Pete.”

She said, “Of course, Peter, thank you,” with a smile that would melt an iceberg.

It still seemed strange to leave her alone, and I noticed that Cliff was almost finished, so I went to him, pointed to Tyra, and said, “Epstein wants you to keep your eye on her.”

“Uhh sure. What is she, some kind of princess?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what she is, but they want to keep it secret, so don’t let on that you know, and don’t let anyone bother her. Come here and I’ll introduce you.”

I stepped in front of him, and brought him to Tyra, then I winked at her and said, “This is Cliff, Madam. He’s here to get you anything you want and to keep people from bothering you.

She fixed her deep brown eyes on me and asked, “Anything I want, Peter?”

“Uhh, well, almost anything. Are you sure that you won’t come with us?”

“I’ll be fine here, Peter. Thank you.”

Meg and I walked off, and we hadn’t gone a dozen steps when she asked, “Okay, what’s going on? Who the fuck are you?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Every fucking-body knows you, and DeLucca said that you’re married. Are you really married to Kristen Baker, the singer?”

“No, it’s, umm, kind of a long story.”

“We have time, and while we’re talking, what’s going on with that gorgeous black girl, and what’s that crap about Sylvia being just a family friend?”

“You want to know a lot of things, why?”

She raised an eyebrow, and answered, “Well, maybe I’m interested in you.”

“C’mon, Meg, you don’t do anything without a reason, and I’m not that interesting.”

“Bullshit, you’re interesting as hell, and you’re not bad looking. Are you really still in high school?”

We’d been walking through the grass on the way to the aviary, and as we were passing a tree, when I heard some moaning, so I walked toward it. It was pretty dark, but it was easy to see a couple standing next to it as we got close, She had her back against the tree, and a guy was kissing her, but something else was obviously going on, and Meg whispered, “I think they’re fucking.” as we got close.

I could see that she had her legs around his waist, and he was thrusting against her. We were less than ten feet away when they saw us, but they didn’t seem to mind and kept on with what they were doing. We immediately turned away and continued toward the aviary, and we were getting near the bushes that surround it when Meg suddenly stopped and began hopping around on one foot.

Alarmed, I asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I just stubbed my toe. I think that I ran into a lawn sprinkler.”

She had her hand on my shoulder to steady herself, and was rubbing her toe when we both saw a flicker of light coming from the bushes about twenty feet from us. It flared up, then got lower, but it stayed on.

I said to Meg, “Did you see that?”

Still rubbing her foot, she answered, “Yeah, but forget about that. Tell me who you are?”

“In a minute. I want to go see what’s happening. It could be a fire or something.”

I dragged her, limping, to where the light was flickering, and when we got close I could hear a slurping noise. I reached for a branch, to pull it out of the way, just as Meg grabbed my arm and whispered, “Oh, shit, not again.”

It was dark in there, but the flickering light was coming from a lighter, and it showed three people. The slurping noise was coming from Candy. She was on her knees in front of one of them. Her head was bobbing back and forth, and the other guy was wiping his cock with a handkerchief. The guy she was ‘servicing’ had a lighter in his hand and he was holding it under a spoon. I had seen enough TV to know he was cooking some kind of drug.

I let the branch slowly close, and Meg quietly muttered, “Those fuckers,” as we backed away.

I asked, “Why are you pissed at them?” when we got a little ways away. “She’s probably the one who talked them into it. I’m sure that it was because of drugs.”

“You may be right, but did you look closely at the spoon?”

“Not really, why?”

“There’s nothing in it, they’re pulling a scam on her, but enough about her. wWho are you, and how do you know so many important people?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Maybe I’m interested in you.”

“C’mon, Meg, you’re only interested in who I know, not who I am.”

She stopped walking, put her hands on her hips, and said, “Part of who you are is who you know, but there’s more to you than just that. You know damn well that you’re good-looking. Why wouldn’t I be attracted to you? What’s the matter, don’t you trust me?”

I reached for her and kissed her. It was a long, luxurious kiss, and she responded by positioning herself so her crotch was against my leg when I pulled her tightly against me, and it felt as though I could feel heat coming from her after a few seconds. We were both a little out of breath when we finally pulled back, but I was still able to say, “Yes, I trust you, Meg. I trust you to do whatever is best for Meg.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but she surprised me with a little chuckle, and agreed, “Well, maybe you’re right, but what was that very nice kiss about?”

“It was about you being a very pretty girl.”

It took her a few seconds to respond, then she said, “You’re used to getting your own way with girls, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know, I never thought about it.”

“That’s not surprising. The really good-looking ones never do. They just go along and let girls fall all over them.”

“You think I’m that good-looking?”

“Sure I do. You’re fucking gorgeous.”

“Do you, umm, think that kiss might lead to something else?”

The chuckle again, then, “I have to admit that my head is still swimming from that kiss, but I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“I’m twenty five years old, Pete. I made a decision three years ago. I promised myself that I would devote all my energies into becoming a famous actress for five years. Well, I’m not famous yet, and I only have two years left.”

“What happens if you’re not famous in the next two years?”

“Then I’ll find a nice, plain-looking, rich guy, marry him, and start having kids.”

“Why does he have to be plain-looking?”

“You can trust the plain ones. The good looking ones tend to wander.”

“Why do you think they do that?”

“Because they can.”

“What does that have to do with you and me right now?”

“Even though I’m tempted, you’re only seventeen, Pete, and I don’t have time to fool around or to have an affair, especially one that’s not going to lead anywhere. Besides, trying to figure out who you are is driving me nuts.”

I suddenly had an idea, and I asked, “What if you had an opportunity for a career right now?”

“What kind of a career? I don’t do sex things, I’ve been asked about shit like that before.”

“No, it’s nothing weird. I have some friends who might be able to use someone as pretty as you are.”

“Doing what?”

“They’re expanding a business. I’ll call them Monday and see if I can get you an interview. Here’s the aviary in the meantime.”

We stepped through the double gate into the aviary, and there were several other couples looking at the birds this time. I took a second to look around more carefully this time. The soft lighting was placed in such a way that it hid the wire mesh, and it didn’t take much of a stretch to believe that you were standing in a jungle. It was actually quite beautiful, but Meg seemed agitated, and said, “I hate fucking birds, let’s go outside,” after a few minutes. “I want you to tell me some more about yourself.”

We turned to leave, and I glanced over at the tent. It was outside the aviary cage, and sat about twenty feet to the side of the gate. It seemed to be connected to the cage, and the canvas was only on the top and three sides. The side facing the cage mesh had no canvas on it, but it had a drape or something on the tent side so that I couldn’t see inside. We went back through the entrance, and we got outside just in time to see two guys coming from the tent carrying something elaborate. It appeared to be a large brass thing with a bunch of tubes hanging from it. I was about to ask Meg what it was, when she said, “Damn! That’s the biggest hookah I ever saw.”

I asked, “What’s a hookah?”

“It’s a water pipe with tubes sticking out of it. You put water in it, then you put stuff in a special compartment, light it, and everyone sucks on a tube. It filters the smoke through the water.”

“What’s in it, tobacco?”

“It can be, and it is some times, but it’s mostly grass, hash, or something.”

“Where do you suppose those guys are going with it?”

“They’re probably gonna hide it somewhere in case the police show up and want to test it for residue.”

“You seem to know a lot about that kind of stuff.”

“I’ve been around it for a while. But, why don’t you? I’ve heard that those rich kids’ schools are full of that shit.”

“I’m not rich. I’m just a regular guy, and I don’t go to a rich kid’s school. There are drugs in my school, but I don’t mess with them.”

“But enough about that, let’s go see what’s inside the tent.”

The tent looked normal from the outside, with a flap at the entrance. I pulled the flap back, and just inside the flap was a wood door with a lock on it. The door was open, so we looked in. I didn’t see anyone, so we stepped inside. It wasn’t a tent at all. The ceiling was canvas, but it had plywood walls on three sides, and a wooden floor. There was a curtain on the side that was attached to the aviary, space heaters in each corner, and a small table sat in the middle of the floor. Large pillows were strewn all around, and hidden lights around the top gave everything a soft glow that made the room look like something out of an old Arabian Nights movie.

Meg went to the curtain and pulled it back. There was a clear vinyl sheet covering the cage’s mesh. I guess that it was there to keep the bird crap out, but the sheet and the mesh disappeared if you squinted a little, and it felt like you were actually in there with the birds.

Meg was shaking her head when she said, “I’ve heard about this place. Epstein is supposed to belong to some kind of a sex club, and I can only guess what goes on in here.”

I dropped down on one of the pillows and watched Meg as she inspected everything. She looked really cute in her little bikini, and I was fantasizing about what she would look like naked, when a man’s voice said, “Sorry, Folks, but Mr. Epstein said that the party is off for tonight.”

A guy dressed in what looked like a butler’s uniform was standing in the doorway. He was an older guy with gray hair at the temples, but he was openly leering at Meg.

I stood up and said, “That’s okay, we were just looking around,” then I went to Meg and took her hand. We were passing by him on the way out, and his eyes were practically undressing her, when Meg suddenly stopped, stepped directly in front of him, and said “What are you staring at, old man?” He turned without comment and walked away.

Meg looked at me and said, “Let’s get away from here. This place gives me the creeps.”

We were walking back toward the pool, and Meg was very quiet, so I asked, “You bothered about something?”

“Yeah, this whole place bothers me. I’ve been trying to get an invitation to one of these things for a long time because I heard that I might make some good contacts here, but I guess that I didn’t realize just how sleazy it was.”

We walked a few more steps, and she stopped and asked, “Why aren’t you bothered by this, Pete?”

“I don’t know, I guess it’s because I expected it to be this way.”

“Can I ask you some questions?”

“Sure, ask away.”

“Are you a part of it?”

“No, but people have told me about stuff like this.”

“Is your friend Sylvia a part of it?”

“Absolutely not.”

“And you’re sure she’s not your girlfriend?”

“No, she’s just a family friend.”

“She said that she’d slept with you.”

“That’s enough about Sylvia. Do you have other questions?”

“How do you know Robert DeLucca?”

“I used to date Kristen Baker. She introduced me.”

“DeLucca called her your wife.”

“She told everyone that so that guys would leave her alone.”

“You used to date Kristen Baker? Holy shit! She’s fucking gorgeous! What happened?”

“She, umm, wanted something that I couldn’t give her.”

Meg stared at me for a long minute, before she said, “She wanted to get married, didn’t she?”

“Uh huh.”

“I’ve seen her on TV. She’s beautiful! It must have been a hard decision. Wait a minute, let me guess. You didn’t want to lose your identity, right?”

“Something like that.”

“Bullshit! That’s exactly what it was. Well, you made the right decision. You’re too young to get married.”

The conversation was getting too heavy, so I thought that I’d lighten things up, and said, “I was actually waiting to meet you.”

“Yeah, right. You gave up that gorgeous, talented star waiting for a nobody like me. I’d love to believe that, but the fact that you’re full of shit gets in the way.”

I laughed, grabbed her hand, and we walked toward the pool. We were about twenty feet away when there were some screams and two totally naked girls ran over and jumped into the pool. There was a cheer from the crowd, and people began pulling off their bathing suits and jumping in with them within seconds.

Meg and I stopped to watch. The pool was soon filled with naked bodies, and everyone seemed to be having a good time, so half-jokingly, I asked Meg, “Do you want to join them?”

“Why, are you anxious to see me naked?”

“Absolutely!”

She raised an eyebrow before she answered, “Well, maybe sometime, but not tonight.”

“What’s the matter, are you shy?”

“No, let’s just say that now isn’t the right time of the month.”

I was trying to figure out what that meant when she said, “Pete!” as she pointed at something. I looked over just in time to see Cliff being held by one guy while another was waving a fist at him, then I saw Tyra behind them, struggling with a guy who was holding her by the arms. It took me a second to realize what was happening, and another to realize that Meg was running toward them. I sprinted after her, but she got there ahead of me, and hit the guy holding Tyra, with a roundhouse right to the rib cage. The guy dropped to the ground, and she grabbed Tyra and pulled her out of the way. The guy who was threatening Cliff moved to the side to see what was happening just as I ran up. The guy on the ground was writhing around holding his side, and the one holding Cliff shouted, “Watch out, Guys, the spook’s gorilla is back,” when he saw me.

He let Cliff go and started backing away, but the one who was threatening Cliff, turned to me and made a fist. He was a big guy, and I don’t know if he was going to throw a punch or not, but I didn’t want to give him the opportunity, so I grabbed him by the arm and pushed him hard! He stumbled backward toward the pool, and I saw him disappear over the edge, so I turned to the guy who was backing away. He took off running, so I went to the guy on the ground, and I reached down with one hand and grabbed him by the neck. He was scared, and he stuttered, “Hey, Man, w-w-we were only having some fun with the fag.”

“So, why were you holding the girl?”

“We, uuh, just wanted to talk to her when the fag jumped shitty with us. She’s lecturing us the next thing we knew.”

Cliff came over and started to tell his side, but I held my free hand up to stop him, and I said to the guy on the ground, “So that gave you the right to manhandle her?”

There was a crowd of people watching us, and someone shouted, “Lookout!”

The guy I had pushed in the pool had crawled out. He looked pissed, and as he started toward me, he yelled, “It was the nigger’s fault; she sicced her faggot friend on us! Now I’m gonna kick both your asses and hers too!”

I let go of the guy on the ground, and I turned to face him. I had a couple of inches in height on him, but I think that we weighed about the same. Dad always told me, “Take the first shot if things are inevitable!” It looked like this was one of those times, so I braced myself.

There suddenly was someone standing between us. It was Epstein’s guy, and he grabbed the guy by his soggy shirtfront and said, “How did you get in here?”

Epstein’s guy had his back to me, but there must have been something about him that scared the guy, because he was much quieter when he answered, “Uhh, a friend told me about it.”

“So you climbed over the back fence, right?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You and your friends leave quietly. Do it now.”

“Uhh, yes Sir, I’m sorry, I didn’t thi—”

Epstein’s guy interrupted him with, “That’s enough. Just leave right now and it won’t be a problem, okay?”

He answered, “Yes, Sir,” then he wildly motioned for the guy on the ground to follow him, and he started for the exit. The guy on the ground got up and scrambled after him.

Epstein’s guy went to Tyra and asked, “Are you okay, Ma’am?”

He said something to her, then turned to me when she nodded that she was, and said, “Sorry that it took me so long to get here. I saw things happen just as you got here, but I was on the top floor of the house at the time. Mr. Epstein would like you and you friend to join us in the house.”

I looked at Meg, and I said, “Sure,” when she nodded.

His coat fell open as he turned away, and I saw the reason why the other guys had left so quietly. I caught the flash of a gun in a shoulder holster.