Black Pearls (Working Title): An Excerpt

This is the opening chapter of a work in progress. The story features
Lanie Price, a social columnist for the Harlem Chronicle in 1926. She must solve a three-year-old crime that involves the disappearance of a talented pianist and a million-dollar heist. Feedback is welcome.

- Prologue -

A task-force investigation is like a fast moving train. If you sideline it onto the wrong track, it’s going to derail. At some point, somewhere, it’s going to slam into a wall or plunge down a hill, and when it goes, it’ll take a lot of people with it. It’s just a matter of time.

That’s what happened to the Goodfellowe investigation – and by extension, the Todd case.

It was nearly midnight when Esther Sue Todd hurried out into that blustery December night, bent against the wind, wrapped tightly in her coat to face the cold. Standing just inside the front entrance to Harlem General Hospital, Ruth watched her younger sister’s thin, buffeted figure until it faded behind a wall of swirling snow, then she turned back to their friend Beth.

Beth Johnson gripped the edge of the brown wooden bench where she sat, hunched over. She looked as though she would pass out any minute. Beth’s normally olive-toned complexion had taken on an undertone of pearl gray. No doubt the flat light of Harlem General’s waiting room contributed to her sickly pallor, but it wasn’t entirely to blame. Bad fish for dinner. That was to blame.

“Want me to get you a cup of water?” Ruth asked.

Beth shook her head. She sagged and leaned her head back on the bench, but the wood was too hard to be comfortable. She sat erect again with a groan.

“Why don’t you just stretch out?” Ruth asked. “There’s plenty of room. I’ll just go sit over there.” She pointed to one of the nearby benches.

Beth was too weak to argue. She gave a weary nod, drew her feet up and laid down. She curled up into a tight ball of misery. Ruth took off her coat, rolled it up into a ball and put it under Beth’s head as a cushion.

Ruth eased down onto a bench. She shivered lightly. The waiting room was poorly heated and a cold draft swept through the massive Victorian hall. She drew her coat tightly around her and hugged herself. How, she wondered, had the evening turned so wrong?

It had started out well enough. They were all going to see the Christmas Show at the Renaissance Ballroom, a large entertainment center on 138th Street & Seventh Avenue. All kinds of events were held at the Renaissance, everything from basketball games, to dances and musical shows.

Esther especially had been anticipating the evening. She rarely got to kick up her heels and have fun. Going out was something special, but to have the time – and money – to see the Christmas Show at the Renaissance was something extraordinary. Esther had been talking about it for weeks. Between working, taking care of her young son, and practicing the piano, she usually had little or no time for herself. She was running on frayed nerves and too little sleep. But that night was to have been different.

Esther and Ruth had picked up Beth at her house. The three women were excited as they set off and more than satisfied with their balcony seats. Pretty soon, the curtain went up. The performers had the audience laughing and clapping and the three friends were having a fine old time. Everything was going along merrily until about twenty minutes into the show, when Esther noticed that Beth was holding her stomach and grimacing.

You all right? Esther asked.

Beth could barely answer. She nodded that she was, but she’d broken out into a sweat. Esther touched Beth’s forehead. The girl was cold and clammy.

Maybe, I’d better go to the hospital, Beth whispered.

She worsened fast. By the time Ruth and Esther got Beth down the stairs and outside, she was so weak, she could barely stand. Esther sped to Harlem General on 135th Street and Lenox Avenue. She brought Ruth and Beth to the hospital’s front door, and then drove away to find a parking place.

She was gone twenty minutes.

By the time she got back, a doctor had seen Beth. He said it looked as though it was something she’d eaten. Sure enough, Beth said she’d eaten some fish for dinner and that the food hadn’t smelled right. Beth would be fine, the doctor said. She had vomited and gotten some medicine. She just needed some rest. She could spend the night at the hospital, but she’d have to pay for the bed up front.

Well, they didn’t have the money for that. So the doctor said Beth could rest for a while, an hour or so, then go home.

Esther and Ruth took up watch downstairs in the waiting room. Outside, it began to snow – thick, fluffy flakes that quickly accumulated and covered the ground. After two hours, a nurse brought Beth downstairs. Beth was still weak, but said she felt strong enough to go home.

Ruth and Esther eyed Beth with matching frowns.

“You sure you don’t want to rest here a while longer?” Esther asked.

“No, no, I want to go home.” Beth sat, half bent forward. She rubbed her forehead. Her eyes were bleary and unfocused. In spite of resting in a ward bed for more than an hour, she looked weak and wrung out.

Esther exchanged another look with Ruth.

“I don’t like it,” Ruth said.

“But we can’t force her to stay. Maybe taking her home would be the best thing to do. The doctor said he can’t do much more for her. What she needs is to relax. She can’t do that here. She can at home.”

Ruth still looked unhappy, but relented, “All right.”

“I’ll go get the car.” Esther tightened her coat. “Give me fifteen, twenty minutes. I’ll be right back.”

“Where’d you park?”

“Not far – but too far for Beth to walk.”

Esther started toward the door.

“Wait a minute.”

Ruth peered out through the hospital’s front entrance. Night had fallen and the only light to see by came from the gas lamps that lit Lenox Avenue. It was windy. The snow was coming down hard. A thickening layer of white had covered the sidewalk.

“Maybe I should go with you. I don’t like the way it looks out there. There’s probably not too many folks on the street right now and you know, this ain’t the best part of town.”

“This is a fine part of town,” Esther said with the pride of a new emigrant. She’d only come up from Virginia seven months earlier. “It’s the best part of New York City. Ain’t nobody hanging around this hospital who'd do me no harm.”

Ruth was unconvinced.

Esther gave her a peck on the cheek. “You stay here with Beth.” She swept out the door with a wave. “See you in a few!”

Now, as the minutes crawled by, Ruth began to pace. She tried hard not to look at the huge wall clock over the door. But it was nigh on impossible not to. Beth turned over. The bench was uncomfortable.

“She’s not back yet?” Beth asked. “Just how far did she park that thing?”

Ruth told her not to fret, but she was feeling uneasy herself. More time passed. She headed toward the door.

“Where you going?” Beth asked.

“Just outside to see.”

Ruth pushed open the door and stepped out onto the street. It wouldn’t have felt so cold if it hadn’t been for the wind. The wind sliced through her coat, as sharp and penetrating as a blade made of ice. The streets were empty and the city silent. It was beautiful, though, the way the snow glowed in the light.

A gust of wind kicked up her front coat flap. She pushed it down and held it in place with one gloved hand, while turning up her coat collar with the other. Giving in to a little shiver, she snuggled deeper into her coat. As soon as they got home, she was going to make herself a hot little cup of tea. That sure would be nice after being out in this cold.

Esther must’ve found it hard going in the snow. The wind itself would’ve pushed her back. Ruth had to lean into it just to take the few steps to the curb. This kind of weather would’ve made the short walk to where Esther had parked the car seem double the distance. No doubt that was the reason she hadn’t returned yet. Esther should’ve turned back. The three of them could’ve waited out the worst of it in the hospital room. But Esther wasn’t the kind of person to give up. No doubt she’d forged ahead.

If only Esther had been able to find a closer parking spot. Yup, this evening sure had sure turned out to be far different than any of them expected.

Oh well, Ruth sighed, she couldn’t hold it against Beth for getting sick. And at least they’d gotten to see part of the show. It sure was great – what they’d seen of it.

A car honk to her left startled her. The honk was brief, harsh and abrupt. She turned to see Esther’s car. It was coming straight down the street, driving so fast it looked as though it would go on by. But as it approached the hospital entrance, it slowed down. Enormously relieved, Ruth stepped off the curb.

The headlights went out and the car gunned forward. It sped past Ruth and kept on going. For a moment, she was too stunned to react. That was Esther’s car, wasn’t it? She was sure it was. She could still see Esther at the wheel.

Ruth gave a yell and ran out into the street, jumping up and down, waving and calling out. But Esther just kept on going. If anything, she drove faster. Ruth couldn’t understand it. Esther must have seen her.

Confused and worried, Ruth ran back inside and told Beth what she’d seen.

“Maybe she went to get some gasoline,” Beth suggested.

“Where would she be getting it this time of night? And what has that got to do with her driving right on past me?”

“You sure it was her?”

“Of course I am,” Ruth said, speaking more sharply than she meant to.

Beth fell silent. Ruth paced. Esther was bound to come back. And she’d have a good explanation for driving away like that. They’d just have to wait a little while longer. Esther would come back. Of course, she would.

She had to.

Copyright © 2005 Persia Walker