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PART IV
IN THE DAY OF BATTLE

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94B

D E C E M B E R 1 9 3 0

“I like feeling safe with you.”

He looked surprised. “My hard-on makes you feel safe?”

She nodded.

“Huh,” he said in wonder. “I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.”

At that moment, Marina thought she had never been happier. This man made her feel so wanted and important to him, treated her so well, like a queen.

It pained her a little that Ethel was somewhere here, perhaps watching, hopefully her guilt assuaged though her love would remain unreturned. Marina hadn’t come to rub it in. She’d thought she’d be long gone before Trey even knew they were there. She hoped Ethel simply went away so she wouldn’t have to see this.

Marina sighed.

“What’s wrong, Sugar?”

“Nothing,” she murmured lazily. “Just happy.”

“But you work hard to not be. And we’re in the thing you hate most. How come?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t keep it back right now.”

“That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Marina felt herself flush.

“Um … I have a confession to make.”

She stiffened.

“I haven’t been giving you sweet tea all this time. I’ve been giving you sugar.”

“I know,” she murmured, relaxing again.

“What?”

“I figured it out,” she lied without a hitch.

“You don’t sound mad,” he ventured.

“I’m not.”

“Why not? I lied to you.”

“You got the job done without drugging me.”

He barked a laugh. “There you go, being pragmatic again. How long have you known?”

“Two months or so.”

“So these past two months … ?”

“At first, I pretended I was riding the rollercoaster, and then when I— Um, well, then I sort of forgot I was riding the rollercoaster, after a bit. And then after, when we had the extra-long hug after those men came to our house, I didn’t need to imagine it anymore.”

He chuckled, but said nothing more, but then the music faded out, replaced by the sound of musicians packing up.

“C’mon help me close up,” Trey muttered as he released her, now all business.

He had her and Dot clearing tables in no time, scrubbing them and the chairs down— “I want all the sticky off them, every last drop of whatever, liquor or cum or pee or food or whatnot, hear me? Hottest water you can stand, soap, Bon Ami. Behind the bar.” —then turning them upside down over the tables. He and Gio disappeared. Vern the bartender told them they were doing inventory. It’d take them about an hour, he said, but in the meantime, they could help him wash glasses.

Marina and Dot worked quietly. Marina was getting a good idea of the amount of hard work that went into this place, and she thought about the long hours Trey worked. If this was what 1520 demanded of him, she was a harridan.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ethel come down the stairs, following an old portly gentleman who was fixing his collar. Ethel poured herself against him when he turned and let him grope her backside. She unlocked the door and let him out. Marina caught her disgusted look as she turned away. Then she gagged a little. Marina thought Ethel would upchuck right there, but she didn’t.

It was hard enough doing that with Trey. She couldn’t imagine doing it with someone she didn’t want within arm’s reach.

Marina sighed and went back to cleaning shot glasses.

“Marina, you missed a table up front.”

Marina nodded at Vern’s gruff instruction and went across the room, where Ethel had dropped herself.

“You here to shut this place down for good?” Ethel joked weakly.

“I was curious,” Marina said softly as she scrubbed the table.

“About what?”

“Why people come here and act like they’re happy.”

Ethel shrugged. “They think they are. Some of them, this is the only place they can be.”

“How?”

She chucked her chin toward the door. “That guy. His wife is dying. He’s got a hard life even though he’s got money. He comes here to forget for a little while. He pretends I’m his wife. When they were young.”

“But that doesn’t make him happy.”

Ethel looked up at her, worn, haggard, unsmiling. “Truth is, Marina, happiness is a myth.”

Marina nodded. “I’d just as soon be content and stay that way.”

“I saw you canoodling with Trey. You looked happy.”

“Oh, Ethel, I didn’t come here to— I meant to sneak out before he saw me.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “I didn’t have to watch.”

“I am so sorry.”

“What you said, about being grateful? I appreciate that. I do. And I know I made the right decision even though it was wrong, because he loves you.”

Marina scowled. “He does not. The only person he loves is Susanna and that’s good enough for me.”

Ethel shrugged. “Believe what you want.”

“A’ight,” Trey said impatiently from behind them. “What’s this you two’re cookin’ up? Ethel, I didn’t say nothin’ to you ’bout visitin’ Marina, but I wanna know why.”

Ethel gave Marina a shocked look. “You didn’t tell him?”

Marina gulped and shrank into herself. Trey’s speech had already slipped.

“Tell me what,” Trey demanded. “One or both of you better start talkin’. Now.”

“It’s not mine to tell,” Marina muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, but not meeting Trey’s glare.

Ethel took a breath. “I need to confess.”

Marina’s head whipped around. “Ethel, don’t.”

She looked at Marina steadily. “I still have the same problem I came to you for.”

Marina didn’t know what was going to happen, but she knew how enraged Trey was about the sweet tea she’d been given. She had no idea how he’d react since he was never mad when most men would be and blew up over the strangest things.

“Ethel,” Trey growled, “start talkin’.”

“Ethel,” Marina begged. “Don’t. Please don’t. I’ll do it later, when—”

Ethel stood and faced Trey, still in her peignoir, and calmly folded her hands in front of her. She held her head high. “I drugged Marina.”

Dot gasped, somewhere from behind the bar.

“My God,” Gio whispered, horrified.

Trey stood stock still, gaping at her. Marina tensed, watching. Waiting.

“I went to your house to confess to Marina, and beg for forgiveness, but she’s a wonderful girl and said I didn’t have anything to apologize for. But I see now I confessed to the wrong person. I did it. And if I knew this would be the outcome I’d do it again.”

Nobody moved. Nobody breathed.

He turned to Marina with a look of pure evil. “You knew about this?”

“Yes, but—”

“And you didn’t tell me.”

“It wasn’t against you. She wanted my forgiveness. I gave her my gratitude. Don’t—”

Trey charged toward her and she cowered, but he went past her. She turned at a thud halfway across the room … where Ethel had landed from the force of Trey’s fist.

“No!” Marina screamed. “Trey!” She watched in horror as he went after Ethel, who was crab crawling backward, terrified, not having expected that. “No, Trey, don’t! Please!”

But instead of stopping, he picked Ethel up by her hair and slapped her face.

“TREY!” Marina cried, running to him to try to catch his arm, but he was so deep in his rage he didn’t even know she was there.

“Don’t kill me,” Ethel sobbed through split and bleeding lips. “Trey, please don’t kill me. I was trying to help.”

“Yourself!” he snarled before he picked her up by her throat and slammed her against the wall.

“Gio!” Dot screeched.

“Stay out of it, Dot,” Gio said in a voice that brooked no argument.

Marina tried to catch Trey’s hand before he hit Ethel again, but he was so big, so strong—she clasped her hands in the crook of his elbow and dropped like a rock, stopping a punch. He tried to shake her off but couldn’t. “STOP!”

He wouldn’t. She knew that. He was more enraged now than at Mother.

“GIO!” Marina screamed, looking over her shoulder, but Gio shook his head slowly, his arms crossed over his chest, ignoring Dot’s desperate pleas.

Trey shook Marina off when her hands slipped. He was going to kill Ethel if Marina didn’t do something.

Marina looked around frantically because she couldn’t … just couldn’t …

She shot her hand under Trey’s arm and grabbed his gun out of his trousers. She had it pointed at his head before she knew it. “Stop or I’ll kill you.”

That stopped him cold. “Marina,” he growled.

“Marina!” Gio yelled.

She pulled the hammer back. “I’ll kill you, Trey,” she croaked, her voice trembling, but her hands steady.

“Put down that goddamned gun,” he snarled.

“I’m not going to let you kill her.”

“She drugged you, I raped you.”

“She drugged me to help you. You didn’t rape me. Don’t kill her because you feel guilty for something you didn’t do.”

“Marina,” Gio said from right behind her.

“One step closer, I’ll kill him.”

“Back off, Gio,” Trey said.

Marina kept the barrel pointed at Trey’s temple. “Dot.”

“Yep!” she chirped desperately, darting around Marina and dropping beside Ethel, who was gasping for breath, her face and body battered.

Marina couldn’t see what Dot was doing, but she heard Dot speak­ing to her softly, things one said to babies to soothe them. “We’re here, sis. It’ll be all right. He won’t touch you again, we promise.”

“I—I—I so-so-so-y … ”

“Shh shh. You were trying to help, we know.”

“Dot,” Marina said, her voice steady now, even though her heart was thundering. “Get her to the hospital.”

“I don’t know how to drive!”

“Do it anyway.”

“Um … ” Dot turned back to Ethel. “Ethel, honey, can you walk?”

Ethel was too traumatized to speak.

“Gio,” Marina said. “Help Dot get Ethel to the hospital. If you love Trey at all, you’ll do it and not lay another hand on her.”

“Fuck you, Marina.”

“Gio,” Dot said, her voice hard. “If you don’t, I will send my daddy after you both. You’ll be dead by sunrise.”

None of the four of them moved for a few seconds. Ethel was curled up against the wall, mewling softly from her chest.

Marina sensed Gio slowly moving away from her and toward Dot. Marina didn’t take her eyes off this evil man she wouldn’t hesitate to kill, the hammer back, her finger on the trigger. Trey was stiff and still as marble, his hands slightly in the air.

Gio bent and gently pulled Ethel into his arms, Dot talking to her softly. “That’s a good girl. Just relax. Gio’s got you. He won’t drop you, I promise. We’ll get you to the hospital and get you patched up right as rain.”

Dot talked to her all the way out the back of the speak until the door slammed.

Then all was quiet in 1520. Marina’s heart rate had settled into a steady rhythm. Trey wasn’t moving.

Finally, he spoke. “Marina,” he said softly, “you have no idea how bad I’ve felt over that. I meant to seduce you, not rape you.”

“You didn’t rape me. It was a trick. To my mind, there is no difference between that and what you intended to do. You’re mad because she tricked you.”

His throat bobbed.

“You’re angry because you feel the same way you did when Father made you kneel at the altar. When you tripped in front of me. When you fired Mr. Carville. You’re angry at Boss Tom for using the speak to control you, even though she’s yours.”

“Put the gun down, Marina. You don’t really wanna kill me.”

“Wanna bet? I’m the house and you never bet against the house.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Vern.”

“Nothin’ doin’, Boss,” came the bartender’s gruff voice. “Ethel didn’t do nothin’ to deserve that, but I ain’t givin’ Marina a reason to kill you, either.”

Heartened, Marina went on. “I’ve got you where I want you and I’m thinking, ‘He says he won’t do that to me, but he’s in a position he hates, he’s not in control, he feels stupid and weak, especially on his own turf, in front of his employees, and the second I take my finger off the trigger, he’s going to do me the way he just did a girl half his size who was trying to help him because she loves him.’”

He choked. “What?” he whispered.

“She’s loved you since you took her off the street. She didn’t do it to keep her job. She did it so you would get the thing you wanted most in the world. That’s love, Trey. You wanted the speak and you wanted me, in that order. She gave you that in spite of what she wanted, which was for you to love her back. You’re happy. You’ve spent the last two months telling me how happy you are. She gave you that. That’s why she said she’d do it again. And you were about to kill her for it and Gio was going to let you. And you know what? I will never love you that much and now I don’t know if I can ever love you at all. I’m going to leave. If you want to live, you’ll let me.”

94B

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