[Note to readers: People have been telling me that it's getting to be time to wrap this thing up, and I guess they have a point. But I do want to finish the current storylines, which I am going to try to do by Chapter 100. Thanks to everyone who reads, and especially those who comment, even if they sometimes get a little nitpicky. (This stuff is free, after all, and I don't make a dime from writing it.) I try not to waste your time, or my own for that matter.]
That evening in New Orleans, Angel wanted to go to a club that she knew in the French Quarter; a friend of hers was DJing. Monika opted out, saying that she needed a night off. After thinking for a moment, Miss White also demurred, sensing that Monika might like to have some company at home. But she encouraged Jodie to go, and so the three younger women dressed and took off in the mid-evening.
Monika opened one of the best bottles of wine from her cellar and she and Miss White sat down by the fireside in the living room to talk. Monika did most of the talking; it turned out she had some things she wanted to get off her chest. A lot of it had to do with Angel, who as Miss White suspected had been Monika's maid before Annie. She'd been only 20 when Monika hired her.
At first Angel had been merely eye candy, but over time Monika had felt her feelings changing. They became lovers, then something more than that; as their relationship blossomed, Angel had done less and less work around the house until finally Monika was obliged to hire a new maid. For a while things had been very harmonious; Angel enjoyed having someone to boss around, and both of them enjoyed Annie's Eastern European beauty and sweet, submissive nature.
But recently things had started to go downhill. Angel had become moody and contrary; at times she disappeared for a whole day, or even longer. Monika knew that she had other lovers; shaking her head and sipping her wine, she confessed to Miss White that Angel "still has a taste for dick sometimes."
Miss White thought immediately of Joseph Charles, and as if reading her mind, Monika soon confirmed that he and Angel sometimes slept together. "Which is fine," added Monika, "I like Joseph. He's clean and he isn't going to hurt her." What bothered her was that Angel seemed chronically unhappy. She suspected it had something to do with Angel's career, or lack thereof. Though beautiful, she was not much of an actress, and didn't pursue it with much enthusiasm. She was much more suited to music; but though she was still young enough to make the change, it would mean going against her father, who exerted a powerful influence on her.
The disappearances worried Monika too. She suspected that Angel might be doing hard drugs and hanging out with dangerous people. Cutting Angel's allowance hadn't helped; she always seemed to find a way to get money. All Monika's attempts to curb her misbehavior had met with failure. Sighing, she said to Miss White, "I can punish her, but I can't control her."
Finally Monika seemed to tire of talking about her problems, and changed the subject by asking Miss White how she and Jodie had met. Miss White hesitated; it was a weird story, and she wasn't sure what Monika might think. But finally she decided to go ahead, and as she began talking about Alpha Beta Delta, she felt a surprising twinge of homesickness.
* * *
The nightclub Jenny walked into felt more like somebody's home than a place of business, though it did have a stage and a bar. There were only a few people there, and for a second Jenny thought she might be in the wrong place, but then she recognized Donna's drums at the back of the stage.
Jenny bought a bottle of beer and sat down to watch the opening act, and earnest young folksinger with an out-of-tune guitar and a shaky sense of pitch. Gradually the club began to fill up, and by the time the singer finished his set — not a moment too soon, Jenny thought — there was hardly any room to move around. Jenny scanned the crowd, hoping to get a glimpse of Hana or her bandmates, but they were nowhere to be seen.
