Sirens, page 30
now that she would never be truly content until this matter was settled.
She understood, too, why he had insisted on giving her his personal
history. He was no longer just another cop. ' know what you have to do.'
He was not asking her a question. ' understand it all.' ' Christ you're
an actress! She knew that he wanted to laugh and she smiled so he would
understand that it was all right. After a time, he said, ' want to be
certain you understand the danger invol ',' she said quietly, ''ve gone
through all this. I couldn't live with myself knowing there was
something I could actively do and not do it. I want to.' ' is your
friend! It was a gentle reminder. ' will be all right! ' think you
really believe that.' ' do.' She felt him close to her. It was so quiet
in the house, she was certain she could discern their breathing. ' could
never've killed Maggie. He loved her." "Love has different definitions
... different limits ... depending on the person! Again she had the
feeling there was more to that statement than she understood. ' think he
would've welcomed the baby." "But you don't know.' ' one knows but Chris
and Maggie! She waited a moment. ' you think Chris murdered her?' For a
long time he said nothing. At last he put his arm on her shoulder. ''s
really nothing to say until all the 262 is in, is there?' Daina turned
her head this way and that but his eyes med in the shadows,
impenetrable. eheartbeats were back together again. This is what nesteel
had told her first. Of course she hadn't believed She'd been at Las
Palmas when Chris and Benno had d their fight. The rift had seemed
irreparable then. She phoned Vanetta at the Heartbeats' office from
Bonesteel's se and the secretary had confirmed that they had been in
studio day and night finishing up a new single and the rest the album. '
they're not at Las Palmas now," she had id in her peculiar accent that
was part black and part ckney. ' just tried there. I think they've all
gone back to i9el S. Daina took the Mulholland exit off the San Diego
Freeway. tonesteel had driven her back to the studio lot in Burbank. He
wanted her to use her own car.
Nigel and Tie lived in Mandeville Canyon. It was on the er side of Bel
Air - the west side - from Benedict Canyon, d was therefore more
secluded and, some would say, more clusive. Mandeville Canyon was
heavily wooded, filled with widely aced houses rather more East Coast in
design than the ounding areas of L.A. Here lived equestrians with horses
their jodhpurs and their short red jackets, riding alongside omnipresent
white picket fences. Daina thought it must ve amused Nigel no end to
movein here among people ose idea of rock music was bland and
non-threatening Linda nstadt or James Taylor. He was considered a kind
of fascinating pariah in their st, which was just fine with him. He and
Tie valued their ivacy when they were home. From the front the house did
not look any different from distant neighbours. Daina turned in at the
wide crushedrble driveway and had time to study the place on the way in.
was a white, two-storey Colonial with columns that - know- Hollywood -
had been shamelessly copied from Tara. The was dark green, the steps
brick. But the fagade, Daina had nothing whatsoever to do with what was
inside. 263 Nigel had had the interior stripped and entirely rebuilt.
It was a funny place. Literally. For instance, she remembered well the
library downstairs that was done precisely like an old gentlemen's club
in London at the turn of the century: all wingback leather chairs,
antique marble fireplaces and brass ashtray stands. The room was ringed
with balustraded wooden bookcases that contained, rather than their
namesakes, neat stacks of audio and video cassettes. And, if one looked
closely, one could see no fire in the fireplace but an enormous
television monitor hooked up to a video recorder. There were other
marvels in the house, such as a bathroom as large as a normal living
room, which contained, among other hardware, a refrigerator, a video
monitor and a double bed. There was also a small, soundproof studio in
the back of the house and an enormous pool complete with waterfall
leading to a totally isolated man-made pond. Silka met her as she drove
up to the front door and got out. She could hear the barking of the
Dobermanns, silenced by a command from the bodyguard. '. Whitney,' he
said, coming as close to smiling as he could. ' a marvellous surprisep
He came down the brick steps. ' one informed me of your corning.' ''m
afraid no one knew,' Daina said ruefully. ' hope I'm not interrupting
them. I know the tour starts this Saturday.' '.' Silka nodded his big
head. ' Francisco, then Phoenix on Monday, Denver on Tuesday, Dallas
Wednesday through Sunday and so it goes for six weeks.
They're veryy excited to be on their way.' She knew he meant Nigel in
particular. ''s all right between them?' He knew what she meant. ''s all
been worked out. Benno's a genius at that sort of thing. He's been
around them a long time. Since their first US tour which was ... oh,
let's see, 1965? Yeah, it was sixtyfive ' he brought me aboard that
year.' ''d you know hinif '? Oh, well, we met at the American Society of
Recording Manufacturers benefit dinner in sixty-four. We were both
hustling to make ends meet at the time. I had heard about the
Heartbeats, even saw them a couple times when I 264 s in Britain. But
after that disastrous first US tour, no oter wanted anything to do with
them. Their English ager just didn't understand America or the concept
of ling a product. They were big in Britain so therefore, he red, they
should go down a storm in America. ', I told Benno about the band at
that dinner. I ought it was, you know, just small talk. I mean no one
embers what's said to them at affairs or parties. But Benno remember and
flew over there to see them. He convinced in to sign with him and, well,
the rest's what you see.' His 'ick arms swept up to encompass the house
and grounds. P ' knew Jon, then,'Daina said. '.' But something had shut
down behind his eyes. ' knew Jon; we all loved him.' He looked at her. '
you d the new single yet?' ', I'd love to.' ''ll take you inside then.
They're going over it now.' just before they stepped inside, Daina
reached out to stop in. ',' she said. ' is Chris? Really.' He towered
over her like a mountain, his head so high above it seemed in the
clouds.
"He's okay,' Silka said from deep *de his chest. '.' He reached around,
pulled the door t behind themat was dark and quite still in the hallway.
is tour'll do him good. You'll see.' He seemed to be saying ething more
to her. ''m not here to stop him from going, if that's what you '
wasn't.' But he seemed relieved. He turned away and y began to walk down
the hall. ''ve never seen her like s,' he said. ''s really quite
terrified of you.' Daina knew he meant Tie. ' can't see why.' But of
course e did. She merely wanted to see if he would tell her. ' knows how
Chris feels about you. She can't fathom the Oationship. It worries her,
I think, because shes usually very cpt at that.' He looked at her out of
the comer of his eye. he hasn't been able to pin you down in any way,
and what e can't control frightens her.' ', that makes us even,' Daina
said. ' don't understand either.' She thought, We're like two cats with
o(ir backs Perhaps it's only the territorial imperative. 265 'No,'
Silka said, stopping just before a heavily panelled oak door. 11 think
that's what terrifies her the most. You've got her dead to rights.' His
hand shot out and the door rolled back.
Sound blasted her with an almost physical force, the music drenching her
with its energy. Her ears began to ache and her teeth were set on edge.
She felt Silka's fingertips on the small of her back, urging her
forward, and she went in. The door slid shut behind her. They were
arrayed around the room in a rough semicircle before the two giant
speakers, identical twins to the ones that had been in Chris and
Maggie's house. The band was rapt. like idolators before carved figures
of their god. Remember the timeslin the back of a Ford, Chris' voice
rocketed full out, With the dashlights glowingldid we know the score?
Tie saw Daina first and she got up. No one else moved or looked her way.
That one day we'd be all grown uplfinding the stars ... ' let you in?'
Tie drawled. The pupils of her eyes were enormously expanded so that
they combined with the ebony irises in a seamless whole, gleaming and
depthless, and entirely alien. ' you mean I'm not welcome here'any
more?' In the night it's so right, Chris sang. We'll be together again
... ' it was up to me I'd have Silka throw you the hell out of here."
Daina could smell the grass on her breath, a sweet musky scent she found
repellent. ' we both know it's not up to you.' Daina put her hand out in
order to move past Tie. Angel and devil, Chris sang on, meeting halfway
betweenl In a land no one can call his own ... The moment their flesh
met, she saw something in Tie's face. Perhaps a muscle twitched or her
pupils contracted for an instant. Then she was past and Chris had seen
her. She opened her mouth, felt slim cool fingers enwrap her wrist,
spinning her back. ' d'you think you're going;' Tie glared at her.
She seemed to have trouble breathing. ' all comes down to Chris and
Nigel.' Her voice had become menacing. ''s all. It a has been." feven
when Jon was alive?'Daina said. Tie frowned as if she were truly
concerned. ' do you 7know of Jon? Did Maggie tell you anything?"
"Whatever was told to me was done so in confidence.' Tie's looped
fingers seemed to move minutely up and down captured wrist. ' should be
careful about believing all e stories you hear.' ' Dainv Chris was
smiling as he came up. He stepped ween them and Daina jerked her wrist
away from Tie's sp. ', how are you!' Abandon the rhymesloff which we
have lived, his recorded ice sang lustily. The limos, the partieslthe
big girls who elall they canlit's nothing. She tried to drag him away
from Tic. ',' she said, ' the hell happened?' '' be grinned, ' mean?'
She stared into his eyes, '@willing him to answer her. ''s just not
right, Dain. I can't ve now. Too many people dependin' on what we do,
too m h bread involved; too many years Nigel'nme been mates.' uc stopped
for a minute and she saw his face lose all energy. ou're not pissed at
me or anythin', Dain. Hey, c'mon!' She put a palm up to his warm cheek.
', Chris. I guess just wanted to understand, that's all.' He put his
hand over hers, seeming as relieved as Silka bad n earlier. ''m glad,'
he said. ' - well, you know Tie e thought you'd try to stop me goin' out
on th' road with th' V She searched his face. ' would I @o that?' '.'
She sensed he was nervous with the subject. ' thought it too when I saw
you here." She smiled at him. ' came for a completely different reason.'
e turned her voice shy. ' Vanetta told me about the r beginning this
weekend in San Francisco, I had the ion that since we weren't filming
then and I had some time '@o!' Chris said, delighted. ' really want to
come? I s thinkin' how you hadn't seen us on stage in so long.' He ng
her around.
"An' it'll be good for you. Get you out o' s pit for a coupla days,
nothin' t' do but relax!' 266 267 Bonesteel would not believe it; Chris
was selling her the idea. ' going with them,' Bonesteel had said,
'you'll be able to find out a helluva lot more than I can right now."
She wanted to throw her head back and laugh, thought, What the hell 1
and did. Daina and Baba alone in his apartment, off the greasy streets
filled with hunch-shouldered pimps and thirteen-year-old runaways giving
ten minutes for ten dollars to yearning businessmen and scared
adolescents in dingy hallways to feed their habit. It was mean out there
as well as cold. Out the window: a conglomerate of brilliant neon and
iridescent red, the hallmarks of midtown Manhattan. In the winter,
especially, it did not seem so tawdry. There was, at that point in time,
a comforting immutability about the community. The view was one of the
wonderful things about the place. There were sparkles that could have
been icicles, lines of white paint she pretended were hoarfrost. Coming
here, Daina's mother would surely have been appalled, refusing no doubt
even to climb the rickety wood and flaking iron staircase along which
sat spectral cats, scrawny and immobile, eyes like emeralds, large and
luminous in the inconstant light. They waited there in the warmth for
the night to bring the rodent activity. They were the guardians of
Baba's building and Daina, at least, was careful to feed them at every
chance she got. Naturally, Baba would warn her against such coddling.
"They's gots t'be hungry, mama, t'go afta them monsters. They goan get
spoiled on yo' feedire and people herebouts never forgive yo. p Outside,
the gutters of the streets were mouldy with what once had been snow but
had now been ground into submission, metamorphosing into gritty grey
tubular humps, iced up and hard as granite. They sat together on the
worn carpet with the old beatendown couch looming over them darkly,
warmly. A couple of lamps were on, their coloured shades softening the
light. They ate pizza brought up from a wonderful place Daina had
discovered on Tenth Avenue. Between them was a six-pack of Bud. 268
Baba,' she mid after a time, ' come you've never taken bed? Don't you
find me sexy?' e Is do, looked at her with hi' big dark eyes. ' sho as
hell do, ma. But y' know me. I ain't happy with jus' one. I gots ve '
all.' He wiped his lips. ' as I thought ' yo me it'd be like all the
rest.' He looked away. ' gots thin else alt'gether ' us.' ,@'But you
already know I'm not like the rest; not like any of who come trooping in
here at any hour ...' She trailed off, ing him stare at her. The light
fell softly on his face, ing in the scams, the hard lines of wear, the
blows of a rld she still could not fully understand. Did you ever about
what I might want.' ,,Re grunted. ' Marty said, mama, yo too young
t'know out that.' ' know that's not true.' it comes tyou I confess I
doan know what t'think. y yo still here, mama? In outlawland?"
"Becausel' she said, ''m an outlaw, just like the rest of you.' But Baba
shook his head. ' sho gots some crazy ideas. 7t yo see this's all in yo'
haid? Ain't nuthin goin' on here d interest yo.' You're here. You
interest me.' 1 Yo jus' likes t'go uptown.' He laughed and his eyes away
from hers. ' yo best go, mama.' "',,She shook her head slowly.
"You're not getting away that ily.' She got up, sat down next to him.
"What's got into you ay@ I thought we had this all talked out ages ago."
@.Re crossed his arms over his massive chest. ' is, yo es me feel
guilty, mama, and that ain't sumthin I've felt a long time. Yo bein'
here, seein' the things ...' He shook head. ' ain't right. Yo doan
belong here. Yo belong back Kingsbridge, that's where. Too much
jack-shit here fo' the s o'you. Makes me feet evil.' @,@She dug her
fingers under his arm, hooked her arm with his. t you're not that. You
know it.' ',' he said bleakly, ''se a goddamn prince I is! She turned
partially around, took his bearded face between hands and, before he had
time to protest, kissed him hard the mouth. It seemed to last a long,
long time and, when 269 she parted her lips, slipped her wet tongue
between them to explore his mouth, he allowed it. She felt then his arms
slide around her back, enfold her iffin an embrace that was so tender
she began to weep. ',' she whispered, pulling her face slightly away
from his, ''s what all the fuss's been about isn't it?' ' cryin',' he
said with a strange kind of wonderment in his voice. ', Baba, I love
you.' She stroked the side of his face. ''t worry about anything.
Please. Let's just enjoy each other and not be concerned -' He kissed
her with a kind of gentleness she knew all the time was inside him and
she began to work on his clothes, wanting nothing more than to press
herself against his nakedness. His body was peculiarly hairless and she
found that she could not stop her hands from restlessly traversing the
planes and valleys of his dusky flesh. Too, she could not stop the
trembling in her frame. Now she felt the physical urgencies of her body
