Sirens, page 63
God, it's the part of a lifetime 1 ' ' I could get you written into the
film,' Daina said hopefully. She looked around.
"Where's Rubens? I'm sure be could fix it.' ' -' ', no. There's no
problem. Anything I want I can get now.' She laughed, squeezed Yasmin.
''t that be great? The two of us together in -' ', I'm leaving tomorrow
morning.' Yasmin took hold of her shoulders. ' want that part.' ' _'
''ve got to be on my own now. Don't you see that?" Daina felt an
unreasoning anger bubbling up inside hher. She wanted desperately to
control the -situation. There was no good reason why Yasmin should not
leave yet Daina wanted her to stay. Maggie was gone and now Yasmin was
going too. ' I see is you leaving me.' ''s not true. All I'm doing is ',
Yasmin, don't gov The music beat louder and louder, popping in her veins
like carbonation, a jungle line through the house, streaming outside
into the spangled night. Flashes of colour filmed her eyes and she felt
spasms like jolts of current racing through her system. Her muscles
jumped involuntarily under her glossy sweat-streaked skin as if they
were threatening to take over. ', please. I don't want us to leave each
other this way. We're friends -" "Damn you! ' Daina cried. ' could fix
everything up for you I Everything! Christ, you dcn't know when you're
well offl; Yasmin tried to reach out for her. ', no. Don't touch 13 et
away. went lurching away to find Rubens but ran into Marion d. His face
was flushed from drinking but his eyes were and he grabbed her as she
was about to stumble past him. o there!' he said. ' God what a bash V h,
Marion!" She fell into his arms. aina, what is it?' s words somehow
penetrated the fog in her brain and she ed her face away from him.
Hadn't she been told that r would not take off her extraordinary makeup?
She shook head, her tangled hair brushing her shoulders. ' . news
tonight, Marion, right?' She smiled at him. hrist,' he said, ' look like
a bird of prey. That makeup's remarkable. Perhaps they could do the same
for me.' he laughed, took his arm in hers. ', Marion,' she said. at a
place to be! Where else on earth could a night like happen?' cannot
imagine.' He looked at her soberly. ''s upset so?' h, it's nothing.
Just Yasmin acting like a fool. I offered part in my new film but she'd
rather leave.' Do you blame her? She's got a leading role in a very
ortant film. How could you expect her to give that up?' ut look what I'm
offering her! ' 11 you're offering her is an opportunity to hang around
to be second best o be my friend!' ook here, my dear,'he said sternly,
'if she wiere your friend, want her to do what's best for her.' h,
Marion, you don't understand at all!' n the contrary, I understand
perfectly. Don't think I't seen what's been happening to you. This film
... I tell frankly, Daina, I'd never make another one like it again, if
I were assured of winning another Academy Award. thought about this a
long time. I'm not so proud of that rd. I'll take it back to England
with me, put it on the el of my study and every week the cleaning lady
will come . it off. What does it mean? Nothing. e all gave up too much
for this film. It's taken an 550 551 incalculable toll on all of us.
You, me, Yasmin, George. None of us are the same people any more.
The film's changed us, marked us for life. I don't recognize you ... I
don't even recognize myself.' ',' Daina said, shaking her head. ' can't
mean that. It's everyone around us. They see us differently so they
react differently.' ''t be a foow he hissed furiously. ''t you see
what's right in front of your eyes?' Yes, she thought. I see it.
But, oh, I don't want to say it. ' at George. He flew to Paris tonight.
D'you know where he's headed? Southern Lebanon. Christ only knows how
he's arranged it, but he's being taken into one of the PLO base camps
there. I'm quite certain he'll be screened but after that' - he shrugged
- ''ll be one of them.' ', a real live terrorist?" Daina stared at him.
' doesn't have the balls.' ' the contrary," Marion said easily. ' has
become a very dangerous man.' ' is unstable.' ''s what makes him so
dangerous.' ' Yasmin know this?' Marion shrugged. ' haven't told-her.
There's no reason for her to know.' ' loved her.' ' the more reason not
to tell her." Abruptly there were tears in her eyes. ' love her too,
Marion.' He held her to him, kissed her forehead. ' know you do,
darling. You're very good friends.' ' don't want her to leave.' Her
little-girl voice was muffled by his clothing. ''m quite certain she
feels the same way. I'm leaving too, you know. I can't bear to be here
another moment. I don't think I really remember why I came. All I know
is I miss England terribly.' Daina kissed Marion on the cheek. ' want to
see her. want to talk to her before she leaves.' She spent more than an
hour searching for Yasmin but, she looked everywhere, she could not find
her. seemed a very long time before the guests began to leave. ct, it
was near dawn before the majority of them staggered Some had to be
shakqn awake, force-fed strong black e so that they could make it to
their cars, down the ed streets to their diverse homes and still there
would ore than one traffic accident, sirens breaking apart what left of
the night, red and white lights strobing. Blood ing. Sleeping it off. t
for Daina, there was no thought of sleep. It seemed as away as death.
And the adrenalin Rowed as if from some reservoir without end. e house
was unrecognizable.
It did not matter. She and s left the interior guarded by El Greco's
dour intellectual the exophthalmic mermaid perched smugly on her ing
rock, went back out into the dripping garden. hey made violent love
beneath the palms whose slithering s chittered in the freshening breeze
of dawn, with the beginning to pearl, just faintly, above the low
rooftops; an . glow to the east as yet no threat to the brilliance of
stars. A crescent moon was near to setting, appearing and pearing
between the tufted palm leaves. The crickets sang the sound of the
dolphin leaping and twisting in the y pool made her dream they were lost
on a desert island, ounded by nothing but the sea. The sea. e second
time was quite different. He was still in her, . rethickening. And he
was never so gentle, so tender, solutely loving, and, at the very end,
she'was certain that ied but it could just as easily have been his
perspiration dropped on to her shoulder, oiling her before rolling off
convex surface, absorbed by the earth beneath them. tillness. Just their
breathing and the sound of the birds ncing the sun's arrival. a fell
asleep in the grass, the mingled sweat and juices their lovemaking
drying slowly on her skin, her long hair spread out like the tail of
some demigod, her flesh ed and glowing in the quick-silver of the
reflected light: e translucence of dawn, a painting by Rousseau. 552 553
While flies buzzed in the growing patches of sunlight, while a gold and
green butterfly alighted on her one upraised knee, drifted away with the
breeze, she dreamed she was back in New York, back in another time. It
was April and everywhere else it was already spring, but here in the
grey steel canyons winter had not yet relinquished its icy chill. She
wore high brown boots, the toes and heels spattered with snow the colour
and consistency of mud, faded jeans tucked into her boot tops and old
coat. Her honey hair was pulled severely back from her face, tied
tightly in a ponytail. She wore no makeup. With her hands thrust deep
into the pockets of her peacoat, she walked hunched forward against the
harsh scrape of the wind barrelling down the gutters. Her cheeks and the
tip of her nose were red and her teeth chattered. She kept on walking
north, saw buildings sliding by her as if on a conveyor belt. Every once
in a while she looked for street signs but she could not find them. She
came to no comer. Abruptly, she was in front of the restaurant and she
went through the door into the warmth inside. She recognized the glazed
Italian brick, the low pressed-tin ceiling. The thick odours of cooking
food engulfed her. Moonfaced and mutt, people watched her as she hurried
past their tables, piled high with food and liquor. She had begun to
sweat and shiver but she did not think to unbutton her peacoat. She went
right to the table in the back, the most favoured one in the restaurant,
the one that overlooked the back window. Outside: the backs of
buildings, their filthy brickwork overgrown by graffiti. A lean dog
prowled among the rubble, lifting its mangy leg. The face at the table
was stuffing itself with cuchiftitos. The great blunt hands, the
pincerlike fingers shovelled the food into the wide-open mouth in such
heapings that many of them fell back on to the plate with each delivery.
She stood very still, staring at the face: the pale, pale eyes, the
red-gold hair. Grease stained the thin lips and flecks of breading stuck
to the pink cheeks. 554 he called out a name, his name, and the face
turned slowly ards her. In her pocket, her right hand curled around the
pistol's butt. Her forefinger found the trigger and she w the gun, fired
point-blank again and again into the aty and grease-slicked face.
Nothing happened and, in horror, she stared at the gold ette she held
out, head first, towards the gaping mouth. he face let out a roaring
laugh. Tiny bits of grease and ding spewed from the pulled-back lips,
from the honed s of the white, white teeth, and she saw the dark hollow
m of the mouth, as huge as the night sky. The braying ghter filled the
restaurant'reverberating down off the low sed-tin ceiling, echoing from
the tiles, and she turned to But the hard blunt hand shot out,
encircling her wrist. ere, my dear,' the mouth pantomimed and she found
a gun pressed into the palm of her open hand. She gripped Iled the
trigger without thinking and the pistol exploded, ing again and again. t
the ruined face, dripping blood and gore, she found re her was not
Aurelio Ocasio's. It was George's. d the laughter came again, harder
now, crueller and she out into the night, distance diminishing it not at
all ... he was crying in the grass. High above her head a bright- aged
bird, a cardinal perhaps, was squawking raucously, ding suspiciously
like the runoff from last night's party or laughter in her dream. he
squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, still half asleep, really knowing
where she was. Somewhere between New and LA. Her dry lips opened and she
sat up, called, ens?' in a voice as low as a whisper. he shivered, drew
her legs under her, rested her spinning in her hands. A fierce headache
tore at her and she ted like a wounded animal as she opened her eyes to
the t sunlight. I ought to get up and move into the shade, she ght. But
she stayed where she was. hhh! '?' She looked carefully around.
There was high green wire fence surrounding the tennis court and she
quickly away. It was burning in direct sunlight. Her was dry and sticky
and she had trouble swallowing. 555 Dehydration, she thought and then
again, My God! as she held her throbbing head. ',' Rubens said, coming
up to her through the foliage, -'at last you're up.' ' 1' she cautioned.
His voice sounded like a twentyone-gun salute going off in her ear. He
squatted down beside her, dropped a silk dressing gown across her knees
and held out a glass of orange juice. '; he said more softly, ' this
down. Maria just squeezed it. She came back, decided to give us another
chance.' ' did she go?' Daina said dazedly. ''s a long story. Come on.'
He pressed the cold glass into her hand, wrapped her fingers around its
side. ' up. I dropped a couple of Tylenol in.' Gingerly she put the rim
of the glass to her mouth and began to drink. It tasted so good that she
downed half before coming up for a breath. She squinted through the
sunlight at him. ' certainly don't look the worse for wear.' He grinned
at her. ' recovery.' He was dressed in a lightweight linen three-piece.
''t tell me you're off to the office so early.' ''s two-thirty,' he
said.
"In the afternoon.' ' shit! I wanted to call Yasmin.' ' didn't want to
wake you.' ', Rubens 1' He stared down at her while she put her head in
her hands. ' acted like a real shit last night. She was crying when she
left.' , ' saw her leave?' It was an idiotic question and he did not
bother to answer her. From somewhere behind them, past all the foliage
and land, she heard a car door slam, coming quick and sharp in the air
as it always did this time of the year. A dog barked several times and
was still; she heard the rhythmic thump of a basketball against asphalt,
the spang of a backboard's recoil, a young boy's shout of triumph. Daina
got up and went around to the pool. It was cool and clear. No animal
rolled there, splashing. Back to Marineland, she thought, and took a
dive into the deep end. The cold shock revived her, made her head throb
all at once. e broke the surface, swam to the far side, climbed out. To
r left the sprinklers were on, hissing over the verdant lawn. he saw a
glimpse of the Mexican gardener's assistant working on the hedges but
she made no move to cover her nakedness. he turned back to Rubens,
shading her eyes with the edge of e hand. ''t take a full day at the
office. Let's have dinner on the at.$ He came towards her, grimacing. '.
I thought I told u yesterday. I've got to fly up to San Francisco. If I
don't ose the Stinson Beach project deal today it's no go for this ar's
taxes.' ', Christ, you don't have to. Not today.' He kissed her. ' says
it's vital. I'll lose a half million write-offs if I don't. Even I'd
call that vital.' He caressed r back. ' I'll be back in two days, three
tops, and then promise you a long weekend on the boat, okay?' He left
her standing by the side of the pool in bright sun- t, surrounded by the
small careful sounds of afternoon. She id nothing, seeming tall and
browned and confident, as fit as athlete. She was quite still, listening
to the sound of the limo as it rted up, the crunching of the gravel as
it began to roll down e driveway, taking him from her. She wanted to
break into run, to fly through the garden and the house, to stop him
ehow. But there was no way and she did not make a move. Tiny beads of
water continued to roli off her shoulders and ck, hips and buttocks,
running in hot rivulets down the ide of her thighs. Soon the sun had
dried her completely, ing her skin taut with heat. She put on lotion,
facing the rdener's back, silently daring him to turn around. When he
did not and she had finished, she lay down on a aise and closed her
eyes. Only sounds came to her now but y seemed disjointed, separate, as
if they had no connection her or even to where she was. She seemed to
float for an diess time. The whizz-whir of the sprinklers continued but
kid playing basketball must have gone inside. Soon all she Id hear was
the wind moving through the tops of the palms. 556 557 Her closed
eyelids were red with bright sunlight and wind whipped her long hair
back off her face so that it trailed behind her like a pennant. Her arms
were tight around him and she could smell the wonderful worn-leather
odour of his jacket, the scent of his long hair, a touch perhaps of.
some cologne or, she thought with a start, just him after long hours of
intense work. For her it was not truly a sexual scent but a masculine
one. Her breasts heaved with her breathing and she could feel the
bending of his spine as he leaned further into it, the tension in his
frame as the excitement and exhilaration of the speed raced through him.
It was contagious; it spread through her and she lifted her face up
until her lips were against his ear. ',' she shouted. ', Chris 1 ' He
had come up to the house on the Harley while she had been stretched out
by the side of the pool. He had been in the studio all night and had no
desire to stay still. Neither, at that point, did she. She opened her
eyes when they came hurtling down off the Pacific Palisades and she saw
the ocean, heavy and dark in the low troughs, shining like liquid gold
where the sunlight struck it. Her heart turned over and she found
herself longing again for the sharp blue violence of the Atlafitic. This
ocean is such a poor substitute, she thought now. No raging tide this
... only a sluggish swell, dulled by the long dusty years here, calm to
