Lust is a Woman, page 6
Too little sleep, too many dexedrine tablets, too little money, furious anger at McKay for taking Maria away from him, and morose brooding throughout a long and boring night had turned Ralph Tone into a highly irrational person.
With his eyes closed to angry slits and with his confused mind churning, Ralph failed to see Tarzan and McKay drop Maria off at the curb. Maria waved goodbye to McKay as Tarzan whipped the yellow Cadillac back into the traffic stream. She turned and strolled slowly up the curving, concrete driveway. Maria saw Ralph first, and hailed him.
“Morning, Ralph!” she called cheerfully. “Getting some sun?” Ralph’s eyelids flew open, and he bounced off the wall like a handball. With three quick strides he faced Maria, reached out and gripped her wrist with steely fingers. His color was a deep, angry red, and his red-rimmed eyes glared into the girl’s frightened face.
“Where have you been all night, damn you?” He spat the words out accusingly.
“Let me go, Ralph!” Maria said fearfully. “You’re hurting my wrist!”
Ralph immediately released Maria’s slim wrist, and ran his fingers through his hair. “I knew it!” Ralph said angrily. He stepped back two paces and appraised Maria’s full figure for a brief moment, shaking his head unbelievingly. Maria, of course, was dressed exactly as she had been the morning before, but under Ralph’s close scrutiny her face flushed, and her temper flared.
“Knew what?” she cried angrily.
Ralph nodded his chin knowingly, sneered at the girl, and then reversed the motion of his head and shook it from side to side. With unreasoning hatred he stared into Maria’s angry, apprehensive eyes.
“Just tell me one thing,” he said bitterly, running his fingers nervously through his crinkly hair again. “Just one thing! That’s all I want to know. How much did he have to pay you? That’s all I want to know.”
Maria visibly paled, and her full mouth quivered. Impulsively she hugged her straw handbag to her stomach, and hot tears welled out of her brown eyes. She made a blubbering, whimpering sound deep in her throat, pressed a tight fist to her open mouth and ran past Ralph to the hotel entrance.
Filled with sudden remorse, Ralph started after her, but stopped before he reached the entrance.
“What’s the use,” he thought ruefully. “After an insult like that, she’d never forgive me in a million years.”
Ralph’s heart was a heavy weight inside his chest as he drove home to his rooming house. Too late for breakfast, he showered and stretched out naked on top of his unmade bed. There was nothing left to do now but apologize to the girl—that is, if she would let him talk to her. If she didn’t he couldn’t blame her. Although he thought he would never be able to sleep again, within a few minutes his fatigued body took over and he fell asleep.
At two P.M. Tommy Grant entered the room and began to bang dresser drawers in and out noisily, whistle loudly off-key and bump against the foot of the bed. Tommy was on his afternoon break, and wanted somebody to talk to. After a few minutes, the racket awakened Ralph and he sat up groggily on the edge of the bed.
“Why don’t you beat on a couple of boilers?” he growled at his roommate.
“Did I wake you?” Tommy lifted his eyebrows with feigned surprise. “I’m sorry, Ralph.”
“That’s all right. Give me a cigarette.”
Tommy lit a cigarette and handed it to Ralph. Ralph shook his head to clear away a clinging drowsiness, and gratefully sucked smoke deep into his lungs.
“How’d you make out with the chick from the hotel, Ralph?” Tommy asked, a wide grin on his cheerful face.
Ralph groaned. “Don’t remind me!” He shook his head with swiftly-remembered despair. “I made an ass out of myself, that’s all. Never in my life have I pulled such a stupid stunt. To tell you the truth, Tommy, I’m so ashamed of myself, I’m ready to quit my job and never go back to the hotel. Just to face Maria again after what I said to her is unbearable to even think about.”
Tommy had only asked an innocent question, but now he was concerned about his friend. “It can’t be that bad, Ralph,” he said. “Tell me about it.”
Ralph cut a few corners in the rehash of events, but the uneven story was true enough. He had fallen hard for Maria, and he didn’t know why. McKay had taken her away from him and she hadn’t returned to the hotel until after eight that morning. As a consequence he had expected the worst and accused her of it. He related the scene in front of the hotel with self-punishing detail.
Tommy had listened quietly and now he looked thoughtfully at his friend. “You may not be so crazy, Ralph,” he said softly. “And don’t get sore at me, either. But I know a few things about this guy McKay. Or at least I’ve heard a few things even if I don’t know whether they’re all true or not.”
“What do you mean, ‘things’?” Ralph asked sharply.
“Rumors, I suppose.” Tommy shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t prove anything. I don’t know anything about this girl. I’ve noticed her, because she stands out like a flower in a bunch of ragweed. But you don’t know a damn thing about her and neither do I. Suppose she made up that story? Do you actually know she’s a typist in New York, and down here only for a vacation?”
“I know something about people, Tommy,” Ralph said defensively. “If she made up the things she told me she’d have to be a damned good actress.”
“Maybe so,” Tommy nodded. “But you don’t know. Right?”
“I suppose.”
“What about McKay then? You’ve taken girls up to his penthouse, and some of them stay all night. Right?”
“I know that, all right!” Ralph said bitterly. “That’s why I got suspicious when Maria didn’t show up until this morning. If she’d come back around one A.M. or something like that, I probably wouldn’t have thought anything about it.”
“Let me talk, Ralph. Do you remember that guy Bruno, used to be a waiter, then quit to go up to Palm Beach?”
“I saw him in the locker room a few times. But I didn’t know him.”
“Well, I talked to him a lot. Mr. McKay hired Bruno one night to serve dinner and mix drinks out at his house near the ’Glades. You knew about his house, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Go on.”
“Bruno didn’t tell me what all happened, but he kind of hinted. There were eight men there, and Bruno said I’d be shocked if he mentioned a couple of the names. Anyway, there was a real fancy dinner, and afterwards, movies in the living room. Stag movies. Bruno tended bar, and got to watch the movies. He said they were really something to see, boy, strictly stag! Now, here’s something funny—all the men called each other Mr. Smith. They laughed about it, but they all called each other Mr. Smith. After the movies were all over, about a half-dozen girls arrived. The houseboy and McKay’s bodyguard let them in, and they went directly to the bedrooms, not the living room. McKay made an announcement that the show would begin in a few minutes; there was another rush to the bar, and then McKay sent Bruno home. Bruno said he didn’t see the ‘show,’ but I think he was lying. Anyway, McKay gave him a hundred bucks. A hell of a lot of dough for only serving dinner and mixing a few drinks.”
“Not really. Not for eight or nine people. But what kind of show?”
“What do you think, Ralph? You know damned well what kind of a show it was!”
“Well, so what?”
“I’m not saying Maria is one of the party girls, but McKay has to get girls from somewhere, don’t he? And if she isn’t, why wouldn’t he try to recruit her? See what I mean?
Ralph set his jaw, got to his feet, and began to dress. “I’m going down to the Marina and talk to that McKay,” he said grimly.
“What for? Bruno might’ve been lying through his teeth. And what can you say to Mr. McKay anyway, Ralph? You can’t prove anything.”
“I’m going to come right out and ask him. If he lies I’ll be able to tell it, and then I’ll knock his teeth down his throat!”
“What about his bodyguard?”
“Tarzan? I don’t like him either. I’d like to break his yellow, slimy jaw while I’m at it.”
“Don’t go, Ralph!” Tommy pleaded. “You’ll only get into a lot of trouble and lose your job besides!”
Ralph didn’t reply, and hurried down the stairs.
However, on the drive to the Marina, Ralph cooled off considerably. The more he thought about the story, the more unlikely the waiter’s tale seemed to be. McKay had been pretty damned nice to Ralph, and a guy couldn’t fake friendliness. There was no reason for it. In spite of being rich he had treated Ralph as an equal. And up until yesterday afternoon, Ralph had thought McKay a terrific guy. If it hadn’t been for Maria, he would still think so. Bruno’s story must be just a jealous fabrication made up out of whole cloth, a vicious story. So McKay had a girl up to his penthouse once in a while. So what? He was rich and single, and he was entitled to have an occasional girl, wasn’t he? But to accuse McKay of procuring girls and running orgies for famous men was ridiculous! Why should he? He had more dough now than he could use.
Ralph eased into a slanted parking slot at the Marina and sat indecisively in his car. A few hours sleep certainly made a difference in your thinking ability. Ralph grinned ruefully. Well, as long as he was here, he could say hello to Mr. McKay, anyway.
The Sea Witch was in her slip, and McKay was seated at a table on the after-well deck in the sun. A chess board was before him and he was intently studying a chess problem in an opened book. He read silently for a moment with a furrowed brow, shook his head impatiently and then hesitantly moved a black Queen’s Pawn. Tarzan was forward, sprawled out on the deck, reading a comic book. He raised his head and stared expressionlessly at Ralph, and without a greeting, dropped his eyes back to his comic book.
“Hello, Mr. McKay,” Ralph said from the pier.
“Ralph!” McKay exclaimed. “How are you, son? Come aboard. How about a game of chess? I’ve been trying to work out a Banakin problem, but I must confess it has me stumped.”
“I don’t play chess,” Ralph dropped lightly to the deck. “One of these days I’m going to learn, though.”
“It’s a wonderful game, Ralph,” McKay said sincerely. Then, as if remembering something he suddenly snapped his fingers and chuckled deep in his throat. “You certainly took off in a hurry yesterday. Right after you left my mind started to function, and I sent Tarzan after you, but you’d already left the parking lot. It occurred to me that I could have called the hotel and got you relieved for the evening. But I was too late with the idea. And we could have used you, too.”
“Oh, that’s all right, Mr. McKay,” Ralph said guiltily. A hard lump formed in his throat.
“I must apologize for my thoughtlessness, Ralph. And as I said we could have used you. You know something about diesels and our engines broke down right after we started back from Lauderdale.” He chuckled richly. “Had to be towed back for repairs. I don’t know what was wrong—Tarzan could probably tell you—but we didn’t get back to the slip here till seven-thirty this morning. What was really funny—” McKay’s eyes crinkled with amusement—“our Sea Witch sleeps six below, but because we had Maria aboard I had to let her have the cabin. Tarzan and I had to rough it out on deck all night!”
Ralph felt as though he had just been jabbed in the stomach with a hard right. His stomach quivered twice and then steadied.
“I sure am sorry, Mr. McKay,” Ralph said hoarsely. “I wish I had been with you.”
“No harm done,” McKay said easily. “I’m only sorry I didn’t think of calling the manager. Mr. Wallace owes me a few favors. Anyway, I think Maria had a good time. She’s a nice kid, Ralph, and she certainly hates the idea of going back to New York. And I don’t blame her. Personally, I think she’s foolish to return. If she’s a competent typist, and she says she is, I could find her a position down here. There are some people around Miami Beach who owe me a few favors, one lawyer in particular.” He winked at Ralph. “But I think any business man would think I was doing him a favor if I found him a pretty typist like Maria, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Maria evidently thinks a great deal of you, Ralph,” McKay continued.
She did, Ralph thought. But not now.
“I’d like to do something for the girl. She isn’t really tied down in New York. Her family can get along without her. I didn’t tell her I could find her a job here. In fact, I thought it might be presumptuous and she might give my suggestion a mistaken interpretation. But if you care to, you might sound her out, and if she takes to the idea, let me know. Of course,” McKay shrugged, “it doesn’t make any difference to me one way or the other. Say! I think I’ve got Monsieur Banakin licked!” McKay closed the book of chess problems and faced Ralph with a guileless smile. “But a girl working for a lawyer, Ralph, has a chance to get some place. If Maria studies stenography at night school, and tries to learn something in the office, she can be a legal stenographer in a year or so.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll talk to her if you want me to, Mr. McKay.”
“I don’t want you to, Ralph,” McKay explained quietly. “I thought you might want to. She’s your girl, not mine. You like her, don’t you?”
“That’s an understatement, Mr. McKay. I don’t know her very well, but I think she’s one of the nicest girls I’ve met in a long time.”
“Well, all right then! Would you like some coffee?”
“No, sir. I was going for a swim,” Ralph lied, “and I passed by the Marina so I stopped to say hello.”
“Glad you did. Give me a ring.” McKay stood up and stretched.
Ralph said goodbye, waved an unacknowledged farewell to Tarzan and returned to his car. I have to believe him, Ralph thought. But I can’t help wondering whether three free rides on his boat hasn’t put me into one of the categories of Miami residents who owe him “a few favors.”
The idea of going for a swim hadn’t been a bad idea at that. Ralph ate a considerably delayed breakfast of ham and eggs at a roadside diner and drove to the employee’s parking lot at the Rotunda Hotel. He changed into his trunks in the basement locker room, and made his way to the almost deserted two-hundred foot strip of sandy beach. At five in the afternoon, most of the hotel guests were taking advantage of the half-price cocktail hour in the Rotunda Room.
He stared into the blue-green ocean disconsolately. He would have to apologize to Maria. But how? Whether McKay was on the up and up or not, he would have to gain her forgiveness and somehow talk her into staying in Miami and taking the job in the lawyer’s office. He knew that some way, any way, he had to keep Maria in Miami; he couldn’t let her get away. His heart ached at the thought of never seeing her again. A slight smile played about the corners of his lips.
“You poor bastard,” he said aloud with grisly humor, “you must be in love!”
SEVEN
AS soon as Maria entered the air-conditioned lobby of the Rotunda Hotel she stopped running and composed herself. With a piece of tissue she wiped the tears away from her eyes and, smiling bravely at the few guests sitting in the lobby reading the paper, she crossed to the elevators.
By the time Maria had reached the fourth floor and Room 419, she had dismissed the incident and Ralph’s insulting remark almost completely from her mind. He didn’t know anything. How could he know? He was sore because she had gone off in the boat with Mr. McKay to Fort Lauderdale. That was all. It had been a jolt, though—a remark like that out of the blue!
Maria inserted her key in the lock and tried to push open the door. The door was stopped by the chain lock and she had to waken Peggy.
“Peggy!” Maria said loudly. “Wake up. You’ve got me locked out!”
“Just a minute,” Peggy called back. A moment later Peggy opened the door, and closed it behind Maria. Maria dropped her straw bag on the dresser, stretched out her arms and yawned happily. Peggy glared at her accusingly, her mouth sullen with resentment.
“Where have you been all night, Maria? I’ve been worried sick about you! Just sick!”
“Didn’t Ralph tell you I went to Fort Lauderdale in the boat with Mr. McKay?” Maria lifted her eyebrows innocently.
“Yes,” Peggy admitted. “He left a note in the mailbox at the desk. He telephoned it in. But I didn’t find the note until after six, and by that time I’d made arrangements with Mrs. Barnes and that little brunette schoolteacher from Georgia. I didn’t know when you’d be back, and we waited till the last minute and then we had to go. We had reservations.”
“Did you have a good time?”
“Not really. I couldn’t relax. I was so worried about you.”
“I don’t see why,” Maria said wearily, beginning to undress. “You knew where I was.”
“Not at eleven o’clock I didn’t!” Peggy said accusingly. “You weren’t back by then, and I didn’t know what had happened to you. At midnight I walked down to the elevator and asked Ralph if he knew when you’d be back, but he just sort of growled at me. ‘How the hell do I know, Madame!’” Peggy mimicked Ralph’s angry voice, and Maria laughed gleefully, clapping her hands together.
“He was mad at me because I was supposed to be on a date with him and he couldn’t go.” Her eyes softened. “I suppose it was a dirty trick, Peg, but you would have done the same thing. We had dinner in Lauderdale with champagne and everything. I got a little high on the wine, I think, and went to sleep in the cabin around ten. At one A.M. Mr. McKay woke me. We were at the Marina in Lauderdale. They had engine trouble, and I slept through being towed and everything. But while they worked on the engines, Mr. McKay got a cab and we went to the Jamaica House. We had drinks and danced until three, and then his bodyguard telephoned that the boat was fixed and we came back. That’s all, Peg.”
“You could have called me.”
“I didn’t think about it, Peg,” Maria said thoughtfully. “I was a little high and having a good time. I’m sorry.”
“Well, all right. How about the Jungle Cruise? Are you coming along this morning or not?”
