Sins of Omission (46 page)

“I'm too tired to breathe,” he grumbled to Daniel as they entered the hotel. “All I want is a bath and a bed. Since we aren't exactly invited members of this party, I wonder where we can sleep?”

“Reuben, Daniel, over here!” Bebe called from the desk. “My friends have taken over an entire floor, so I'm certain there will be a room where you can catch some sleep. I didn't thank you properly for driving us. I do want to apologize.” Bebe said, giving each of them a warm, moist kiss. “Thank you, Reuben. You, too, Daniel.” Reuben drew in his breath sharply. “Where's Eli?” Bebe called over her shoulder. “Did he get someone to carry his…his baggage?”

“The last time I saw your brother he was leaning against the car, but I wouldn't worry about him if I were you.”

Bebe turned, her face full of concern. “But you see, I
do
worry about my brother. That's why I came along on this trip. I would much rather have stayed home, but sometimes Eli needs a keeper.”

“What you're insinuating is
you
don't require a keeper,” Reuben said, amazed at Bebe's audacity.

“Whoops, I think we're here.” Bebe laughed at the blast of sound that greeted them when she thrust open the suite door. “I'm Just Wild About Harry” blared from the gramophone. “I wonder who Harry is?” Bebe giggled. Daniel stared, his mind busily sifting and collating what was happening around him.

“To the City of Hills!” a man said, holding his glass aloft.

Daniel recognized him immediately. Richard “Dickie” Hastings was the hottest director in Hollywood. He was also notorious for throwing the wildest and most decadent parties of the day. For years he had informed anyone who would listen that he had two goals in life: one, to be the greatest director of all time; the other, to go down in history as the party king of the twenties. He was well on his way to becoming the living legend of his prophesies.

“I'll drink to that,” Bebe said. reaching for a glass.

Reuben's eyes narrowed and Daniel's jaw dropped at the sight the open door provided. Hastings was standing, glass raised, smack in the middle of the cocktail table, in his boxer shorts, his fat belly jutting out obscenely. Christ, thought Reuben, the bastard was so hairy he looked prickly. Girls and women in various states of undress simpered around him, offering him grapes and cheese. Reuben's eyes continued to narrow until they were mere slits in his face as he watched a budding starlet pour her drink down Dickie's shorts. “You lick that right up, you hear me. darlin'?” Dickie said, laughing lasciviously. The starlet obliged by pulling at Dickie's shorts, then craned her neck to do his bidding.

“Jesus,” Daniel breathed. All three of them were rooted to the spot.

The moment Dickie exploded into the starlet's mouth, he noticed Reuben. “Hey, Tarz,” he bleated, “it's a party. Let your hair down, there's enough here for you, too. Who's your friend?”

“They're with me.” Bebe smiled uncertainly. This was the first time in her life that she'd seen public sex. She felt embarrassed and couldn't look at Reuben or Daniel. “And they'd like to take a bath and get some sleep. We drove all night,” she added feebly.

“We have the whole floor. Take your pick. Take a girl if you want,” he said generously.

Reuben carved a path through the writhing bodies on the floor in his quest to get back to the door and hallway. Daniel could feel his cheeks flame as one buxom starlet ripped her dress from the shoulder, exposing large creamy breasts. Reuben looked back once to see if Bebe was following them and saw her cuddling with a young actor who was prettier than any girl in the room. She waved gaily.

“Son of a bitch!” Reuben seethed. He spotted Eli carrying two heavy cartons while he pushed a third with his foot, his face sheathed in perspiration. It was probably the hardest work he'd ever done in his life. “That supply should keep the party going for at least a half hour,” Reuben snapped sarcastically.

“I'll go back and keep an eye on…things,” Daniel volunteered.

“That's a good idea. If I don't get some sleep I'm going to drop in my tracks. Wake me in a couple of hours.”

Back in Dickie's suite of rooms, Daniel tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. His eyes searched out Bebe, his main concern. She was still snuggling with the pretty young actor, who was busy whispering in her ear. He hated the blank look in her eyes and her nervous giggle. Eli, he noticed, was doing his best to put his hands up a woman's dress. The ravages of liquor, dope, and too many wild parties showed on her young-old face. She seemed to suit Eli, he thought uncharitably.

“C'mere, Mavis,” Dickie called out to her drunkenly. The woman struggled to her feet and wobbled over to Dickie.

“Whatcha want, honey?” she simpered. Up close Daniel thought she looked even worse. Her face was caked with old as well as new makeup. But Dickie didn't seem to mind—or perhaps he didn't notice, as he drew her into his arms.

“You and me, toots,” he said, “we had some good times, didn't we?”

“We sure did, Dickie, but you got real famous and didn't need me anymore.”

“You got old, that's why,” Dickie said drunkenly. “I'll never deny you were the best lay I ever had.”

“You want to try again for old time's sake?” Mavis asked hopefully.

“Maybe later.” Dickie chuckled as his eyes slid across the room. He knew he could have any woman in the room except maybe Bebe Rosen. What the hell did he want with a crinkly old broad like Mavis? She smelled, too, he thought in disgust. He failed to see the malevolent look on Eli Rosen's face.

At one point Daniel estimated over a hundred people were in the room, eating Dickie's food and drinking his liquor. The bash had to cost a fortune. They were like a horde of locusts foraging on food, drink, and flesh. Daniel felt dirty just watching.

At one point Dickie returned to the room with a towel wrapped around his middle. He greeted each new arrival by name. “I'm so glad you could come. Come on in and join the party.”

Daniel wondered if Dickie realized half the people in the room didn't care a twit about him, but only what he could provide in the way of food, drink, sex, and reefer. His eyes returned to Bebe, who was extricating herself from the pretty actor. She pouted and made her way over to Daniel.

“Where's Reuben?” she asked, her full pink lips pursed on the rim of a glass.

“Your lips are bruised,” Daniel said disapprovingly.

Bebe shrugged. “That happens after you kiss a lot. Walk me to my room?”

“One of these rooms, or did you engage one?” Daniel asked.

She pointed upstairs. “On the next floor. A girl needs a room where she can repair her makeup and tinkle without sixty people observing her.” She barely suppressed a smile at Daniel's embarrassment. “Daniel, you are just too precious for words. Please, don't ever change.”

“Do you get some kind of weird pleasure out of making fun of me?” Daniel snapped.

Bebe's eyes widened. “Oh! Don't ever think that, not for a minute. I love you just the way you are, and l don't want you to change—that's all I meant. Sometimes when I say things they don't come out the way I intend them to. I would never make fun of you,” she repeated.

Somewhat mollified, Daniel allowed her to link her arm with his. They made their way out to the hall, the strains of “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody” following them. “Do you think I'm as pretty as a melody, Daniel?” asked Bebe.

Daniel flushed. “You bet.”

The real Bebe Rosen smiled at him. “I know you mean that. Thank you for the compliment. I think we can both use a breather away from that party. It was wild, wasn't it? Did you see some of those people Dickie hangs out with? I hear Mavis is always around. She licks his feet and he kicks her, supposedly. I thought he was nicer than that. I hate to be disappointed in people. Eli…Eli wants to be invited to things like this. I can't make him understand they just use him. Speaking of which, I haven't seen him for a while, have you?”

“Not for an hour or so.”

Bebe crinkled her nose. “Let's not worry about him. When is Reuben going to join us?”

Daniel pulled out his pocket watch. “I have to wake him in half an hour. He's…he's a little upset.”

“Poor Reuben. He doesn't enjoy much of anything. He doesn't know how to relax and have fun. Was he relaxed with Mickey in France?”

“I thought so,” Daniel said carefully. Whatever Bebe was leading up to, it was about to come to a head. While he waited for her to make her point, he looked around the hotel room. It was a duplicate of Dickie's, but smaller. A small sofa, covered in the same material as the drapes and bedspread, sat at the far end of the room next to a small table and two chairs. The carpet was beige and soft. No one lived here. People like Bebe just visited for a day or two and then were gone, leaving behind wet towels and spilled powder. A temporary place. The room irritated him because he'd had enough of temporary places.

An hour later Bebe yawned elaborately. “Why don't you go wake Reuben and go back to the party. I think I'm going to treat myself to a long hot bath and a nap. Do me a favor, Daniel, keep your eye on Eli. For me. Someday I'll tell you Eli's sad story, and then you won't think so badly of him.” She kissed him on the cheek and shooed him out the door.

Daniel stared at the closed door with a puzzled look on his face. What was
that
all about, he wondered.

He decided to let Reuben sleep. Bebe was going to take a nap, and there would be nothing for Reuben to do but worry. Besides, he knew his friend needed the sleep.

Daniel himself tried to sleep, but the sounds of Dickie's party prevented it. At last he decided to go back and see if Eli was around. Bebe had said to keep an eye on him; that much he could do.

If anything, the party was louder now than when he'd left. He noticed that half the liquor Eli had brought was gone. The food on the heavy silver trays was dry and unappetizing. Fresh-squeezed orange juice was everywhere, in jars, bottles, and pitchers.

Finally Daniel spotted Eli in a corner with Mavis Parks and another woman. He searched for a chair that would afford him somewhat of a clear view and settled himself comfortably. After all, he'd promised Bebe.

It was early evening when Reuben stalked into the party, mad as a wet hornet. “I thought I told you to wake me!”

“I didn't see any point. You needed the rest. Bebe took a room and she's sleeping. I have my eye on Eli. It's all under control, Reuben.”

Reuben looked shocked. “Bebe took a room?”

“To fix her makeup and tinkle.” He winced at the odd look on Reuben's face. “Women tinkle, men piss. It's sort of like men sweat and women swoon.”

“Where do you get that kind of information? I'm real curious.” Reuben stopped talking just long enough to point beyond a half-open door. “Your sleeping friend is standing in the next room,” he said, pointing to the sitting room off Dickie's bedroom.

“I guess she woke up. It was a while ago.”

Reuben took a good look at Daniel's eyes. “And just how many drinks have you had, Daniel?” he asked suspiciously.

“One, two, maybe three. Is it important for you to know exactly?”

“I didn't bring you here to drink.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do? Sit here and twiddle my fingers?”

“We have to keep our eye on Bebe. She's not asleep in her room, she's over there, and she looks like she's getting ready to do something….”

“What?”

“How the hell should I know?”

Daniel looked in the general direction of Reuben's worried stare. “By the way, did you know the bathtub is filled with orange blossoms? Not the flowers.” He grinned. “A whole bathtub full of orange blossoms. Drinks. You just scoop it out. That's what I did.”

“Everybody, listen! Give me your attention!” Bebe Rosen shouted. She was drunk, Reuben thought disgustedly. If there was one thing in life he detested, it was a drunk woman. He tried to look away, but his eyes kept going back to Bebe, waiting to hear what she had to say.

“How much money will you put up to see me take a bath in the orange blossoms?” Bebe shouted from her perch on the back of the sofa.

“Five hundred!” Eli screamed.

“Two thousand!” Dickie called drunkenly.

“We have two thousand five hundred. Do I hear more?” Bebe yelled. A crowd began to gather around her.

As the bids increased, Reuben could feel his back stiffen. Why should he care what Bebe did? He wasn't her goddamn keeper. Her actions were disgusting him.

“Somebody come up with another five hundred to make it an even ten thousand and I'll do it!” Bebe screamed over the cheering crowd. She kicked off one shoe and then the other.

“Ten thousand!” Dickie shouted.

“Done!” Bebe rolled down one stocking and then the other, twirling them in the air for a second before she tossed them into the leering crowd. Then she was off the sofa, dancing away from Dickie's lecherous hands. She collided with Reuben, their eyes meeting, hers wicked, his angry and sullen. “You didn't bid,” she whispered.

Pandemonium reigned in the next few seconds as Bebe stripped down to the buff and headed for the bathroom. The crowd followed, tossing clothes in every direction. Sounds of splashing and raucous laughter bounced off the tiled bathroom walls.

“I think this is an orgy, Reuben,” Daniel's voice cracked. He stopped smiling when he caught the look on Reuben's face.

“Have you got any idea where Eli is?”

Daniel pointed. “He went into that room over there with Dickie and Mavis.”

A moment later Reuben spotted Eli standing in the doorway of the room he'd entered, a strange look on his face. Before he turned and disappeared back into the room, Reuben noticed that the front of his suit was covered in vomit. He glanced at Daniel, who grimaced and nodded to show that he, too, had seen Eli's condition. Reuben was halfway to the door when Daniel caught up to him.