The Stars Shine Down (13 page)

“You’re going to like this,” the chief architect said. “It has grace and symmetry and the scope that you asked for. Let me explain some of the details…”

“That won’t be necessary,” Lara said. “I understand them.” She looked up. “I want you to turn these plans over to an artist.”

“What?”

“I want large color drawings of the building. I want drawings of the lobby, the corridors, and the offices. Bankers have no imagination. I’m going to
show
them what the building is going to look like.”

“That’s a great idea.”

Lara’s secretary appeared. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“This meeting was called for nine o’clock, Kathy. It’s nine-fifteen.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Cameron, my alarm didn’t go off and…”

“We’ll discuss it later.”

She turned to the architects. “I want a few changes made…”

Two hours later Lara had finished discussing the changes she wanted. When the meeting was over, she said to Kathy, “Don’t leave. Sit down.”

Kathy sat.

“Do you like your job?”

“Yes, Miss Cameron.”

“This is the third time you’ve been late this week. I won’t put up with that again.”

“I’m terribly sorry, I…I haven’t been feeling well.”

“What’s your problem?”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“It’s obviously enough to keep you from coming in on time. What is it?”

“I haven’t been sleeping very well lately. To tell you the truth, I…I’m scared.”

“Scared of what?” Lara asked impatiently.

“I…I have a lump.”

“Oh.” Lara was silent for a moment. “Well, what did the doctor say?”

Kathy swallowed. “I haven’t seen a doctor.”

“Not seen one!” Lara exploded. “For God’s sakes, do you come from a family of ostriches? Of course you’ve got to see a doctor.”

Lara picked up the phone. “Get me Dr. Peters.”

She replaced the receiver. “It’s probably nothing, but you can’t let it go.”

“I have a mother and brother who died of cancer,” Kathy said miserably. “I don’t want a doctor to tell me I have it.”

The telephone rang. Lara picked it up. “Hello? he what?…I don’t care if he is. You tell him I want to talk to him
now.”

She replaced the receiver.

A few moments later the phone rang again. Lara picked it up. “Hello, Alan…no, I’m fine. I’m sending my secretary over to see you. Her name is Kathy Turner. She’ll be there in half an hour. I want her examined this morning, and I want you to stay on top of it…I know you are…I appreciate it…thanks.”

She replaced the receiver. “Get over to Sloan-Kettering Hospital. Dr. Peters will be waiting for you.”

“I don’t know what to say, Miss Cameron.”

“Say that you’ll be on time tomorrow.”

Howard Keller came into the office. “We have a problem, boss.”

“Go.”

“It’s the property on Fourteenth Street. We’ve cleared the tenants out of the whole block except for one apartment house. The Dorchester Apartments. Six of the tenants refuse to leave, and the city won’t let us force them out.”

“Offer them more money.”

“It’s not a question of money. Those people have lived there a long time. They don’t want to leave. They’re comfortable there.”

“Then let’s make them uncomfortable.”

“What do you mean?”

Lara got up. “Let’s go take a look at the building.”

On the drive down, they passed bag ladies and homeless people roaming the streets, asking for handouts.

“In a country as wealthy as this,” Lara said, “that’s a disgrace.”

The Dorchester Apartments was a six-story brick building in the middle of a block filled with old structures waiting for the bulldozers.

Lara stood in front of it, examining it. “How many tenants are in there?”

“We got sixteen out of the apartment. Six are still hanging on.”

“That means we have sixteen apartments available.”

He looked at her, puzzled. “That’s right. Why?”

“Let’s fill those apartments.”

“You mean, lease them? What’s the point…”

“We’re not going to lease them. We’re going to donate them to the homeless. There are thousands of homeless people in New York. We’re going to take care of some of them. Crowd in as many as you can. See that they’re given some food.”

Keller frowned. “What makes me think this isn’t one of your better ideas?”

“Howard, we’re going to become benefactors. We’re going to do something the city can’t do—shelter the homeless.”

Lara was studying the building more closely, looking at the windows. “And I want those windows boarded up.”

“What?”

“We’re going to make the building look like an old derelict. Is the top floor apartment still occupied, the one with the roof garden?”

“Yes.”

“Put up a big billboard on the roof to block the view.”

“But…”

“Get to work on it.”

When Lara returned to the office, there was a message for her. “Dr. Peters would like you to call him,” Tricia said.

“Get him for me.”

He came on the phone almost immediately.

“Lara, I examined your secretary.”

“Yes?”

“She has a tumor. I’m afraid it’s malignant. I recommend an immediate mastectomy.”

“I want a second opinion,” Lara said.

“Of course, if you wish, but I
am
head of the department and…”

“I still want a second opinion. Have someone else examine her. Get back to me as soon as possible. Where is Kathy now?”

“She’s on her way back to your office.”

“Thanks, Alan.”

Lara replaced the receiver. She pressed down the intercom button. “When Kathy returns, send her in to me.”

Lara studied the calendar on her desk. She had only thirty days left to clear out the Dorchester Apartments before construction was scheduled to start.

Six stubborn tenants. All right,
Lara thought,
let’s see how long they can hold out.

Kathy walked into Lara’s office. Her face was puffy and her eyes were red.

“I heard the news,” Lara told her. “I’m so sorry, Kathy.”

“I’m going to die,” Kathy said.

Lara rose and put her arms around her, holding her close.
“You’re not going to do anything of the kind. They’ve made a lot of progress with cancer. You’re going to have the operation, and you’re going to be all right.”

“Miss Cameron, I can’t afford…”

“Everything will be taken care of. Dr. Peters is going to see that you have one more examination. If it verifies his diagnosis, you should have the operation right away. Now go home and get some rest.”

Kathy’s eyes filled with tears again. “I…thank you.”

As Kathy walked out of the office, she thought,
No one really knows that lady.

T
he following Monday Lara had a visitor.

“There’s a Mr. O’Brian here to see you from the city planning commissioner’s office, Miss Cameron.”

“What about?”

“He didn’t say.”

Lara buzzed Keller on the intercom. “Will you come in here, Howard?” She said to the secretary, “Send Mr. O’Brian in.”

Andy O’Brian was a burly red-faced Irishman with a slight brogue. “Miss Cameron?”

Lara remained seated behind her desk. “Yes. What can I do for you, Mr. O’Brian?”

“I’m afraid you’re in violation of the law, Miss Cameron.”

“Really? What is this all about?”

“You own the Dorchester Apartments on East Fourteenth Street?”

“Yes.”

“We have a report that about a hundred homeless people have crowded into those apartments.”

“Oh, that.” Lara smiled. “Yes, I thought that since the city wasn’t doing anything about the homeless, I would help out. I’m giving them shelter.”

Howard Keller walked into the room.

“This is Mr. Keller. Mr. O’Brian.”

The two men shook hands.

Lara turned to Keller. “I was just explaining how we’re helping the city out by providing housing.”

“You invited them in, Miss Cameron?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you have a license from the city?”

“A license for what?”

“If you’re setting up a shelter, it has to be approved by the city. There are certain strict conditions that are enforced.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware of that. I’ll arrange for the license immediately.”

“I don’t think so.”

“What does that mean?”

“We’ve had complaints from the tenants in the building. They say you’re trying to force them out.”

“Nonsense.”

“Miss Cameron, the city is giving you forty-eight hours to move those homeless people out of there. And when they leave, we have an order for you to take down the boards that you put up to cover the windows.”

Lara was furious. “Is that all?”

“No, ma’am. The tenant who has the roof garden says you put up a sign blocking his view. You’ll have to take that down, too.”

“What if I won’t?”

“I think you will. All this comes under harassment. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble and unpleasant publicity by not
forcing us to take you to court.” He nodded and said, “Have a nice day.”

They watched him walk out of the office.

Keller turned to Lara. “We’ll have to get all those people out of there.”

“No.” She sat there, thinking.

“What do you mean ‘no’? The man said…”

“I know what he said. I want you to bring in
more
homeless. I want that building packed with street people. We’re going to stall. Call Terry Hill. Tell him the problem. Have him get a stay or something. We’ve got to get those six tenants out by the end of the month or it’s going to cost us three million dollars.”

The intercom buzzed. “Dr. Peters is on the phone.”

Lara picked up the telephone. “Hello, Alan.”

“I just wanted to tell you that we finished the operation. It looks like we got it all. Kathy’s going to be fine.”

“That’s wonderful news. When can I visit her?”

“You can come by this afternoon.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks, Alan. See that I get all the bills, will you?”

“Will do.”

“And you can tell the hospital to expect a donation. Fifty thousand dollars.”

Lara said to Tricia, “Fill her room with flowers.” She looked at her schedule. “I’ll go down to see her at four o’clock.”

Terry Hill arrived at the office. “There’s a warrant for your arrest coming in.”

“What?”

“Weren’t you warned to get those homeless people out of the building?”

“Yes, but…”

“You can’t get away with this, Lara. There’s an old adage: ‘Don’t fight City Hall, you can’t win.’”

“Are they really going to arrest me?”

“You’re damn right they are. You were given notice by the city to get those people out of there.”

“All right,” Lara said. “Let’s get them out.” She turned to Keller. “Remove them, but don’t put them out on the street. That isn’t right… We have those empty rooming houses that we’re waiting to convert in the West Twenties. Let’s put them there. Take all the help you need. I want them gone in an hour.”

She turned to Terry Hill. “I’ll be out of here, so they can’t serve me. By the time they do, the problem will be solved.”

The intercom buzzed. “There are two gentlemen here from the district attorney’s office.”

Lara motioned to Howard Keller. He walked over to the intercom and said, “Miss Cameron isn’t here.”

There was a silence. “When do you expect her?”

Keller looked at Lara. Lara shook her head. Keller said into the intercom, “We don’t know.” He flicked the key up.

“I’ll go out the back way,” Lara said.

Lara hated hospitals. A hospital was her father lying in bed, pale and suddenly old.
“What the bluidy hell are you doin’ here? You’ve work to dae at the boardinghouse.”

Lara walked into Kathy’s room. It was filled with flowers. Kathy was sitting up in bed.

“How do you feel?” Lara asked.

Kathy smiled. “The doctor said I’m going to be fine.”

“You’d better be. Your work is piling up. I need you.”

“I…I don’t know how to thank you for all this.”

“Don’t.”

Lara picked up the bedside phone and put a call through to her office. She spoke to Terry Hill.

“Are they still there?”

“They’re still here. They intend to stay until you return.”

“Check with Howard. As soon as he clears the street people out of the building, I’ll come back.”

Lara replaced the receiver.

“If you need anything, let me know,” Lara said. “I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”

Lara’s next stop was at the architectural offices of Higgins, Almont & Clark. She was ushered in to see Mr. Clark. He rose as she walked into his office.

“What a nice surprise. What can I do for you, Miss Cameron?”

“Do you have the plans here for the project on Fourteenth Street?”

“Yes, indeed.”

He went over to his drawing board. “Here we are.”

There was a sketch of a beautiful high rise complex with apartment buildings and shops around it.

“I want you to redraw it,” Lara said.

“What?”

Lara pointed to a space in the middle of the block. “There’s a building still standing in this area. I want you to draw the same concept, but construct it
around
that building.”

“You mean you want to put up the project with one of the old buildings still standing? It would never work. First of all, it would look terrible and…”

“Just do it, please. Send it over to my office this afternoon.”

And Lara was gone.

From the car she telephoned Terry Hill. “Have you heard from Howard yet?”

“Yes. The squatters have all been cleared out.”

“Good. Get the district attorney on the phone. Tell him
that I had ordered those squatters out two days ago and that there was a lack of communication. The minute I heard about it, today, I had them moved out. I’m on my way back to the office now. See if he still wants to arrest me.”

She said to the driver, “Drive through the park. Take your time.”

Thirty minutes later, when Lara reached her office, the men with the warrant were gone.

Lara was in a meeting with Howard Keller and Terry Hill.

“The tenants still won’t budge,” Keller said. “I even went back and offered them more money. They’re not leaving. We’ve only got five days left before we have to begin bulldozing.”

Lara said, “I asked Mr. Clark to draw up a new blueprint for the project.”

“I saw it,” Keller said. “It doesn’t make any sense. We can’t leave that old building standing in the middle of a new giant construction. We’re going to have to go to the bank and ask them if they’ll move back the start date.”

“No,” Lara said. “I want to move it
up.”

“What?”

“Get hold of the contractor. Tell him we want to start bulldozing tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?
Lara…”

“First thing in the morning. And take that blueprint and give it to the foreman of the construction crew.”

“What good will that do?” Keller asked.

“We’ll see.”

The following morning the remaining tenants of the Dorchester Apartments were awakened by the roar of a bulldozer. They looked out of their windows. Halfway down the block, as they watched, a mechanical behemoth was moving toward
them, leveling everything in its path. The tenants were stunned.

Mr. Hershey, who lived on the top floor, rushed outside and hurried over to the foreman. “What do you think you’re doing?” he screamed. “You can’t go ahead with this.”

“Who says so?”

“The city does.” Hershey pointed to the building he lived in. “You’re not permitted to touch that building.”

The foreman looked at the blueprint in front of him. “That’s right,” he said. “We have orders to leave that building standing.”

Hershey frowned. “What? Let me see that.” He looked at the plan and gasped. “They’re going to put up the plaza and leave this building
standing?”

“That’s right, mister.”

“But they can’t do that! The noise and dirt!”

“That’s not my problem. Now, if you’ll get out of my way, I’d like to get back to work.”

Thirty minutes later Lara’s secretary said, “There’s a Mr. Hershey on line two, Miss Cameron.”

“Tell him I’m not available.”

When Hershey called for the third time that afternoon, Lara finally picked up the phone and spoke with him.

“Yes, Mr. Hershey. What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to come in and see you, Miss Cameron.”

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy. Whatever it is you have to say you can say on the phone.”

“Well, you’ll be glad to know that I’ve talked to the other tenants in our building and we’ve agreed that it might be best after all to take your offer and vacate our apartments.”

“That offer is no longer good, Mr. Hershey. You can all stay where you are.”

“If you build around us, we’re never going to get any sleep!”

“Who told you we were going to build around you?” Lara demanded. “Where did you get that information?”

“The foreman on the job showed me a blueprint and…”

“Well, he’s going to be fired.” There was fury in Lara’s voice. “That was confidential information.”

“Wait a minute. Let’s talk like two reasonable people, okay? Your project would be better off if we got out of here, and I think we’d be better off leaving. I don’t want to live in the middle of a damned high rise.”

Lara said, “It doesn’t matter to me whether you go or stay, Mr. Hershey.” Her voice softened. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If that building is vacated by next month I’m willing to go with our first offer.”

She could hear him thinking it over.

Finally he said reluctantly, “Okay. I’ll talk to the others, but I’m sure it will be all right. I really appreciate this, Miss Cameron.”

Lara said, “It’s been my pleasure, Mr. Hershey.”

The following month, work on the new project began in earnest.

Lara’s reputation was growing. Cameron Enterprises was putting up a high rise in Brooklyn, a shopping center in Westchester, a mall in Washington, D.C. There was a lowcost housing project being constructed in Dallas and a block of condominiums in Los Angeles. Capital flowed in from banks, savings and loan companies, and eager private investors. Lara had become a Name.

Kathy had returned to work.

“I’m back.”

Lara studied her a moment. “How do you feel?”

Kathy smiled. “Great. Thanks to…”

“Do you have a lot of energy?”

She was surprised at the question. “Yes. I…”

“Good. You’re going to need it. I’m making you my executive assistant. There will be a nice raise for you.”

“I don’t know what to say. I…”

“You’ve earned it.”

Lara saw the memo in Kathy’s hand. “What’s that?”

“Gourmet
magazine would like to publish your favorite recipe. Are you interested?”

“No. Tell them I’m too…wait a minute.” She sat there a moment, lost in thought. Then she said softly, “Yes. I’ll give them a recipe.”

The recipe appeared in the magazine three months later.

It began:

Black Bun—A classic Scottish dish. A mixture encased in a short paste jacket made from half a pound of flour, a quarter pound of butter, a touch of cold water, and a half a teaspoon of baking power. Inside are two pounds of raisins, half a pound of chopped almonds, three-quarters of a pound of flour, half a pound of sugar, two teaspoons of allspice, a teaspoon of ground ginger, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a half teaspoon of baking powder, and a dash of brandy…

Lara looked at the article for a long time, and it brought back the taste of it, the smell of the boardinghouse kitchen, the noise of the boarders at supper. Her father helpless in his bed. She put the magazine away.

People recognized Lara on the street, and when she walked into a restaurant, there were always excited whispers. She
was escorted around town by half a dozen eligible suitors and had flattering proposals, but she was not interested. In a strange, almost eerie way, she was still looking for someone. Someone familiar. Someone she had never met.

Lara would wake up at five o’clock every morning and have her driver, Max, take her to one of the buildings under construction. She would stand there, staring at what she was creating, and she thought,
You were wrong, Father. I can collect the rents.

For Lara, the sounds of the day began with the rat-a-tat-tat of the jackhammers, the roar of the bulldozers, the clanging of heavy metal. She would ride the rickety construction elevator to the top and stand on the steel girders with the wind blowing in her face, and she thought,
I won this city.

Paul Martin and Lara were in bed.

“I hear you chewed out a couple of your construction workers pretty good today.”

“They deserved it,” Lara said. “They were doing sloppy work.”

Paul grinned. “At least you’ve learned not to slap them.”