Asylum Heights

by Austin R. Moody

  Mama Hailes asked her husband what had happened.

  Papa looked into her eyes and said, “I think he did very well. I don’t know what that means, but I think he did very well.”

  Mama had always counted on and depended upon her husband’s judgment, and his emphatic assurance was sufficient. She returned her attention to the fried corn sizzling in the pan upon her stove. Dinner time was approaching.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  THE MONTELEON HOTEL

  Glen had heeded Sal’s admonition regarding his return to New Orleans with another load of wine. He and Papa Hailes had much catching up to do regarding the preparation for taking off the next batch of the brew and they busied themselves with the cleansing of the bottles, crocks, and the barrels in addition to the ongoing chores related to the rest of the farm. Finally achieving these, they set about harvesting and bottling the wine. They completed these in week three since his previous trip to the south. They had two weeks with nothing to do and waiting was agonizing.

  They went to Quitman to buy more supplies for the farm and the winery, but thereafter the days crept along until Glen felt that sufficient time had passed to again load up the truck for another run.

  Papa felt that his son was taking a great chance to go again but knew that the shipment had to be done to keep the system functioning.

  The following morning Glen called Sal from Quitman during the supplies trip. He got the details regarding the location of the “drop” and asked Sal to make a reservation at the Monteleon Hotel for the following two nights. The next morning he climbed in the truck and set out once more with his precious cargo.

  Apparently the space in time that had been allowed between trips had been sufficient because he encountered no one that appeared to pose a threat to the delivery. Sal had rented a warehouse in the wharf district and had provided Glen with the address. This time, unlike the previous great adventure, it was in broad daylight and Glen felt much less angst throughout the entire exchange.

  Thereafter, his first line of business accomplished, Glen checked into the hotel. Shortly after he arrived in his room he got a call from Sal.

  Sal told him that he would not be able to come to the hotel that night because of some other prior commitments that he had to complete. He said, “I am very sorry that I can’t come to see you tonight, but I am sending someone over to keep you company in my absence.”

  Glen said, “That’s not necessary Sal, I don’t need a babysitter.”

  Sal laughed and said, “You would not want to miss this babysitter. It is one of my most trusted and capable operatives. I won’t say anything else and you can make that judgment for yourself.”

  Glen scoffed, “We are playing games again. The last game was on the dark road out of town and it seems so long ago.”

  Sal countered, “This game is going to be far more pleasant than the first.” With that, Sal hung up the receiver.

  Glen busied himself with emptying his suitcase and laying out his clothes for his stay. After the contents of the suitcase were properly dispatched, Glen laid down on the bed. He was still fully dressed but soon fell into a deep sleep. He slept for approximately two hours, when his repose was interrupted with a gentle knocking at the door. Glen got out of bed and went to the door. A young woman was there, holding two large baskets with a cooler and two trays standing against the wall. He said simply, “Yes?”

  She responded, “Sal sent me.”

  He looked at her. She was between twenty-five and thirty years of age, was impeccably dressed in a flapper’s outfit that was the current fashion rage among the young, affluent women of America during that time of our history. He took an appreciative inventory of her vital statistics. She was about five feet eight inches tall and weighed approximately one hundred and twenty pounds and was in perfect proportion. She was what Glen had always wanted in a woman. He took an appreciative inventory of her vital statistics.

  The host said, “I’ve been expecting you, please come in. I will pick up these things if you’ll just step inside.”

  With that she moved quickly through the door. Glen took the things up and held them to his chest and followed her. After he had set the burden down in the living room he returned to her and said, smiling, “This is the first time I have ever had a young lady in my room without knowing her name or anything else about her.”

  “Well,” she laughed, “I can set that straight in short order. My name is Sybil, Sybil Mervin. I have lived here in New Orleans all of my life and I like to have fun. That is why I brought us a picnic to have right here in your room. I hope you like it.”

  Glen responded, “I like everything about you so far, so I guess I will be crazy over what you have in that basket.”

  Sybil responded in kind, tossing her hair and with a coquettish smile said, “Sir, I do believe you are flirting with me. I still haven’t been introduced to you.”

  She continued, “I know little about you either, except that your name is Glen Hailes and you are a prized new business associate of Sal Palermo, my boss.”

  Glen quickly amended, “Thank god. I thought he might be your husband or worse, that he might be your lover.”

  She laughed, “Wrong on each count, but now I know that you are flirting with me.”

  With that Glen laughed, too, and said, “Right on the last count. What, I pray, is lurking in those picnic baskets and that cooler?”

  She simply stated, “I want you to know that I went to the finest restaurant in New Orleans, Antoine’s in the French Quarter, and talked with the chef about the appropriate sampling of their most delectable dishes. He recommended and filled an order for their best hors d’oeuvres of caviar, canapés, a tray of cheeses and French crackers and breads that had been grilled into toast, with a chilled fruit tray. Thereafter we will complete the meal with a delicious dessert of Tira Misu. I have two bottles of chilled champagne with glasses in a large bucket of ice.”

  She then interrupted her discourse and announced, “Unfortunately, I must leave for a while. I have some pressing school work that must be completed today.” Sybil continued, “I must request room service to take these perishable foods down to the hotel kitchen to keep refrigerated in my absence. I shall return and then we can enjoy this exquisite lunch.”

  Glen volunteered, “Don’t worry. I will call and take care of the refrigeration details. Approximately at what time shall I expect you to return?”

  Sybil answered, “I would say between 7:30 and 8:30 this evening, but you must realize that it will depend upon the complexities of the assignment itself.

  Glen said, “It is just as well. I will use the time by taking a bath and a short nap in your absence. I will see you to the door and solicit a little kiss to express my true, heartfelt gratitude for your presence here today.”

  Sybil gushed, “My, how gracious you are!” Then she swept from the room. No kiss.

  Dutifully, Glen called room service and requested that they dispatch a bellman to remove their perishables to the kitchen for refrigeration. That done, Glen went to the bathroom. He filled the tub and disrobed, then slowly slipped beneath the surface of the bath. The enveloping waters created a luxuriant, soothing sensation to his body. He then proceeded to saturate a washcloth with soap and scrub his body. He turned on the shower, increased the flow of water and washed the soap from his hair, face, neck and then down the rest of his body. He then took a giant bath towel from the wall rack and used the same general path to dry his body completely.

  He then went to the closet and selected shoes, socks, shorts, belt, and a rakish charcoal suit with a gray and black cravat and black handkerchief. His only jewelry was an intricate gold Swiss wristwatch. He topped off his ensemble with a cream colored and finely weaved Panama straw hat. He laid it all out across the small secretary-type desk. He delayed getting dressed because he didn’t know the order of events that would occur on this magical night. He went back to the closet and selected a silk purple and gold dressing robe with a matching
gold and black scarf. If this combination could not move her, then he knew that his cause was lost.

  He called the front desk and requested a wakeup call at 7:00 He returned to his bed. After four hours, he was awakened by the loud, intrusive, jangling noise of his wakeup call. He immediately roused, and fairly sprang from the bed in anticipation of the coming evening. He then called room service and ordered the return of the food.

  He again went to the closet, this time extracting his luxuriant robe and scarf ensemble. While putting it on, he heard a soft knock at the door. He knew that it was Sybil. He opened the door for her. She was carrying a small suitcase. Glen took it and escorted her into the room and beyond into the brightly lit main area.

  When Sybil was able to adjust her eyes to the intense light within, she gasped and stood speechless before him and remained so for a moment. Then she said, “I have seen and been out with quite a few men, but you are the most handsome and commanding in your appearance and bearing that I have seen. My pulse is racing.”

  Glen replied, “Mine has been racing since the first moment that I saw you, standing only a few feet from where I see you now.” He continued, “Sit here on the couch for just a moment so that I can put up your suitcase, then I’ll be back.” A knock at the door advised of the room service waiter’s return with their food. Glen found the champagne in the cooler and it was sweaty and cold. He exposed the cork, and he forced it from its seat in the bottle after having removed the wire retainer from around its neck. The carbon dioxide gas forced it free with a resounding “pop.” He poured the two glasses, passed one to Sybil and said, “I propose a toast to Sal for having brought us together, and to your parents and mine for the same reason.”

  Glen continued the toast with, “I would particularly like to toast you for being so lovely, bright, and full of life. I shall always strive to justify your caring and desire for me.”

  She raised her glass and said, “I toast you for being the kind of man that I have sought all my life as well, at least through the introduction.”

  With that, Glen laughed and suddenly became pensive. After a few moments He became impulsive and pulled her to his chest and kissed her.

  They expended the next hour getting to really know each other, their likes, dislikes and things that they both might share. Glen suddenly remembered their lunch and said, “I don’t know about you, but I am famished, and I don’t want anything to happen to our beautiful lunch.”

  Sybil exclaimed, “Oh, you poor darling, I will feed you shortly, but let us finish our first bottle of champagne.”

  Glen retrieved and rinsed the glasses, and poured another round and said, “Yes. That sounds like a very good plan, and we’ll open the other bottle with lunch.”

  They sat quietly and sipped the champagne and kissed again. There was just enough left in the bottle for each to have another glass.

  As soon as they both had completed the final drought from their glasses, Sybil immediately moved into action, revealing her ability and acumen as the hostess, in the preparation of the trays and setting the table for their feast, while Glen busied himself in opening the remaining bottle of champagne.

  They sat down to the lunch that had been tantalizingly and artfully laid out on the trays that were upon the table. Glen had never tasted the sudden saltiness of the caviar that was accentuated by the creaminess of the Brie cheese, and the crunchy texture of the crostini toasts. All of these were delicately counterbalanced by the acidity of the things on the fruit tray.

  He suddenly exclaimed, “We must go to that restaurant the very next time I come back to New Orleans. I almost swallowed my tongue it was so good.”

  Sybil purred, “There are many places and many things that we are going to see and do when you come back.”

  They consumed the entire contents of the various plates upon the table and Sybil served heaping portions of the dessert. Glen marveled at the smooth delight of this Italian delicacy, the likes of which had never traversed his lips.

  When there was half of it left, he stopped and said, “I must have coffee to finish this entirely wonderful repast.”

  Accordingly, he got up from the table, went to the telephone and ordered a pot from room service. Once again, the specter of prohibition raised its ugly head, because he would have certainly enjoyed an epitome to this wonderful experience.

  He told Sybil, “I would really like a snifter of brandy with the last of the dessert, as it would be a fitting finale to this most dramatic play.”

  Sybil gazed at him in wonder and said, “Where did you learn such gallant language. He answered the query, “My father taught me many things, one of which was to read. When I was a little boy, he brought a book home from a trip to Atlanta. It contained a collection of plays. I read them voraciously because we had no other form of entertainment in our little hamlet. I couldn’t go to Meridian to taste the finer things in life.”

  Shortly, a knock came at the door. Glen ushered in the room service waiter pushing a cart that was covered with a tablecloth, in the center of which rested a sterling urn of coffee along with napkins, cups, saucers, and silver.

  Glen suddenly developed an impish grin and inquired, “Where are our snifters of brandy?”

  The waiter stammered, “I don’t know what you mean sir.”

  Glen persisted, “I mean, where are our snifters of brandy?”

  The waiter suddenly realized that he was being put upon and decided to join in the game. He said, “Oh, you mean THOSE snifters of brandy. Well, I’ll tell you sir. The hotel has a cadre of US government agents called revenuers assigned to our kitchen. They inspect all room service trays for any infractions of the regulations of the code of Prohibition of the United States Government just such as your snifters of brandy. They confiscated them and made a toast to your good taste and drank them. That is what happened to your snifters of brandy.”

  Glen grinned sheepishly and said, “That explanation is as absurd as my asking you for it.” Thereupon, Glen removed his wallet from his hip pocket, extracted a hundred dollar bill and said, “Thank you for it. I want you to be our waiter every time we come here.”

  Delighted, the waiter said, “My name is Sidney, and I will always be at your call, and I will see that you get the best service and accommodations that the hotel and our staff can offer.”

  Glen said, “I always admire a man with a quick mind. We will call you as the need arises.”

  As Sidney left the room, Glen poured the coffee and sat back down beside Sybil. They were both stupefied by the sheer dimension of what they had concluded.

  Suddenly, Sybil sat bolt upright and exclaimed, “Oh my God, what time is it? I just remembered that Sal had invited us to the Big Boy Club at 9:00. In the magic of the moment, I forgot.”

  Glen scrutinized his watch and whistled softly, “It is already 11:30.” Ten minutes later they were in Glen’s truck negotiating the late night traffic with great dispatch. After another ten minutes, they gained the entrance to the Big Boy Club. Sal’s table was a picture of exhausted, sleeping, and drunken patrons, except Sal Palermo.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  AFTER HOURS AT THE BIG BOY CLUB

  A pillar of anger rose up in Sal as the band played ‘Good night, Ladies.’ It was the finale and for the musicians perceptibly the most joyful rendition of the evening. It had been a good night for the band and the club with neither patron fights nor incursions by the police, and the Bowler hat at the front of the bandstand had been filled with tips. After the end of the song and a brief applause the revelers began to disburse.

  Sal stood up and began to pull his lady’s chair and its inebriated contents from the table. She lay unresponsive as he called for her to wake up to at least respond to his directives. She slept on. Furiously he reached toward her luxuriant coiffure, but stopped short just as Glen and Sybil pressed through the exodus of patrons onto the dance floor.

  He glared directly at Glen and blurted, “I’ve never waited on anyone in my life, least of
all some hillbilly from Southeastern Mississippi no matter what he may have to sell to me!” His anger was increased as his somnolent companion began to stir. Under better circumstances it would have been amusing but a very expensive evening had been thwarted because of these two miscreants.

  Sal wasn’t sure which had made him angrier, their tardiness or Glen’s obvious conquest of one of his most prized operatives. He continued, “I sent someone to welcome you to New Orleans, someone that is very close to me. I wanted to show you how important you are to me and to my business, but like a couple of clowns you both show up in front of me and all of my friends three hours late looking sheepish and guilty as hell for whatever you’ve been doing!”

  Glen looked at Sal’s sleeping companion. Her head rested on folded arms on the cocktail table and a gentle snore emitted from her throat. She was obviously dead drunk. A faint hint of amusement at this ridiculous situation passed across Glen’s mind, but he did not allow himself the slightest smile. He realized that this wonderful resource that Papa and Mama Hailes depended upon so much could be lost within the next few moments.

  The memory of his first encounter with Sal and his boys on the road outside New Orleans suddenly re-appeared in his mind’s eye and that original terrifying apprehension rose up within him again now. Summoning all of his courage, Glen looked contritely at Sal and said, “I apologize for our lack of consideration to you and your party. I know that you have been most gracious and hospitable to me on every occasion since our business relationship began.” Glen knew that everyone at the table was watching his every move.