“I am looking for Roger. You know the big guy with the dark hair?” she asked the bartender.
“Yeah, who are you?”
“You don’t remember me? I was in here with him before.”
“I see a lot of people, I make it my business not to remember anything. You understand?” the bartender said.
“Well, you need not worry about telling me where Roger is. I can promise you that Roger would be happy to see me,” Klara said. Her English was broken, but she’d learned enough of the language from talking to her customers over the years to communicate fairly well with Americans.
“Roger isn’t here.”
“Where is he?”
“How the hell should I know. You got his phone number?” The bartender looked at her skeptically.
“Actually yes I do…”
“Then call him.”
“Please… I don’t know how to ask you this … but I have no money. My house burned down and I need to ask Roger for help.”
“Well, he can’t help you right now because he’s not here. So, call him tonight.” The bartender picked up a dirty rag and began to wipe the bar down.
“But I have no place to sleep tonight,” Klara said, clearing her throat.
“That’s not my problem. I got my own problems.”
Klara glared at the bartender then she left. She took the subway to a very wealthy client’s home. Never in all the years that she’d been working as a prostitute had she ever gone to the home of a customer. It was understood that she was to keep her distance from her clients’ lives outside of the brothel. But she’d broken all the rules since the fire had flung her and Alina into a whirlpool of desperation. This one had a sick wife and he’d been coming to see Klara for several years before she’d moved from her previous place of employment to Alina’s house. He seemed kind and understanding. She hoped he would be willing to give her a few dollars to help her get through the night. Then tomorrow she’d call Roger.
Klara rang the bell.
He came to the door in a robe. His hair, which was usually neatly combed to cover his bald spot, was askew. “What are you doing here?”
“I need help.”
“Don’t ever come near my house or my family,” the client said, his voice a low, threatening growl.
“Daddy, who is it, who is at the door?” A teenage girl’s voice floated in from the back of the house somewhere.
“Just someone selling something, sweetheart.”
“How dare you show up at my house. The reason I pay you money is to be discreet. You’re never supposed to show up at my home. Get out of here right now.” He went to slam the door but Klara held it open.
“Give me a few dollars and I’ll disappear. If you can do that I’ll never come back again. I’ll never bother you again. I need money desperately. The brothel burned down last night. I have nowhere to stay, no place to go.”
“Here.” He flung ten dollars at her and then slammed the door.
Klara stuffed the cash in her pocket. She was humiliated, but what did she expect? She knew when she started working as a whore that men would treat her this way. It shouldn’t hurt her feelings, but it did. Klara squared her shoulders. No reason to dwell on the pain. It wouldn’t change things. This was what she’d chosen. Her heels clicked as she walked down the pavement, then down the stairs and into the subway. Which she rode back to the hospital.
Alina was still in the hospital room with Joey, but visiting hours were almost over. Klara knew Alina would be told to leave very soon.
“Take this and get a cheap room for the night.” Klara handed Alina a few dollars. Eat something too.”
“Oh no, I can’t take this,” Alina said.
“You have no choice,” Klara said. “I’ve struggled my entire life. I know what it means not to have a choice, and right now, Alina, you have no choice. I’ll be back in a couple of days.”
CHAPTER 27
Klara took the money she had in her pocket and went to the pharmacy. There she bought a bottle of dark brown shoe polish. Then she went to the thrift store and bought a modest dress that made her look innocent and a pair of heavy sensible shoes that looked like they belonged to a librarian.
From there she walked to the subway station and went into the bathroom. When she was sure she was alone she opened the shoe polish and spread it over her long red hair, careful to cover it completely. The results were a dull, dark brown color. It made her look serious and plain. She removed all traces of makeup from her face. Then she put on the dress and the sensible shoes. Now she was no longer glamorous, no longer memorable. She looked in the mirror and trembled for a moment. I’m almost ugly, she thought. But of course her plan was in progress, and this was just the way she’d wanted to appear.
With her dark hair and simple dress, Klara walked through the streets of New York overlooked and ignored. She stopped at a phone booth and slipped in, closing the door behind her. Taking a small piece of paper out of her purse, she began to carefully match the shape of the numbers on the dial to the numbers on the paper. She could not read them, but she could compare the way they looked. Then the phone began to ring. Her heart pounded and she had to hold on to the side of the phone booth as she waited for an answer.
“Hello.”
Thank God, it was Roger. She recognized his voice immediately, strong, male, raspy.
“Roger. It’s Klara. You know … Klara, from Alina’s house?”
“Of course, doll face. I would recognize that accent anywhere. You’re the sexy Russian dame with hair the color of a wildfire.”
“I hate to ask this of you. But once, when we were together, you said that if I ever needed anything I could call you,” she said timidly.
“Sure, what do you need?”
“Roger … it’s something very serious. I mean, it’s not legal. But … well, I really need help.”
“I’ll tell you what. I ain’t worried about the legal part. But, how about we make a deal? You and me spend some time together, like a week or so, maybe take a trip to the ocean? Have a little fun, what do you say? And in exchange, I’ll do you the favor. Whatever it is…”
“You are taking this seriously, I hope.”
“Yeah, of course. You don’t believe me?”
“Two weeks on the ocean? Just the two of us. I’ll make sure you are happy, Roger. I promise won’t regret helping me. I mean, I’ll reward you very well,” she said in her breathiest, sexiest voice.
“Sounds good to me. I can put money on the fact that I know you will come through and it will be a wild ride. Now go ahead and tell your sugar daddy just what it is that you need,” Roger said.
And so she did.
CHAPTER 28
Klara knew where Trevor lived. And although she had no proof, she believed in her heart that Trevor was responsible for the fire. She was going to pay Trevor a visit, one he would remember. Klara ran down the stairs to the subway. Handing the man at the booth a few coins, she went through the turnstile and got on the train that would take her to Trevor’s house.
“Good afternoon,” Klara said when Trevor opened the door. “My name is Vera. I have been going up and down the street in your neighborhood looking for work as a maid. I am a very efficient housekeeper, I can cook, sew, and do the wash. And”—she hesitated for a moment then smiled her most fetching smile at Trevor—“I must admit I was not expecting such a handsome man to answer the door here.” She cast her eyes down. “Please … if you need help to keep your house, sir. I am in desperate need of work. I am all alone in this country and have no one to turn to and no money.”
She played coy, acting as if she could hardly speak the language. But having been a prostitute, she was cunning with the use of her eyes and body language to charm a man. All men loved to be complimented, she thought.
“You said you are all alone, that means that you have no children, am I correct? I am assuming you would want to live in?”
“I have no children. And, yes, I’d like to live
in, I need a place to stay. It’s dangerous for a girl alone on the streets, and I am a modest girl with morals. You understand me?”
Trevor studied the girl. When Alina had lived with him, he’d gotten used to having someone take care of his cooking, laundry, and cleaning, and he’d been having trouble managing the house since she’d left. That was one of the reasons he’d hired someone to burn down that whorehouse.She’d made him dependent on her and then had the audacity to steal money from him and leave him without a thought. But of course that wasn’t the only reason he’d gotten rid of that embarrassment of a business that she built. She was publicly humiliating him. His wife, the owner of a brothel. What kind of man would that make him? How weak he would appear to people. It would seem that he had no control of Alina, and a man should have control over his wife. And, he figured, the greatest benefit of burning down that house was that if she lost her business she’d come crawling back to him on her hands and knees. After all, she was still his wife. Even better , if by some miracle the kid died in the fire because he was so weak anyway, well, then things between Alina and him would certainly improve. They might return to the way they were before she’d given birth to the child. But for now, until Alina returned to her rightful place as his wife, he could hire this woman. Then when Alina was on his doorstep begging, he would decide whether to allow her to come home or not. Vera was young and attractive, with no children, thank God, and she seemed to know her place. Well, why not have someone take care of things for him. It would make his life easier and he could afford it.
“I will pay you two dollars a week. You will work six days. I expect you to keep the house clean, the laundry pressed, and I take my meals at seven a.m., twelve noon and six o’clock. On Tuesdays I meet with a group of fellows for a card game, so I will be gone for dinner. Therefore you will not be required to prepare my meal. However, every fourth Tuesday the same group of gentleman will come here to my home where I will host the card game. I expect you to prepare a nice spread for them. I will provide the money for you to purchase the proper food, but you must do a good job preparing it. Can you do all of this and do it well?”
“Yes, yes sir.” Klara smiled fetchingly. She couldn’t tell if he was attracted to her or not. His face was guarded. But he’d hired her and tomorrow was Tuesday. Hopefully the card game was not at his house.
“Would you like me to go shopping for food for tomorrow? Are the gentleman coming to your home or will you be going out?”
“I will be going out tomorrow. It will be my turn to host in three weeks. No need to concern yourself with that dinner just yet. However, by then I will know if your cooking will meet my requirements. It will give us some time to see how well you do with everything in fact,” he said, opening the door.
She smiled at him and walked into the house. So, Klara thought, this was where Alina had lived. And this was where she had suffered so terribly. Well, Trevor was going out tomorrow night. What luck!
CHAPTER 29
The following afternoon Trevor left at four o’clock to go to his card game. As soon as he was gone, Klara went into his office and searched his file cabinet. She could only read a little Russian so it was very difficult for her. But she recognized the words “Will and testament” from a will she had once seen. It took her over an hour, but she was pretty sure she had found what she was looking for … a copy of his will. She opened it. She couldn’t read the words, but what she was able to read was Alina’s name. She’d seen it in print many times, and there it was on paper that she assumed was his will. So, Klara was hoping that she was right and Trevor had not yet removed Alina as his beneficiary. Her heart was racing. Please, let this be the right document, she thought. Then she took a deep breath. She would need to act fast.
Klara got Roger’s number out of her handbag and picked up the phone. Just then the doorbell rang. Should she answer it? Who could it be? She didn’t want anyone to know she was even there. As of right now only she and Trevor knew of her existence. It rang again. Her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest. She waited for a third ring, but it didn’t come. Finally, silence. Klara had never done anything like this before. The black telephone receiver felt cold and hard in her hand, almost like a gun, she thought, and then she shivered.
Carefully she matched the numbers on the paper to the numbers on the phone. As she did she cursed herself for refusing to take the time to learn to write in English.
The phone rang.
“Roger…” she said.
“You know the address?” he asked.
“Yes, I memorized it when Alina told me a few months ago, that’s how I found him.”
Klara gave Roger the address to Trevor’s house. She waited while he wrote it down. “You have it?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Perfect. Trevor’s out now. He went to play cards at some man’s house.”
“What time do you expect him to be back?” Roger asked.
“I don’t know for sure. He told me not to prepare his dinner.”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about this. I’ll have a friend outside waiting for him. I’ll make it look like a robbery. You just get yourself out of there. Don’t leave anything behind. Make sure. Nothing, don’t leave nothing behind. No trace of you ever having been there. Got it?”
“Yes…” Klara stammered. “I think so.”
“Good. I’ll see you next week. Meet me next Saturday at Mickey’s bar at nine p.m. Will you be there?”
“You know I will,” Klara said. She hung up the phone and raced into the bathroom, where she got into the tub and scrubbed the shoe polish out of her hair with strong laundry soap. Then she scoured the tub until there was no trace of the brown coloring. Next she put a scarf around her head. After a quick look in the mirror, she grabbed her handbag, in which she carried a change of clothes. She slipped on her coat.. Klara cracked the back door open and looked both ways. She saw no one, so she quietly left the house. With her head down and her gaze cast to the sidewalk in front of her, she walked as quickly as she could without drawing any attention to herself. When she saw the entrance to the subway station, she ducked inside and raced down the stairs. A quick look around and she spotted the women’s bathroom. She walked inside and went immediately into a stall. After locking the door, she changed her clothes. By now, her hair was dry. She wrapped her scarlet tresses into a loose French knot, which she secured with a comb. After taking a few minutes to put on lipstick and mascara, Klara left the bathroom. She bore no trace of the mousy-brown-haired, nondescript girl who’d worked for Trevor. Klara looked like herself again. When the train came, she headed back to the hospital, where she knew she would find Alina with Joey.
CHAPTER 30
Gilde November 1945
William had been home for a month. Gilde knew she should be happier, but somehow it seemed that the young, innocent girl who’d married William no longer existed.
William had changed too. When he was not quiet and introspective, he was rambling on about how terrible the POW camp had been for him. He relived the misery daily. And it drove Gilde insane. Gilde could see that he was traumatized, and she’d tried to break through to him. But he was not willing to let her in. The war had taken his passion for life. All of his ideals and his wild romantic exuberance were gone. Several times, she took him in her arms and kissed him passionately. But William didn’t respond. He just stood there. He never even kissed her back.
When she’d met William she was just a child still living with the Kendall family. At first she and Jane, the Kendall’s daughter, had been best friends, like sisters, but then a boy had come between them. He had liked Gilde and even though Gilde had no interest in him Jane never forgave her. From that time on, Jane became distant, and then she went off to school for nurses training.
Gilde was still living with the Kendalls, but it wasn’t the same without Jane. She’d met William the night she’d been on her way home from an acting class when suddenly the city was under siege. Gilde
was terrified and froze, unable to run. William’s father had pulled her to safety through a tunnel that led to an opening beneath William’s family-owned jewelry store as the bombs blasted through the city. Once underground she recognized Sharon, William’s sister, as one of her classmates. It was then that she learned that Sharon’s family was Jewish. They accepted her as soon as she declared that she too was a Jew.
The next day she returned to the Kendall’s home to find the bodies of everyone in the family except Jane, who was away at school. She was only fourteen and had been lost without the Kendalls. Gilde didn’t know where to go, so she went to the home of a neighbor whose house had withstood the bombing. Although they took her in, they made it clear that she was not welcome to stay indefinitely. While she was with them, she was to find another permanent residence. She didn’t know where to turn. Then she remembered Sharon’s family and she’d decided to go back to the jewelry store to see if they would take her in. They opened their home and hearts to her. Their son, William, was young, handsome, and filled with ideals And she had been attracted to his passion to join the navy and kill Nazis. His dream to rid the world of the evil Third Reich was contagious. Even though Gilde didn’t want him to leave her and go off to war, she was intoxicated by his commitment. And so, they were married. They spent a few blissful days and off he went for training. Then he’d returned on leave. They had a wildly romantic time that left Gilde hopelessly infatuated. But the truth was, she hardly knew him. When the letter came stating that he was missing in action and presumed dead, she’d been forced to go on with her life.
It had been difficult to explain everything that had happened and why she’d done the things she did while William was gone. William listened, but he said nothing, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling. He’d been gone so long and so much had changed. She told him about Vicky and her marriage to Alden. She saw the shock on his face, but he said nothing. She went on to tell him about her shameful relationship with Archie. And again, William said nothing. He never condemned her for her affair with Archie, but he showed no interest in Vicky either. He never picked her up or played with her. William treated her like something that belonged to Gilde, something he was stuck with, but had no feelings for. His time away and his service in the navy had changed him too. Gilde learned from him that he had been captured and spent much of the war in a POW camp. The young, idealistic boy he’d been was now a quiet, introspective man. Where he’d once been easy with loving words and physical affection, he was now guarded. Sometimes, he awoke in the middle of the night and Gilde would hear him weeping or moaning softly. Then he would leave the apartment and be gone for hours. Sometimes he would not return until the following afternoon. If Gilde asked him where he’d been, he would just shake his head and go into the bedroom and shut the door, locking it behind him. She would be left staring at the door and knowing that there was a part of him that he refused to share with her. She wondered if she would ever be able to reach him and help him to destroy the demons that haunted him.
Another Breath, Another Sunrise: A Holocaust Novel (Michal's Destiny Book 4) Page 10