Three Chords, One Song

by Beatrice M. Hogg

  She searched for music to play, music to take her mind off of that night while she drove. She decided to play The Clash, and soon found herself singing along to “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” That was her dilemma. Should she stay in LA, working as a session musician, trying not to run into her mother or into any of her mother’s friends that had populated her childhood, or should she move away, make a new start somewhere else? With the money she already had in the bank, she could afford to live comfortably for a while just about anywhere. With her share of the inheritance money, she could go away permanently.

  Maybe she could go to London. No, that was where he lived. She couldn’t bear the thought of accidentally running into the man that had gotten her pregnant when she was fourteen.

  She started singing louder. She didn’t want to think about that now, either.

  When she got to the gate and punched the numbers in, she was relieved when the gate swung open. Thankfully, she didn’t see Sally’s car anywhere. But Mik’s black Porsche 911 was in its usual spot. She still couldn’t believe she would never see him again, never go for a ride with him in that car again.

  Soleil greeted Luisa, the Venezuelan housemaid who lived on the property. Soleil spoke perfect Spanish. All of those years spent in the company of Colombian drug dealers had come in handy for something. Soleil found out from Luisa that Sally hadn’t returned home since she had left this morning and that nothing had been moved in the studio.

  Soleil walked thorough the house and out to the studio, which was beyond the pool area.

  A rush of emotions overcame her when she opened the door. The studio was Mik’s baby. The room smelled like him. She saw evidence of his most recent work—a song half written on a piece of music paper, a Martin acoustic guitar leaning against a chair, a portable compact disc recorder on a table. Her father had lived music. He had loved music, loved it more than anything else. More than his wives, or his children. They had been so much alike. Of all of his children, she alone had inherited his gift. Or was it his curse? She put the paper and recorder in her backpack.

  But she had no time to sit and reminiscence. She wanted to get out of here before Sally came back home. She turned on the camcorder and got to work. First, she focused the camcorder on each article in the room and described it as she zoomed in. She took out her notepad and started cataloging the serial numbers. Soleil opened the guitar cases and gingerly held each instrument as she turned them over to find their numbers.

  There was some valuable stuff here. She saw the guitar that Mik had gotten from Eric Clapton. Years ago in England, Mik had admired one of John Entwistle’s bass guitars and the Ox had given him one. Mik had always claimed that the beat-up wah wah pedal on the floor had once belonged to the great Hendrix himself. The old Kurtzweil in the corner had been given to Mik by Keith Emerson. A Rickenbacker 4001 bass in a case had once belonged to Chris Squire of Yes. Mik still had the old Strat he had used with Sheffield Steel in the seventies. Where would she be able to put the soundboard? It definitely wouldn’t fit in her apartment. She would have to contact some of her musician friends.

  Soleil also planned to keep the gold records on the wall. There were six of them, two for each sister. She wondered if the records would mean as much to her sisters as they did to her. Lucy probably had already seen most of them, since she and her mother had lived with Mik when he had received them. Eve didn’t seem to care anything about Mik DeSalle. She was obsessed with Richard Shelton. Soleil was sure that Richard Shelton had died the day he stepped on board a plane bound for Los Angeles. Mik DeSalle was all they had been left with. And now he had left them something.

  Mik must have really loved them to do what he had done. And he must have really loved her to leave all of this equipment to her. Maybe he had realized that she was just like him. Maybe he had known she had The Gift.

  “Don’t get too cozy with that shit. It’s not yours yet.” Soleil hadn’t heard Sally Fountaine come to the entrance of the studio. She had a large bandage over her nose, making her voice sound like she had a cold.

  Soleil turned to face her. “What the fuck would you do with it? You can’t play. You can barely act.”

  “My lawyer is looking into the legality of the will. You won’t get nothing until then, you little bitch.” Sally stood in the doorway with her hand on her hips, blocking the door.

  “I can wait. I ain’t got nothing but time.” Soleil straightened up and patted her camcorder. “But while I wait, I’m making sure that you don’t try no disappearing act with the equipment. I’ve got everything taped and catalogued. If one thing is moved out of here, I can have it traced immediately.”

  “You can have the junk. I don’t want it. And you won’t have it long, either, not with your junkie whore mother running around. But what you can’t have is the money or the royalties. And that goes for your two sisters, too.”

  Soleil was done here. She wasn’t in the mood to trade threats back and forth with her father’s widow. She started to pack up her things.

  “Take one good last look, bitch. Because you won’t ever be coming back again. Mik is gone, so you are no longer welcome.” Sally folded her hands in front of her. “And the gate code will be changed by tomorrow morning.”

  She put on her backpack and walked toward Sally, who stepped out of the door to let her pass. She then walked behind her, with her arms still folded.

  “I’m the best thing that ever happened to Mik,” she said haughtily. “You were a mistake. All of you children were a mistake. Mik never wanted children, he told me that himself. And especially you. Every time he saw you, he saw Faith. Faith ruined his career. Faith got him hooked on drugs. She was a devil. And you are the devil’s spawn. If it weren’t for me, he would have been dead years ago.” She continued to talk as Soleil walked back through the house.

  Soleil didn’t speak. It wouldn’t have done any good. Sally was wound up. And part of what she was saying was true, as much as she hated to admit it. When she got to her truck, she finally turned around to face Sally. “If you think that you were the best thing that ever happened to him, that’s your business. But I’m his flesh and blood. And blood is thicker than water, cunt.”

  Soleil got in her truck and slammed the door. “Lieberman knows my address. As soon as the will is settled, I’ll be sending over the movers.”

  “Get off my property, nigger whore.”

  Soleil smiled. She really wanted to kick her ass. As she put the truck in reverse, she leaned out the window. “Sorry about your nose. It should have been your ass. But you’re used to that, aren’t you?”

  Sally paled slightly. Through clenched teeth, she pushed out the words, “GET OUT!”

  Soleil drove down the driveway singing “Rock the Casbah.”

  Eve

  After spending a few hours sitting on the beach, Eve decided to call her mother to let her know what was happening. It was now around five in the evening, which would make it eight in Pittsburgh. She knew the news would break her mother’s heart.

  “Hello?” Deidre Crosby Rowland answered her phone on the first ring.

  “Hi, Mom, it’s me.” Eve tried to sound as jaunty as possible.

  “Eve? Where are you? I tried to call the hotel, and they said you had checked out earlier today. When are you coming home?” She could hear the worry in her mother’s voice. Even though they weren’t really close, her mother always was there when she needed her.

  “I’m in Malibu. With Mariah and Lucy.” Eve could sense the tension on the other end as the words seemed to linger in the air somewhere in the miles that separated them.

  It seemed to take eons for Deidre to respond. “Why?”

  “Well, I have to stay here until the will is filed and all of the papers are signed. So does Lucy. It was too expensive to stay in the hotel, so Lucy offered that I stay with her at Mariah’s place.” She twirled a strand of her blonde hair that had been blown by the wind from the ocean air. “It’s nice here, along the beach. Mariah has a beaut
iful house.” Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, Eve thought. Like her, Deidre had spent the last thirty years hating LA and everything it represented. She felt like a traitor for saying something positive.

  Deidre acted like she hadn’t heard. “When are you coming home?”

  “Everything should be done in about a week.”

  “When’s the body coming home? Your Aunt Darlene has already contacted the funeral home that did Grandma.” Eve missed the Pittsburgh drawl she had spent her life surrounded by. She noticed it when her mother said “Darlene.” She had never realized before that there was a distinct Pittsburgh accent, but she noticed it now she was away from it.

  She was stalling, willing her mind not to think about the words she had to say next. “There is no body. Sally Fountaine had him cremated. She has already disposed of the ashes.”

  “What? Didn’t she know about the family plot?”

  “She knew, but she didn’t care. I was so mad that I punched her in the lawyer’s office.” She could still feel the sensation of her fist hitting Sally’s nose. The hard bone had quickly turned soft under the force of her blow. She knew she had dislocated her nose.

  “Oh, Evelyn!”

  Eve didn’t know if her mother was responding to the news about the body or the news about the attack.

  “What am I going to tell his sisters? They have been wondering what is going on ever since Joey and Chris got back. Darlene will be devastated. You know how much she loved her baby brother. They were just like you and Ricky were.” Her mother’s voice started to crack.

  Ricky. It seemed like everyone found a reason to mention Ricky today. Eve mourned the closeness she had known with her brother. Only she and her mother were left. She felt the need to be in her mother’s presence. “Why don’t you come out for a few days while I’m still here? I know that Mariah wouldn’t mind. She has six bedrooms. You need a vacation.” Why was she asking her mother to come out to the city she hated, to stay with one of the women her ex-husband had aligned himself with after he left her? Did she want to flaunt Mariah’s obvious wealth in her mother’s face? Her mother, who had worked so hard to move up from receptionist to senior legal secretary. Mariah had gained her wealth from singing and shaking her hips, not from making an honest living. Mariah had traveled to work in luxury tour buses and charter planes, while her mother had taken a crowded PAT bus every morning from the South Side to Shadyside.

  “Now why would I want to stay with that woman? Why would I want to come to California? That place means nothing but death to me. Why do you want to stay out there, Evelyn? Are you on drugs, too?”

  To Deidre, LA only meant drugs. How could she explain that she needed her mother with her, needed her guidance on what to do with the money? She saw Lucy and Mariah as parts of the puzzle. Soleil, too. Like it or not, they were all family.

  “Why do you want to stay with those black people, Evelyn?”

  But her mother didn’t see family, she only saw color. “You didn’t raise me to be prejudiced, Mom.”

  Her mother sighed. “I knew that no-good would come to Rick when he moved out there. And now he is dead. Do you want to end up dead, too? Why don’t you come home now? What could possibly be so important about a will that you have to stay out there?”

  Eve realized that she didn’t want to tell her mother about the money. “He left some money jointly to me, Lucy and Soleil.”

  Her mother was hesitant again, much in the manner that Mariah had been. “How much?”

  “Seven million dollars.”

  Lucy could hear the cars passing outside of her mother’s house. She could hear her mother’s sharp intake of breath, but she said nothing.

  “Mom?”

  “Oh, my God. The bastard.”

  Eve was puzzled by her mother’s response. “Mom, please don’t tell anybody. Sally plans to contest the will, so it’s not final.”

  “That bastard. He finally found a way to buy you off.”

  Eve was shocked at her mother’s response, even though it did mirror her own original response. She was surprised to realize that, like Soleil, she did want the money, at least some of it. She felt like crying again. “Mom, please come out here. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I even want the money. Lucy wants to have a concert and Soleil wants to just take the money. I don’t know what I want. And we all three have to agree. I’m so confused!”

  “That bastard.” Deidre hung up.

  “Mom! Mom!” Her mother had never hung up on her before. Eve sat in the chair that looked out on the pool. She put her face in her hands. Now what?

  Chapter Four

  Eve

  When Eve came back downstairs, the sun was setting along the beach, bathing the black piano in a golden light. After taking a nap and a quick, rejuvenating shower, she had changed into jeans and an old Steelers tee shirt. She heard voices out by the pool.

  Lucy and Mariah were placing skewers of meat on a built-in grill. Soleil sat at the stylishly weathered table and watched them as she talked. “Yeah, you should have seen that big bandage on her nose!” They all turned to look at Eve as she entered through the open glass door leading from the kitchen.

  Lucy smiled warmly. “Soleil just got here. She was telling us about her adventures at Sally’s house.”

  “You mean that you actually went over there?” Eve hadn’t thought Soleil had been serious.

  Soleil had a mischievous look in her eyes. “Yeah, I was just about done cataloging everything when she came in. She had a huge bandage on her nose. She won’t be doing any acting for a while, that’s for sure.” She looked at Eve’s outfit. “I see that you have decided to get more comfortable.” She moved her chair. “Come and sit. Dinner is almost ready.”

  Mariah looked at Eve with concern. “Are you all right, Eve? How did Deidre take the news?”

  “She’s pissed off about the money.” Eve sat next to Soleil and watched the meat and vegetables cook on the grill as Lucy mixed a salad. Eve ran her fingers through her hair. Her arm was darker. She must have tanned a little while they were sitting on the beach. Soleil noticed her reaction, but didn’t say anything. Soleil wasn’t much darker than she was.

  Mariah came over and squeezed the area between her neck and shoulders. Eve could feel the hard knots under her skin. “I’m not surprised, Eve. Are you?”

  Eve turned to look at Mariah. Her neck hurt slightly at the movement. “I invited her out here to visit. I hope that you don’t mind.” She didn’t say what Deidre’s response had been to the suggestion.

  Mariah looked at Lucy. “Deidre is always welcome at my house. I have nothing against her.”

  Eve felt embarrassed. “I gave her your number,” Eve lied.

  Soleil caught her discomfort. “Probably too many black folks for her.” Eve turned red. Soleil started to sing, “We are fam-i-lee, I’ve got all my sisters with me!”

  “Soleil!” Lucy shook her head. “Don’t tease Eve. This isn’t easy for her.”

  “It’s not easy for any of us, Lu-cille.” Soleil started singing an old Little Richard song. “Lu-cille! Why can’t ya be true?”

  Lucy swatted her with a dish towel.

  Eve tried to change the subject. “Soleil, what did Sally say to you?”

  “She called me all kinds of bitches, I called her a cunt, and she told me to never come back.” Soleil leaned back in her chair. “So I drove off.”

  “Do you think that she will contest the will?” Lucy asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Mariah said. “She’s got the insurance money, the houses and the cars. She’s got her career. I don’t think she will do anything. Mik had the right to dispose of his assets in any way that he pleased. It was his right and his duty to leave something to his children. Sally won’t want to be portrayed in the media as someone who tries to take money away from children.”

  “Maybe that will work for Eve.” Soleil looked at her, assessing her blue eyes and blonde hair.

  “What do you mean by that
?” Lucy asked.

  “Well, I don’t think the media will be encouraging Sally Fountaine to let the bulk of her husband’s estate go to a daughter whose mother is a whore and a drug addict and to a daughter whose mother he never bothered to marry.” Lucy dropped the salad bowl she was filling.

  “Soleil!” Mariah looked at her.

  “I don’t mean to disrespect you Mariah, I’m just stating the truth. Let’s look at the situation the way the media would. Eve is a nice, pretty white girl who was only a baby when her father deserted the family by running to California. Of course she deserves the money.”

  Eve could feel the tension rising faster than the heat from the grill. Mariah went to tend to the grill. She touched Lucy’s trembling hand as she passed. Lucy bent down to pick up the pieces of tomato, carrot and lettuce on the tiled floor next to the upside down bowl.

  “Now let’s look at Lucy. How do we know she really is Mik’s daughter? Mariah, after all, was a singer in a rock band during the seventies. And we all know what that means—sex, drugs and rock and roll.” She threw her arms wide. “And look at all of this! How did Mariah get all of this? She was a poor black singer from Alabama! Who’s going to believe black people were investing in real estate in the seventies? Lucy’s real father probably bought it all.”

  Eve looked over at Lucy. She could recognize the signs that forewarned a loss of temper. She had seen them often enough in her own mirror. Lucy’s mouth was set.

  Soleil ignored her. “And then there’s me. My mother stole Mik from Mariah, got him hooked on drugs, ruined his career, sold herself for drugs, sold me for drugs and sent me to Oklahoma, where I become an alcoholic, just like my dear old grandmother.”

  Lucy threw a carrot at Soleil. “Mik DeSalle was my father, too, and you know it. How dare you come here and talk about my mother! She’s nothing like your mother!” She stood up and threw the vegetable in a trash bin.