Murder! Hollywood Style

by Carol Branston

  CHAPTER 38

  Not!

  Val and Didi sat on the bed watching the TV, not saying a word. Val had taken three or four yellows she wasn’t sure, yet she still felt wired. She saw the images on the screen laughing and joking, her costars one after the other saying how thrilled they were to be there. She couldn’t have cared less about them and turned down the sound. She sat bolt upright in bed when a limo arrived and out stepped Nicky. He looked like a million-dollar movie star. He helped her mother out of the limo. Val couldn’t get over how beautiful she looked. Then Karen appeared. The reaction from the crowd said it all—they went crazy. They made, to say the least, an exceptional looking threesome as they stopped to speak to people and pose for photographers.

  Val didn’t want to listen to what they were saying. It was probably scripted by someone else anyway. Only one thought played on her mind. The three people there on the screen had been the cause of every emotion she had ever been capable of feeling: love, hate, happiness, tears, disappointment, silly, serious. Now look where she was. Sitting in bed with a woman in Boston, looking at the man she had loved and trusted. And then her mother who she loved, she supposed, but who had caused her so many tears. Then Karen. Who as far as she was concerned had rejected her when she’d needed her. She’d been a good friend, but Val felt like she was now a threat to what she and Didi had… although to be honest she was stuck trying to find the word to describe what they had. Whatever it was, it was a secret. No one could ever know.

  The three of them stood there on the screen with smiles a yard wide. Nicky was treating her mother as if she was the queen. It was all too much! When Karen blew a kiss at the camera it was the last straw. As the trio disappeared into the theater, Val lost it completely and started to sob.

  Didi could do nothing to console her and ended up calling Glen.

  “You have to come to our room immediately. It’s an emergency.”

  CHAPTER 39

  A Hit and A Miss

  The movie was a hit! When the lights came up there was a standing ovation. Murray ushered his entourage backstage where he’d staged the press conference. Before anyone could say anything, he motioned for silence and took center stage.

  “Some very important news has just come to my attention.”

  Everyone fell silent.

  “As you may have read in the press release, because Valerie Rhodes couldn’t be here tonight, we plan on having second premiere in Boston. Seeing Ms. Rhodes and Mr. Venuti share their wonderful moment together is what we hoped for. But something unforeseen has come up. I have just been informed that Nicky will not be able to be in Boston.”

  There was a lot of whispering. Murray held up his hands once more for silence.

  “I know! We’re all disappointed, but with bad news there’s always something good. Right?”

  He laughed and looked at the three people on stage with him who were trying like mad to keep their composure.

  “He won’t be in Boston, because…he has to be in Japan!”

  He gestured to Nicky to join him at the microphone. He did so, managing his magical smile, while wondering what the hell Murray was up to.

  “I am very proud to be able to announce that Nicky has been asked by the Japanese government to be the Master of Ceremonies and represent the USA at their first People’s Choice awards show. Where by the way, it has been rumored…”

  He paused and took a drink, milking his audience once more. “It has been rumored, he will be picking up his own award. You see, he has been voted the most popular star in Japan.”

  A round of applause broke the silence. Nicky bowed his head in mock humility. He was trying to buy some time, trying to figure out what he was going to say.

  Murray continued. He was on a roll, doing what he did best. Getting the studio out of another complicated predicament. His master plan to get Nicky out of town had taken a whole lot of phone calls, bribes, and promises. The deal was, during the next couple of years the studio would be obligated to shoot at least three movies in Japan. Murray had received the news that the deal had gone through just before the house went dark and the movie started. Talk about down to the wire!

  “I know this comes as a surprise to you all. Hey, what are plans for if not to be changed?” He waited for the laughs, then went on. “Nicky doesn’t even know this part.”

  He made another dramatic pause, put his arm around Nicky, and continued. “Because of the long flight and time change, Nicky will be leaving tomorrow.”

  Another buzz went around the room. Nicky managed to smile when Murray handed him the mic. He deserved an Oscar for the performance he gave. He managed to thank the Japanese government for the honor bestowed upon him and promised to be the best delegate he could possibly be representing the USA. He even tried for a little humor when he made his apologies for leaving.

  “I think I’d better go home and pack now before Murray here comes up with any more surprises.”

  He blew kisses to the crowd, then to Karen and Anne and left the stage. He found the old guy at the stage door and asked him to call a cab and have it come to the alley. He was in tears when he sat in the back and gave his beach house address.

  He completely broke down when he walked in and found a brief note from Steve.

  “Someone came by. Something came up.”

  That said it all!

  CHAPTER 40

  What Plans?

  As quickly as it had started, the press conference was over. Murray immediately handed out new press kits to every reporter in the room. They each received a generous-sized bottle of very expensive perfume from one of the most exclusive boutiques on Rodeo Drive, a T-shirt with the movie poster printed on the back and the studio logo on the front, plus lots of miscellaneous goodies that cost a fortune. He assured them he'd see them all at Premiere Two in Boston. The press left the way he wanted them to. Happy and looking forward to a few extra days in another town, with more excuses to be wined and dined on someone else’s expense account.

  Anne was fuming. She had wanted that moment in the limelight all to herself. The lump in her throat helped make her sound quite sincere when she managed to say how thrilled she was for Nicky.

  Karen couldn’t wait to get Murray alone. She practically attacked him when she found him at the bar trying to swallow a double vodka and catch his breath.

  “What the fuck are you up to? Have you lost your mind? I wanted him on the East Coast.”

  Murray calmly finished his drink. “Too goddamn bad, baby. Sometimes you have to listen to Uncle Murray. He knows this business better than you. Now, you go and leave this one to me. Your pretty head should have other things on it. Not all business, all the time.”

  With that he walked away, smiling, and joined his bosses. He knew she wouldn’t follow him there. He was ready for his pat on the back. He’d pulled off a major coup.

  Karen went to the ladies’ room and did a couple of lines. Feeling better, she found Sharon, Marco, and the rest of their crowd. They went on to a club to dance the rest of the night away.

  Someone came up with the idea for Sharon and Marco to come to Boston for Premier Two. The more Karen thought about it, the more she loved the idea! By the time everyone went their separate ways that night, they had all agreed it was time to split that scene, and simply move the party east.

  CHAPTER 41

  The Show Does Go On

  For Val, sleeping pills were now a necessity. The yellows were no longer strong enough. Dr. Feelgood’s connection in Boston gave her a new turquoise capsule, Percodan. It did the trick. He came twice a week to give her the shots and left a wound-up doll who sped around unable to stop. By the time everyone arrived in Boston for her opening, Val was like a fuse ready to blow. She had not expected the whole crowd to invade for the Boston opening, and thanked God Nicky wasn’t there, and she was too busy to deal with any of them.

  For the second premiere, Murray brought in one of the other male stars from the movie, one who didn’t have so
much drama in his closet. He was happy with the coverage the movie received. A brief appearance by Val was all he wanted, and that’s what he got. He earned his money once more, and left town as quickly as he could with all the extra bodies that had shown up for the event. He wasn’t the only person who noticed how far Val had slipped. He only knew one thing he was glad he didn’t have to deal with her any more.

  To everyone’s relief, the Boston preview went better than expected. After the cast party, Val went back to the hotel to find Didi and Glen had left. She didn’t know it, but Karen had convinced them to leave. It hadn’t been that difficult. Glen had no problem leaving because his love, Kevin, needed to be in New York ahead of the show to do some advanced PR anyway, and Didi’s soon-to-be inheritance turned out to be more important than her romp in the hay with Val, especially when Karen had suggested they call her old aunt and bring her up-to-date on some of Didi’s escapades. Val never heard from Didi again. Not a word was ever mentioned about her. Karen took Val’s mother back to New York City the next day, so for the rest of her time in Boston, Val worked the show and went back to her room alone to dope herself up enough to sleep.

  By the time the show opened in New York, Val’s costar Danny had split billing with her above the title. As Mr. Regal privately said to a few close friends, “Business is business and stockholders don’t care if a young, beautiful girl is going through a time in her life that would make most of their heads spin.”

  The traditional opening night party at Sardi’s was spoilt when the stage manager insisted Val read The Times review aloud. Halfway through, she came to the worst review ever given to an actress on Broadway. It seemed unnecessarily brutal. Later it was learnt The Times critic had a personal vendetta. It was the era of the British invasion and he was furious that so many Brits were working on Broadway that year, and at the same time American actors weren’t allowed to work in England. He took it out on Val, saying among other things, that she wasn’t worth her weight in mascara. She laughed it off that night, and her friends and cast members gathered around and told her how wrong and unfair it was. It deeply hurt her! Nevertheless, the show was an enormous hit. After opening night, the advance bookings went for over a year.

  The hardest performance she had to give was on the second night. She didn’t think she’d be able to go on. Thank God, when she arrived at the theater, flowers filled her dressing room; there must have been at least two hundred telegrams of encouragement and love waiting for her. The most prominent people in New York, including the mayor and everyone appearing on the Great White Way let her know she wasn’t alone. It helped a little. After her big number at the end of Act 1 she got a standing ovation. That helped too. But the hurt didn’t go away.

  Months rolled by. She always managed to be surrounded by a crowd of the “Beautiful People.” They would pile into her dressing room after the show and whisk her off to dance all night. She didn’t know half of them by name, but as long as they kept her busy and she didn’t have time to think, she didn't care. She still looked absolutely gorgeous and became the queen at Arthur’s, the in discotheque on Fifty-fifth Street. While there, she could do and be anything she wanted and get anything she wanted, including the handsome doorman on occasion.

  Most of the crowd was only interested in their next drug and their newest connection. Val fit right into this subculture. She had discovered Quaaludes; they were a lot better than sleeping pills. The whole scene there was very asexual, and at that time in her life, it suited her to a T. She became the “fag hag” of New York, hanging out with Joe and all the boys. He kept an eye on her that way.

  Val still lived at home with her mother. Poor Anne Rhodes didn’t understand what had happened to her beautiful baby who usually stumbled in at around six in the morning. When she spoke to her, she found it was like talking to the wall; sometimes the wall responded but usually didn’t remember anything the next day. She spent a lot of her time making excuses for Val, although she couldn’t nag her too much; after all, she was still doing eight shows a week and still bringing in a good-sized paycheck.

  Anne always put on a good front and still wouldn't be seen without her eyelashes. She still had her gentleman friends, and luckily took their advice when they told her what stocks to buy. She made quite a killing in the market. Periodically she had twinges of panic when she realized Val wasn’t getting any offers for movies or shows. She had expected them to be nonstop. She was still thrilled to go past a newsstand and see Val’s face on the magazine covers, although the gossip columnists were now writing things, as far as Anne was concerned, that left a lot to be desired. She even placed a call to Murray in California to see if he could do anything. He said it didn’t mean anything; dirt happened to everyone. He didn’t tell her, but from his end, the movie was still grossing more than expected, and nobody seemed to mind what kind of publicity Val was getting as long as the name of the movie, when mentioned, was spelled correctly.

  In April when the Oscars were awarded, the movie was nominated in three categories: Nicky for supporting actor, Wilhelm for directing, and the composer for the soundtrack and theme song. Val wasn’t even invited to attend. They said in the press that she couldn’t get away from her show. Nicky lost out. The song and Wilhelm won. She watched some of the show between acts in her dressing room. Rose, her dresser, held her in her arms when she’d finally cracked after seeing Nicky. She’d never heard one word from him. Her heart still ached.

  Funnily enough that night, the stage manager who stood in the wings every night and gave notes to the cast when he thought they needed them, came over to her after the final curtain and told her it had been her best performance yet. Go figure. The show had been running for well over a year and with the shots, some Percodan, Darvon, and ludes, she did the show and managed occasionally to get some sleep.

  Karen rarely came around. It was never the same after Boston. She hadn't totally deserted Val, but she’d found other interests, one of them being Sharon. They had been an item since Boston. They were seldom in New York, mostly country hopping on and off in Europe since then.

  Val did make some guest appearances on quiz shows and managed to get a couple of guest spots on series that were shot in New York. Local, less-important talk shows still found her amusing, but nothing stimulated her. Nothing and no one interested her.

  Everything changed in one night. That one night. It was after the show. Rose had answered a knock on the dressing room door. When she opened it there stood Marco Benito. Val vaguely remembered meeting him in Boston. Rose left the two of them alone.

  “Get your shit together. We’re meeting my friends in a half hour.”

  Those were the first words he ever said to her. She did.

  CHAPTER 42

  What Is This Thing Called Marco

  Marco was rough and treated her like shit. She was scared of him, yet strangely intrigued. He never asked her to do something; he ordered her.

  “Be at Dannie’s Hideaway in twenty minutes.”

  She knew she’d better be there. Once, when she hadn’t made it on time, he'd met her at the door, slapped her face, turned her around, kicked her in the ass, and told the doorman to “get the whore a cab.” It didn’t take long for her to became more and more dependent on him. He supplied her with her drugs. He had broken the family code and was now dealing in coke and pills. As he put it, he’d discovered the big money.

  In Val’s head, Marco fit right into where she pictured herself: a total failure…the dregs of life.

  When he announced their engagement she was floored, but went along with it! The show was still running, but her contract was practically up, and she’d heard they weren’t going to renew it. There was nothing for her waiting in the wings, so their engagement seemed like a good idea. She received a black mink coat, a white mink coat, and a large emerald-cut diamond engagement ring. When the crowd left, she got an extra little memento: an enormous black eye. He told her she had acted, “like her shit didn’t stink,” to one of his b
uddies.

  He’d screamed at her. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Just remember, I’m no faggot like your other boyfriend. I’m a man, and I want respect. Get it?”

  Before she could answer, she was on the floor. There was no pain at first. She sat there, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. She looked up, saw Marco’s face, and decided against laughing. She could feel her eye closing. She touched her cheek. He had caught her cheek with his ring.

  “My face, Marco! What have you done?”

  “Don’t ever embarrass me again.”

  “How can I go to the theater?”

  “That’s your problem.”

  He sat down on the couch and watched her. She was on her hands and knees, trying to get up. His foot hit her in the ribs. She lost her balance again.

  “Now let’s see if you learnt anything. We drop all that fancy crap, right?”

  She looked up and nodded.

  “It’s my way or no way, right?”

  Again, she just nodded.

  “Good. Then I think this can be the start of a beautiful relationship.”

  He stood up, took her hands, and pulled her to her feet. He took her in his arms and kissed her. He was rough; her face hurt, her ribs hurt, and her heart hurt. He gave her all the pain she thought she deserved and took her right there on the floor. He was right—she was nothing but a cheap whore.

  Anne couldn’t believe her eyes when they went to the apartment that night. They told her it had been an accident, and Val gave her a look warning her not to ask any more questions. For once she listened. One of Marco’s friends knew a doctor who wrote an appropriate note to the producers feigning an illness. Val knew she wouldn’t be leaving the house for a couple of weeks.

  One afternoon, she was watching soaps with her mother when the buzzer sounded and the doorman announced Ms. van Dougall was on her way up. Val panicked and ran to her room. Anne let Karen in.