Publicity!: Death Becomes Her (Vol 2)

by Edwin Betancourt

The Truth Can Hurt…Sometimes

  December 28th, 2017

  In a red house located in New York City:

  Jace opened the refrigerator door of his parent’s house to find it packed with beer, fruits, cooked Latin food, eggs and what he only assumed was left over Turkey from Thanksgiving. He took out a bottle of beer and closed the fridge’s door. The past two days was an emotional rollercoaster for the twenty six year old Private Investigator.

  Although he and Tony have been dating for a few months, Tony booked a beautiful Hotel suite in Toronto, Canada to surprise Jace. They were going to spend their first Christmas as a couple in the country relaxing, sightseeing and for once in Jace’s life; away from gunfire, knife attacks, madmen, hit men wanting his head on a silver platter and crime Lords. It was going to be an amazing Holiday season that he would’ve remembered for the rest of his life, unfortunately fate had another idea in mind.

  Just as Tony was driving toward the airport Jace received a call that his father had a heart attack and was rushed to the emergency room. The Private Investigator didn’t want to cancel the plans but Jace’s sister, Isabella, explained this could be their father’s last holiday.

  Jace regretted the decision but he ultimately ended the romantic getaway and instead Tony drove him to New York City to his house in Spanish Harlem.

  The Private Investigator tried calling Tony back to apologize but it was to no avail. Tony did send him a text message but it was on the behalf of Laurel, so he didn’t really see that as a proper means of communication.

  The curly haired male twisted open the beer bottle and he took a small sip hearing the loud stomping of his older sister coming down the stairs of the house located just outside of the kitchen.

  He slowly swallowed the sip and walked to the kitchen door slowly pushing it open.

  Seated on a blue and red floral decorated sofa was a woman in her mid-thirties with black short hair, caramel skin and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a pink sweat suit that looked as if it belonged in the trash. The color was faded, some of the fabric was ripped and torn and the designer’s name was completely gone. But to Isabella it was comfortable and she had no regrets about it.

  “So before Papi was put to bed he asked about your boyfriend.” Isabella stated trying her hardest not to sound too judgmental at the words that came out of her mouth. She could tolerate and accept many things in the world but two men dating? Two men being intimate? That was against God and it was a pure abomination! She was taught to love people but she refused to accept her baby brother’s dangerous and “sick” lifestyle.

  Jace rolled his eyes and took another sip of the beer. “Mmm? What about him?”

  “Well I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t coming. Papi might say he doesn’t care but I do. I don’t want you and him in the same house and under the same roof. It’s against God’s word.”

  Jace gave his sister a smirk and nodded his head. “Please tell me, because I tend to forget, where did this religious side of you come from again?”

  Isabella watched as her brother walked over to the edge of the sofa and sat on the armrest. “I was saved and anointed by the Lord almighty when I was fourteen.”

  “Interesting” Jace stated his tone filled with amusement. “It’s interesting to me that you were saved two years before you decided to have sexual relations with our next door neighbor who was married to Rosita, mommy’s best friend. Except that sexual relationship definitely soured when you decided to get pregnant with his baby, go against Mommy and Papi’s wishes and abort it instead of putting it up for adoption. So please, save that Holy act for someone who has the free time to be entertained by you.”

  The words that Jace muttered with no remorse, with no pausing and with no regret caused Isabella to clear her throat and shift away from him on the sofa. She tried to think of a comeback or let alone say something that would make him see that his lifestyle choice was disgusting but her train of thought was cut off when Jace’s cellphone began to ring.

  Letting out a sigh of relief Jace grabbed the phone off of the brown coffee table and saw the name ‘Laurel’ on the caller ID; he placed the beer bottle on the table and answered the phone quickly. “Hey Laurel!”

  “Jace! Hey, I’m sorry for calling you. How is your father doing?” Laurel asked out of concern.

  “He’s doing well at the moment. Just resting as we speak. Thank you for asking.”

  “Of course. Are you available to chat?”

  Jace got up from the armchair and he walked toward the house door.

  “We aren’t finished speaking.” Isabella stated as Jace opened the front door of the house.

  Jace turned around and glared at his sister. “I was done the moment I set foot in this house.” He stated and with that he walked out of the house closing the door behind him.

  “Is this a bad time?” Laurel asked from the other line.

  Jace walked out onto the porch as snow continued to fall from the grey clouds. “Every second I waste in this house is a bad time but other than that, this time is great.”

  “Fantastic! I wanted to see if you were able decipher that code Tony sent you the other day?”

  Jace shook his head telling her “No” softly. “I ran it through every database I could find. Chatrooms, Twitter accounts, MeTube user names and nothing. I have some connections with people who enjoy hanging out in the dark web. I can give them a call and see if they can find anyone with that name..”

  “That would be great thank you so much Jace! I’ll have Tony help out once he gets back from Toronto.”

  Jace’s heart skipped a beat at her words and he blinked quickly in shock. “Tony went to Toronto? Did you send him there or-“

  “No not at all. He said he wanted to go. I guess he just needed time away from San New. I don’t blame him-“

  Jace heard a loud Ding, from Laurel’s phone. “I have a visitor. Look just focus on taking care of your dad and enjoy the holiday. Worry about all that work stuff for the New Year. Thanks again Jace.”

  “Yeah, you do too.” Jace hung up the cellphone and he looked out into the morning blizzard that was hiding away all of the houses on the block. No buildings, cars, birds, trees or even shops were visible through the onslaught of snowflakes that blinded his sight. But Jace didn’t care about the blizzard or the fact that he was stuck in New York City with his dying father and bigot sister, his mind was on the fact Tony went to Toronto without him. So far Jace had no idea what exactly was going. He had survived being shot at, stabbed, blown up, set on fire, thrown off of a roof, getting hit by a car and even a poisoned apple-don’t ask- one thing that he vowed to never destroy him; was a man breaking his heart and taking advantage of him.

  He turned away from the blizzard and re-entered the house calming himself down.

  Laurel Quinn hung up her cellphone turning around from the television screen she was watching a few minutes ago and smiled as she watched Fashion Designer Barelis Gooran enter the office of Publicity!

  The flamboyant fifty eight year old man strutted into the office wearing a bright yellow pastel tuxedo suit with bright pink pastel framed glasses and a neon yellow pair of loafers. On top of his bald head was a bright yellow fedora covered in pink pastel polka dots.

  “There she is!” He sang out as Laurel walked out of her office to greet him. “There is my Rose Bud.” He out stretched his arms to give her a hug and she willingly hugged him tightly. Laurel has known Barelis for more than a decade and it wasn’t because he was her client but because she was his. Every dress and every pair of stiletto shoes that she wore with pride, strength and assertiveness were designed by him.

  Barelis met Laurel when she was starting off as a freshman in college and he was great friends with her mother, the late Oscar Award winning actress Elizabeth Quinn. Ever since they first met, Barelis fell in love with her long legs and have vowed to make Laurel the face of his designer dresses and stilettos. A notion she quickly objected to as her career was more
involved with Publicity!, rather than just sitting down and smiling into a camera.

  Laurel pulled away from the hug smiling. “What are you doing in my neck of the woods?”

  The designer placed his hands back by his sides and smiled revealing his pale white teeth and he shook his head playfully. “Drama as usual. Trust me I need your-“ He stopped speaking and looked over at Tony’s empty desk and he lowered his eyebrows. “Where is that hot British assistant of yours?”

  “He’s out of town.”

  Barelis let out an over the top gasp and clenched his chest in shock. “You’re functioning without an assistant? How on Earth will you get through the day? Even worst! - Who will get you coffee?”

  “I assure you Barelis, Tony’s position here is far more than fetching me coffee. Now back to your presence.”

  Barelis nodded his head and he lowered his voice to a whisper trying to make sure no one else heard what he was going to say-although no one else was around. “You see…I did something-well said something very bad and it can potentially ruin me.”

  Laurel stared at him, “Please tell me you didn’t sign up to host another ‘Natural Animal Rights Peep’ dinner. You have fur and leather in your collections.”

  “Oh no, this isn’t like that dinner. Which by the way I assure you it would’ve went amazing if stupid singer Sarah Magoogle didn’t freaking out my winter collection as having fur.”

  “Well you weren’t going to fool them by saying it was faux fur. They can sniff dead animals from miles away, you know that.”

  Barelis nodded regretfully remembering the mistake he made about that situation and he pointed toward her office. “Can we talk about it in there?”

  “Sure.” Laurel turned around and walked back into her office as Barelis followed her in and sat on the chair in front of her desk. He let out a nervous sigh as Laurel leaned against the edge of her large chestnut desk facing him. “Okay, what’s going on?”

  Barelis had done many shows throughout his thirty eight year career as a high fashion designer. He met many elite clienteles, dressed politicians, dictators, prime ministers and various celebrities that would make many people jealous. This time he was nervous, his palms were sweaty and his voice cracked as if he was about to cry. Laurel had never seen him in this current state. He was over the top, loud and at times obnoxious but something was bothering him and Laurel didn’t like it.

  He placed his hands on his lap and finally took in a deep breath. “I did an interview with ‘Chic Galore’ magazine and I told the columnist that I voted for…I voted for Victor Reber in the Presidential Elections and I’m afraid once that gets printed…my career is over!”

  His words took Laurel by surprise and she got off of her desk and walked over to her chair as her mind began to wrap itself around what Barelis just confessed. While she made her way to her throne sized chair the designer couldn’t help but admire the black and white striped dress the Crisis Manager had on. The dress shaped her curves and it wasn’t tight in her chest area or suppressing any part of her body, it was a perfect fit! On her feet were a pair of black leather stilettos and Barelis shook his head appreciating the beauty of his work.

  “Seriously, how are you single wearing that? The combination of that dress and those shoes from my winter collection; makes you the Belle of the ball.”

  Laurel sat down on her chair and smirked at the compliment (?) he paid her.

  “Who wants to be Belle? It’s the Beast who has all the fun.” She stated causing him to nod appreciating how sweetly insane this woman was.

  He cleared his mind and focused on the reason he was there at the office. “The LGBTQ Community will have my head if they find out I voted for him, let alone the mere fact I support him will really make them hate me.”

  Laurel agreed with him. President Reber had made it known throughout his campaign run that he was against same sex marriage and being a Christian, he was against the entire Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Questioning Community. Which was ironic since throughout his campaign run he was pictured many times holding the rainbow pride flag. But that was politics.

  “Oh they would definitely flip out on you.” She said leaning back on the chair.

  “Exactly!” Barelis snapped. “I need you to work your magic Quinzy and get that article retracted fast before they print the magazines.”

  “Okay.” Laurel said calmly and she smiled warmly at him. “But I’m not going to call anyone and that article isn’t get retracted. They will print it as planned.”

  Barelis jumped to his feet clearly offended and a little hurt. “Are you insane?!”

  Laurel dismissed his words and he stopped speaking realizing that she had not one shred of guilt or remorse on her face.

  He slowly sat back down on the chair and looked at her pleading. “Did you not hear me when I said the Gays will burn me at the stake?”

  “Oh I heard you, but you’re looking at this all wrong. That article and your quote will be released, the blogs and news will definitely go crazy at what you had to say and that will lead to many, many, many, many boycotts…as well as success.”

  Barelis lowered his eyebrows, “How so?” Hearing about success caught his interest in more ways than one.

  “Honestly? Your sales haven’t been too great since your last collection. I’m saying this as a longtime friend. Now as your Crisis Manager, the public finding out about your support for Reber will cause backlash that is inevitable, but right now as you can see, the Nation is divided.”

  He listened to each of her words carefully as he tried to make sense about them but so far he didn’t see the same silver lining as she did.

  “People all around the world are scared this mini Hitler might make things worse for the Nation-if that is even possible- and because of this no one in their right minds are opening their mouths saying they support him. This is resulting in many designers refusing to dress him and his wife. But you, my pastel wearing friend, can wait until it is revealed you support him and watch all those crazy, racists and bigot Republicans buy every single piece of your clothing. You will be their hero.”

  The older designer rubbed his hairless chin thinking about what she said. The Crisis Manager was right. The Republicans have boycotted so many companies and celebrities that voiced their hatred for the Presidential Elect and this has caused a huge division amongst the Nation between them and Democrats. The Republicans are all joining forces with other Reber supporters and it would be an amazing idea for Barelis to throw his hat in that ring and benefit financially from the opportunity. It wouldn’t be the first time a celebrity used Reber’s name as an attention seeking tactic, all he needed was to design a dress with the Presidential Elect’s name on it for an actress to wear and there goes all the free publicity…who in their right mind would wear a dress with someone’s name in huge letters on it for fun? Only a person seeking attention and to benefit from the outcome. After all, any publicity is amazing publicity!

  He clapped his hands together loving the idea and feeling so much better about it. “Sounds amazing! Do I have your word you’ll be my knight in shining armor when the magazines and people bash me?”

  Laurel smiled nodding her head slowly. “You have my word I promise. I’ll be there when the crap hits the fan.”

  That was all Barelis needed to hear. He rose to his feet finally feeling free and sane. He opened his mouth to thank her but he froze in shock at the tv behind her that was on mute. The color in his face flushed out at the headline on the screen, he dropped his jaw at the screen and stared at it in shock.

  Laurel noticed his reaction and she swiveled in her chair to face the screen and saw the same thing he did. She let out a gasp and placed her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God”

  Back in New York City: Eleven Hours Later (8:15pm)

  The blizzard which hit New York City hours ago finally calmed down. The heavy onslaught of snow that blinded many New Yorkers were now just a few flurries.

  Jace
walked down the stairs of his parent’s house pulling a suitcase behind him.

  “I really wish you would stay.” Isabella said following him down the stairs.

  “Why? So you can send me to Hell? I get a lot of them from the husbands I find cheating on their wives.” Jace zipped up his purple hooded coat and made his way toward the door of the house.

  Isabella nervously outstretched her right hand as if she could stop him telekinetically. She let out a sigh and shook her head.

  Jace turned the doorknob and pulled open the door yanking the suitcase behind him as he stepped onto the porch closing the house door.

  He stopped in shock, confusion and excitement as he saw Tony walking toward the porch of the house. “Tony? What are you doing here?”

  Tony had a red beanie on his head that Jace never seen before and he wore a black coat that wasn’t necessarily thick enough to keep him warm. He smiled as he walked up the three steps of the porch to stand before the Private Investigator.

  “I wanted to surprise you. I felt it was selfish of me to head back home when you needed me most. Laurel reminded me-well she really threatened me. But what I’m trying to bloody say, is that I really like you Jace and I want to be your rock. Your support and your-“ Tony stopped when he noticed the suitcase behind Jace. He redirected his attention back to the twenty six year old in front of him. “Were you leaving? I thought you were staying here until January third?”

  “You didn’t hear?” Jace asked nervously which caused Tony’s heart to beat fast as if he was expecting terrible news.

  “No, I didn’t hear anything. What’s going on?”

  . “Darlene Hart was murdered.”

  Tony let out a gasp in disbelief “Wait what?”

  Jace nodded, “I was going to head back to San New to find out what exactly is going on. She was actually a person of interest in a case I was working on last month. Maybe her death is connected to that.”

  “Alright. Let’s go I’m parked down the street.” Tony grabbed Jace’s suitcase and walked down the stairs onto the snow covered walkway leading away from the house of Jace’s family.

  Jace took one final look back at the house he spent fifteen years of his life in. The same house that held more negative memories than good. The same house that felt more like a prison than a home. The same house where he vowed to never return to and now with the final hours of his father slowly approaching, Jace was happy to know; he would never have to return again.

  [END]