Night Songs

by Penny Mickelbury

  NIGHT SONGS

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  A Mimi Patterson/Gianna Maglione Mystery

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIREEEN

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  About the Author

  A Mimi Patterson/Gianna Maglione Mystery

  By

  Penny Mickelbury

  CHAPTER ONE

  High heels click-clacked on the cracked pavement—stiletto, spike, the highest-of-the-high heels—extensions of long shapely legs made longer by the abbreviated and skin tight black spandex dress. The woman was what she appeared to be: Hooker, whore, prostitute, trick baby, shady lady, bitch. She’d been called all of those names applied to women who exchanged sex for money. She’d been called most of them within the last hour by a pitiful excuse for a man who blamed her because no matter how hard they both tried, he remained limp. And then he’d called her the names, loudly and violently and with a deep hatred, as if people like her didn’t have feelings that could be hurt. Then, finally, expectedly, he’d called her “stupid nigger cunt.”

  “If I’m such a piece of shit, and you’re here with me, what does that make you?” she’d finally snarled. And he’d hauled off and hit her, punched her right in the stomach. And she’d kicked him in his flaccid balls, then delivered a perfectly placed right hook to his weak chin, laying him out on the dusty floor. “You got a lot of nerve calling me names, you pitiful piece of poor white trash!” And with that she’d grabbed his pants, her shoes, jacket and purse, and run like hell, out of the seedy New York Avenue motel and into the chilly, early spring night, wishing as she always did that if white men couldn’t stay at home, they could at least leave their venom there. She was so weary of the self-hatred they inevitably visited upon her, and women like her, as if punishing them would somehow absolve the men of the misery that was their lives. And at these times she was always ambivalent in her feelings about their wives, vacillating between pity that they must put up with such jerks, and believing that anybody stupid enough to marry one of these fools deserved whatever she got.

  In an alley two and a half blocks and a world away from the motel, between a twenty-four hour gas station and a twenty-four hour carry-out, she quickly put on her fuzzy mohair jacket, shoes and stockings, re-arranged the cinnamon-brown real-hair wig, and counted the money in the creep’s wallet. She whispered a silent prayer of thanks for the three hundred dollars that would allow her to go home and get a decent night’s sleep for a change. She’d even be able to wake up early enough to feed and dress her daughter and send her off to second grade with a hug and a kiss, like all good mothers do. As a gesture of the gratitude she felt, which was part of her emerging new spiritual awareness, after she’d wiped the creep’s wallet and its contents clean of her fingerprints (for like many in her profession she was not unknown to the police department) she tossed it—credit cards and all—into the garbage dumpster, instead of selling the cards to her pal, Bo, as she’d once have done. American Express and Visa Gold—those cards were worth extra. But what the hell...

  Now, here she was, safe and free and walking aimlessly on a tree-lined residential street, comforted by the silent, dark houses in which normal people were doing normal things, like drinking beer and eating chips and watching television and falling asleep. This was not a neighborhood of the wealthy: The houses were small and the vehicles in the driveways utilitarian, but all was neat and clean and so very well-cared for: Perfectly clipped grass and hedges; doors and windows symmetrically aligned and adorned; the presence of children’s games and toys at virtually every house indicative of proper nurturing; several of the yards bearing evidence of early spring fertilizing and planting. Her own mother had just the previous weekend deemed the soil soft enough for tilling and liming. She felt almost like she could be one of them in that moment, unfettered by the need to attract paying customers, overcome by the normality of it all.

  Enveloped by the night, the clickety-clack of the stiletto heels was the only real proof that she strolled there, inside the shadows. Since she wore all black, including her skin, the deep darkness of the still night became part of her wardrobe. Somewhere in her consciousness was the understanding that she’d have to return to the bright lights and living-out-loud action of New York Avenue to find a taxi but most of her mind, when she let go of the anger and pain of the creep’s words, was on the decision taking shape and form there. Actually, she’d made the decision earlier in the day but since night was her strong time, the time when she thought most clearly, when she could take action, she strolled, releasing the tension and finding comfort in the increasing chill of the night. She walked herself through the mental exercises and re-affirmed her decision. She checked her watch: Just past midnight. Not too late to call, she decided.

  She turned a corner, angling toward the main drag and a taxi, and spied a lighted phone booth. She crossed New York Avenue against the light and had to scamper the last few steps to avoid being nailed by pizza delivery truck. She shot the driver a ‘fuck you’ with one hand while the other burrowed deep inside the huge, black leather bag in search of a small notepad. She was rehearsing what she’d say, how she would tell part of the story but withhold some of the juicy details in hopes of making a few dollars, even though the woman already said flat out she didn’t pay money for information.

  How to make money without selling her body was the new thought that filled her mind so she did not hear the car that drew up to her from behind—a shiny, new black Jeep Wrangler with the top off a full month too early; did not feel it ease past her and slow to a crawl; did not see the man in the passenger seat turn and nod to the one who sat behind him; did not see, until it was too late, the shiny object spinning end over end toward her. And in truth, had she seen it in time, she would not have recognized it nor could she have prevented it from finding its designated home. The expertly hurled hunting knife lodged in her chest, just below the clavicle, and penetrated her heart. The look of confused surprise that spread across her face died with her, but not before the sound that was in her throat struggled to live: “I know about you!” she cried out. But the men didn’t hear. They turned up the music as the Jeep was shifted into high gear and disappeared into the night. The song was one of death.

  Way down and all the way across town from the northeast end of New York Avenue, across the Anacostia River, deep within Southeast Washington, inside a tiny brick row house, a second-grader cried out in her sleep, flinging her arms wildly, waking her grandmother who grabbed the child to her bosom and uttered her own, quieter, cry, one born of a fear not defined but all to well understood.

  Closer to the stilled stilettos, but yet far enough away to make a huge difference in rent, in another darkened bedroom, Gianna Maglione also cried out, but not from inside the distress of a bad dream. She was powerless to control her responses to the mouth and touch of her lover, Mimi Patterson, and Mimi’s mouth was, at the moment, lodged hungrily between Gianna’s legs and she could only cry out in the joy of release. She could hear her own heartbeat, feel it pushing and pounding within her chest even as her body relaxed, tension ebbing. She felt Mimi wipe her mouth on the sheet, then felt her crawl up the bed and lie close beside, her head on Gianna’s breast listening to her heart. Gianna plunged her hands into the wild, curly mass of Mimi’s hair and whispered in her ear. Mimi shivered and sighed. A gust of chilly
night air rushed into the slightly opened window, rattling the tiny-slatted blinds, bringing with it snatches of Sarah Vaughan from the neighbors’ stereo.

  The moon hung high and luminous in the inky sky. Gunshots vibrated, dogs howled, sirens split the air. Life and death, love and hate, beauty and evil—all danced to the songs of the night as another April night in the Nation’s capital ticked its way into memory.

  Herman Bashinski was sweating bullets. It was not a phrase the computer salesman would have used to describe his current predicament; rather, it was how the homicide detective would have described the scene before him, had he been asked, as he watched Herman try, for the fourth time, to explain that no, he did not know a woman named Shelley Kelley, nor did he know a man named George Thomas, and he most certainly had been at home with his family on Friday night past. If the police didn’t believe him they could ask his wife. And Herman, for the fifth time, wiped his high-domed, freckled forehead with his now-damp handkerchief and tried to act belligerent, the way upstanding citizens do when their most sacred, God-given rights are being trampled upon.

  The door to the interview room opened and a uniformed officer ushered in a small, tidy, mocha-colored man who took several appropriately small and tidy steps into the room and stood before Herman. George Thomas looked from Herman to the detective and back to Herman.

  “That’s him, Detective. Elijah, the night porter, had to lend him a pair of pants, and then help him break into his car. Green 1992 Chrysler LeBaron, Maryland license 2009 ZQ. And of course, there was no tip for Elijah because the gentleman had no wallet.” And with those words, George Thomas stepped carefully and distastefully away from Herman and the detective, folded his arms across his chest, and waited, either to be allowed to leave, or for questions. He had no pity for Herman and no liking for the police. He knew they thought him little better than the hookers and pimps and johns that frequented his motel and paid for the barren, musty rooms by the hour. He knew that despite the elegant perfection of his hand-tailored silk and wool navy blue suit, cream-colored linen shirt, cordovan calf slip-ons, the police and the Hermans of the world saw only a Black man who catered to low-lifes. But George Thomas had the memory of truth to fuel his existence.

  He remembered the day forty-three years ago when he and his dearly departed Rachel bought the motel on New York Avenue, right on the major route from New York City to points South, to the original homes of most of the Blacks who now lived in the Northeast. It was a time when Black families en route to or from visiting kin in New York or in Georgia kept his rooms full year round because they could not, in those days, book rooms in Holiday Inns and Howard Johnson’s. They kept the rooms full and the restaurant busy day and night, winter and summer, and made him a wealthy man. But times changed, and so did New York Avenue, and so did the people who needed his rooms. And his Rachel, God rest her, was gone. So he had drained the pool and closed the restaurant and removed the televisions and the oil paintings from the rooms and accommodated his paying customers: What they wanted was a bed and a toilet, not a home away from home. But George Thomas still ran a clean establishment, just like in the old days, and he paid close attention to who came and went and he had a nose for trouble. So when Shelley Kelley came barreling down the hallway barefoot, orange wig sideways on her head, her shoes and some clothes in one hand, and dragging behind her the monstrous black purse that women of her profession seemed to prefer, George quickly grabbed the .357 Magnum—for which he had a license—from his desk drawer and waited. And finally, after almost half an hour, Herman Bashinski crept down the hall and around the corner and motioned to George.

  “Psst. Hey, Buddy. C’mere a minute, would ya?”

  “What do you want?” asked George coldly, not moving.

  “I just need to talk to you for a minute, that’s all.”

  “About what?” George fingered the trigger of the heavy gun.

  “I need your help!” Herman whined piteously and stepped cautiously around the corner, pudgy pink legs tightly together, dingy yellow boxer shorts chafing. That’s when George realized what Shelley Kelley had carried in her other hand along with her shoes. She’d been moving too fast for him to see clearly.

  “What do you want?” asked George again.

  “Some pants. And some help getting my car started. My keys are in my pants and my pants are...” Herman abandoned the explanation, sweat popping out on his head.

  George Thomas was five feet-four inches tall, but even if he shared Herman’s lofty six feet he’d not have given him a pair of his pants. Showing no movement detectable by Herman, George used his foot to press a button under the counter and in less than half a minute, a tall, well-built, but elderly man appeared behind Herman and when he spoke, Herman jumped.

  “Yes sir, Mr. Thomas?” Elijah said softly.

  “Help him if you can and if you wish.” And George said no more; indeed, paid no more attention to Herman and his problems. George Thomas did not like this man nor those like him, suburban white people who came into D.C. specifically to break the law—to buy drugs or women or weapons—and then to return to their safe, clean communities and point accusingly at the Sodom that was the Nation’s capital. George Thomas did, however, like Shelley Kelley. He was an observant man and an excellent judge of character. He was always correct when he assessed a young woman as being “wrong” for the work of the prostitute. He had advised Shelley to make a better life for herself and was as proud as any father when he learned that she’d attached herself to some group that taught her how to do yoga and meditation and be a vegetarian. George didn’t understand exactly what it was all about and he didn’t need to; what mattered was that this bright, vivacious young girl was getting out of the street life. So when he heard that Shelley Kelley’s body had been found eight blocks away with a hunting knife in her chest, he called the police and gave them Herman Bashinski’s description and the license number of his car.

  “So Herman,” drawled the detective. “You wanna tell us about this here Shelley Kelley?” He leaned back and balanced himself on the chair’s two rear legs and watched Herman’s face work.

  “I...I already told you. I don’t know anybody by that name.”

  Irritated, the detective let the chair fall on its front legs with a thud and in a single motion, reached to the folder on the table before him, snapped it open, and whipped out a glossy black and white photograph which he shoved toward Herman. “You tellin’ me you don’t know her, Herman?”

  “No. I mean yes. I mean, I never knew her name. Not really. You know, you don’t exactly get acquainted....” Herman’s voice trailed off and he wiped the sweat from his face again and told the detective the whole story, from the beginning, including how he was unable to have an erection and how he’d punched the whore and how she’d kicked him and then run off with his pants.

  And because the police had already found Herman’s pants and wallet in the dumpster, the detective believed his story, told him to keep his sorry, limp dick at home, told him and George to beat it. And that left the weary homicide detective without a single lead in his investigation of the murder of one Shelley Kelley because if Herman Bashinski didn’t kill her the detective didn’t know who did and he really didn’t have the energy to care. This was his ninth murder this week, the thirteenth in his open and active case file. And she was just a hooker.

  Carolyn King stood stonily dry-eyed watching the two policewomen search her daughter’s bedroom. They’re just about Sandra’s age, she thought, as they calmly stripped away every vestige of her daughter’s privacy. Carolyn had never interfered with or searched Sandra’s things and it was uncomfortable for her to watch two total strangers do what she’d never done.

  “Did your daughter have an address book or a diary, Mrs. King?” asked one of the officers as she emptied the contents of the desk drawers onto to the desk top.

  “That kind of thing she kept with her. In that big, black purse she carried with her everywhere,” said Carolyn King dully, lo
oking at the stacks of envelopes and piles of papers held by rubber bands and paper clips, and remembering how neat and orderly Sandra was, even as a girl.

  “Who were Shelley’s friends, Mrs. King?” The second officer piled a stack of clothes from the closet on the bed and began sifting through them, checking the pockets. These were the normal clothes, the jeans and slacks and shirts and dresses that Sandra wore around the house, to the store, and, on occasion, to church.

  Carolyn looked blankly at the officer, her face saying what her mouth could not: Why are you asking me about this Shelley?

  “Who did she hang out with, Mrs. King? Where? Did she hang with old high school friends? Who?” The officer struggled not to sound bored, not to show the irritation she was feeling with the woman whose blank, dry eyes stared at her.

  “You mean Sandra?” asked her mother.

  “She used the name Shelley Kelley on the street.”

  And that’s when Carolyn King broke. “My daughter’s name is Sandra Ann King! That’s what I named her! That’s what it says on her birth certificate! I don’t know nothin’ about no Shelley Kelley!” And Carolyn King rushed from her dead daughter’s bedroom into the small, neat living room and sank into the new sofa that Sandra had recently bought for her and cried for every one of the twenty-two years her only daughter had wasted.

  *****

  Lt. Giovanna Maglione stood up from her desk and stretched every inch of her lithe, five foot-eight inch frame, arms high above her head, back arched almost in half. That she was in the tenth hour of what would likely be a fourteen-hour day had no negative effect on the starched crispness of her white shirt and the sharpness of the crease in her black slacks. Her tie was still perfectly in place, as was her wild mane of heavy, mahogany hair: twisted into thick ropes on either side of her head and held firmly in place with ivory barrettes that once belonged to her great-grandmother. She rubbed her clear, hazel eyes, tired from the hours of staring at the computer screen; rotated her neck; did a set of deep knee bends; and breathed deeply in and out for sixty seconds. None of it could remove all of the tension stored in her body, nor could it compensate for the lack of sleep; but she revived enough to continue work on the monthly crime report and analysis due on her boss’s desk at 8:00 am sharp—which was in about eleven hours. She knew with absolute certainty that Inspector Eddie Davis, head of the Intelligence Division of the Washington, D.C. Police Department and her immediate boss, would not tolerate her being even one minute late. Not because he was an unreasonable or unkind man, but because he had warned her time and again about participating in her investigations instead of directing them and when she’d persisted he’d issued a direct order: behave in a manner befitting a lieutenant or else. The “or else” was looking better and better.