The Glittering Life Of Evie Mckenzie

‘Give her a chance, Rog. She’s here day and night. She’s got a feel for the place.’ Chuck gave her an encouraging smile.

‘This place needs something, Rog. Something to make it special,’ Tug said.

‘It’s got you, Tug.’

Tug rolled her eyes. Roger had the money to bankroll the club and get it going, but he lacked the vision to see what it might be. And Chuck? She still hadn’t figured him out. He seemed like he was just along for the ride, but he shared the club equally with Roger, and Tug doubted he cared as little as it seemed. She was determined to show them what the club could be, and for them to enjoy the fruits of their success. ‘I’m going to keep working on it.’

‘I wouldn’t expect any less.’

‘This would be easier if you were a pushover, you know.’

Chuck laughed out loud and returned to serving customers. Roger grinned, and then moved to where Evie sat at the bar, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead.

Tug watched as Evie smiled up at him. It was like a painting. Everything with them was exactly as it should be. They were like Upper East Side royals, meant for each other. She loved Evie, but sometimes it was hard to watch the little rich girl get everything that Tug had once expected for herself. She’d once seen herself as Evie’s equal. And while Evie certainly treated her the same way she always had, Tug knew that a divide that was worlds wide had opened between them. Evie stood on one side, with men like Roger and Chuck. And Tug watched from a distant shore. Life just unfolded for people like them, Tug thought. Other people had to fight for every little scrap. She swallowed down the bitter taste that had risen in her throat and forced herself to smile. Evie couldn’t help where she was from anymore than Tug could.

‘Cute, aren’t they?’ Chuck asked, making Tug jump. She hadn’t realized he was watching the couple over her head.

She turned and looked up into his cheerful face. There was a wistful expression there she hadn’t noticed before. She followed his gaze back to Roger and Evie. Could Chuck be jealous, too?

Chapter Three

Evie

Once Evie began to think of herself as a society columnist, everything she saw and heard seemed ripe for exploitation in a column. But two events had jumped out as the ideal subjects for her first piece. She handed the column to Mr Tobias and sat on the edge of her chair, waiting for his reaction.

‘The Manhattan Mouth?’ He raised a skeptical eyebrow and Evie felt her nerves spike. ‘That’s what you wanna be called, “Manhattan Mouth”?,’ he mused to himself. ‘Sounds kind of obnoxious, dontcha think?’

‘Well, I …’ Evie began.

‘Just give it a second to roll around in my head. Lemme read what you’ve got here.’ Tobias bent over the words that Evie had spent hours typing onto the page. He read the page and then looked up at Evie again, a serious look on his face. He picked up the sheet of paper and snapped it in front of him, pulling it up in front of his face.

Evie fidgeted. It seemed he was going to read it again.

After another moment, he put the paper back down on his desk with a smack and grinned up at Evie. ‘Here’s what we’re gonna do.’ He leaned back in his chair, the smile still on his face. ‘You’re not gonna be the “Mouth.” It just doesn’t fit. But the Mouse, now … what do you think?’

‘The Manhattan Mouse?’

‘Exactly.’

Evie smiled. It did sound more demure. And secretive. ‘I like it. I think that’s better.’

‘Sure it is.’ Tobias was still smiling.

‘So … the column?’

‘Yeah, so you’ve got this Hattie Whozit left in the lurch by this rich kid just before the wedding … for an older woman. I like that. That’s perfect.’ Tobias chuckled. He was staring at a spot on the wall just behind Evie’s head. She guessed he was thinking as he spoke, and sat still despite the awkward feeling that she should turn and see what he was looking at. ‘And then you’ve got this political type escorted from a club that “doesn’t exist” by a cop who definitely knows it don’t exist, and who certainly wasn’t drinking there … yeah, kid. Yeah, this is good stuff.’

‘Oh, I’m so glad you like it.’

‘How’d you get it?’

Evie sat up straighter. ‘Just like you said, sir. Just talked to a few people who know people, and …’

‘Right, that’s good. Yeah, I don’t really want to know.’ Tobias fixed her with a stare. ‘Here’s a tip. Get people to tell you things about themselves. Then, get them to tell you things about other people that they promised they wouldn’t tell anyone.’

‘How?’

‘By threatening to talk about the things they told you about themselves. Collect secrets like coins, and you’ll be rich, kid.’

It made sense. But it sounded a little more unscrupulous than Evie was prepared to accept. She nodded, only to avoid any further suggestions that might make her second guess her newfound profession.

‘All right, Mouse. Get out there and dig up some dirt! Let’s have a column a week. Due on Tuesday.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Evie rose. Tobias was still grinning when she let herself out of his office and skipped down to the street, feeling a sense of independence that she had never experienced before.

*****

That night Roger came to call, taking Evie to see a new picture called The Ten Commandments at the Fugazy Theater in the Village. They hadn’t had much time alone together since Roger had gone back to school after the holidays, and Evie found herself looking forward to having the generous smile and dark warm eyes all to herself for a change. ‘You look fantastic!’ Roger stood in the entry of Evie’s parents’ townhouse.

‘You do, darling, you look wonderful.’ Her father beamed at Roger’s side.

Evie had taken special care with her hair and even dared to rouge her lips and cheeks, despite her mother’s regular objections to face painting. She wore a pale green dress that hit just below her knee with a beaded neckline and a chiffon swag around the drop waist. Her satin heels pinched her feet, but since they’d be sitting down most of the night, she wasn’t concerned. She adjusted the headband she’d pulled around her dark bob and gave both men a bright smile as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

‘You look wonderful, too,’ she told Roger. And he did. His thick dark hair always made Evie want to run her hands through it, and the sparkle in his chocolate eyes sent a thrilling shiver down her spine.

He leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek and then shook hands with her father. ‘I’ll have her home at a decent hour, Mr McKenzie.’

‘We don’t worry when she’s with you, Roger,’ Evie’s father said, smiling.

Roger helped Evie on with her coat and they were off, braving the frosty evening breeze as they walked to Roger’s car, parked along the curb.

Roger had a convertible, but he’d pulled the top up to keep some of the wind off them as they drove downtown.

‘Are you warm enough, sweetie?’ Roger glanced over at Evie, who was shivering on the cold seat. ‘Oh, no, you’re not. You’re freezing! Scoot over,’ he said, holding one arm out to pull her close.

Evie moved in close to the warmth of Roger’s body, inhaling the scent of soap and leather that always seemed to linger on his skin. She leaned into him, closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation of comfort and security that she always found at his side.

Roger maneuvered the little car through the busy streets, and Evie was content to watch the world glide by. It was amazing to her that she’d ever considered Roger too boring a prospect for her. There was a time – before she knew that he was actually running a speakeasy – that she’d believed he was just another dull Upper East Side college boy. Her parents had paraded plenty of them through the parlor at the house after Evie had been presented to society. It seemed that the pressure was on to plan out the rest of her life right away. And that had never really been what Evie wanted. But Roger was the perfect match for her sense of adventure. He was safe and predictable in the right ways, but had an unexpected dash of danger too. She gazed up at his profile, lit by the street lamps that glowed beyond the windows. He was close to perfect, she thought.

There had been another man, once. A man that appealed to her interest in the darker side of life. He’d been intriguing and seductive – the owner of another speakeasy she had been to with the girls. But in the end, she’d chosen Roger. And her mind strayed to the icy blue eyes of Jack Taylor only now and then. She assured herself that he had forgotten her, anyway. She hadn’t seen him in months, and she certainly wouldn’t seek him out now.

‘What’s going on in that head of yours?’ Roger asked, his full lips smiling down at her.

‘Just enjoying the ride,’ she said, pushing thoughts of Jack from her mind.

‘Well, I hope you won’t be disappointed then,’ he said. ‘Because we’re here.’

The Fugazy Theater rose before them, its name in lights on the vertical sign at the corner of the building. The marquee in front declared the Cecil DeMille movie ‘Amazing’, and Evie found herself looking forward to the show.

‘I’ve heard that the Red Sea scene is incredible,’ Roger told her as they took their seats.

‘Oh, don’t spoil it for me!’

‘All right.’ He held her hand through the show, and Evie enjoyed the sensation of sitting in a dark theater, holding Roger’s hand. When he leaned in to whisper to her, his warm breath caressed her neck, and by the end of the picture, Evie found herself feeling flushed, and hoping that Roger didn’t plan to simply take her home.

‘Want to stop by the club?’ he asked as he helped her into her coat. He played with the edge of his hat, and shifted his weight.

‘Sure,’ Evie said. ‘Are you all right?’ He seemed uncomfortable suddenly.

‘Fine,’ Roger said, smiling broadly but still looking uncertain.

Evie couldn’t shake the sense that he was nervous about something, and he seemed distracted as he drove, whistling and grinning at her from time to time.

‘You sure you’re all right?’ she asked him as they got out in front of the club.

‘I’m fine,’ he said, putting an arm around her. ‘Never better.’

They descended the steps and Roger knocked on the door. A small window slid open and then shut again, and the door pulled inward. ‘Hey boss,’ said the man standing behind the door.

‘Sal,’ Roger said, taking off his hat.

The club was quiet, and it took a moment for Evie to realize that there was no one there. The band played quietly on the platform in the corner, and the tables all held candles, but there were no patrons sitting at the tables, chatting and drinking. She turned to Roger with a question in her throat, only to find him standing at the bar with his back to her. When he turned around, he had two glasses of champagne in hand, and a broad smile on his handsome face.

Evie’s skin tingled with anticipation. Something was happening. Something big.

Roger walked to a table in the middle of the club as the doorman let himself out onto the street, leaving them alone. ‘Join me?’ Roger said.

Evie moved to the small table and smiled, taking the champagne that Roger held out to her. ‘What’s all this?’

Roger put his glass down and knelt before her. ‘Evelyn McKenzie, darling,’ he paused and then laughed. ‘I can’t tell you how nervous you’ve got me right now!’

‘You?’ Evie’s body was buzzing and it felt as if electricity was zapping through her veins. Roger was proposing! Shock bubbled in her, and she knew she was smiling like a fool.

‘Evelyn … Evie,’ he began again. ‘You know I love you. I can’t imagine a day where I don’t have you in my life. I guess you know where I’m headed with this already …’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden ring with three stones set in the top. ‘Evie, will you marry me?’

Evie found herself giggling, and she reached down to pull Roger back to his feet. ‘Yes,’ she laughed. ‘I’d love to!’

Roger slid the ring onto her finger, and then leaned down to kiss her. His warm lips met hers and Evie felt the bubbles in her stomach turn to something warmer, something that had her mind buzzing and her fingers tingling. And when Roger’s tongue gently parted her lips, Evie found that her mind fled altogether and her body took over. But just as she found herself pressed against him, her entire body on fire as the stiffness pressed into her belly made her think of all that might be about to happen, Roger stepped back and waved her to her seat.

She smiled and tried to collect herself, suddenly embarrassed at her own ardor, and simultaneously disappointed that Roger seemed intent on adhering to the unwritten laws of propriety.

Despite her disappointment, Evie realized that Roger most likely wasn’t eager to do anything with the trio playing in the corner, and tried to put her deflated feelings aside. She should have more self-control, too, after all.

For the rest of the evening, they enjoyed the privacy that having the club to themselves afforded, and when Roger brought her home later, Evie felt like she’d been in a dream all night. She went up to her room and crawled into her bed, turning everything over in her mind. She was relieved that her mother didn’t seem to sense anything different when she’d greeted her at the door and wished her good night. She’d tell her about it tomorrow, but for tonight, she just wanted to enjoy her secret. She lay down and gazed at the ring sparkling on her hand.

She was going to be Mrs Roger White. She’d spend her life with Roger. He was perfect.

Why then, did her mind keep returning to another man, one with eyes like glaciers and fingers like fire?

Chapter Four

Tug

It was a rare night that Tug wasn’t at the club, slinging drinks and keeping an eye out to make sure no one got out of hand and the cops didn’t cause any problems. But Roger had assured her that she wasn’t needed, and had encouraged her to enjoy a night off. She could use a break anyway. But even with a night free, Tug found that her mind was on business. She rang Janie Evans and Evie, looking for accomplices to help her feel out the competition.

‘I’ve got plans with Roger tonight, Tug,’ Evie said.

Tug was surprised. ‘I thought he was working. He gave me the night off. Someone’s gotta take care of the club!’

‘I guess Chuck’s got it covered,’ Evie said.

‘That’s odd,’ Tug said. But she wasn’t going to worry too much about it. She was going to enjoy her night off, even if Evie had other plans. She would have liked for her to come, but consoled herself with the fact that Evie sounded a little disappointed not to be able to.

Janie took more convincing than Tug would’ve liked, but she wasn’t about to complain since she won her over in the end. ‘I’ll pick you up at nine!’

‘Your father’s letting you drive his car?’

‘What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?’ The truth was that Tug’s father was rarely conscious by nine o’clock at night, and he certainly wouldn’t remember where he’d parked his beat-up jalopy. Tug borrowed it often since she’d learned to drive, and she’d become a proficient driver, even after a few cocktails.

‘See you then!’

*****

Tug pulled up outside Janie’s parents’ place at exactly nine, and Janie darted out from behind a shrub on her neighbor’s front porch.

‘What are you doing?’ Tug asked, laughing as Janie got into the car and pulled her camel coat tight around her.

‘I told my parents I was meeting some friends and I left a while ago,’ she said, looking glum. ‘They think I’m meeting some boys.’

‘Oh?’

‘They don’t like me spending all my time with you and Evie. They’re worried I’ll never get married.’ Janie stared out the front window, her eyes sad. ‘They spent my whole life keeping me away from boys and now they’re practically foisting me on them!’

Janie’s parents had sheltered Janie to the point where she was practically a shut-in, but now that she was almost eighteen they wondered why there weren’t suitors knocking down the door. Tug shook her head at the irony. Her own parents were separated, and the timing – just as she was preparing to debut – had removed any possibility of her joining the ranks of the marriageable society girls of her day. Instead of coaching her to the finish line she’d been pushing her toward for her entire childhood, her mother had moved out, taken every cent that she’d saved on Tug’s behalf, and left Tug to nurse her father, who was more interested in drinking than he was in introducing her to the right type of man. Tug was on her own.

‘We’re not worrying about that for tonight, Jane.’ She guided the car away from the curb. ‘Tonight we are two girls on the town, out for a good time. And to pick up a few tips about how to get more people into the bar.’

‘The first part sounds swell.’

‘You need a drink or two and the second part will sound swell, too.’

*****

The girls made their way to a club that Tug had heard her customers talking about, a place just north of the Village situated through a door in a back alley. The door wasn’t marked, but Tug had asked enough questions about how to find the place that when she saw two young men disappearing down the alley, she was quick to follow them.

‘We can’t follow men we don’t know into a dark alley!’ Janie hissed.

‘I need to see where the door is, Jane. Come on, or we’ll be out on the sidewalk all night!’ Tug pulled Janie behind her, following the men until they stopped and opened an unmarked door. The girls watched as the men disappeared through the door, light spilling out from inside. ‘Come on!’ Tug and Janie followed, pushing through the heavy wooden door to find themselves in a small square space lit by a single bulb glowing on the wall. The room was covered in wallpaper of heavy red flocked velvet, a pattern so dense and complicated that Tug felt the walls were moving as the velvet snaked around them. There was no clear exit from the room.

‘I don’t like this, Tug. Where did they go?’

‘There’s gotta be another door here. They didn’t just disappear!’ Tug began running her hands around the small room, her palms flat on the walls. After a moment, she became frustrated. Through the walls – or maybe the floor – they could hear the faint din of a band and of people’s voices, but they could find no clear way inside. Just then, the door they had come through pushed open again, and they found themselves standing in the small space with a large round-faced man who seemed unsurprised to find them there.

‘Hello, ladies,’ he said.

Tug elbowed Janie hard, and Janie yelped.

The man laughed, his face reddening. He had what Tug’s father would have called a baby face. In fact, Tug’s father had many things to say about the particular man in front of them, and Tug had heard all of them, especially when the Yankees were winning.

She swallowed hard. ‘You’re … you’re Babe Ruth,’ she said, looking up into the friendly face.

The man grinned as Janie gasped. ‘I was this morning,’ he said.

‘My father’s a big admirer of yours,’ Tug told the big man. ‘He thinks you’re gonna win the pennant again this year.’

Ruth glowed, rubbing his hands together and swaying slightly on his feet. ‘And what about you, what do you think?’ He winked.

Tug giggled lightly and put a hand to her hair. ‘I don’t suppose you can show us how to get into this joint, can you? I can’t seem to remember.’

‘Sure I can,’ Ruth said. He reached up and pressed a button in the high corner of the room, camouflaged by the detailed flocking of the wallpaper. A small hole flipped open at eye level in front of where Tug stood, and an eye appeared.

‘Hey Tony,’ the baseball player said. ‘I’ve got a couple pals with me tonight.’

The entire wall before them swung inward, opening to a long hallway leading into the dark. Tug hesitated.

‘Go on,’ said Babe Ruth. ‘It’s right on down there. I’ll show ya.’ He placed a hand on the small of each girl’s back, and ushered them into the darkness.

The sounds of the club increased in volume as they moved closer, and finally they came to another door, lit by another single bulb.

‘Enjoy your evening, Mr Ruth.’ The voice came from the darkness behind them.

‘We will, Tony.’ Ruth’s hand dropped lower and he gave Tug’s rear end a pat as he said it. She jumped, practically tripping through the door and into the club that had revealed itself before them.

The place was large – at least twice as big as Evie’s, Tug thought. There was a band on a small stage in the center of the far wall, and there were girls on the stage in front of the band. They wore costumes and feathers on their heads attached to large headdresses. The costumes were slinky, revealing dresses, falling high above the girls’ knees, and dropping daringly low in front.

Janie actually gasped when she saw them. ‘Those girls must be prostitutes,’ she hissed to Tug. ‘What kind of place is this?’ Her face was a mask of shock.

Tug looked around her, her smile widening. ‘This, Jane, is the kind of place I’m gonna run one day.’

Ruth ushered them toward the bar, where he was immediately greeted by most of the men and several of the women who had been seated and standing there. Though a dark exotic-looking woman had wrapped herself around the ball player within minutes of his arrival, he still asked Tug and Janie what they’d like and handed their drinks to them, smiling broadly as he did so.

Janie and Tug sipped at their drinks and stared around them. There were couples dancing in the center of the floor, and the girls on stage were moving to the music, following some pre-choreographed steps that they had clearly rehearsed. And when the song came to an end, a woman with blonde hair appeared, holding a microphone. ‘Give the little ladies a great big hand!’ she called to the crowd, who complied with applause and cat calls.

‘That’s Texas Guinan,’ Tug hissed to Janie.

‘You know Texas?’ Ruth asked, overhearing.

‘No, I … I met her one time,’ Tug told him. ‘I think she’s amazing.’

‘She’s the bees’ knees,’ Ruth agreed.

‘This is her club?’ Janie asked, wide-eyed.

Ruth nodded, the dark-haired girl at his side practically climbing the big man as she regarded Janie and Tug with a look of pure malice. After a moment, Ruth had turned back to the bar, and Janie and Tug moved to the side.

The space was packed. Elegant chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, and the floor was waxed to a high shine. The bartenders wore a uniform of sorts, or at least they matched one another in crisp white shirts and red bow ties, and the two of them were in constant motion, pouring and mixing. The cocktails appearing on the bar top were more complicated than anything Tug made at Evie’s, where there was little going on in the way of mixing things. Tug knew that mixers were a way to disguise lower quality alcohol, and Evie’s didn’t have that problem since their connections were at the Yale Club. The Club had been allowed to keep any alcohol purchased prior to Prohibition to serve to private members once the Volstead Act went into effect. And they’d had a year to stock up in advance of the law being official. As a result, excessive quantities were procured, and eager entrepreneurs became rich quickly, supplying bars and individuals who had the right connections and cash.

Tug watched everything with an eye toward making Evie’s better, and Texas Guinan did everything right as far as she was concerned. After a couple of hours, Janie insisted that they go home, though Tug would have been happy to stay all night. They thanked Babe Ruth and went back out into the frosty night, the dark sidewalks and silent streets a jarring contrast to the gay club interior.

Chapter Five

Evie

‘You met Babe Ruth?’ Evie stared at her friends as they sat together in the parlor of her parents’ house. Tug’s descriptions of their night out had Evie almost forgetting all about her own news. ‘What was he like? Was he handsome?’