Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Grace held out the wad of toilet paper that was not toilet paper at all but was instead a Polaroid photo. Marc took it and unfolded it. Next to him, I could see that it was a photo of a very young Grace. She was wearing a smock-style blouse that covered the top of her jeans. She was making a face at the camera.
“After Marc found the cigarette case, I wondered if there was anything for me. I started looking around. It was in the drawer… makeup table… on my side. Not hard to find. I remember that top. I started wearing it when I couldn’t button the top button on my jeans.”
“What happened, Grace?” Marc asked. “How did you?—”
“It was stupid. A one-night thing with Finn and I was pregnant. That’s all. I was still a kid, barely eighteen. Wes drove me to get it taken care of, but when we got there I couldn’t go through with it. He was so sweet about it. I was hoping he’d be here tonight. I’ve always wanted to know what happened to him. I owe him.”
Marc lit a cigarette, then asked, “Gracie, why does Kathleen have your son? Did she kidnap him?”
Shaking her head, she started slowly, “It’s funny how murky things can get years later. Especially when things are… hard. I know Kathleen and Finn broke up around the time the show ended. I think it was about Finn’s night with me, though no one’s ever said so directly. I had the baby the following fall. That first year with Heston, I couldn’t cope. I had a little money from a trust fund, the money I’d made acting as a kid. But it wasn’t enough to hire help. And my parents… There was no one. I was stuck there with him all the time. Alone. I couldn’t go to auditions. I couldn’t get work. I was struggling. No one was helping me. Meanwhile, Kathleen had married Winthrop True. He wasn’t as famous then. It didn’t seem… Anyway, that’s when Kathleen found out her uterus is about as hospitable as the Mojave Desert. She wanted to adopt, so she came to me.”
“Why didn’t she take a more traditional route?” I asked. “Going to an old friend isn’t the usual route to adopt a child.”
“I suspect following the traditional route would have exposed some skeletons in their closets. I mean, they’re con artists. I think her husband even has a criminal record to that effect. A few years ago, I helped them buy a house in Newport Beach. They tried getting a traditional mortgage, but the broker started asking a lot of questions about Winthrop. Eventually, they had their church buy the house for them. Of course, that was much later. When we did the adoption I didn’t ask a lot of questions. Honestly, I was just grateful. Their lawyer arranged everything. There was money involved, which I used to get my real estate license and put a down payment on my first condo.”
I resisted the temptation to point out she’d sold her child. Instead, I asked, “Are you sorry?”
“I like who I am. I like the things I have. It would have been nice to get here another way, but that’s not what happened.”
I believed her, even as she wiped tears off her cheeks.
“Why did you come tonight?”
She took a deep breath to calm herself. “I never thought she’d bring him. I thought it unlikely we’d even talk about him. Silly me.”
“And Finn?”
“Finn? Finn’s a little boy. Was. For all the talk of men running the world it’s interesting how often they end up being completely insignificant.”
That took me aback. They’d had sex and she was the one who’d paid a price. But then, well, she was also the one who made all the decisions. She and Kathleen. It didn’t sound like they’d considered Finn at all.
Then I wondered if she was lying. Finn was responsible for her having a child. Kathleen took that child away. It’s not a stretch to think she might be angry about at least some of what happened. She could be trying to cover that up.
“I didn’t poison Finn, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said, wiping more tears. “I told you already, I’ve made quite a bit of money buying and selling houses for him. Not to mention the referrals I’ve gotten from him. Killing him would be shooting myself in the foot.”
That all sounded very rational—something I’d learned murderers often weren’t. I glanced at Marc; he was eating it up with a spoon.
“You poor thing. And here I thought you were just a rich bitch.”
“No, I’m just a rich bitch with a past. As most of us are.” A weak smile crossed her tear-stained face before she said, “Please don’t tell Heston. He doesn’t deserve any of this.”
“Of course not,” I said. Eldridge and Marc chimed in with similar comments.
When Eldridge and I got back to the stage—Marc stayed with Grace to have another cigarette—we stood near the table with Louis. Donald was behind the camera again. They’d set up in front of the blue curtain and Wendy was sitting on the stool.
“Can you believe this?” Louis asked.
I couldn’t. How could they continue? Two people had been poisoned and one of them was dead. Even if OTN still wanted the show, the police would be taking the tapes as evidence, wouldn’t they? They’d be lucky to ever get them back. None of that seemed to have occurred to Donald, who’d just gotten the camera positioned the way he wanted it. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”
Notably, Wendy was not holding a Juicy Juice. I was sure that meant something, but I wasn’t sure what. Did she want to downplay the juice since it likely figured in Finn’s death and Kathleen’s illness? Did she even realize that? We hadn’t told her. Or did she have a more realistic idea about the fate of the reunion show?
Donald said action and Wendy began.
“Donald and I met when we were theater students at a small Christian college in western Kentucky. After we graduated, we came to Hollywood and supported ourselves by producing and directing musicals at a summer camp in Oxnard, caroling during the holidays, and anything else we could think of to pay the rent. In the mid-seventies, we produced a sort of variety show for teenagers, Stars of Tomorrow , on the Westside. It was actually a really smart idea. You put eight or nine teenagers into a show, and you’re guaranteed that at least two or even three hundred friends and family will show up to see them. And, of course, there was a participation fee. It was actually lucrative. We started getting write-ups in the smaller newspapers and then, suddenly, we were in talks to turn it all into a television show for Saturday mornings.”
“What are your fondest memories of Kapowie!, Wendy?”
“I’d have to say working with you, Donald. I think it was the best period of our marriage. We had so much hope for the future. We thought we were going places. We were so in love then.”
“Cut,” Donald said, turning off the camera. “Wendy that might be a little too personal.”
He didn’t seem at all bothered by what she’d just said. We were so in love then implies they’re not so in love now. That went over his head, entirely.
Wendy said, “Of course. I’ll give it another try.”
He pressed the button. “Action.” After leaving a beat he asked, “What are your fondest memories of Kapowie! ?”
“I’d have to say the kids. They were so fresh-faced, so excited to be there?—”
“Cut,” Donald said. Wendy gave him a disgruntled look. “Wendy, you know I’m planning on talking about the kids. We shouldn’t talk about the same thing.”
“If I can’t talk about you and I can’t talk about the kids, what am I allowed to talk about?”
“The music, the dancing, the skits, the educational merit.”
“All right, fine,” she said tersely.
She steamed as he put his finger on the button and said, “Action.”
For the third time he asked, “What are your fondest memories of Kapowie! ?”
She left a long pause before she said, “The thing I’m most proud of is teaching kids not to take drugs, not to drink or smoke, to hold off on sex until they were older, not to give in to peer pressure, to respect themselves and allow themselves to be children as long as they could be.”
Then she took another moment before continuing, “And I’m proud of the fact that we did all that with songs and jokes and dance numbers. We didn’t lecture, we didn’t talk down to the kids. We tried to be on their level and teach them good lessons.”
After a beat, Donald said, “Wendy that was great. Now could you do an intro for the dance number?”
“We’re not still going to do that, are we? I mean, after the things that have happened. Even if they do go on with the reunion show, they’re not going to want video of the cast dancing without Finn and Kathleen. It’s creepy, Donald. And in bad taste.”
“We should have it just to have it though. Just in case.” I took that to mean he’d put it in whether it was creepy or not.
“It sounds like you want to film the cast doing the dance number. I don’t think you should. And I don’t think you can . I don’t think they’ll cooperate.”
“I’d like to try.
“If you manage to film it, I can introduce it over footage from the show. You don’t need it now.”
“But…” Donald took a moment and then gave up. “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You wouldn’t like to say a few words about Juicy Juice?”
“Why don’t you do it, Donald. You talk about the stores.”
“The stores are yours.”
“The stores are ours .” Then she looked around, saying, “Louis… Where’s Louis?”
“Here.”
“Donald would like a Hawaiian Sunset. Could you make him one?”
“I’d rather have a Giant Green Monster,” Donald said. “That’s my favorite.”
“Oh no,” Wendy said. “You know it gives you gas. I’m not—no, just no.”
“Hawaiian Sunset it is,” Louis said. Louis gave me a look as he left.
That little exchange might mean a lot. Or maybe it meant nothing. Did she know the green goop had been poisoned? We hadn’t told them. More importantly, was it safe to make drinks that didn’t have the green goop? Well… probably. The green goop had disappeared, meaning whoever poisoned it didn’t want to get caught. Yes, they could have poisoned some of the other ingredients. But why would they? And then I had the thought, It wasn’t random. Whoever was behind this had meant to poison Finn. They weren’t trying to kill us all. I have to say I relaxed a bit. Well, a tiny bit.
Wendy got off the stool and came away from the set. Donald and Ed moved the camera to the yellow curtain in the middle of the set.
I leaned in close to Eldridge and asked, “How are you doing?”
“I’m very tired, but I’m too busy being freaked out to really notice. I can’t believe everything that’s happened in one night.”
“I’m sorry about all this. I shouldn’t have gotten you involved.”
“Don’t be stupid. You had no idea it would turn out like this.”
That was a debatable point. Things seemed to turn out like this a lot. I had the feeling we weren’t likely to get paid. If they didn’t pay us, I should really pay him. Just pretend he worked at Pinx for the night. Of course, that got me wondering, “You know… none of my business but I don’t pay you enough to live on. How do you survive?”
“Scholarships, student loans, I have two roommates and my aunt pays half my rent.”
“And your parents?”
“Yeah… I have parents.”
Ouch. That was not a warm and cozy response. I decided it was best left alone.
“Mikey says your mom is really sweet.”
“She is. She’s also my mom, so she can be… trying.”
Oh God, I shouldn’t have said that since his parents were obviously much more trying than my mother could ever be. I mean, it was true, she could get on my nerves. But I was obviously much better off than he was. His parents didn’t seem to be helping him through college, while my mother just bought me a used car—and the only reason it was used is that I wouldn’t let her buy me a new one. Eldridge was smirking at me, which made me feel like he was reading my mind.
“What?”
“You’re cute. That’s all.”
Before I could remind him that we would not be going on any dates, Wendy called out, “Quiet! We’re going to film again.”
Once the stage was quiet, she said, “Are you ready, Donald?”
“Yes.”
“Action.”
There was a short beat before Donald said, “You have to press the button.”
“I told you Ed should do this,” Wendy said, then pressed the button. “Action.”
Beat.
“Well, I have exciting news,” Donald began. “OTN has just agreed to bring Kapowie! back. The show will feature songs, dance, jokes, skits… all with strong family values. We’ll be conducting a nationwide search for eight new teenage stars to make twenty new episodes. Well, seven new teenage stars. We’ve already chosen the first cast member. Original cast member Kathleen’s son… Heston True!”
There was a beat before Wendy said, “Cut! Donald, you didn’t tell me Heston was going to be in the new show.”
“Kathleen confirmed it this afternoon.”
“Can he do anything? Can he sing or dance or tell jokes?”
“We’ll have to find out.”
“You don’t know? You didn’t audition him? Did you even ask if he had any talent?”
“Of course, I didn’t ask. They want him on the show. Kathleen wants him on the show. That’s the reason it’s getting made. That’s the reason you and I are going to be in the industry again.”
“Why is that so damned important, Donald? We’re fine. We have everything we need. We don’t need this. We don’t need any of this.”
“I need this. I don’t want to sell smoothies for the rest of my life. I want a voice. I want to be heard. Can’t you understand that? Can’t you of all people?—”
She stepped forward and put her arms around him. They stayed like that for a long moment.
Meanwhile, I debated whether a kid’s show like Kapowie! really had a ‘voice’. I mean, it was pretty awful. And it seemed like other people were telling him what it was going to be. But I guess having a voice didn’t necessarily mean you got to say whatever you wanted or had something important to say or that you could say it well. After a long moment they separated, and Donald said, “Can we finish this now? I’d like to talk about our NATTY. Could you get it out of my bag, dear?”
Most people don’t know this, but a NATTY is the National Award for Teenage Television. It was a very low-level award that never really caught on. They stopped giving them out in the eighties.
Wendy went over to Donald’s camera bag and zipped it open. She quickly found the NATTY and was about to close up the bag, but then stopped. After staring into the bag for a long moment, she pulled out a prescription bottle.
“Donald? Why is my medicine in your bag?”
“I don’t know. Did you put it there?”
“Why would you ask that? If I put it there I wouldn’t be surprised to find it there now, would I?”
“Well, I didn’t put it there. Why would I put it there?”
“Maybe you didn’t want me taking my meds tonight.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why would I want you to not take your meds. If anything, I’d want you to take your meds. You’re always very annoying when you don’t take your meds.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Wendy, just take your pill so we can get on with this.”
She popped open the prescription bottle. Reaching one finger into the vial, she stopped, then took her finger out so she could look down into the orange bottle.
“Donald, half my pills are gone.”
“Did you knock the bottle over somewhere?”
“I didn’t knock the bottle over and I didn’t put the bottle in your bag.”
“Well, I don’t know what happened. You know you forget things.”
“I haven’t forgotten that I forget,” she said angrily. Then she stormed over to him, shoved the NATTY into his arms, and thumped over to the craft table. She grabbed an evian and took her pill. Immediately afterward, she shoved some shortbread into her mouth.
“Ed, can you operate the camera?” Donald asked. He seemed relatively unperturbed.
“Sure thing.” Ed got behind the camera, then asked, “Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am.”
“All right then. Action.”
Donald barely left the beat he’d been telling everyone else to leave. “In nineteen seventy-eight at the end of our first season, we were lucky enough to win a NATTY award for excellence in teenage television.”
He held the award up to camera. There was a rustling sound behind us, and I turned to see that Kathleen was standing just inside the sound stage. The heels and the wig were gone, so she was much smaller. She was barely taller than her son, who was holding her up. Her hair was cut into a mousy pixie.
“Where is he?” she croaked. “Where is the son of a bitch who poisoned me?”