Penelope's Suitors

Chapter 06

Chapter 6

Spring, 2006

A few minutes later Ted and Vic entered a dark bar in one of the narrow side streets that weave in and out of the financial district. The wood of bar and booths had been polished until it gleamed. Every kind of bottle lined the wall against a gold-flecked mirror that reflected the backs of the bartenders in their white shirts and black bowties.

“Good to see you again, Mr. Kaplan,” said the hostess. The booth backs were high—you couldn’t see or hear anyone in the next booth. A waiter joined them instantly.

“Your usual, Mr. Kaplan?”

“Yes. And the same for my friend here.” The waiter nodded. “Trust me, I don’t know any other bar in town that stocks this Scotch.”

“Anything to eat, Mr. Kaplan?”

“Whatever they’re recommending in the kitchen.”

“Very good.” He left to take care of the order, and returned with glasses with a beautiful dark gold Scotch.

“To summers past,” said Ted, and they drank. He savored it, and thought about Maxwell’s brandy. Financial people seemed to know their liquor. “You didn’t steer me wrong here.”

“My treat, Ted. We had a good year.”

“I know. It’s my job to keep track of firms like yours.”

“Thank my Dad. He’s the investor. I’m strictly marketing and front office.”

The waiter showed up with a plate of stuffed mushrooms.

“I love these. I better get to the gym this week,” Vic said, popping one into his mouth. “So, was it Maxwell’s death that inspired you to call me? Why are you planning to visit my old girlfriend? If I can get away can I come too?”

“It is indirectly related to Maxwell’s death. I’ve been asked to do a favor. By Penelope.”

“Still has you wrapped around her finger?” Vic had nearly finished his Scotch. Ted tried to catch up.

“Let’s just say it’s for old times’ sake,” he said with a smile. “I'm working with her on an authorized biography of Maxwell. She thought we should take another look at what happened to William as part of it. She was wondering if there was more to William’s accident than any of us thought, so I’m making a few inquiries. I don’t think there’s anything there, but I told her I’d ask around.”

Vic just shook his head. His Scotch glass was empty, and then Ted finished his. Vic signaled to the waiter for two more.

“Poor guy. What a way to go. But it was an accident. What else could it be? Didn’t they rule it an accident?”

“Well, you know, Penelope is a lawyer. And you know what lawyers are like.”

“The lawyers I meet work for the SEC. Sharks, every one of them.”

“Vic, what happened that night? I was running around Mohawk Falls.” Vic was well on his way through a second glass, and Ted wanted to information out of him before they were both smashed.

“It was pretty simple, actually. We were at the fire. You know, we were making a fire damn near every night toward the end of the summer. We knew it would be over so soon. Laurie loved the fires, and we were sitting there. Let’s see, you were there with Mary-Lou. A bunch of guests. That guy who worked on the engines—Matthew. William. Ariadne. I bet there were 30 people that evening. At some point you and Mary-Lou disappeared. Pretty early I remember—running off on some sort of errand.” He grinned.

"Just a final romantic evening, that started as a wild goose chase to Mohawk Falls looking for some lost guests."

“Oh yeah. In that big Land Rover. Anyway, it wasn’t much later that it started to drizzle. So I moved the party indoors. We grabbed our stuff and headed for the Hall. I remember William freaking out about his guitar getting wet. That funny punk rock girl of his—we had a name for her—"

“Deady Reddy.”

“That’s right! What a little freak she was. She offered him her sweatshirt to dry it. But he said he wanted to go back to the cabin and check it out. At some point we noticed he hadn’t come back—I think someone had asked where the music was. I thought maybe he had gone off with her.”

“Did you see her again? Was anyone else missing?” Vic was near done with his second Scotch.

“Ted, other than Laurie, I couldn’t swear to anyone at the Hall that night after we left the beach—except William, because he was always playing that guitar when he was around, so I know he wasn't there. There were a couple of dozen of us, at least, drinking beer, playing Ping-Pong, disappearing into the back. You know Stanislaus was strict about no smoking there, so people would slip out for a smoke everyone now and then.” He pursed his lips. “Wait—I remember one thing. Penelope did come down at one point and had a hissy fit.”

“What about?”

“I don’t remember what set her off. Our existence seemed to bug her. We only opened the back door, not the big front one. Laurie had found an old radio in the machine shop and turned it on, and we danced behind the counter. And then I saw Penelope standing by the back entrance, on the little landing, and glaring at us. I remember because I whispered to Laurie, ‘Boss’s daughter having a snit.’ I walked over to her and she asked me what was going on. I told her it was drizzling, but we were all having such a good time, we opened the Hall up to keep the party going. Well, I know you were head over heels for her, but she was quite a little prig at times. She just glared at everyone again, and stalked out.” He signaled the waiter for another round.

"Was she looking for her sister?"

"Could be. She was always anxious about her, wasn't she? Anyway, it wasn't a really heavy rain, so people kind of wandered in and out. You remember how it was. Some boy was probably taking her for a walk on the docks."

"Sounds likely."

“That’s about it. Laurie and I talked about slipping out, so I told Matthew he’d be responsible for throwing everyone out and locking up when he got tired, and he said fine, he was talking to some guests anyway. But he said he was worried about William. Afraid he had fallen in the dark, in the wet somewhere. He was reminding me of Stanislaus—is he still around—remember how he always focused on ghastly accidents. Anyway, I said all right, have a look and then come back. I thought he’d run up to the cabin and that’s it. I don’t know why he was looking all the way up the cliffs. Well, as you know, he found his body. He came back—I called the police. I think he went back to stay with the body.” He sighed. “What an awful way for such a great summer to end.”

The waiter left more of that magnificent whiskey in front of them.

“It was a good summer—till that,” agreed Ted, his eyes losing their focus as he thought back.

“So you’re going to look up Laurie and everyone up at the Lake?”

“Laurie, Mary-Lou, Joan, Matthew. Anyone who may remember something. Tell me, did you notice anything funny about William that last week or so?”

“He was an odd guy. Just him and the guitar. I just assumed he was making it with that girl—what was her real name? Donna? No, it was Denise."

"Was she around that evening?"

Vic shook his head. "I remember her being around the fire, but I can't swear to her being around later, when we were in the Hall and William had disappeared. Again, I assumed that he had gone off to be with her. It seems she was always around him, sulking if he wasn't paying attention to her. Frankly, I think he could’ve taken or left her. However, I’ll tell you who was being weird toward the summer’s end—Ariadne.”

“I don’t remember that. What was she doing?”

“Bugging Laurie. Not that Laurie minded. Anyway, she started asking her advice on make-up and clothes. I think Laurie was flattered. Even picked up Ariadne on her day off to go shopping at the outlets.”

“She was almost 16, and no mother. Probably getting interested in girl stuff. And I don’t see Penelope helping her much in that.”

“Yeah, and it was a shame. She was pretty. I bet she became a beautiful woman.”

“She did,” said Ted.

“Of course, you saw her. Well say hello the next time you see her. She was a good kid.”

"She liked you a lot," said Ted, and Vic nodded.

“What about Matthew?” continued Ted. “You know, I don’t remember him pairing off during the summer. He was a good-looking guy.”

"I'll tell you," said Vic, “If you had a one-in-a-million chance with Penelope, he had a one in ten million chance. You at least were smart, and he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. And hell, you had the sense to move on when another girl was available. As I heard it, he spent his whole senior year following her around. What either of you saw in her was beyond me. I never understood her.”

Vic smiled at some past memory. “You know, I just remembered. Laurie and I went to the mall once, one evening, she had some things she wanted to buy, and we thought we'd see if there was anything we wanted to see at the multiplex. We stopped at a music store. Sam Goody, something like that—remember, it was cassette tapes then? Anyway, we ran into Penelope. She had a bunch of tapes and was on line as we were walking in. So we said hello. Laurie asked what she was buying. And she got all flustered. Tried to cover them up, ended up dropping a bunch." He took another sip.

"So what were they?"

"Oh, the tapes. That was the odd thing. Nothing offbeat, nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, I'd remember if it was something ghastly, like, I don't know, the Carpenters' Greatest Hits. Soft rock, some folk, I think. Laurie started to talk to her about them. She just stammered, said she was just wandering through the store and casually picked up a few items. Paid quickly, and practically ran out of the store."

"Why?"

"That's just it, why? I mean, how often did you see Penelope really flustered? And over a few tapes? Anyway, you wanted to know about William. Poor bastard. For what it's worth, I don't think anything really happened. He always seemed in a daze, add a beer or two, a misty night, and it’s easy to wander off the trail and over a cliff. What exactly were you looking for?"

Ted shrugged. "Just some loose ends. Anyway, when was this?"

"William? The end of August, you can't have forgotten—"

"No, meeting Penelope at the store."

"Oh. Let me think. It must've been August already. I was already thinking the summer was more than half over, and I'd start looking for some sort of goodbye present for Laurie at the mall."

Vic looked at his watch.

“I promised Freddy I wouldn’t be too late tonight. You live in Manhattan, don’t you? Let’s grab a cab uptown.” He signaled the waiter, who promptly showed up with the check. Ted made a show of paying, but Vic waved him away. “As you said, we had a good year. Anyway, sorry I couldn't be of more help.”

"Not at all—you brought back a lot."

They found a cab and gave directions. “If I can’t eat with the girls, I can at least read them a story,” he said, “And Freddy usually saves me a bit of dinner. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Freddy. But I want you to tell Laurie, from me, that she was the hottest girl I ever knew.”

“I’ll just make sure her husband isn’t around,” he said. But Vic ignored the sarcasm.

“Well, I just hope he appreciates her.” The rush-hour traffic had largely dispersed and the cab sped uptown to Ted's apartment building. "I don't know if you knew," said Vic, "but I kissed her once."

"Who?"

"Penelope."

"You kissed Penelope?" The half-drunk Vic nodded. "You didn't even like her."

"No I didn't. But you know, it didn't matter, you understand. It wasn't that summer. The year before. Some girl, a cute blonde—I said goodnight to her at her parents' cabin, then I was walking back across the beach and saw Penelope. She was alone, said she liked watching the moon rise. I dunno, she just looked so quiet and composed, so without even thinking, I kissed her."

Ted could hardly find his voice and his throat was dry. "What happened next?" he asked.

"I thought she'd hit me. But she just looked at me in the moonlight. Didn't say anything. So I moved in to kiss her again. But she put her hand on my chest, shook her head, and walked away. Go figure. I think we're at your place." The driver pulled to the front. "Good luck, Ted. Please do give my regards to Laurie...to everyone. Really." And he looked sad for a moment.

"Of course I will." The cab headed west and Ted went up to his apartment.

Already he had an inconsistency. He lay down in bed, and thought about it, and about William wandering in the dark off the edge of a cliff. He reflected on Vic's casual pass at Penelope, more than 20 years ago, and was surprised how much it hurt.



Summer, 1986

Ted knew he'd find Penelope down at the beach after dinner, reading until the light became too dim. He found her in an Adirondack chair, close to the water to take advantage of the last rays of sunshine. He pulled up a chair next to her, and saw what she was reading before she could slip her bookmark into it and place it facedown on her lap.

“D.H. Lawrence? Not most people’s idea of beach reading.”

“It’s on the reading list for freshman English. I thought I’d get ahead.”

“Looking forward to college?”

“God, yes. I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Ted waved his arm over the expanse of lake and the mountains behind it, in a dozen different shades of green.

“Most people would envy you here, a house next to a magnificent lake, across from a state park.”

“Most people don’t live here year-round.”

“True.” He took in her lovely profile. “I liked writing to you last winter. And I liked the letters you wrote to me."

"Yours were more interesting than mine. I have a boring life here, and you're a much better writer than I am anyway. I liked it when you wrote about New York, and about college."

"I'm happy to keep amusing you. Will you give me your college address? I know your freshman year will be busy, but I’d like to keep writing.”

“Of course,” she said. She didn’t resume reading, but continued to look at the last bit of sunlight slipping away on Longwood Mountain, and Ted was content just to sit next to her.

“You're sure you don’t want to join us? We’re driving into Fort Bramwell, going to an arcade, play some Skee Ball…”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll stay in tonight. Anyway, thanks for asking Ariadne along. She’s very excited—watch out for her, will you?”

“We’re going to Fort Bramwell, not Las Vegas.”

“Who’s going anyway? Mary-Lou?"

Ted fought a blush. "Yes, Mary-Lou—she's driving. And Vic, William, Matthew, and Laurie. A couple of guests—a giggly friend of your sister’s, and some boy who’s been following them around—for God’s sake, Penelope, he’s only 15 himself.”

“Well, just watch out.”

Vic appeared at the head of the path to the beach.

“Hey, we’re ready to go!” he shouted.

“It’s getting too dark to read. I’ll walk up with you.”

Everyone was piling into Mary-Lou’s station wagon—her mother’s old car. Not a cool set of wheels, Mary-Lou said, but a very efficient way of getting a group of teens into town. William was waiting for the last arrivals in the parking lot, and his hands were awkwardly shoved into his pockets. It’s as if he doesn’t know what to do with them when he doesn’t have his guitar, thought Ted.

Penelope waved to them and began walking up the hill to the Stone House. Mary-Lou offered her a ride, but she said he wanted to walk.

William was staring intently at Penelope's retreating form. “You know who she reminds me of?” he said. “Morticia Addams. You know, from the Addams family. I mean, doesn’t she?” And Vic roared.

“That’s perfect—you got it perfectly! She just needs one of those dresses, you know—that funny long dress—"

“It wasn’t an insult,” said William quickly. “I always thought Morticia was kind of hot. Isn’t she, am I the only one who thinks Morticia is hot?” He looked at the other two for support. Ted grinned and shook his head. He hoped Matthew hadn’t heard. Vic kept laughing.

Mary-Lou leaned on the horn.

“Are you guys coming or what?” she asked. They ran to the car—Ted was hoping to ride next to Mary-Lou, but Laurie was already there, and Vic grabbed the spot next to her.

“What was so funny?” asked Laurie.

“I’ll tell you later. It was great,” said Vic.

“I’m not 100% sure we’re going to get up this hill. Penelope may beat us up after all. It’s an old car and it’s been a while since it’s had so many people in it,” said Mary-Lou. It took her a few minutes to turn the car around in the dirt lot. Then everyone listened to it strain as Mary-Lou forced it up the road, but with a lot of noise, it made it. William was looking with curiosity out the window and Vic was looking at Laurie.

Mary-Lou signaled left as she approached the top of the hill. They passed Penelope, who waved to them. Ted turned and saw her watching them as they headed south along Route 18.