The Lonely Hearts Hotel(92)

McMahon had the madam smack Colombe across the face so that she looked like a victim and Rose would take her in. She showed up at the door of the theater wearing a raggedy old blue dress, holding a suitcase.

When Pierrot went to the bathroom, Colombe was standing there, wearing black-and-white-striped stockings and black high heels. She had on black lingerie that ended above her crotch. He could see her tuft of pubic hair and the bottom of her ass cheeks underneath it.

“Take me like a beast, mister. Degrade me. You teach me how I want it, daddy.”

Pierrot sighed and walked out of the bathroom. Pierrot had by now became accustomed to women showing up out of the blue and propositioning him. He knew McMahon was sending them. They didn’t want to be taken for a hamburger or a movie, or to meet any of his friends. They just wanted to go straight to bed. When he was a boy, he had often fantasized about such a scenario, where he lived in a city filled with nymphomaniacs who ran around on the street wearing coats with nothing underneath and offering him money or whole chickens if he would just have sex with them and end their misery. But he realized now that the fantasy was a depressing reality.

As he was walking away Pierrot turned around and called back to Colombe, “Hey, you wouldn’t be able to carry a tune, per chance?”

He was desperate to find singers. Colombe ended up having a pretty singing voice, and Pierrot offered her a solo.

“What do you want from me?” Colombe asked McMahon. “Those two are in love. He’s in love with Rose. He thinks she’s perfect. She sort of is too. I’m going to New York City with them. I’m done here.”





54


    THE ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN



McMahon came to see Rose before she left for New York City. He inspected the papier-maché moon in the corner of the warehouse. “Well, you pulled the moon right out of the sky. You didn’t think the rest of us wanted to look at it?” McMahon smiled, seemingly trying to make peace. She didn’t laugh, however. She stared at him. McMahon abruptly took the friendly look off his face.

“Jimmy is going to come closing night,” McMahon continued. “They are going to take the moon in a truck down to the riverbank, where they can open it. Go with them to oversee. I’ve never liked the guy. He’s always had this arrogant way about him. Like, the minute you walk out the door, he starts laughing at you. He doesn’t like Quebecers. He thinks we’re beneath him.”

Rose shrugged. She had been given so many reasons to look down on herself that she couldn’t be bothered considering any more. Being a Quebecer was the least of her worries.

“When do I get the money?” she asked.

“They won’t be giving you the money. I’m making a trade. Jimmy Bonaventura has a bunch of buildings he bought to launder money in the red-light district. He never wanted to sell. But when the price is right, anything’s for sale. When you come back, even your hotel will be owned by me. It’s the biggest real estate grab I’ve ever made. Too bad, it could have been yours. All those cabarets. But you prefer to fall in love with junkies.”

McMahon watched Rose’s face carefully to see if she would flinch or reveal even a tiny flicker of remorse for having left him. He saw nothing.

“Even if they don’t understand this show you’re putting on, don’t feel badly. This is the first thing you’ve put together. You’re young. You’re an amateur.”

He thought he saw the color in her cheeks darken. He decided to immediately continue the condescension.

“Are you excited to meet someone like Jimmy Bonaventura? What an adventure that will be for a nothing girl like you. You can tell me all about it when you get back.”

“I don’t think so. I think I would prefer never to see your face again.”

“It’s because I broke your heart.”

“I never loved you. I was with you because I didn’t have a choice. I threw myself at you because I was terrified of poverty.”

She looked into McMahon’s eyes. She was watching his reaction carefully. People gave away secrets when they were angry. You could read their emotions when they were enraged. She knew that McMahon had arranged to have her killed. He turned without saying anything and walked away.

? ? ?

IN THE HANGAR NEXT TO THEIRS, they were manufacturing bathtubs. They were carried out on the back of a truck that day, like a school of beluga whales.

? ? ?

THE CLOWNS ROLLED the papier-maché moon down the street, from the hangar to the train tracks, which wasn’t that far, only a few hundred feet. They were laughing. They were amazed at how strong the gravitational pull of the moon was. It was heavier than usual, and given its propensity toward escapism, they were afraid the moon would for sure make a break for it this time. The moon took up half a baggage car by itself. The sides had been scuffed when it was squeezed into two large doors.

Rose looked at all the trunks piled high in the baggage car. They had everything they needed to build a brand-new universe. One trunk contained small planets and shooting stars. Another had clouds and lightning bolts and snowflakes. There was a fake ocean and a pirate ship in one. Several contained costumes for aristocrats, generals and paupers. One was filled with flaming hoops and tiny tuxedos for dogs. Each was as full of wonders as Pandora’s box.

Rose was the last to board the train. She wore a red velvet jacket and matching trousers. Once she had slid the door closed behind her, everyone in the troupe popped their heads back in from the windows, because the action was now inside. When the train began to move, everyone let out a huge whoop. They were impressed by the sheer realness of all of it. This was the train she and Pierrot had been sitting on when they were very little, though then it was an imaginary train, heading to an imaginary place. Now it weighed thousands of pounds and could run over anything in its path.