The Vaudeville Star

“Nope. And I told him to be on his way.”

“You weren’t harsh, were you?”

“Nope. But you’re out of his league, and that’s a fact.”

“We’re all human, Lewis.”

“Maybe. But you have breeding. Class. You’ll go far,” he said gruffly.

Ruby smiled. His kind words warmed her heart. “Don’t go getting attached to me, Lewis. I’m off to London soon,” she teased.

“Attached? Hmph! I’m not attached to anyone, let alone some pert miss young enough to be my granddaughter.”

Ruby smiled as she moved away from the old codger. She put the little daisies in water as soon as she entered her dressing room. When she sat down upon her chair, she gazed into the mirror and turned around in alarm.

“No need to be frightened of me,” Zeta said as she reclined on the sofa. “I am just Zeta.”

“I-I’m not. I just didn’t expect you.”

“I’ve been waiting for you. It seems all I do is wait these days. Wait for things to happen,” she said, sitting up to face her.

“You wanted to speak to me?” Ruby asked.

“I’m almost forty, you know. Forty in this business for a woman almost equals death. The men, they want to see a flash of leg, a pretty smile, and if she can sing, that’s okay.”

“I don’t understand.” Ruby shook her head.

“But I will tell you this, little peasant. I don’t care if you’ve slept with King Parker and a dozen like him. I have top billing, and I am the star! Do you hear me?”

Ruby flushed pink and stood. “I heard you quite clearly, Zeta. And allow me to clarify that I have not slept with King, nor will I. And I got here because of my talent and nothing else!”

Zeta stood as well and snorted. “We’ll see. When a man spends so much money and then asks that he make love to you, it will seem a small thing, no?”

“No,” Ruby said firmly. “Not to me. I have my pride.”

“Pride?” Zeta laughed. “Pride is the first thing we women lose when we try to rise. Trust me. I know it better than anyone.”

When Zeta was gone, Ruby sank back into the chair. She felt a sense of loss. She understood for the first time that Zeta had given up much to forge a place in the vaudeville world, and she viewed Ruby as a usurper.

When rehearsal resumed, Ruby took up another song in the first act but did not perform the third song. The other performers watched as Ruby glided across the stage with an ease and elegance she had not had before.

She sang quietly so as not to strain her voice for the actual performance, and when she was finished, she made a little curtsy to the empty audience.

“Well done, Ruby,” said one of the Vadas sisters.

The late afternoon was setting in when Ruby returned to her dressing room. It was quiet backstage as many of the stagehands had left after rehearsal for the local bars. As she stepped inside her room, she saw Ford sitting quietly on the sofa.

“I had to see you,” he said swiftly.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, not exactly. King has decided to go to London with the show.”

Ruby looked down at the worn rug. She didn’t like it. She didn’t want to spend nights upon nights aboard a ship with King Parker. It was almost as if Zeta’s prophecy had come true. All the money he lavished on the tour, how could she refuse him her body? How could she ever give him her body?

“Has he?” She turned from him.

Ford stood up and came to stand behind her. “It’s only a matter of time, Ruby. He may be willing to wait now, but eventually he’ll want more. I know him. I’ve seen it.”