"I will. Bye."
I stepped out, feeling revived, calmer. It would take time to understand all she had said, but I would think about it. Since I had been with Holly and Billy I paid more attention to these things and I wasn't so quick to laugh at anyone or anything that seemed new and different to me. I was leaving myself open to new ideas and experiences. But there were still some things I could definitely do without.
Dreading facing Richard again, I headed back to the apartment, following the directions Madam Marlene had given me. A little over half an hour later, I turned into the main gate and with great trepidation, made my way to our building and then to the elevator. When I stepped out and walked to the apartment door, I paused. I had to tell Mommy what he had tried to do, I decided. Maybe now, maybe finally, she would see him for what he truly was.
I opened the door and entered, surprised to find them both sitting in the living room. Mommy looked like she had been crying all afternoon. Her eyes were bloodshot; her face streaked with makeup that had run. Richard sat there looking calm, his legs crossed, a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He gazed up at me with a confident smirk that put a chill in my heart.
"So you decided to come back," Richard said. "What did you do, Melody? Run away afterward?"
"Yes," I said defiantly gazing back at Richard as I spoke. "I did. I was too scared to stay here. I was afraid he would come back and try again."
"Ha!" Richard said and crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. "Listen to that."
"Melody, how could you?" Mommy asked.
"How could I what?" I looked from her to him and then back to her, realizing he had told her some lie. "It was him, Mommy. And I don't care if I called you Mommy," I added quickly for his benefit. "He attacked me in the bedroom. He came into the bathroom while I was taking a shower and he--"
"Liar. She's just like I said," Richard
interrupted. "Conniving, sly. Tell the truth for once, will you."
"The truth?"
"I was sitting here, right where I am now, relaxing, planning on making some important calls, when all of a sudden, she comes out of the bathroom after taking a shower and parades naked right in front of me," he told Mommy. "She walked right up to me as if she were fully dressed and smiled. Go on, tell her," he challenged me.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "That's not what happened, Mommy. He took all my clothes out of the bathroom and when I came out and went to the bedroom, he was waiting for me and he was naked!"
"Did you ever hear such a story, Gina? Look, Melody, you've been trying to compete with Gina ever since you arrived. You made a spectacle of yourself down at the pool and then you tried to steal the limelight at the party. I get you a job, but it's not good enough for you. Oh no. You'd rather we support you, too."
"Mommy, listen . . he was there, in the bedroom, waiting for me. He told me he was going to educate me. He--"
"Educate you? This story gets more and more stupid every time she opens her mouth. Listen, sweetheart, you're going to have to do better than that if you want to make it in Hollywood."
"I don't want to make it in Hollywood! And neither do you, Mommy. You have to come home. You have to leave this place," I cried.
"See?" Richard Marlin said jabbing his finger at me. "That's been her plan all along . . to mess things up for you so you would leave. She's jealous of her own mother. I've seen it a hundred times, and especially out here. Now she says she doesn't care if she calls you Mommy. She'll do it deliberately in front of people and make you the laughingstock of the whole industry. She's already made us a mountain of trouble because of what she did at Live Wire."
"Mommy . ." I said, turning to her. She shook her head at me.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Melody. I really don't know what to say."
"Say you believe me. Say you know he's lying and that he's a phony who can't do anything for you out here, that all he's doing is getting you silly little jobs or selling you to sex merchants," I begged.
Richard sat back looking very satisfied. Mommy bit down on her lower lip and looked away.
"Mommy--"
"Keep it up; keep it up. Keep calling her Mommy," Richard chanted like a cheerleader at a football game.
"Maybe Richard's right, Melody. Maybe it's better for all of us if you go back. This isn't working out."
/>
"You believe him, Mommy?" I choked, barely able to whisper the words.
She didn't reply. I saw the grin on Richard's face and I glared back at him hatefully. He looked so confident and Mommy looked so weak and under his control. My frustration and pride overflowed.
"Maybe you deserve him then," I said and fled to my bedroom to pack my bags.