Chapter 7
It was very dark and still by the river that I night as Noreen waited for Studsy to pick her up. She had left the boathouse just after dark and walked the two miles to this deserted old landing.
The car eased to a stop at the foot of the dock. Studsy Green put his head out the window, peering into the gloom. "Babe? You here?"
Noreen picked up the little overnight case that Goldie Jeffers had given her and ran swiftly toward the car. She tumbled into the front seat. "Hello, Studsy! You made it. A good thing for both of us. Get going. Out of town as fast as you can. Better head toward Greensburgh." This was a town near the state line. She knew she could get a bus there that would connect with Pittsburgh and New York.
Studsy shot her a glance of mixed resentment and admiration. "Gee, Babe, you're sure giving a lot of orders tonight." Suddenly he laughed and reached for her. "But I don't mind! Not for what you promised me."
She let him kiss her briefly. His breath smelled of wine. He was as big and hard and muscular as ever, but there was no thrill to his kiss. She pushed him away. "Studsy! Get going. The cops probably patrol around here. Remember, if we get caught now we're both in lots of trouble."
Studsy slowed the Cad as they passed through a little town, already gone to bed. When he picked up speed again he said: "Only fifteen miles to Greerts-burgh, babe. Guess we better start looking for that motel pretty quick, huh?"
She slapped his hand away from her bare flesh before she answered. "Get in as close to town as you can. I want to catch a bus afterward. And you better give me the money now."
Grumbling, he fumbled for his wallet. "How am I gonna pay the motel?"
"You can keep five bucks for that. And another two for some wine if you want. I can use a couple of drinks myself."
"Okay! Just a couple winos, that us, huh?" He sounded more cheerful.
Noreen took the bills and tucked them into the purse Goldie Jeffers had given her. Goldie, she thought, might be nothing but an old bag, but she was better people than Studsy and his sort any day. Goldie had helped her, a perfect stranger. She had given her the entire outfit left by the other girl: underwear, nylons, a pair of suede pumps, and a lightweight gray faille suit. No hat. To this Goldie had added the overnight case and the purse. In the purse was fifty dollars, the woman's own money.
In addition there was the phone number and address of Yvonne Speers in New York. Yvonne was the girl who had fled the syndicate in Chicago. Goldie had given Noreen a pass word to use when she called Yvonne, so the girl would know she was from Goldie and trust her.
"She won't have nothing to do with you, dearie," Goldie had said, "unless she hears the pass word. Then she'll know you're okay. I guess I'm maybe the only one in the world she can trust. She's living with another girl now, but I don't know anything about her. Yvonne's a good girl, even if she ain't very smart, and she'll help you get started. Only if I was you I wouldn't hang around her too long. Sooner or later the syndicate is gonna find her and half kill her."
They were coming into the outskirts of Greens-burgh. Studsy slowed the Cad as they approached a line of motels. Large and small, luxurious, medium, poor class, they lined the road. Each with its own sign, the red and green and blue efflorescence filling the night like some weird flower.
"Which one?" demanded Studsy. He was idling along now, letting other cars pass him as he scanned the motel signs. "There's one with a vacancy. And a liquor store just across the street, too. How about it?"
The motel was called the Green Dragon. The vacancy sign was on, a's Studsy said. It appeared to be an older motel, with phony looking log cabins. The parking space was badly lit. Might be just the thing, Noreen told herself. She had two plans for taking care of Studsy boy, but for the better plan she needed an old-fashioned bathroom.
He was in the bathroom now, turning on the shower. "This is gonna be the shortest bath on record," he called. "Open the champagne, babe." He began to sing one of the new juke hits.
For a moment she was tempted. She felt hot and flushed and little shivers kept running down her spine. What would it be like with a man like Studsy? She looked down at her taut breasts, felt a little throbbing ache in them. I'm ready, "she thought suddenly. I'm a woman! I want a man!
But not Studsy! Don't be a little fool all over again!
She took the key from her stocking and tiptoed toward the bathroom door. Studsy, with the shower curtain half drawn, never saw her. She pulled the door gently to and twisted the key. Click. Sing on, Studsy boy!
Noreen flung on her clothes, not bothering to button anything. She scooped his clothes from the floor and bundled them under one arm, picked up her purse and the overnight case and was out the door before the sound of the shower stopped.
The Cad was just outside the cabin, with the keys in the lock. He always left them in the lock. Noreen tossed his clothes in the back and slid behind the wheel. The powerful motor purred into life. She backed around and was just leaving as she heard the first bellow of outraged surprise from the cabin.
Noreen smiled as she drove through the entrance. The clerk didn't even look up from his comic book. There was no phone in the cabin. She had made sure of that. Oh, let's see you get out of this one, big boy! No clothes, fifty miles from home, the car gone! Studsy was going to have to dream up some tall stories.
She left the Cad parked on a lonely street near the bus station, after first determining that the next bus for Pittsburgh left in ten minutes. It would be at least an hour before Studsy could get out of the bathroom, find some clothes, and come looking for the car. Probably he would guess that she was catching a bus and wouldn't even call the cops.
How would he dare? He would be lucky if the motel clerk didn't!
Just as she was about to slam the door of the Cad she had a thought. She looked in the glove compartment. There, beneath a clutter of maps, was a thin sheaf of bills in a money holder. Studsy, running true to form, had lied-about being broke.
Noreen went down the dark street carrying the little overnight case. Her high heels beat out a defiant tatoo on the sidewalk. She walked with shoulders back and head high. New York, here I come. Look out!
The brightly lit bus station was almost empty. No one paid any attention to her. She bought her ticket and counted the money she had found in the glove compartment. Nearly a hundred dollars.
As she was stuffing it back in her purse she noticed the crumpled letter. It was the one she had written to the warden of Sunny View. She hesitated a moment, then mailed it. Another score taken care of.
Five minutes later the big Greyhound came in and she climbed aboard. She would change at the next sizable town, take a feeder line and double back north and west, then catch another bus direct for New York. No use taking any chances.
With a new name and a new personality, a whole new life, she intended to find herself.