Slick (51 page)

She vented a long, tired breath. “You make me crazy, Scott.”

“I know.”

“I mean you really drive me nuts.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Now I could even hear the bumps in the road. I could hear Alonso bitching about the
New York Post
. Jesus. Get over it, already.

“I decided what to do about my father,” Harmony told me. “If he wants to be a part of my life, I’m going to let him in. See if he’s worth getting to know. But if he asks me for money again, even once, I’ll know he’s not for real. I’ll know he’s just playing me.”

“I think that’s very smart.”

“Not that I’ve been doing much thinking about him today,” she added with a nervous titter. “Ever since I woke up, I’ve been all about Larry. Larry, Larry, Larry.”

I smiled. “I’m sure Larry’s been thinking about you too.”

“Yeah, but he’s not scared of me like I’m scared of him. And these guys haven’t helped. Maxina and Alonso have been telling me things all day. They’re like ‘Okay, if Larry asks you this, don’t say this. But if he asks you that, definitely say that.’ And they keep reminding me how he’s been doing this stuff for a million years. I get the point already.”

We sighed in tandem. Harmony groaned.

“Scott, what do I do?”

That was all I needed to hear to come alive. I sat up. “I’m glad you asked me that.”

She laughed. “Come on. You think I’d go on live national TV without talking to you first? You’re the only one who makes sense of this shit for me.”

Life was good again. I hopped out of the bed, pacing with fierce new energy. “Okay. First I want you to forget everything that Maxina and Alonso told you. Can you do that?”

“Oh, that’s not a problem.”

“Good. Now forget that proper diction you seem to be using. Just talk the way you normally talk.”

“Oh no, Scott. I’ve been practicing all day.”

“I don’t want you wasting precious energy on grammar. It’s unnecessary.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to sound stupid.”

“You never sounded stupid to me. And I’m pretty smart.”

“It used to be easy for me,” she lamented. “Before the accident. I used to be able to turn it on and off like a light switch.”

I knew that. By now I was very familiar with the “before” model. She was a good kid but she never could have smiled from a Polaroid the way this Harmony did. This was the Harmony I wanted.

“Just turn it off and leave it off. Will you do that?”

She loosened up already. “Yeah. Okay. Shit, so far this is easy. You only telling me to forget things.”

“Yes, but here comes the hard part. You want everyone to like you, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I want you to forget that too.”

She paused. “Forget I want everyone to like me?”

“Absolutely. Anyone who presumes to judge you from the other side of a TV screen and a big bag of Cheetos is not worth impressing.”

She laughed loud enough to quiet Alonso. “But what about Larry?”

“Larry’s just a big old softie. He already loves you for the numbers you’re bringing him.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Harmony, take a step back and look at yourself. Look at what you’ve got.”

“What do I got?”

“You’ve got five roommates who turned down large amounts of money to protect you. You’ve got at least six bodyguards who’d probably protect you for free if it came down to it. You’ve...”

I stopped at the window, momentarily stuck for words.

“You’ve got a talent for affecting people,” I said. “Even the ones who aren’t so easily affected. You do it without even trying. All I’m saying is don’t start now.”

She was dead quiet, but it was all warm silence.

“Harmony, when that camera light comes on, you’re going to snap into place. Mark my words. You were born for this. I saw it before I even knew you and you knew it before you met me. Don’t shit a shitter.”

She let out a soft, cracked laugh. “What you doing to me, Slick? You trying to make me cry before I even get there?”

“No. I’m just trying to hold your hand.”

“I wish you were.”

“I wish I were too.”

“I don’t know why you mess me up so much, Scott.”

“I don’t know.” I rested my head against the window. “I don’t know. Somehow you and I just got tangled up.”

“Yeah, but I don’t see us ever getting married.”

“No. Doesn’t look likely.”

“I mean I knew from the beginning that you too old, too white, and way too smart for me.”

Grinning, I paced again. “Yeah. And I knew you were too young, too short, and far too nice for me. But I probably could have overlooked those things.”

“If?”

“If you weren’t so goddamn famous.”

She didn’t laugh. I was almost hurt until I heard the faint sounds of cheering from the other end of the line.

“Harmony? You there?”

“Yeah. I’m here. Holy shit.”

“No, I mean are you there at the studio?”

“Yeah. I guess so. Oh my God. Holy shit! Are you watching this?”

“No,” I said, fighting the urge to run downstairs. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“There are people,” she began, then stopped to listen to Alonso. Come on. Shut up and let her talk to me.

“Scott, there are people all over the street. Outside the CNN building. They got signs. They all got signs with my name on them!”

“Don’t keep me hanging. What do they say?”

“Oh my God...”

“All right. I’ll let you go deal with this.”

“No! Don’t go! Stay with me!”

“What do the signs say?”

“There’s, uh... ‘Harmony rules.’ ‘Go Harmony.’ Uh...‘Stand strong, Harmony.’” She laughed, incredulous. “‘Give them hell, Harmony.’ ‘Harmony Prince forever!’ ‘Inglewood High School loves Harmony Prince!’ That’s my school! And there’s, uh...”

“What?”

She lost some steam. “‘We believe you, Harmony.’”

 

 

I stayed with her, hiding out inside her big red cellular. When she stepped out of the limo onto Sunset Boulevard, she took me with her, carrying me through the gauntlet of cameras, cops, and spectators. As she proceeded, she described everything she saw, everything she felt. When she felt fear, I told her to stow it. I’d gotten her this far. I’d bring her the rest of the way. When she felt guilt, I told her to save it. She’d need it soon, but not tonight. Tonight was her night to bask in the world’s unadulterated affection. It was such a rare thing nowadays to see a blameless celebrity. The Bitch had a tendency to bite and scratch the people she took into bed with her. Just ask Hunta.

But Harmony was in for nothing but warm, sweet love, and lots of it. If anyone deserved it more than she did, they should have come to me. I would have helped them too. Once again I felt divinely empowered, but this time my strength was matched by an otherworldly kindness. I was a benevolent force of nature. I was the Great Karmic Equalizer.

I was Superman.

And once I carried Harmony into the CNN building, I let her go, told her to be careful now, and flew back to my workplace before anyone even knew I was gone. I came back downstairs as Clark Kent, wearing only the tiniest hint of satisfaction on my innocent face.

“Did I miss anything?”

Of course, Clark Kent had the luxury of being surrounded by extremely dense people who couldn’t see through a pair of glasses. I had Madison. She turned away from CNN and looked at me like I’d just changed into a cocktail dress.

“What? What’s the matter?”

“She has the same phone,” Madison uttered, still working it all out. “Harmony Prince has the exact same phone as you.”

Oh. “So?”

“I just saw it. She was just talking on it while you were upstairs. Talking on yours.”

“Madison, what would you like to know?”

“I’d like to know what would happen if I took your phone, did a star-sixty-nine callback, and asked for Harmony Prince. That’s what I’d like to know.”

Expressionless, I sat down on the easy chair. I thought about it for a moment, but what else could I do? I handed her the phone.

“Well?”

My trusting assistant listened into the receiver, then handed the cellular back to me.

“Nothing,” she said. “It’s not working.”

Of course not. Our phones may have been big and weird but they were loaded with enough advanced technology to thwart the FBI. What chance did *69 have?

“Now do you want to ask me directly?”

She tried to maintain solid eye contact, but she didn’t have the confidence to pull it off.

“I’m sorry, Scott.”

“Don’t be sorry. Your suspicion isn’t so crazy. This is a very dirty business. People double-cross each other all the time.”

“But you’re not.”

“Not what?”

“Double-crossing Jeremy.”

Smiling softly, I shook my head. I fought the urge to call her “sweetheart.” Harmony had made me all too aware of my tendency to patronize.

“I’ve made mistakes, Madison, but I’ve never betrayed a client. And I have absolutely no intention of betraying this one. In fact, you could say I’m quite obsessed with saving his ass. Do you believe me?”

“Of course I do,” she said. “I’m just... It’s stupid. I did the same thing last week, when you were late. I just jumped to the craziest, darkest explanation and assumed that was it.”

Who was I to fault her? I used to wonder if she was secretly winning me over as a thirty-four-year-old deaf woman. Her miss was a lot closer than mine.

“I just get the feeling there’s a lot you’re not telling me,” she said.

“That’s because there’s a lot I’m not telling you.”

“Why?”

“Because as incredible as I think you are, you’re only thirteen. I have other responsibilities that I can’t share with you. I can’t even share the reasons I can’t share them with you. All I can say is have patience, have faith, and stick with me. Someday I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

Madison curled her arms around her bunched knees, staring forward. “I know, Scott. I just—”

“—wish you could do more,” I finished. “Yes. You and me both. At least we can be frustrated together.”

She peeked up at the TV. CNN reminded us for the hundredth time that the hour of Harmony was nigh upon us.

“There has to be some way to stop her,” she said.

“How do you prove that someone wasn’t raped? Either we’d have to find hard evidence that she lied or she’d have to confess it herself, on record.”

“That’ll never happen.”

“Probably not,” I said, fighting to stay in character. “But it’d be a hell of a nice surprise.”

 

 

At 5:55, Jean’s SUV returned to its now familiar spot at my front curb, near the hydrant. Madison shot to her feet the moment she heard the horn. This was not a nice surprise.

“Oh no! What is she doing? She’s early!”

Normally, Jean would be right on time, but today there was a schedule change. At the beginning of her shift, Madison asked if she could stay to watch
Larry King Live
with me. I told her it was fine as long as her mother approved. Using her two-way pager, Madison buzzed Jean. Jean buzzed back. Everything was spiffy. Except...

“Shit! She always does this! She always flakes out on me!”

“Hey, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay! I wanted to stay! Now I can’t!”

“Sure you can.”

“She’s not going to want to drive home and come back in an hour!”

“Of course not.”

“So what are we going to do? Make her wait out there?”

“No,” I replied in a calming tone. “We’re going to invite her in.”

From Madison’s reaction, I might as well have suggested we all take a shower together.

“Oh my God. You can’t be serious.”

“I thought you didn’t have a problem with us talking.”

“Scott, you only deal with her electronically. You have no idea what she’s like in person.”

I had some. “Listen, you don’t have to convince me she’s nuts. I know it. She knows it. But she also knows that this is your workplace, and she respects that.”

“She doesn’t respect anything I do! All she does is ruin things!”

“Look at me.”

Madison wasn’t in good shape, but I never felt better. I was still crackling with superhumanity. In my elevated consciousness, my floating-lotus position, I was sure I could heal at least some of the damage between mother and child.

“I know she embarrasses you, but there’s nothing she can say or do to make me think any less of you. What you do, however, is very important. Now you can freak out, and freak me out, or you can invite her in and impress the hell out of both of us.”

She glared at me in hot umbrage. “I’m not freaking out.”

“Prove it.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

Instead of moving toward the door, she stood at the window and signed. They had a natural wireless connection. How cool.

She spoke along with her hands. “I said seven. Seven!” She sneered. “Yeah. ‘Whoops.’ Just park the car and come in.” She shrugged brusquely. “It wasn’t my idea. It was Scott’s. Just come in.”

Madison turned around and plopped down in the easy chair. She shot me a scowl. “She won’t want to watch TV.”

“Then I’ll give her something to read. Go let her in.”

She got up and shuffled toward the door. “You know, you might find this hard to believe, but I don’t live to impress you.”

I smiled. “And that’s just one of the many reasons you do.”

Madison left to get her mother. I really couldn’t blame her for being upset. She’d built a nice haven for herself here. The last thing she wanted was her mother storming in, bringing all the family baggage. Mom herself didn’t seem too keen on the idea.
I would love to see the Madison that you see
, she’d typed two days ago.
I only hope you never get the Madison that I get.