Robert Randisi - I'm a fool to kill you

‘I told you,’ I said. ‘Frank sent me.’

‘Because he couldn’t come himself, right?’

‘He doesn’t know where you are, Ava,’ I said. ‘Maybe if we call him-’

‘No!’ she said, abruptly. ‘No, we can’t call Frank, not now. He’s with his family.’

‘I’m sure he can take some time to talk to you on the phone.’

She dropped herself down on the sofa, letting her hands and head hang. I watched the glass she held, waiting for it to fall to the ground.

I put my glass down and moved closer to her. There were armchairs on either side of the sofa, so I sat down in one.

‘Eddie, Eddie,’ she said, shaking her head, ‘it’ll take more than a phone call.’

‘Ava-’

‘Papa’s dead,’ she said. ‘He did it to himself. Maybe he had the right idea.’

‘Papa?’

‘I’ve ruined my career, my life. .’ She lifted her head and looked at me. Her eyes were wet with tears. ‘Look at me, Eddie. Look at me. I’m hideous.’

Good God, woman, I thought to myself, you’re a fucking Goddess! Even looking tired, worn out, with tears in her eyes, she was a Goddess.

‘Eddie-’ she said, and then the glass dropped.

As it hit the floor and shattered she keeled over. I might have caught the glass, but instead I caught her. Suddenly, I had my arms full of Ava Gardner, but not the way I might have dreamed it.

I lifted her in my arms and carried her to the bedroom. The bed was made, so I laid her right on top of the spread. I lifted her head, pulled a pillow out from beneath the covers, then lowered her head gently on to it. I stood up and looked down at her.

Ava Gardner, every man’s dark Goddess, as opposed to Marilyn, who had been every man’s blonde Goddess. But Marilyn was gone. Ava was still here. I’d failed Marilyn, hadn’t been able to help her. Maybe I’d be able to help Ava. When she woke up.

I left the bedroom and pulled the door closed behind me. That was when I remembered I’d left Larry the cab driver in the Polo Lounge. I went out the front door, also closing it gently behind me. Right now what Ava needed was sleep. I decided when I came back I’d bring her some food and coffee. But at the moment I had to settle with Larry.

I followed the path back to the hotel and found that business in the Polo Lounge had picked up considerably. Larry must have been happily ogling movie stars. I wondered how a cab driver in Hollywood had avoided becoming jaded.

I peered into the lounge and didn’t see Larry at the bar. A man walking out stopped short when he saw me, then smiled and stuck out his hand.

‘Eddie,’ Johnny Carson said. ‘What a surprise seein’ you here.’

‘Hey, Johnny’ I said, ‘how’s the Tonight Show goin’?’

He had recently taken over the show from Jack Paar, which were some big shoes to fill.

‘They haven’t fired me yet. Saddled me with this big jamoke named Ed McMohan. I think they’re going to have to dump him, or I’ll only be doin’ this for a couple of years. Good to see you, Ed.’

‘You, too, John.’

As I reached the front desk I noticed there was some commotion in the lobby. A crowd was gathered, excited about something. I heard the word ‘ambulance’ and went to the desk.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked the clerk.

‘Fella left the Polo Lounge and when he got outside somebody attacked him.’

‘What fella?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know,’ the clerk said. ‘I think he was a cab driver.’

‘Cab driver? What happened, exactly?’

‘Like I said. Somebody attacked him, beat him up. They took him away in an ambulance.’

‘Jesus,’ I said. ‘What the hell. .’

The clerk shrugged.

‘He got a call, and when he went outside-’

‘A call? When?’

‘A little while ago,’ he said. ‘One of our bell hops went through the lobby, and into the Polo Lounge, paging. . somebody.’

‘And?’

‘And. . he took the call.’

‘Where is he?’ I asked. ‘The boy?’

The clerk rang the bell on his desk and an old guy appeared. He looked to be about sixty.

‘This is Randy,’ the clerk said.

‘Randy, my name is Eddie Gianelli.’

‘You’re Mr Gianelli?’

‘That’s right. The man you paged with a call earlier. .’

‘The call was for an Eddie Gianelli,’ Randy said, ‘but the cab driver, he took it.’

‘That’s because he was waiting for me,’ I said.

‘The guy who got beat up?’ Randy asked, looking surprised. ‘He was with you?’

‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘the guy who got beat up.’ I looked at the clerk. ‘Can you find out what hospital he was taken to?’

‘Sure, Mr Gianelli.’

‘And his condition,’ I said. ‘Whether or not they kept him there.’

‘Sure, I’ll find out everything,’ the clerk said.

‘Thanks. Oh, and I need some food to take to Miss Gardner — I mean, to Miss Johnson’s bungalow.’

‘Just tell me what you want,’ Randy said, ‘and I’ll bring it over personally as soon as it’s ready.’

‘No, no,’ I said, changing my mind. ‘She’s asleep now. I’ll call when I want the food.’

‘What would you like?’ the clerk asked.

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘A hamburger platter. . maybe a steak dinner? And a large pot of coffee, with two cups.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Iced water,’ I said.

When I got back to Ava’s bungalow I looked in on her. She was still asleep. I picked up my glass and freshened it with some bourbon. I’m sure a cab driver got into a lot of arguments during the course of a day, but had Larry gotten somebody mad enough at him to wait outside the hotel and beat him up?

Or had he been beaten up because he took a call in my name?

Was that supposed to be me in the ambulance, and if so, why?

I called Jack, filled him in, told him where I was. He said he’d pass the information on to Frank.

It was late in the afternoon when the phone rang. By then I had talked to the hospital and found out Larry’s last name, and his condition. I snatched it up on the first ring, so it wouldn’t wake Ava.

‘Eddie? How is she?’

‘She’s asleep now, Frank, has been for a couple of hours. I have the feeling it’s the first sleep she’s gotten for a while.’

‘But did you get a chance to talk to her?’

‘Briefly, but she didn’t tell me much. Just that her life was unraveling.’

‘She’s told me that on the phone, too,’ he said, ‘but not why.’

‘She’s not very forthcoming about that, Frank,’ I said. ‘And if she won’t tell you, she certainly won’t tell me.’

‘Maybe she will,’ Frank said. ‘Keep asking, Eddie. I can’t come there right now, but maybe in a few days. .’

‘She knows you’re with your family. She understands.’

‘Eddie. . is she drinkin’?’

‘Yes.’

‘A lot?’

‘Who can tell what a lot is, Frank?’ I said. ‘She’s sleeping because she passed out. Maybe from exhaustion, maybe from drinkin’, maybe a combination of both.’

‘OK,’ Frank said. ‘OK, Eddie. You need anything?’

‘Some answers.’

‘For what?’

I told him about the cabbie picking up a call for me, and then being hauled off to the hospital.

‘How bad was he hurt?’

‘I talked to some sawbones a little while ago. He was hurt badly enough to be admitted, but he’s not in danger of dying. Some broken bones and a lot of bruises,’ I said. ‘I’m gonna go and see him when I get a chance, and I want to take care of his medical bills.’

‘I’ll do that,’ Frank said. ‘You can count on me.’

I had planned on the Sands footing the bill, but I said, ‘Thanks, Frank.’