Page 7 of Kept
“What?” I drag her in and sit her on the couch, her hands are shaking, and she is half-laughing, half-crying, obviously in shock.
“We were leaving the Denzin Nightclub; you know the one at the bottom of that high-class hotel? Uh, The Futura, and as we stood on the sidewalk waiting for a taxi, it just fell at our feet.”
“What?”
“A head, and then a body. Well, that is what it looked like. But I told the cops, and they said it was just the way she had fallen, that her head would have come off when she landed – they said it was common with jumpers. But it didn’t, Josie; it arrived first.”
“Did the others see it too?”
“No, they were too busy laughing and falling over one another about some guy Rita had tried to pick up. They were all facing towards the taxi as it pulled up, but I was looking the other way.”
“Why?” I can’t help but ask, Margarita is usually right where everyone else is, more of a friendly follower than a leader.
“I saw someone walk by with the most gorgeous diamante heels…and then, the head.”
“And the police wouldn’t believe you at all?”
“No, they obviously knew I’d been drinking, so,” she hiccups, “they were more interested in moving us along and cordoning off the area and stopping people filming with their phones.”
“Who the fuck would film something like that?
“Are you crazy? It will be on every channel tonight. Someone will get paid big bickies for their film.”
“I don’t get it.”
“It was Lady Boston.”
“Who was?”
“The head, the body, it was Lady Boston.”
“Holy shit, why would she jump from a building? She practically owns this town. Her face is on every bloody billboard; ‘Your Home is your castle; get a royal price for it with the Queen of Real Estate – Lady Boston,” I rattle off her slogan seen nightly on television.
“I know,” Margarita says, shaking her head as though she still couldn’t believe what she saw.
I lean forward and turn on the television, keen to see if Margarita is correct, and the first thing we see is a live report from the scene – there is no mistaking that head.
Margarita moans and heads to the kitchen for another drink as I watch, mesmerised by the chaos downtown.
But as I watch the scene from a range of angles, one line keeps going round and round in my head;“popped off like a champagne cork.”
B?chamel
Mother Sauce 1: Roux and dairy (traditionally milk or cream)
Ingredients:Butter, plain flour, milk, white pepper, nutmeg
Method:
Do not allow the butter to brown; it will darken the sauce. Bechamel must be light.
Melt butter in a small pan over a low heat. Add flour and stir to a smooth paste (roux).
Cook for a few minutes and gradually pour in milk. Whisk with a balloon whisk until thick, then stir slowly and consistently for several minutes.
Add pepper and nutmeg to taste.
Note: Mornay sauce is created by adding egg yolk and grated gruyere or Parmesan, and mustard sauce is made by adding mustard.
