—Anyway, continued Ma Belle, we’re supposed to tell you that Duchess, your brother, and that other friend . . .
—Woolly, said Charity.
—Right, said Ma Belle. Woolly. They’ll all be waiting for you at his sister’s house. But first, you should have something to eat.
Emmett ran a hand over his eyes again.
—I’m not sure I’m hungry, he said.
Ma Belle frowned.
Leaning forward, Charity spoke a little under her breath.
—Ma Belle doesn’t generally serve breakfast.
—You’re damn right, I don’t.
After accepting a cup of the coffee and a slice of the coffee cake in order to be polite, Emmett was reminded that half the time, manners are there for your own good. For as it turned out, the coffee and cake were just what he needed. So much so that he readily accepted the offer of seconds.
As he ate, Emmett asked how the ladies had come to know Duchess when he was a boy.
—His father worked here, said Charity.
—I thought he was an actor.
—He was an actor all right, said Ma Belle. And when he couldn’t get any work onstage, he acted like a waiter or a ma?tre d’。 But for a few months after the war, he acted like our ringmaster. Harry could act like just about anything, I suppose. But most of the time, he acted like his own worst enemy.
—In what way?
—Harry’s a charmer with a soft spot for the sauce. So while he could talk his way into a job in a matter of minutes, he could drink his way back out of it almost as quickly.
—But when he was working at the Circus, chipped in Charity, he would leave Duchess with us.
—He’d bring Duchess here? asked Emmett, a little shocked.
—That’s right, said Ma Belle. At the time, he was probably about eleven years old. And while his father was downstairs, he’d work up here in the lounge. Taking hats and pouring drinks for the customers. He made good money too. Not that his father let him keep it.
Emmett looked around the room, trying to imagine Duchess at the age of eleven taking hats and pouring drinks in a house of ill repute.
—It wasn’t like it is now, Ma Belle said, following his gaze. Back then on a Saturday night, the Circus was standing-room-only and we had ten girls working up here. And it wasn’t just the boys from the Navy Yard. We had society people.
—Even the mayor came, Charity said.
—What happened?
Ma Belle shrugged.
—Times changed. The neighborhood changed. Tastes changed.
Then she looked around the room a little nostalgically.
—I thought it was the war that was going to put us out of business; but in the end, it was the suburbs.
* * *
? ? ?
Shortly before noon, Emmett was ready to take his leave. Receiving a peck on the cheek from Charity and a shake of the hand from Ma Belle, he thanked them for the clean clothes, for the breakfast, for their kindness.
—If you could just give me the address, I’ll be on my way.
Ma Belle looked at Emmett.
—What address?
—The one for Woolly’s sister.
—Why would I have that?
—Didn’t Duchess leave it with you?
—He didn’t leave it with me. How ’bout you, honey?
When Charity shook her head, Emmett closed his eyes.
—Why don’t we check the phone directory, Charity suggested brightly.
Charity and Ma Belle both looked to Emmett.
—I don’t know her married name.
—Well, I guess you’re shit-out-of-luck.
—Ma, chided Charity.
—All right, all right. Let me think.
Ma Belle looked off for a moment.
—This friend of yours—Woolly. What’s his story?
—He’s from New York. . . .
—So we gathered. But what borough?
Emmett looked back without understanding.
—What neighborhood. Brooklyn? Queens? Manhattan?
—Manhattan.
—That’s a start. Do you know where he went to school?
—He went to boarding school. St. George’s . . . St. Paul’s . . . St. Mark’s . . .
—He’s Catholic! said Charity.
Ma Belle rolled her eyes.
—Those aren’t Catholic schools, honey. Those are WASP schools. Fancy ones at that. And having known more than my share of their alumni, I’d bet you a blue blazer that your friend Woolly is from the Upper East Side. But which one did he go to: St. George’s, St. Paul’s, or St. Mark’s?
—All of them.
—All of them?
When Emmett explained that Woolly had been kicked out of two, Ma Belle shook with laughter.