Hollywood Parade excerpt
Unit 305
The trio Nora had seen were Olivia, Lucas, and Jamie. It was the name Hollywood Parade that had prompted the laughter. In any other neighbourhood this building would have looked pretentious and slightly ridiculous but on this street where all the houses were large and built of the same deep red brick, it seemed oddly appropriate.
They stepped into the small vestibule and were confronted by two more doors, one beside the other. Both had frosted glass windows. Through the one on the right, they could see the blurry image of stairs ascending to the second floor. Through the one on the left they could just make out a corridor. A key had been left in the lock of that door, so Jamie turned it and they entered the hallway. The wide floorboards in the hall squeaked under their feet and it was uncomfortably warm. The skunky smell of stale marijuana smoke was almost overpowering. Olivia scrunched up her face and pinched her nose as they entered. While she understood Lucas’s admiration for the architecture, she wasn’t sure this would be a great place to live. There are more factors, she thought, than appearance. But, she also knew it was a done deal and it was inexpensive, so she would be able to tolerate it for a year if she had to.
Doors in a small alcove on one side of the hallway provided access to two rooms. One of those rooms, the larger one, had a window facing the street. The lower portion of that window was clear glass while the upper section was elaborate stained glass set in a Moorish arch. As they stood in that room, Olivia imagined how she would like to decorate it, though she knew her finances wouldn’t permit what she really wanted to do. Lucas put his hand on the radiator under the window and quickly pulled it away. It was almost hot enough to burn him. He looked for a way to open the window, but it appeared to be sealed closed. “We’re going to need to find a way of turning that thing off,” he said. “It’ll be like trying to sleep in a toaster. Why would this even be on at this time of year?” Jamie simply shrugged in response. Olivia was already heading out of the room.
When they opened the door into the other room, the first thing they noticed was the smell of dust and body odour combined with the marijuana. The second thing they noticed was that it didn’t have a window. And, despite there being no radiator, it was only slightly cooler.
Jamie claimed the smaller, windowless room as his bedroom so Lucas and Olivia could share the nicer, but hotter one. They agreed both bedroom doors would stay open most of the time—Lucas’s and Olivia’s to dissipate the heat, and Jamie’s to air it out, even though it would mean the offensive odour might permeate the entire apartment for a while.
Toward the back of the house, the corridor opened into a large space that contained a small, dilapidated coffee table and an old chair with the padding leaking out of rips in its upholstery. Jamie pointed out that this room’s window lined up perfectly with the window of the neighbouring unit, about three or four metres away, across a dead-end alley that was overgrown with weeds and scraggly shrubs. The curtains on the opposite window were open and they could see a chandelier hanging over an expensive-looking dining table and six chairs.
Jamie and Lucas followed Olivia through a door that led into a generously proportioned kitchen. Olivia, who enjoyed cooking, was happy to see that there appeared to be plenty of storage space in the cabinets, which had once been white, but had faded to a soft yellow. Lucas opened the fridge that looked like it might have been new in the nineteen fifties, if not earlier. He removed the only thing in it—a jar of mayonnaise with a 1998 best-before date. Jamie laughed and Olivia looked disgusted when he asked if they wanted to keep it. He put the jar on the counter and rubbed his finger across the front edge of the ancient stove, leaving a shiny streak in the accumulated grease. He looked around for something with which to clean his finger and found a box of tissues on the table that had been left beside the window, which, he noticed, mirrored a similar window in the unit across the alley, as in the other room. Three old wooden chairs, one on each side of the table, reminded him of the ones in the kitchen of the farm where he’d grown up. He wondered why the previous tenants hadn’t taken them, until he leaned on a corner of the table. It wobbled so badly that he was surprised they’d used it at all. He reached across the table and pushed up on the window’s sash. With a little effort, it budged. He pushed the table aside so he could get better leverage and managed to open the window halfway. There was no screen on it, but they all agreed to take their chances with bugs and birds if it meant airing the place out, even a little.
Another door at the back of the kitchen opened into a spacious room with floor-to-ceiling windows extending almost the entire length of each of three walls. The fourth wall was red brick and had obviously once been the exterior of the back of the house. Through the large windows, they could see a small yard, overgrown with weeds and saplings that partially obscured the windows of neighbouring houses behind theirs. A door led to a small outdoor deck that appeared to be shared with the neighbours. The room was clearly an old sunporch. However, a toilet, sink, and a clawfoot tub with a shower above it had been installed, converting the space into a large bathroom with a minimum of privacy.
Lucas walked into the peculiar bathroom. It was almost as humid as a greenhouse, had a slightly musty smell, and the windows were grimy. Some of the windows looked like they could be opened, so perhaps this room could contribute to the ventilation when they moved in. “This bathroom’s an exhibitionist’s dream,” he said, provoking laughter from the other two, though Olivia’s sounded less than genuine. She remained in the doorway, apparently reluctant to set foot in this bizarre space.
When they returned to the living room, Jamie said, “So, where’s the nearest place to get cleaning supplies?”
Olivia pointed to the chair oozing its stuffing. “And can we kick this to the curb?”
As Jamie, Lucas, and Olivia were trying to stuff the chair through the front door, Karl’s daughter approached from the street. They finally succeeded in maneuvering it onto the verandah at the same time that Heidi arrived at the bottom of the shared steps.
“Hey,” said Olivia. The young men carrying the chair also said “hey,” almost in unison, as they approached the stairs without looking up, lest they miss a step.
“You moving in?” asked Heidi.
“Yeah,” said Olivia. “You live in 307?”
“For now,” replied Heidi. “My dad and his wife live here. I’m just staying here till I find a job. Welcome to The Parade.”
“Thanks,” said Olivia. She ran down the stairs to join her companions who were dropping the chair by the roadside. Perhaps, she thought, this girl, who appeared to be about her age, might become a friend. It would be nice to have a friend in this unfamiliar neighbourhood.
When Heidi reached the door to unit 307, she turned the old knob and pushed against the sticky door. She was surprised to find it locked. She rummaged through her bag and the pockets of her jacket. Shit, she thought, I was sure my key was in my bag. She sat on one end of the wide top step, pulled her phone from a pocket, and texted Karl to ask when they’d be back.
“See ya,” called Olivia as the three new tenants got into the old car. “We’ll be back tomorrow to move our stuff in.”
Heidi waved quickly without looking up from her phone.
Nora had continued watching from her living room window. When she saw the chair being carried to the curb, and then the three people getting into their car, she went onto her verandah and stood, unseen, in the shadow. After watching the car depart, she noticed Heidi sitting on the top step of the other staircase. She slowly walked over and stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Are those young folks taking over that house?”
Heidi looked up. “Yeah.”
“Did they seem nice?” asked Nora.
“I hardly spoke to them,” replied Heidi, “but they seemed OK.”
“That girl is very pretty, for a.…what do they like to be called nowadays?” said Nora.
Heidi looked directly into Nora’s eyes for a couple of seconds before saying, “Black, or maybe a person of colour.”
Nora thought she sounded a little offended for some reason. “Are you OK, dear?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just locked out. I forgot my key.” Her gaze returned to her phone, but there was no reply from her father.
Nora looked at the door, as if willing it to unlock. After a couple of seconds, she said, “Would you like to wait at our place? I saw your father and stepmother leaving not long ago.”
“OK, I guess. That would be nice. Thank you.” Heidi stood and followed Nora into number 301.
Unit 301
It was the first time Heidi had been in any of the other units in the row. The layout of the rooms in Nora’s was different from hers. Karl had knocked down interior walls and opened up the space, but in this house the original rooms were still intact. French doors with frosted glass led into the front room. On the wall opposite the doors, a fireplace with an arched opening, surrounded by a molded plaster relief of leaves and flowers, served as the focal point for two pale blue, high-backed wing chairs. They faced the fireplace so if anyone were sitting in them, they would be hidden from the door. Near the front window, there was an elaborate chaise longue, which, if one were to position oneself just right, offered an unobstructed view of the street. In a corner, a partially completed jigsaw puzzle covered most of the top of an ornate wood table. A single kitchen-style chair waited for an occupant in front of the puzzle. But the things that grabbed her attention more than the furnishings were the framed posters and photographs that covered almost every square centimetre of wall space, obscuring the old, faded floral wallpaper. The remnants of cooking odours fused with the ammonia smell of cleaning products that had not been adequately rinsed away. Heidi associated the smell with old age.
“I’ll make us some tea. You make yourself at home in here,” said Nora. She disappeared into the back of the house.
Heidi walked slowly around the room, looking at the photographs and movie posters. She was not a fan of old movies, so the posters meant little to her, except that all of them contained Nora’s name. Many of them were in a style she recognised from her art classes in high school as Art Nouveau. Others featured bold, almost garish text in vivid reds against yellow backgrounds behind painted portraits of the stars in overly dramatic, unnatural poses. Nora was never billed as the star on the posters, but was listed as a supporting actress, or, on a couple of them, a co-star. Heidi could detect a resemblance between Nora and the young actress in some of the poster images. It was hard to imagine Nora being that young and pretty.
Like the posters, the photographs of people meant little to Heidi. Almost all were black and white. Some were simple head shots (a term she’d heard her father use when he wanted publicity photos for his businesses), while others showed groups smiling in elegant settings, perhaps fancy restaurants, sometimes with martini glasses in hand. Many of them were autographed and she recognized a couple of famous names—John Wayne and Buster Keaton among them. She had never heard of some of the others.
After almost ten minutes, Nora returned with a teapot, a creamer, and a sugar bowl on a serving tray, all in glistening silver. Also on the tray were two teacups and matching saucers that reminded Heidi of her great aunt’s hand-painted china collection—one of the few memories from her only trip to Germany when she was nine. Karl’s uncle had died, but Heidi couldn’t remember why he’d taken her along to attend the funeral of a man she’d never met. Perhaps his aunt had insisted on it. She didn’t remember her mother being with them, though.
“Looks like you’ve had an interesting career,” said Heidi, nodding toward the posters and photographs.
“Oh, I had such fun working. I acted in a movie with John Wayne, you know. We got on famously.”
“Yes, I saw a picture of him on that wall” said Heidi, pointing toward the photo. “That must have been exciting.”
“He was such a lovely man,” said Nora.
Heidi looked at the large teapot and Nora’s frail-looking hands. “That looks very heavy. Can I pour it for you?”
As she was pouring two cups of tea, Lloyd entered the room, his slippers making so little sound on the plush carpeting that Heidi didn’t notice him until she turned to hand Nora’s tea to her. She was startled by his sudden appearance and actually jumped a little, sloshing a bit of tea into the saucer.
Lloyd held out his arms for a hug. “Hello, dear. It’s such a nice surprise to see you again. How are Martha and Clifford?”
Heidi looked to Nora for help. Nora said, “Lloyd, dear, this isn’t Marilyn. This is the young lady who lives in the house at the other end of The Parade. You’ve met her before.”
Heidi set the cups on the table, but stayed beyond Lloyd’s reach. “I’m Heidi. Nice to meet you…again.”
“You look like your mother,” said Lloyd. “Give us a hug.”
With her hands free, Heidi saw no harm in humouring the old man so she allowed herself to be embraced. She freed herself quickly, however, when Lloyd’s hands drifted lower on her back until they were on her buttocks. Nora was too busy putting copious amounts of cream and sugar into her tea to notice what Lloyd was doing. Heidi picked up her cup and sat on the chaise longue, where she felt safe and could watch through the front window for her father and Candace to return.
“I see you like my fainting couch,” said Nora. “It was a gift for my thirtieth birthday from one of the studio executives. Lloyd hates it, but I won’t give it up.”
Heidi said, “Interesting. I’ve never heard that term before. It must be very special to you. Would you like to sit here, instead?”
When Nora indicated she was content to sit in one of the wing chairs, Heidi settled back and checked her phone again. There was still no response from Karl.
“I also had a role opposite Charlton Heston,” said Nora. “Do you like movies?”
“I don’t have much time for movies,” said Heidi. “I’m pretty busy looking for work.”
Lloyd wandered out of the room.
