Author's Chapter Notes:
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“Im sorry to interrupt you while you are celebrating here Miss Kelly”Robert Stone said to her as he met Darla out on the lawn of Gatsby’s mansion where the reception took place. “But I figured that you wanted to see these as soon as possible”he said as he gave her some more pictures. She looked at the pictures and saw Leon getting a lapdance at Olivia’s, the dancer kissing his neck, one of the chorus girls hugging him and him hugging and kissing another chorus girl.
“He just can't get enough can he?”Darla said angrily
“Now Miss Kelly. I still don’t see anything suspicious. He's just doing his job-“
“Thanks for the trouble. I no longer need your services”she said as she gave him the check,”Come in and have a drink if you want”she said as she walked back inside the mansion.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Gabe? Huney?”Salomi asked him,”Can you take Darla to one of the rooms upstairs? Gatsby said it was alright for her to rest in one of them”she said
“What's wrong?”he asked
“She's really drunk. She's been very rude to me too. Maybe she won't push you away”she said
“Sure thing”he said as he went inside and found Darla slumped in a chair in the library. The partiers in the room were oblivious to the fact that she was there. They were all gossiping about Gatsby or having drunk conversation.”Darla? Let's go, let's go to bed”he said to her.
Darla opened her eyes and smiled at him,”Oh really?”she asked
“Yes, it's time you put your head in the pillows”he said as he led her upstairs and she followed. She was no trouble at all. He opened a door and turned on a light. He walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers. There was a bathroom adjoining it and he found a glass and poured some water into it. He came back out to see Darla in a teddy, garter and stockings. “Here”he said as he gave her the glass
“No wait Gabe, come here, sit next to me”she said as she patted the spot next to her and held her purse tight. He sat down next to her. “Take me”she said
“Take you where?”he asked her, absolutely clueless
“Go on please go on. I don’t care if I don’t like it. I have always hated thinking about it but I don’t care now. I want you to”Darla said
Gabriel stared at her in shock. Was she admitting that she wanted him to sleep with her and not only that, but she had always wanted him to? “This is not as it should be. You should be saying that to Leon, let me go get him. It's just the champagne”he said as he got up
“Oh no, now. I want you to do it now, take me, show me, I'm absolutely yours and I want to be”Darla slurred as she pulled him to her
“For one thing”he said as he snatched his hand from her,”...have you thought about how much it would hurt Salomi? Your best friend?”
“She won't know. This won't have anything to do with her”
He stared at her with wide eyes,”Then there's also the fact that I'm in love with Salomi”
“But you can love and sleep around with more than one person-“
“Is that what this is about? Listen Leon isn’t fooling around so get those crazy ideas out of your head and anyways, your not in love with me, it’s the champagne! If you just lay down and shut up, I’ll be willing to forget you ever said this. I won't even mention it to Lomi”
“See? All you men do is hide! All you do is keep secrets from us!”she said as she clutched her purse to her
“Why are you so goddamn insecure!? Where's the outgoing and secure Darla I know?”
“She died! She died when she had that feeling that the man she loved was cheating on her and the other man that she loved will never look at her the way you look at Salomi”
“Shut up, shut up Darla you don’t love me”he shouted at her
“Shhhhh”she said as she heard someone outside. It was Leon. There was a little mumbling and then she heard him say,”Your so beautiful, just leave him, I have told you many times he isn’t the guy for you”
“Oh and you’re the guy for me?”a female asked him
“That son of a bitch”Darla said as she took something out of her purse and ran out and closed the door behind her.
Gabriel was about to run after her when he saw a few sheets fall out of her purse, he bent down and picked them up. There were many pictures of the bachelor party, rehearsals but Leon was kissing Grace, an onstage kiss. Then Gabriel gasped. She had someone spy on Leon and she thought that this stage kiss was something real. “DARLA!”he shouted,”Wait-“
He ran out of the room and he couldn’t believe his eyes, and then he heard one gunshot,then two then three…..
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Is Darla around?”Grace asked Leon as she walked up to him. Makeup smeared, she looked miserable.
“Wait forget Darla, what's wrong with you?”he asked her
“She just looks at me funny, she don’t like me much”
“That’s just how she looks at people”he said dismissingly,”What's wrong?”he asked her as he walked her inside the Gatsby mansion
“He did it again Leon, he's fooling around. I can't take it anymore”Grace said
“Where is he now?”Leon asked her
“I dunno, I threw a glass of champagne in his face and he stomped off-“she said and then stopped. People were staring at her,”Why are they staring at me?”
“You look like a raccoon” he said to her,”Let's find a bathroom”he said as he led her upstairs,”Is there a bathroom around?”he asked a man that looked like he worked there
“End of the hall”he said to him
“Well you know what you need to do”Leon said to her
“What?”she asked him
“Leave him,simple as that”he said.”We’re gonna be on tour babe. You’ll meet lots of guys”
“But I love him-“
“Look. Your so beautiful, just leave him, I have told you many times he isn’t the guy for you”
“Oh and you’re the guy for me?”Grace asked him and laughed
“Maybe in another lifetime Grace, come on I'm not kidding”
“I know it's just…It's so hard to let go. I worked hard to get him, I can't give up so easily”she said
“Understandable but, you know that this is the right thing to do”he said as he wiped away her tears
“You lied to me!”someone shouted. They turned and saw Darla standing there, she was crying and very drunk
“Darla? What? Who lied?”Leon asked innocently
“You’re a liar Leon! You lied to me! You son of a bitch!”Darla shouted at him
“Darla what are you talking about!?”he asked her and then he gasped as Darla pulled a shotgun from under her dress,”Baby don’t-“
“You son of a bitch! You son of a bitch!”she said as she closed her eyes and pointed the gun and fired three shots. She opened her eyes to see Leon and the chorus floozy lying on the ground. Then came the screams and Gabriel pushed her out of the way and ran to Leon and the girl.
“Someone call an ambulance!”Gabriel shouted
“I gotta pee”Darla said as she dropped the gun, and then she fainted.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Everything went so fast, a joyous event turned into a tragic one. But in a few hours, everything came to the light. Darla went crazy with jealousy, she got so neurotic over the fact that she thought Leon was fooling around, she saw things that weren’t there. The pictures really didn’t prove anything but she went with it. Both Leon and Grace were pronounced dead once they got to the Long Island Hospital. Darla, still drunk, was hauled off to the nearest jail. Both Gabriel and Salomi were depressed, they didn’t see it coming but they both knew of Darla’s suspicions. They never thought that it would go this far.
It was no honeymoon for Dorothy and Jules either. There was a huge scandal surrounding them once again, but this time it was a double homicide. They reluctantly went to Europe a week later after Leon’s funeral since Gabriel insisted they should. The funeral was beautiful at least, Leon’s funeral turned into a vaudeville show. Many stars were in attendance and many performed for Leon as he laid in his casket, some people were old fashioned, saying that was tasteless. But people who knew Leon knew that he loved life and to perform and he would have wanted it that way. The tour was cancelled of course, he said he couldn’t do it without Leon. He kept having dreams about the incident. Darla hitting on him and then seeing her murder his best friend right in front of him. He felt responsible. Why didn’t he see the signs? Why couldn’t he do something? Anything?
Darla turned into a monster, she was like the other murderesses in the papers. She said anything to get attention. She admitted to killing Leon and Grace one minute, but then reneged and said it was temporary insanity. The pictures were misleading and the detectives never told her, which they did, and they testified against her. She claimed that jazz music, cocaine and liquor was her downfall and those things turned her into an evil person. She also said that the gun wasn’t hers, but the DA traced the gun back to the shop and they found that Darla had bought the gun, with Leon’s money, three days before the incident. It was thought out, not temporary insanity. Darla was sentenced to life in jail without parole. Neither Salomi or Gabriel spoke to her ever again but will always mourn Leon. He will be truly missed.
Salomi, however, was hysterical. She spoke of her grandmother and her “witchcraft” and how they could never escape it. She was convinced that her grandmother sent demons to possess Darla so she would murder Leon and Grace. Of course, everyone thought that was crazy, which drove Salomi crazy. But at least not literally. Some time had passed and she eventually did calm down. It seemed that she always brought that up whenever something tragic happened. But a lot of tragic events had happened to them, could it be true?
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
*2 years later*
Gabriel sighed as he read the front page of the newspaper. When did the world get so crazy? Will they ever achieve world peace? Did the last world war not teach them anything? He walked into Dorothy’s old apartment and said.”Lomi? I'm home”he said.
After Leon’s death, Gabriel couldn’t find a job. Show business sure was cruel. They didn’t want him unless he had Leon by his side, it seemed he wasn’t good enough alone. So he returned to performing at Maisy’s, which was still a hotspot. People did pay to see him do his old tricks. But they couldn’t afford their luxurious apartment anymore and Dorothy let them have her apartment since she and Jules were residing in Long Island.
He walked into the apartment and looked for her, but she was nowhere to be found,”Lomi you here?”he asked her
“Yeah?”he heard her voice say and he walked into the bathroom that adjoined the bedroom. Salomi was sitting on the floor, her head leaning against the tub.
“What's wrong?”he asked as he knelt before her
“I never thought it could happen again. I thought that after what happened…I thought I wouldn’t ever….”
“Wouldn’t what?”he asked her and then he gasped. “Are you sure?”he asked her
“I have all the symptoms”she said,”I'm throwing up everything I eat. I went to the doctor today. 7 weeks, he said”she said and started to cry.
“Huney that’s great….right?”he asked her. Not sure if it was tears of joy or not.
“I don’t know….Gabriel I'm scared. I don’t want another accident but I don’t want to abort it…not after Leon and Grace, I can't imagine getting rid of it..I dunno if that’s fair”
Gabriel sighed,”We will just be careful. Your gonna be the most boring girl in New York for the next 7 months, you wont be going anywhere. That’s if you decide to have it. You know I support you baby. Whatever you decide”he said,”But this could be a sign you know? God’s giving us another chance, he doesn’t make any mistakes”
Salomi nodded,”I need your help Gabriel, you know that right? If I'm having this baby…your gonna need to help me”
“I will baby, I will”he said to her as he held her close and she cried and he cried with her. He helped her up and laid her down and he laid beside her,”Did you read the paper?”
“Yeah, about Gatsby’s murder?”Salomi asked him,”I swear,this world is so crazy”she said as she shook her head,”I think….”she started and then stopped
“You think what?”Gabriel asked her
“Do you think the fact that Leon and Grace were murdered in his mansion had anything to do with his death?”she asked him,”Maybe his place was haunted after….no it's ridiculous…”
“No it's just a coincidence”Gabriel said,”The article said that some random madman killed him in his backyard, they found his body floating in the pool…I don’t know. I think there's more to it but…Gatsby never liked trouble…”
“Trouble always seems to come around though, no matter how much you avoid it”she said.Then she looked at him,”That’s why I'm afraid to have this baby Gabe. So much has happened to us in the past 10 years, we have lost so many people. I don’t know if I want a child to be around that. I'm surprised I haven’t gone crazy”
“I understand…”Gabriel nodded,”But maybe this baby will be a huge turn around for us. The child’s birth can be our rebirth, a new beginning for us”he said
“You may be right”Salomi said,”I'm just so scared…”she said and then held him close to her,”I won't be foolish this time around Gabriel”she said and he hugged her close.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Gabriel worked hard for Salomi and their future baby. He got a job at a Ford car dealership, selling cars and he was one of the top sellers. He got paid $4 an hour, which was unheard of, and way above the minimum wage, while also performing at Maisy’s. They went to frequent visits to the doctor. The doctor teased them about how many checkups they said they needed but they didn’t want to risk a thing. Salomi slowed down, she didn’t work at Maisy’s and just devoted herself to the child that may save their lives and turn everything around. She and Ruth got closer, they didn’t fight as much as they used to. Ruth taught her how to knit, gave her baby books and took her for walks in Central Park.
Dorothy showered the three with expensive gifts and she even helped the three of them move into a more spacious apartment. She gave her old one to Ruth and her boyfriend since they were now engaged. Gabriel proposed to Salomi on the 4th of July at a picnic that Dorothy and Jules hosted, she finally said yes and he gave her a ‘real engagement ring’. The date was set for that same day the following year and it was a beautiful ceremony right on the beach in Long Island. He had saved the pearl that he had found on Long Island three years before and made it into a ring. It was quite huge.
Salomi grew hysterical later when the due date grew closer. She was so scared, she didn’t even want to get out of bed due to the fear that she may slip and fall and hurt the baby. It never happened. The due date for the child was December 12th, 1922 and the child came right on time weighing 6 lbs 5 oz. The labor was hard and Salomi thought it as the worst experience ever, but she would do it all over again. It was a baby girl and they both named her Rita Maria Brewster. She looked exactly like Gabriel with porcelain skin, blue eyes and blonde hair. She was definitely Daddy’s Girl.
However, Salomi suffered pneumonia after the birth and was on bedrest for months. Thankfully it wasn’t fatal but Salomi also had postmartum depression and didn’t want to hold the baby, she was scared she would drop her. Gabriel spent all of his time with little Rita and basically raised her until Salomi came out of that depression. Gabriel was also hired to perform at the Rainbow Room, which was just as good as his old gig with Leon. He quit his job as a Ford cars salesman and devoted his time to performing, as he wanted. Gabriel would come home and show Rita how to do the many dances that he learned and she was a quick learner and when she was 4, they surprised her with dance lessons. She just loved to dance and perform like her father. On May 23rd, 1924, Salomi and Gabriel welcomed their second child, Michael Isaiah, he was very small but had Gabriel’s porcelain skin and Salomi’s dark hair and eyes. He was also a Mama’s boy and was always following Salomi around. On July 29th, 1925, the third and what Salomi called as the last addition to the family, Dahlia Elizabeth Brewster was brought into the world. She had jet black hair like her mother and was quite a handful for all of them.
The first 25 years have been eventful for Salomi and Gabriel, but their three children shall carry on the family legacy. Is there a curse? What will these children become, what will they endure? This is their story…..
*____________________________________*
THE END!
Make sure to read Book 2 and see what happens to the next generation!
Thanks for reading!