| Rules for Divas Divas should be larger than life, No matter what their size, Divas should have long hair, Metaphorically speaking. They should burn bright, Like the red lights that surrender to them. Divas possess deep anger, Or passion, or intensity, in Varying combinations. Divas don’t chew bubble gum. And when they sing, Your heart stops. — Published Snakeskin Ezine, Issue 52 (March 2000) Walking the Crow The sight disturbs what they know, He’s the crow, after all, I don’t know how long he’ll be here, |
Back Into Mexico Eggs, bread, pears & peaches, Like Weston I’ll feast on avocados, Live life in black and white, Take lovers, and mourn you, Watch the Aztec sun, And the Mayan moon. — Published as Rochelle Randel, Sauce Box, Fall 1998 
Photos courtesy of Sheamus Clark Kailau Beach, near the lifeguard station. |
| Separation I have bottled up my passions, Because you have gone away from me, I shall not think of kisses, Or kind, sweet caress, Or the feel of your shoulders, Or the weight of your body - I will knit or paint Or read a book I’ve been meaning to read, And will not think of you at all, Not think of the scent of you, All of my ardor, my ache for you, Will sit neatly somewhere Stoppered with this quivering cork, And I will not think of you at all. —Published as Rochelle Randel, Sauce Box Literary Erotica, December 1997 Freedom for the Spider |
Photos courtesy of Sheamus Clark North Shore, the pipeline Sultry Melody |
| Peace, Man I’m quick to run, hide. Back away from trouble. Being non-confrontational, As the teacher said. I only want peace, Everywhere. — Published as Rochelle Randel, Gravity July 1998 A City by the Sea |
Coming to Me This is how I want you to come to me, Charged, fully erect No diluted energy, no Spent fluid into any other vessel. For my intensity is taut, Wired like the depth charge, Explosive, going down. — Published as Rochelle Randel, Sauce Box Literary Erotica, December 1997
Photos courtesy of Sheamus Clark The “Mokes” of Lanikai (Moku Lau Islands Seabird Sanctuaries) |
| Concert Crowd Weaving through the crowd, A drunken boy - he way high, man. Way high. He want girl, and woo her By rolling one eye, One way, The other eye, Somewhere else. Wide smiles at sky, At ground, Even directed to girl Sometime. Like teeth beacon, She also high, Gone. Seeing no burdens to her pain. She see only boy, She not see future, Or even present. Together, They sink, Sink into sound, Into crowd, Into earth. Waking later. And later. —Published as Rochelle Randel, Gravity Ezine - 1997 See Stars? |
No Face I saw a man with no face, There were shoes, I’m sure, And arms that waved about, There was quite a sense of motion, And a flurry of activity in the vicinity around him Perhaps I didn’t look carefully enough,
Photos courtesy of Sheamus Clark Kailau Beach Park Easy Happiness I replied that I had, |
| At school I got yelled at twice for “daydreaming.”
The film set me back twelve bucks. The picture of “Flora” turned out pretty good. I was sure Dodo could recognize the face. It was forever before everyone went to bed. I thought about asking Cindy to cover, but figured her banana stunt shouldn’t be repeated too often. Kerry and I waited for Dodo to show up. I was showing Ker the photo and telling him my theory. “Is that who you wanted me to see?” The voice came from over my left shoulder. “Dodo, you gotta quit sneaking up on people.” I said. “Sorry. Shine the light on it again.” I pointed the flashlight at the image. “Who is it?” “Polly. It has to be Polly. She didn’t age well, did she?” “You’re sure?” “Yes. So why do you have her picture?” “She is posing as your friend Flora. “What? Polly was behind me getting killed?” “She was shocked when we said you had sent us. In fact, she looked downright scared.” “Yeah,” Kerry said, “I remember how she kept looking around the room.” “I might be wrong, Dodo. This is what I think happened. Polly learned about Boomer selling the liquor to George. Maybe she made a deal with the mobsters. Polly was sweet on Ralph. If she could figure out a way to get Flora bumped off, she’d make a play after a decent interval of time, plus she probably got a reward too. Our friend told us that Ralph was an undercover cop and had been threatened. It had to be someone within your crowd that spilled the information to the mob.” “But I went out to the car instead of Flora.” Dodo gazed at the ground. “And to think, all this time.” She shook her head. “How’d you figure it out?” She asked. |
“Ralph. When we visited his room. He might not be able to talk anymore and his mind is gone, but his pictures told the story.”
“What did you see?” “Flora’s funeral notice. It was next to this picture. The card was old and yellowed, but Flora died in 1935. There was a picture of Ralph with arm around a woman. I guessed that it was his sweetheart Flora. The woman in the picture wasn’t the woman who called herself Flora.” I didn’t think that ghosts could cry. “Dodo, I might not have everything right.” I started to say. She reached up and a gentle brush made contact with my cheek. “No, I think you are right. I guess I knew all along that my death was a mistake. I just didn’t want to believe it.” Across the graveyard, a warm golden light began to expand across the ground. “I think it’s time for me to move on.” Dodo sighed. I pulled myself into my bedroom window, peeled off my clothes and tumbled into bed. The next morning I opened my eyes. Cindy was standing next to the bed. “Did you find out?” She whispered. “Yes.” I pulled the blanket up over my eyes. Her fingers pulled it down. “You have to tell me.” “I will. I promise. Just let me sleep.” “I can’t. It’s a school day. Mom sent me to get you.” “Mitch. MITCH! Get out of that bed!” Lester called me later that day. Flora passed on during the night. It created a ruckus at the home. When they called her “family”, a furious daughter showed up who told them that she didn’t know what they were trying to pull, but her mother had died years before. It would give the old folks something to gossip about for months. “Don’t you guys forget me, now.” Lester said. “Never.” I’d never forget Dodo either. |
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| I pulled the photo from my pocket. “I got this from Ralph’s room. I recognize you. Tell me who the others are.”
Dodo leaned forward. She laughed. “I remember that day. That’s Boomer.” She pointed at the man with his foot on the bumper. That surprised me. I had figured Boomer to be the big guy. “And that is George.” She pointed again, “and that is Polly.” “Dodo, where is Polly now?” “Well, I don’t know.” She regarded me with a puzzled frown. “She isn’t here,” she looked around the tombstones. “I’ve read every inscription, and I haven’t seen her there.” She looked upward. “Think carefully. Didn’t you tell me that Polly introduced you to Boomer?” “Well, she did. That was the day that,” she hesitated, “that it happened.” “And Polly. Was she a close friend of yours?” “Not really. She was, well, frankly, Polly was a bit self-centered. She liked our group and always wrangled an invitation to the parties, but I don’t think she was real popular.” “Tell me again about your other friend, Flora Adora I think you called her.” “Flora? Flora was such a sweetie. Heart of gold, that girl. It was such a pity.” “What was a pity, Dodo?” I asked. “Well, Flora couldn’t walk. She had polio when she was a kid. Oh, she could get around on crutches, but her legs were pretty much useless.” “And Ralph was Boomer’s best friend?” “Sure.” “Was Ralph in love with Flora?” “Why, yes. They were going to be married at Christmas.” “I think I know who was behind your murder, Dodo.” “Who?” Dodo asked. “I need to get another photo for you to look at. Can you meet us tomorrow night?” “Like I have anything else to do?” Dodo smiled. She floated off to her stone cherub marker. |
As we rode back, Kerry kept pace. “What? I’m lost. What are you thinking?”
“You saw it too. Yesterday, in Ralph’s room. All the pictures. Polly and Flora looked very different. The woman we talked to yesterday isn’t Flora. Did you see the paper pinned to the bulletin board?” “Maybe.” “It was Flora’s death announcement. She’s been gone for years, Ker.” “Then who did we talk to?” “I think that was Polly. She pulled a switch. But I’m not sure why.” The next morning I tried to figure out if my connections made sense. I could see why Boomer was killed. He was trying to pull something over on the bootleggers, and Eliot Ness had taught me you didn’t fool with those guys. But why Dodo? Who wanted her dead?” I could hear the phone ringing. “Mitch, it’s for you.” Cindy was eating a bowl of Sugar Pops. I was prepared for Kerry but the voice on the other end of the line was someone different. “Lester?” “Good, I was afraid you’d left for school already. I talked to a friend of mine and found out something that I thought might help you. Wanted to let you know before they took me back to the home today.” “What’d you find out?” “Ralph was an undercover cop. He’d been working the smuggling racket and was about to bring in a surprise witness when someone found out and threatened him. His girl was going to be killed if he didn’t “lose” some important evidence. His girl was Flora Madison.” Suddenly pieces started to fall like dominos for me. Dodo had been right. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Flora was the target all along. They killed Boomer because they could use his death as a warning. Polly wanted Flora in the car, but Dodo went instead. Polly was involved. I raided my secret stash of money to retrieve the film from the drug store. To consume the roll, I’d snapped pictures of the dog, the house and even Cindy but the one I was interested in was “Flora” at the home. |
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| Her face screwed up and I knew from experience she was getting ready to wail.
“It’s a secret.” I whispered. The tight expression relaxed. “A secret?” Cindy loved secrets. Probably one of the reasons she was always spying on me. She had a bright career ahead of her in the CIA. “Yeah, I have to figure out who the people are in this picture.” “Why?” Her breath smelled like peppermints. “Cause one of them is a mur-der-er.” I drug the word out slowly. Her eyes widened. “Like on TV?” If I babysat, I let her watch X Files. It kept her out of my hair and made her day. “Yes. So you have to keep quiet about this picture.” She peered at it. “Do you know who it is?” “Not yet. But tonight I plan to find out.” “How?” “We’re going to take a trip to the graveyard.” “Can I go?” She begged. “Pleeeze. I promise I won’t get in the way.” “Can’t risk it. If Mom finds out – we’ll never get to go to Disneyland again.” |
I knew that would convince her to not plead anymore. Disneyland was nirvana to Cindy. We’d gone every year since she was three, and she never tired of it.
“You can help.” I knew I had to offer her something. “What do you want?” “Keep Mom from checking my room.” “Check.” I wasn’t sure what she would do, Knowing Cindy, I was confident that Mom and Dad wouldn’t even remember that I was supposed to be in bed. In the kitchen, I was surprised to see Cindy eating bananas. As I punched in Kerry’s number, she started on a second banana, and winked at me. Maybe I’d underestimated her. “Kerry, can you help me with math?” “Sure, read pages 110-115. I’ll look at your answers before class in the morning.” The temperature had dropped since we were there on Sunday night and a fog was rising from the river. I’d had enough of cemeteries. If Kerry and me could solve Dodo’s problem, I never want to see a tombstone again. We found her gravestone, and looked around. No Dodo. I was hoping that Lucifer wouldn’t show up when I saw a translucent form ambling across the grass. There was the hat, the short skirt, and the long scarf, so it had to be her. “Dodo!” Kerry called out. Before I realized it, Dodo was standing in front of me. How did she do that? “My friends.” Dodo exclaimed. “What have you found out?” |
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| “Here’s Mr. Cardenas. Good luck.” Eunice left us.
“Ralph?” Lester laid his hand on the thin shoulder.Mr. Cardenas raised his head. It was easy to see that he saw nothing. His eyes were cloudy pools of milky-white. If he heard Lester’s voice, there was little indication. “Ralph. These two young fellows are here to see you.” Lester continued on, as though Ralph was a participant in the conversation, “they want to talk to you about an old friend.” I decided to try. “Mr. Cardenas. Dodo asked us to find out something for her.” No response. I might as well have tried to get information from the koi that peered quizzically up at me from the pond. Mr. Cardenas’s body sat in that chair, but his mind was in another place. I decided to try again. “Do you remember Dodo, Mr. Cardenas?” Nothing. One last try, “She wanted to find out who did it, Mr. Cardenas. She wanted to know who killed her.” “Sorry, boys. I don’t think you’ll be getting anything here.” Lester looked at his watch. “I’d better be getting you guys back home before we’re all found out.” It seemed such a shame to have come all this way, and found out nothing. I saw Eunice coming through the double-doors. “I knew you’d have to see for yourself. Poor old gent. Hasn’t spoken a word in years.” She shook her head, and grabbed the wheelchair. “Want to walk me back to his room?” We tagged along as Eunice wheeled Mr. Cardenas to his room. Eunice chatted about her charge and how his family didn’t show up much. She pushed open the door and we went inside. Ralph’s room was a memory bank. Pictures lined the walls and all the shelves, pictures that he couldn’t have seen in years. Kerry walked around the room, looking at the photos. They were nearly all black and white and must have been taken in the twenties and thirties. A young, black-haired Cardenas smiled and laughed from them. Kerry poked my arm. “Mitch, Mitch!” He pointed at one of the photos. I couldn’t believe it. It was Dodo, in the flesh. Beside her was Ralph and on the other side was a broad-shouldered hulk. “Boomer?” I whispered. As I looked around, I saw Dodo in other photos. She was always smiling, and usually the center of attention. “We’d better go.” Lester pushed us toward the door. |
Kerry pulled my arm, dragging me back to a corner. “Mitch! Look at this one!”
I stared at one of the photos. Next to the photo, a card caught my eye. Before Lester turned around, I pulled the pushpin out and stuffed the photo in my back pocket. No one saw me but Kerry. His eyes were wide. “Goodbye, Mr. Cardenas, it was nice to meet you.” Kerry’s voice was pitched unnaturally high. As we exited, we ran into Miss Maxwell. “Visiting hours are over, boys. You have to leave now.” “Yes, ma’m, we were just on our way.” Lester smiled benignly. We had pulled into Lester Keane’s driveway and were back on the porch when a silver minivan pulled in. A woman hopped out and pulled a couple of grocery bags out of the back. She looked suspiciously at the Pontiac before walking up to the porch. She glanced at me and Kerry before staring at her father-in-law. “You been driving again, Lester?” “What? Me?” Lester was the picture of innocence. “I’m just visiting with these young lads here.” I could tell that Lester’s daughter-in-law wasn’t fooled. “Just don’t let Marcus find out. Your friends staying for supper?” We declined. I was itching to get back to my room and examine the photo more closely. I didn’t think that Lester had seen me filch it. Magnification, I discovered, didn’t work well on photos. All you get is a sea of dots. At least in my desk light I was able to see the people more clearly. There were five people, all crowded around an old car. It was one of those Ford Model things, an A or a T or D or something. I recognized Dodo, and Ralph. The big guy must have been Boomer. There was a woman in the photo. Was it Flora? A heavyset mustached man stood with one foot perched on the bumper. The scent of Tinkerbell perfume alerted me to someone was standing at my elbow. “Who’s that?” Cindy demanded. “Where’d you get that picture? I’ll tell Mom.” Cindy’s voice was on the same sound level as a jackhammer. “Will you put a sock in it.” I grabbed her arm and glanced at the door. I was in luck. Mom was still downstairs. |
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| “Tell her what?”
She stomped off into the house. Inside, I heard Mom’s voice giving her what-for for being out of bed. Kerry looked anxious. “Do you think she knows anything?” “Nope. She was bluffing.” The next afternoon, Kerry and I rode the three blocks to Lester Keane’s. I wasn’t sure who would be there or even if Keane was still visiting. Luck was with us. Keane was sitting on the front porch, reading a newspaper. We hopped off our bikes and approached the porch. “Hi, Mr. Keane, you remember us?” He peered at us over the top of his reading glasses. “Sure I do, boys. You were at the home with your gang. What are you doing here?” I explained our situation. Keane listened patiently. He folded the paper neatly and laid it on the table beside him. “Let me see if I understand this. You’ve seen a ghost, a ghost who wants you to find out about her death. Maybe find out who killed her. You need someone to take you to the insane asylum. Is that it in a nutshell?” “Yes sir.” I answered. “You know that’s about as cockamamie story as any I heard in a long time.” Keane said. “However, it’s been pretty dull around here. What do you need?” He reamed out a pipe and tapped it on the edge of the patio. With his cane, he pushed the tobacco off into the roses below. “Not suppose to smoke.” He smiled. “Don’t tell.” Lester didn’t remember the murder at the speakeasy. “Now I don’t doubt it happened. That was a rough area when I was young. Any number of bodies probably hanging around that old place.” He waggled his white eyebrows at us. The explanation to Lester Keane wasn’t bad. The lie I told my mom was burning the seat of my pants. I crossed my fingers that Mom had no reason to call Kerry’s folks and find out I wasn’t eating there. Fortunately, my little sister, the human lie detector was at her piano lesson or we’d have been sunk for sure. |
Lester drove his son’s old Pontiac. Although he still had a license, he told us he didn’t drive much on account of the fits. I didn’t want to know more. Sunnyview was five miles out of town, sitting squarely by itself in a field of alfalfa. We passed through a wrought iron gate. The dark red brick building ahead was an ugly monstrosity. Ivy curled and died up the walls. Each floor had windows covered in serious looking iron bars. We parked in a slot for visitors, and ambled across the asphalt pavement. Lester was passed by a couple of snails. Inside, a green linoleum floor reflected the overhead florescents. A woman with black-framed glasses sat at a desk. She wore a green skirt and a green sweater set, matching the floor tile.
“Yes?” She stared at Kerry and me. “Oh, we’re here to see Ralph Cardenas.” Lester said. “Mr. Cardenas? I don’t recognize you. Have you been here before?” “No, we’re from out of town. Ralph’s an old friend and someone told me he was here. My grandsons decided to come with me.” Lester lied. On her left pocket was a nametag. Eunice Maxwell. Eunice stared. “How long has it been since you’ve seen Mr. Cardenas?” “Years. Can’t say rightly. Is he still here?” Eunice stood, scraping back the chair across the polished floor. “He’s in the solarium. Follow me.” We trailed behind Eunice down the antiseptic hallway. At the end was a glass dome. Palm trees in large pots dotted the area. A murky fishpond was the center attraction. Kerry peered into the pond. He liked fish. “Those are monster gold-fish in there.” Kerry whispered. “I think they’re koi.” I whispered. At the end of a brick walkway slumped a man in a wheelchair. Bushy salt and pepper brows shaded his eyes. |
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| “If that’s the story, then why do we need to talk to Ralph?” Kerry asked.
“Because Ralph knows the killer. He would never tell me who. I asked him many times, when it was still possible to ask him questions. He always said it was too dangerous for me to know. ”In the hallway, a bell chimed four times. “Dinnertime, boys. You’ll have to go.” “Flora, I’m, well, I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure what to say or how to thank her. I remembered the camera in my hand. “Can I take your picture?” “Why?” “If you’d rather not….” I started. Florinda threw up her hands. “Go ahead, it doesn’t matter.” The light in the room wasn’t good. I snapped the shutter and hoped for the best. “Thanks, we appreciate you talking to us.” “Pash. It’s just as well. It happened, and I may as well tell the story now and get it off my chest.” Her eyes lit up. “Tell Dodo that I look forward to seeing her again. It shouldn’t be too long.” Flora didn’t look unhappy about seeing her friend. I wondered what she meant by getting the story off her chest. I wanted to talk to Kerry but mom was just pulling into the driveway. My stupid sister was in the back seat. “You boys enjoy your visit?” Mom asked. We said that we did. We told her a fib about writing a paper for social history class. I could see Cindy’s face in the rear-view mirror, rolling her eyes and making loopy motions with her finger. After dinner, Kerry and I sat out in the back yard, as far from the house as we could get. |
“Maybe we could just tell Dodo what Flora told us. That she died by accident.” Kerry looked hopeful.
“Don’t think that’ll work. I kinda think she wants to know who. She might already know it was a mistake. Did you think that Flora acted a little weird?” “I don’t know. Maybe. It was strange that she didn’t seem bothered we’d been talking to a ghost.” “Yeah.” “So you want to go to the loony bin and talk to Ralph?” “We have to.” “Who’ll take us? We can’t tell your mom we want to go visit the funny farm. She’ll be very suspicious.” “Maybe we can get Lester Keane to help us.” “Old man Lester? The man with a thousand stories?” “Yep.” “He’s visiting his son!” “I know. When the receptionist opened the book, I saw his son’s address. He’s only three blocks from us. We can ride our bikes over there after school tomorrow. Maybe he’ll even remember Dodo’s murder.” Something glinted in the darkness. I elbowed Kerry. “Stay here.” I got up and walked toward the house. Just before I reached the back door, I darted into the rhododendron and came up with Cindy. She had a pair of pink Barbie binoculars around her neck. “Gotcha, you little sneak.” I held her arm. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?” She had on pink pajamas with little hearts. “I’ll tell mom.” She sputtered. |
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