Ponpon was waiting for me at home, in full war paint, ready for battle.
“I’ve been worried sick,” she said the moment I stepped through the door. “You’ve got a phone. But it’s switched off! I call, no answer. Then I phone Hasan, and he knows nothing. So I try the office… Money-counter won’t tell me a thing. I don’t know, he says, and hangs up. I was sure something had happened to you. You’ll drive me crazy yet. It’s not as though you’re in perfect mental health yourself. The least you could do is leave me sane.”
“Thanks,” I said. “That was great for morale.”
“Oh, I see,” she said. “So now it’s all my fault! We’ve been friends for decades, so I drop everything and leave my home to come here to yours. I’ve been cleaning and straightening for days-that is, when I haven’t been slaving away in the kitchen. Why? To help you. And what do you do? Disappear, as irresponsible as can be. And until the middle of the night. Do you have any idea what time it is? I even considered phoning that police chief friend of yours. Enough. I’m going. I simply won’t put up with this kind of abuse.”
“Come on, Ponpon,” I said. “It was an important job…”
Ponpon melts if she’s hugged. And that’s what she did. Actually, her leaving was a good idea, but I couldn’t deny that thanks to her I’d been living in comfort and feasting like a queen.
“See, I’m fine,” I went on. “And it’s all thanks to you. Go if you want to, of course. I know I’ve been a real bore. I’ve worn you out.”
“Don’t think you can soften me up like that! And I was so busy answering your phone calls, I burned dinner. We’ve got nothing to eat!”
That was the worst possible disaster scenario for Ponpon.
“We’ll eat out,” I said. “My treat!”
“It’s too late… I’ll barely make my show as it is. I’ve got to leave now.”
“We’ll meet up later,” I said.
“You mean you’re not coming with me?”
“It’s high time I stopped by my own club. To see if the place is still standing.”
What I’d just said was perfectly reasonable, but it didn’t stop Ponpon from scrutinizing me from head to toe before glancing at her watch in a panic and darting out the door with:
“I suppose you know best.”
I raced to the bathroom to get ready to go out. I had two choices: to knock them out as my usual glamorous self or resort to tragedy, winning their sympathy as a piteous creature who’d only just crawled out of her deathbed.
I decided on the former.
I’ve got no time for unpleasant surprises, so I phoned Hasan to let him know I was coming. He feigned pleasure, but I could see right through him. I was certain he’d been enjoying playing the tyrant while I was away. It was time for me to topple him from his throne, claiming my place as queen bee and relegating him to the role of drone if need be.
When I hung up, I scanned the list of messages Ponpon had written in a flowing hand perfected at a series of French schools. The name Hüseyin jumped out at me several times as I vainly looked for the name Haluk Pekerdem. How was I supposed to concentrate on anything until I’d landed that man?
I knew I’d see Hüseyin on my way to the club in any case. Now that we’d made up he’d be waiting at the rank at the usual time. If he had anything to say to me, he could do it on the way to the club.
I put on my favorite sleek black dress, collarless and sleeveless like the one Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The effect was completed with three strands of large fake pearls and a pair of long satin gloves. All that was missing was the cigarette holder and French twist. I was at least as thin as Audrey, but far sexier.
When I called for a taxi, Hüseyin arrived, as expected. He began speaking before I’d even settled in.
“I’ve been ringing you all day, but you were out. And I left a message, but you didn’t call back. Brother Nazmi the Catamite had some more amazing news. It’s about that minibus driver you were asking about, the brother of the dead guy… He’s disappeared! Hasn’t been seen for days. The whole taxi stand is looking for him.”
“You might have tried ‘good evening’ first,” I reprimanded Hüseyin.
“Yeah, right, good evening and all that. I suppose I got a little wound up, and I thought you’d be excited too.”
“So how did this Nazmi of yours find out he’d disappeared?”
“Some guys from the stand stopped by to offer condolences. The minibus guys over there said Volkan had socked away a lot of cash. They think the brother ran off with it when he was killed.”
“It’s entirely possible,” I reflected. “Likely, in fact.”
Huseyin paused. “I swear there’s something funny about you tonight. You didn’t use to sit there like a statue when I brought news like this.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“If that’s how you feel…”
“Let’s get going. I haven’t been to the club for days. I miss it.”
“Where have you been all day?” Hüseyin asked, as soon as we were on the road, driving up the hill.
“Since when do I answer to you?” I replied, raising my voice. “I was wherever I was.”
I wasn’t having any impertinence just because we’d slept together twice.
“Get a grip and don’t bother getting your hopes up,” I continued. “Whatever happened, happened. Don’t go reading anything into it.”
He slammed on the brakes, stopping in the middle of the road. Throwing an arm over the seat, he spun around to face me.
“You’re like a cat playing with a mouse,” he said. “I know you’ll thrash me if you get mad. You’ve done it before. But I’ve got feelings, too. I’m not a toy. You can’t order me to come and go whenever you feel like it.”
“Then don’t,” I snapped. “And keep driving.”
“Then get yourself another taxi!” he shouted.
“Don’t be silly, Hüseyin! We’re halfway there.”
“I’ll drop you off back at the rank,” he said.
“So are you going to sulk like a child again?”
He started driving.
“Well, you treat me like a child. Why shouldn’t I act like one?”
“Stop being so stupid!” I said. “Let’s get going. I’m tired, you’re cross… Let’s not drag this out.”
“I waited for you at the stand all day long. I didn’t take any other fares.”
“Did I tell you to wait for me?”
“No,” he admitted.
“So?”
Cüneyt the bodyguard met me at the door to the club, holding it open for me. He even kissed my hand. I must have looked as surprised as I felt. Where on earth had Cüneyt learned that?
“They always do that on The Hülya Avşar Show,” he explained. “And what has she got that you haven’t got?”
“Quite right. And I’ve got something she can never have,” I said. I had only a split second to feel ashamed of my little joke, for the moment I stepped into the club flashes popped and confetti dropped and Hasan was squeezing me so hard I thought I’d suffocate.
When Hasan found out I’d be dropping by the club, he, along with the other boys-Cüneyt, Şükran the barman, DJ Osman, and the regular girls-had organized a surprise party. I was touched, despite myself. Amid cries of “welcome home,” I was dragged onto the dance floor.
My favorite song of all time, “It’s Raining Men,” as performed by the Weather Girls, began playing. I was given even more space than usual on the floor, and had barely finished my second twirl when it filled with well-wishers hugging and kissing me in turn. I was about to burst into tears of joy, gratitude, and pride.
No doubt my high spirits were a bit too much for Hasan, who danced his way to my side to say, “Refik called you twice. You were supposed to stop by. He’s been waiting for you all night long.”
Congratulations. He’d manage to spoil my good mood. I’d completely forgotten about Refik Altın. It was just like him to track me down at the club. Refik had been talking down his nose to me for months, humiliating me at every opportunity. But he still didn’t hesitate to come to the club-my club.
“Oh, I forgot all about him,” I said. “That’s not like me at all. Remind me to give him a call and apologize.”
“He’s the last person who deserves an apology from you.”
“If anyone has any apologizing to do, it’s him,” added Hairy Demet. So, no doubt due to Hasan’s big mouth, everyone at the club knew I hadn’t kept my rendezvous with Refik Altın.
They’d immediately misinterpreted the concerned look on my face.
“Don’t worry about it,” continued Demet. “If he doesn’t come here anymore, so be it. We don’t need the likes of him!”
Hairy Demet was right, I thought, but Refik Altın and his sort did lend a certain intellectual air to the premises.
I was distracted by the front door. It had opened, and three people were walking in. Three men. I glanced hopefully at each in turn. Was that Haluk Pekerdem bringing up the rear?… No. In the dimly lit club, whoever it was had looked remarkably like my Haluk, and I’d held my breath, waiting for him to turn toward me. What was I thinking? What would someone like him be doing in our club? He’d be terrified just to walk through that door.
The excitement I’d felt at seeing a pale imitation of Haluk turned to frustration. I was hooked. I had to get my hands on him one way or another, or I’d lose it.
My pulse was still racing. “It’s Raining Men” was still playing, but I stood stock-still. Breasts straining against filmy fabric, as always, Aylin came up and took my arm.
“Sister, are you all right? You’ve gone all pale.” Screeching,
“Clear the way!” Aylin led me off the dance floor and made me sit down.
Hasan and Şükrü pushed their way through the crowd, coming to my side with worried looks.
“I’m fine,” I said.
“You’re awfully pale,” said Hasan. “Why don’t you sit down for a minute? Şükrü, go and get a lemon soda.”
“Soda won’t help,” Nalan intervened. “Get something sweet. Her blood sugar’s dropped.”
A serious junkie, Nalan was considered an authority on such subjects.
“Get some cola then, and throw in some sugar! Run!” said Hasan, still bossing Şükrü around.
“Cola won’t do it either. It’s carbonated,” Nalan informed them.
“Plain sugar water is best.”
“It’ll make me sick. I don’t want any,” I said. “I’m fine. Look!”
As I stood up, I toppled over. Either my blood pressure had dropped or a lack of sleep was taking its toll.