Chapter 5
My rapidly dwindling cash necessitates the need for a job but finding one that will hire me without any paperwork, and ideally cash in hand at the end of the day, or week rather than a paycheck, is proving to be challenging. I’d overheard a conversation at The Apollo which mentioned this place and after exhausting other options I was willing to explore, I’m now standing on the street, somewhat desperate. Reluctantly I pull on the heavy door and step inside. Despite it being almost noon and bright sunshine outside, it’s dark inside the nightclub. As the door closes behind me, it takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust.
“You gonna come any further in, or just block the doorway?”
There’s a woman at the bar, who briefly disappears as she bends down, appearing a moment later with a box. Settling the box on the counter, she pauses.
“Well?”
“I heard you hired short term workers.”
“Yeah? Who’d you hear that from?”
I shrug in response, which she accepted as an answer.
“You from Metropolis?”
“No,” I lie easily. Anything to distance myself from Lois Lane.
“And do you have a name?”
I blurt out the first name that comes to mind. “Sandra.”
“Well, Sandra, I’m Pamela. Ollie leaves the part time hiring to me. You have to check your shifts daily and if you don’t show up, don’t come back. No drinking on the job, no drugs and no personal business at work.”
At her last comment she raised one eyebrow at me, her implication clear, and I feel myself bristle.
“I’m a responsible woman, just in need of some honest work. I’m sure I can find it elsewhere.” Turning my back to the woman at the bar, I walk towards the door, wondering what I’m going to do now.
“It’s up to you, Sandra,” she calls as I get to the door. “Your shift starts tonight at five. Show up before then so I can show you around. Oh, and get a suitable outfit to wear.”
The last remark just makes it through before the door closes behind me.
****
The job isn’t as bad as it could have been, but it takes me a few shifts to get the hang of things. All I do is take and serve orders, which isn’t beyond my capabilities, and my pay is the tips I bring in. Pamela, the woman who hired me, also manages the inventory and all of the staff. She’s younger than I, but she’s grown up in this area of Metropolis and knows how to handle everyone that walks through the doors. I was surprised to learn she had studied to be a lawyer, and filed that information away in the event I could use her expertise.
A year from now, as I investigate Intergang, I learn about this nightclub, which, while being very run down, is owned by a guy who is merely trying to keep a once swanky club open while land values around him soar. During the investigation, many of the people who worked for him had good things to say, despite his payroll methods being illegal, but I don’t remember Pamela at all. I’m curious what happens to her between now and the investigation. It’s a relatively safe place to work and Pamela and I get along well. The tips aren’t much, but it is enough for me to keep the hotel room for the next two weeks.
I’m not worried about running into people that I knew at the nightclub, but as a precaution I try to disguise my appearance. I dye my hair a few shades lighter and leave it long after a short debate with myself. I had considered cutting it to the same length as it was back then, in the event I needed to impersonate myself, but decide I could do that when, and if, I need to. The longer hair is easier to disguise. With my meager earnings I purchase some outlandish drugstore makeup, a few outfits that were rather eccentric and loud, and a pair of oversized glasses. The one item I did like that completed the set was an enormous sunhat that hid my face well.
While I had enough money for a roof over my head, food and an ample supply of coffee, I’m making no progress at all in helping Clark. If anything, I’m struggling to find out what he does during his daylight hours. I tried sitting on the bench near his apartment to see if I could track him coming or going, but I only saw him arriving home once. It was the first time I’d seen him in a long time and even in that brief moment I’d felt my heart clench as I watched him, using every ounce of restraint to stop me from running over to him and begging for his forgiveness. I’d gone back to the hotel room and cried myself to sleep that night, and hadn’t plucked up the courage to return. Ideally, I’d like to break in and find out what he knows and where the investigation is, but not knowing his routine makes it a risk I’m not willing to take at the moment.
I’m stuck.
Not having a landline in the hotel room means I must walk down to the nightclub every day to see if I’m needed. If I don’t show up there’s a risk someone else will take my spot and I can’t afford to lose the income. It also means my free time is contingent on whether I’m working or not, and I’m getting nowhere in trying to help Clark out.
Tonight is a slow night thanks to the horrible weather and the owner closes up early, sending me home before midnight. I step out into the driving rain and tug my light jacket around my shoulders and begin the walk back to the hotel.
I’m ready to give up. The wedding is getting closer and I’m powerless to stop it. I hadn’t paid much attention to the intricacies of the investigation and ensuing legal case against Luthor for the bombing of the Planet at the time, so I’m not even sure where to begin. As I walk past the strip club and lower the hood of the jacket to avoid eye contact with patrons milling around, I perk up as I hear a voice.
“No cover, no minimum,” a familiar voice cuts through the rain.
I stop and turn, gasping as I see Jimmy looking cold and miserable, handing out flyers to anyone that he can get to.
“Step inside and get out of the rain, warm up, have a drink,” he calls.
I had stopped by his apartment to find out what he was up to and had been informed by one of his neighbours that he’d been kicked out so I’m relieved to finally find him. Here’s at least one part of the puzzle, but I need to figure out how to connect him with Clark.
Shivering, I step away from the strip club entrance and hurry back to the relative warmth of the hotel room. I think I have an idea.
****
I wake the following morning and realize I’ve got to start moving things along. Waiting for information and for an opportunity is taking too long. I’ve got enough money to pay for the room until the wedding and that will be my deadline. The investigation into Lex Luthor needs to be in motion by then otherwise the events of my life will continue the way they had. I need to stop my flight from Metropolis.
It’s frustrating trying to formulate a plan based on decades old memories, but there’s one thing I wonder if I can change; Jack had been framed for planting the bomb at the Planet. I remember Lex saying he’d hired a lawyer to help Jack navigate the legal system. I found out later that she was on Lex’s payroll and he had no intention of helping Jack see the light of day for a very long time.
I grab my purse and the spare set of Lois’ keys as a plan starts to formulate in my mind.
****
“Please?” I beg.
Pamela sighs. “Look, I’m not even a lawyer yet.”
“But you passed the BAR.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have all my paperwork. Besides, no one wants to hire someone that worked her way through law school dancing and working at nightclubs.”
“You don’t have to give him legal advice.”
“But you want me to tell him to ditch his current lawyer. Then what? I can’t be his lawyer.”
“He’s a kid. He’s just seventeen,” I argue. “He’s innocent.”
“Isn’t that what they all say?”
“In this case, it’s true. I just need some time to prove it.”
As she rolls her eyes at me, I consider what I can say. At this point, she’s my last hope of getting to Jack as everything else I’ve tried has failed and I’m running out of time. It’s amazing how far a press pass, name recognition and credibility got me. Now I’ve got none of those, nothing beyond a cheap, fake drivers license, I realize how much I relied on them.
“Jack was framed, then charged, and because he has no legal guardian, is being kept in juvenile detention. The lawyer is trying to bury this until he’s of legal age, which is several months away,” I lie. I can’t tell Pamela that the lawyer is on Lex’s payroll and is working to ensure Jack is found guilty, then tried as an adult. It’s only Lex’ death that exonerates Jack.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll go and see him and get his side of the story.”
I exhale in relief and start trying to think of how I can thank her when she interrupts.
“Where’s his family in all of this? You said he doesn’t have a legal guardian but he’s your… nephew?”
“We’re not close,” I stammer. “Besides, I’m hardly in any position to ask the State for guardianship.”
She nods in agreement. “I’ll see what I can do.”
****
I reluctantly fold up the newspaper I had finished and double check that my coffee cup is empty. Lunch at the charming cafe close to the museum was a treat I can hardly afford, but I’d decided to splurge. Many of the small, independent cafes, bistros and restaurants had gradually closed over the years until most of them were now chain stores, at least back in my own time. This particular cafe had been a favourite for their delicious soups and I wanted one pleasant trip back down memory lane.
Plus, though I hated to admit it, I was feeling very discouraged and needed a little pick me up. It had been two days since I had talked to Pamela and hadn’t seen her since. Tonight, for the third night in a row, I was going to have to walk back to the nightclub and see if she was working to get an update.
In the meantime I’d been searching for John Black, a name I’d remembered that had been connected with the Planet’s bombing, with no luck. I’d spent most of yesterday searching through old newspapers for their ‘Metropolis’ Most Wanted’ feature. The Planet had done one a week over the years in an effort to locate criminals, but his name and photo had never appeared. He was unlisted in the phone book and I had run out of ideas on where to find him.
I missed my press pass. The access it gave me was something I had taken for granted for so long, and without it I feel a little lost. I also missed the answer to every question at my fingertips. My phone, which is around fifty percent battery power now, is useless in 1994 and I’m amazed at how much I have come to rely on it. How did I ever survive before Google?
****
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