Chapter Text
Pippi was struggling to like anything about herself when she looked in the mirror. She knew somewhere in her head that it was all just her being nervous, but she wanted more than anything for this date to go off without a hitch. Unwittingly she had managed to trap herself in an unending loop of self deprecation.
She hadn’t even managed to pick out something to wear. Looking over the clothes she had deemed dressy enough, trying to eliminate outfits based on quality. Having been promised a night of dancing, she eliminated anything that didn’t have a full skirt. Deciding comfort was paramount, tossed anything that had tight sleeves. Colors were a problem, Pippi tended to gravitate toward soft light colors and patterns when dressing herself, but her date liked dark warm colors, preferring her to wear pinks, reds, and blacks. After a little debate she chose red, red was bright and loud, and a color Pippi liked to wear on occasion.
Only two dresses remained, a drapey cherry red one with a high waist and a full skirt, and a deep red wrap dress that had a neckline that dipped way too low for her liking. He would like it though. Hesitantly she picked the first one, putting it on over her blue romper.
Now the wig, the wig was another animal all together. She only had two, and both of them were the same style, long and wavy. One black, one brown. She went into the bathroom and held each up in front of her, checking how the colors would look together in the mirror. The black was more striking, and the brown looked more natural. She swung back and forth on this decision. Putting on a wig, taking it off, and putting on the other. Rinse repeat. Until she set both wigs to the side to fix her wig cap. Then it all came together.
Pulling off her wig cap, she brushed out the short blue mop of hair. She stared for a moment at the soft blue her hair had faded to. It was a sort of cornflower blue, and it filled her with delight to see it. Such a pretty color, she wished she could hold on to it forever.
She didn’t put either wig back on.
Not really being one for makeup, she struggled with getting her eyeliner even, and eyeliner was the only makeup she ever wore. Trying to pick a color off her brand new eyeshadow palette was like pulling teeth. She had no idea how to pick colors that went well together, so she just slapped on the darkest brown, figuring a neutral tone would be best. The million different shades of coral lipstick she owned, didn’t help with her makeup conundrum. So she closed her eyes, and picked a random one. Matte, and a bit on the pink side.
She left the bathroom lamenting the state of her hotel room, dressy clothes strewn hither and thither. Nevermind the piles of unfolded laundry, stacks of books, loose fabric, and yarn that lay just beneath the fine layer of dresses. She ignored the mess to the best of her ability, and headed for the door. Grabbing a lacey white wrap out of the coat closet, and nearly forgetting to put on her watch, she headed out the door.
An hour later, she stood in the Rose Room side by side with her date, waiting for the band to take the stage.
The husky man fixed the thin black tie around his neck, tightening it with a grimace. He put on the baggy black suit jacket, matching his baggy black suit pants, and set the black hat on his head. He scowled into the dressing room mirror, smacking a fist into his opposite palm for effect. His eyes glinted even through his Ray Bans.
Suddenly Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose” rattled the dressing room door, mean brassy horns battling a thunderous rhythm section for soul supremacy. The big man smiled into the mirror. Sitting on the couch, a taller thinner, but identically dressed man attached one loop of a pair of handcuffs to a black briefcase. There was a knock on the door.
“You’re on, boys. Jesus, they’re going nuts out there.”
The thinner man slapped the other end of the handcuffs around his wrist. “You ready?” he asked. The big man put a stick of Wrigley’s into his mouth and picked up a long, thin, steel chain with a key on the end of it. He twirled it in a smooth, flat circle.
From outside, the announcer’s excited baritone rose above the charging band. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” The crowd screamed as one voice.
“Thank you. Thank you. Now please join me in a warm Rose Room welcome for the band of Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues - the Blues Brothers.”
The roar rattled a water glass in their dressing room. Jake Blues flashed his hustler’s smile. “C’mon, Elwood.” One eyebrow arched above his midnight shades as he hissed the strangely familiar words, “It’s showtime.”
A white spot hit the two bluesmen as they reached the raised parquet stage, Jake casually whipping his key chain, Elwood dead serious, his briefcase locked to his wrist. Two thousand people rushed the stage. Jake calmly took the key and unfastened the cuff on his brother’s wrist. Elwood, in turn, unlocked his case, reached in and pulled out a microphone and a gleaming Special 20 Blues Harp. He held it before the crowd like a splinter from the Cross as the band kicked into “Hey, Bartender.”
Her friend Liv told her The Blues Brothers were a great band, and they did not disappoint. From the first note to the very last it had been amazing. She had been so caught up in the music she had forgotten herself, and danced with no fear of being seen.
So overjoyed was she that she hadn’t noticed when her date had gone missing. After the concert however when the music had stopped, and the crowd's excitement had waned, she noticed his absence. Searching through the crowd for him as they dispersed. No luck. This had been the best date Pippi had ever gone on, but her date was nowhere to be found.
Maybe he was in the restroom? Or perhaps he had been pushed out of the room by the dispersing crowd? Whatever the case may be, she was sure if she waited at the bar he would turn up eventually.
Nervously double checking her pockets for her keys, she slipped out of the Rose Room with the handful of people that remained. The lobby was bustling, people were crammed in the bar room, while others milled about the lobby either getting ready to head home or waiting for the elevator.
Pippi slowly weaved through the crowd, trying to make her way to the bar. She cringed hearing the joyous shouting from the already very drunk patrons. She struggled to slip into the bar, too many rowdy drunk people crowded in one place. Once she was in the bar she realized why: the band was here.
Dispersed around the room they took up almost every corner. The Colonel was at the pool table, surrounded by eager challengers. Willie had taken a seat in a booth, and was now flanked on either side by women. Duck had nabbed himself some Napoleon brandy, and was putting it away. While Murph had gotten a whole bottle of Johnny Walker red for himself, and was trying desperately to keep up. Matt, Blue Lou and Mr. Fabulous were raiding the bar, planning to take the party upstairs to the band's shared hotel room. Bones, a man of good sense, had been pacing himself, and eating a lot of the free pretzels. Jake had found a couple of attractive young cheerleaders to chat up at the end of the bar. And Elwood stood next to Jake, drinking with them, but not actually participating in the conversation.
Pippi, swimming through the crowd, looked for any man who even vaguely resembled her date. She made a wide circle around the room, passing by the booths and tables first, but there was no one there who even vaguely resembled her date. There were considerably less people standing around the pool tables than the rest of the bar.
She hung out by the pool tables trying to get a good look around the room, and for a second she thought she saw him near the bar, so back into the dense crowd she went. Carefully edging her way over to the bar she spotted him near the middle, and started to push through the crowd. A little ways into her journey however, she got shoved into a man standing at the end of the bar. Feeling embarrassed she quickly moved away from the tall man in the suit, shouting an apology over her shoulder.
Nearing where she spotted him she looked around the bar, trying to find where he wandered off too. It didn’t take long, he hadn’t moved very far, having just taken a seat at the bar he seemed to be wrapped up in a conversation with the person in the neighboring seat. Pippi kept her eyes on him as she tried to sidestep the people in her way. Of course, she was stopped dead when she saw him lean over and kiss the person he was talking to.
For a second her heart was filled with an impossible rage. Violent images flashed before her mind's eye, images of him being torn asunder. For a second these thoughts gave her a small feeling of satisfaction. Then they kissed again, the fury she felt bade her finish her journey to him so she could snap his neck. She swallowed her feelings, and made a beeline for the door, pushing people out of her way as she went. She was out of the bar in no time.
Looking for a good place to hide, and quell her rage, she set her sights on the lobby restroom. Slipping into the restroom, she found it mostly empty, only two other girls were there. Pippi locked herself in the last stall, and waited for the two girls to leave. When the girls finally left, a veritable explosion of rage wrecked her body. Punching every available surface, ripping the toilet roll off the wall, and kicking the stall door until it broke from the hinges. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, and she was sure someone would come to investigate, but no one did. When her anger broke she laid on the floor and cried. Rapidly swinging between raging and crying, until finally she had no emotional energy left. She lingered in the restroom, hoping she would eventually feel stable enough to return to her hotel room.
The gig at the Falls Hotel had been dynamite. They started partying as soon as the gig was over. The band quickly raided the bar, grabbing as many bottles as they could, and taking the party up to their shared room. An hour after the show had ended, Jake, Elwood, and Duck, were the only ones left at the bar. Jake had been doing more than just drinking, and Duck was polishing off another bottle of Napoleon brandy.
Elwood watched Jake chat up a couple of cheerleaders, too busy admiring the girls to pay attention to what was being said. Jake started leading the group away from the bar, and out the glass doors that led to the courtyard. As soon as Elwood saw the pool, he was sure he missed something important.
Elwood observed as the three of them walked to the edge of the pool, the girls starting to strip. Jake, not bothering to take any of his clothes off, jumped in. Elwood wasn't so sure about this. He looked on with apprehension, as the two naked girls hopped into the pool. Just thinking about jumping into the pool with his suit on was making his eczema flare up.
Duck's voice came from somewhere behind him. “Hey, Elwood, I'm going back to the room to party with the boys. Wanna come with?” Relieved to have an easy way out, he turned around, and gave him a nod. Together they walked back into the hotel, and past the bar to where the elevators were.
Pressing the call button, Duck lit his pipe while they waited for the elevator. Elwood rocked on the balls of his feet, and fiddled with his suit coat. Dipping his left hand into his pocket, he found his handcuffs, and started to fidget with the chain.
After a moment, the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. Duck stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the third-floor. Elwood climbed in after him, and the doors slid shut.
Elwood stared for a moment at his distorted reflection on the elevator wall. Glancing down he saw the elevator's railing, and in his drunken state, had a brilliant idea. Pulling the cuffs out of his pocket, he proceeded to close one end of them around the railing, slapping the other end around his own wrist. He tugged at the cuffs, and to his delight they did not give way.
The song playing in the elevator hit a particular note, and suddenly the song “Got My Mojo Working” by Muddy Waters was trapped in Elwood’s head. He hummed a couple bars, and started singing to himself.
When they reached their floor, Duck noticed the predicament Elwood had gotten himself into. Considering he didn’t have a key, and Elwood wasn’t in any actual danger, he opted to leave him in the elevator. Figuring they’d get him out in the morning, Duck returned to the hotel room without Elwood.
Elwood continued to sing to himself, and was enjoying himself immensely, riding the elevator up and down. A few people got on and off, paying Elwood little mind. He ignored them, until one of them started singing along. Momentarily confused by the accompaniment, he stumbled over the next verse. He hadn’t realized anyone else was in the elevator. Turning around to try to find where the voice was coming from, he spied a woman leaning against the back wall. An attractive Rubenesque woman, with very short faded blue hair. She was around Jake's height, wearing a blue romper, a red dress draped over her arm. Her expressive silvery voice washed over him like a wave. He suddenly felt every word like they were a part of him. All the joy, all the sorrow, with just as much heart as if she were the one who wrote them. Instead of getting off the elevator at her floor she stayed, swaying gently as she sang along.
When they sang the last few notes, Elwood, momentarily stunned, didn’t start a new song. Staring at the woman excitedly, no new song came to mind, all he could think was how nice her voice was, and he wished she would sing more. It didn’t take long for him to get his wish. Taking his look as expectant, she quickly picked a new song for them to sing. Starting in on the first few bars of "That’s It - I Quit - I’m Moving On" by Sam Cooke, Elwood joining in.
This went on for what must have been hours, singing all sorts of blues songs from Magic Sam, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Muddy Waters and many others.
Near four in the morning she looked at her watch, and sighed. “It's getting late. I should go get some sleep.” She hit the button for the second floor and they rode down in silence. Elwood suddenly felt very anxious, he didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay in the elevator all night, and sing with him.
When they arrived at the second floor, the doors slid open, and she took a step towards the door.
“Wait!” Elwood piped.
“Yeah?” she hummed tiredly.
“Can- Can I get your name?”
“Not sure you're sober enough to remember it.” She could see the disappointment on Elwood's face as she said this. “You can call me Pippi.” she amended, giving him a soft smile. And Elwood practically melted.
“Pippi.” Elwood sighed.
“Pippi Hughes.” she added. A dopey smile spread across Elwood's face.
She turned and strode out of the elevator. “Goodnight Elwood!” She called as the doors slid closed, and the smile didn't leave Elwood's face for the rest of the night.
It had to be the Penguin. Only Sister Mary Stigmata could hit so hard, so fast. Elwood curled into a protective fetal ball, but still the kicks came, shuddering painfully through his whole hung-over body. He tried to open his eyes... really tried, but there was a faulty transistor blocking his brain's command. Elwood felt two hands shaking him violently. Thank God for that, because it shook open his eyes. His pupils recoiled from the harsh fluorescent light as he focused on the outraged, hulking shape of Bill Halvorsen, general manager of the Falls Hotel.
Elwood's right hand hurt like hell. He looked up and noticed it dangling above him- handcuffed to the railing. “Jesus,” he marveled aloud. “I'm handcuffed to the fucking elevator railing.”
Halvorsen smiled like he had a mouthful of bile. “Nice guess, Mr. Wizard. Now where the hell's your big brother? Do you know that your band ran up a three-thousand-dollar room service bill this weekend? Shit, someone with a southern accent drank five hundred dollars worth of my Napoleon brandy alone!”
Elwood drew himself up with all the dignity available to a man handcuffed to an elevator, and said, “Sir, we have several band members with Southern accents - Bones, Duck-”
“I'm not finished, El-wood,” Halvorsen interrupted. “I haven't gotten to the two thousand dollars in fire and water damage. That's right, Mr. Blues, your boys wrote their names in various liquors and colognes in my third-floor hallway and then lit them. I'm sure it made a pretty fire -” Halvorsen's face was dangerously red, the veins in his neck bulging like hydraulic cables - “but it also destroyed my carpets and set off the sprinkler system, which flooded the entire floor.”
“Sir,” Elwood said, standing up shakily as the elevator hit the second floor. “Sir, my brother and I will be glad to pay-”
“I'm not finished, Blues .” Halvorsen took a menacing step closer, and Elwood felt like a monarch butterfly pinned to velvet. “My night man said he saw my...my daughters swimming nude with that pig brother of yours! They are sixteen years old ...do you know what that means?”
“We've reached my floor,” Elwood said as the doors opened. He leapt for them, only to come flying back in a handcuffed heap.
“Are you alright!?” Came a new voice. Both men turned their attention to the voice. There just outside of the elevator stood a nicely dressed woman with long wavy black hair, and a mushroom print bag. She took two long strides into the elevator and helped Elwood to his feet.
“Thanks.” Elwood muttered. The woman looked familiar, but he was having a hard time placing her. She turned from him for just a moment to hit the lobby button on the elevator. Elwood glanced at Halvorsen who had been strangely quiet. Halvorsen stood slightly back, face red as a tomato, with a furious glare aimed in his direction, clearly waiting for the woman to leave so he could throttle Elwood.
The woman continued to stand uncomfortably close to Elwood. He felt something brush his wrist, and the handcuff loosened and came off without a sound. He glanced down at her, she was staring, disinterested, off into space. She took the other end of the handcuffs off the elevator railing, and Elwood felt her slip them into his blazer pocket.
The woman looked back to him as the elevator doors slid open. “Good luck, Elwood.” She said softly. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, this woman was the same woman from last night.
“Pip-!”
“Run.” She interrupted.
Elwood, in his excitement, had almost forgotten about Halvorsen. He shot out of the elevator, running full tilt through the lobby and out of the hotel. Halvorsen’s shouts of rage followed him.