Chapter Text
Chapter 1 – August 1950
It was a windy night on the 4th of August 1950.
Ligeia had been slowly walking down the street with a cigarette loosely held between her carmine red lips. She could still remember how a few months before she had told herself she would stop smoking, now that memory brought a kind of disappointed smirk to her lips. She was walking back from the Dance Academy where she taught; she was a pretty mediocre teacher. Her students were four girls between the ages of six and eight, none of them had an innate talent for dancing, and thankfully none of them wanted to pursue the dancing career path for much longer, they either wanted to be nurses or teachers, just like any normal girl their age. Ligeia may have once dreamed of dancing at the Rockefeller Center, but now all she worried about was making ends meet. Ligeia Kubelik was a pretty slim 5'8” woman with straight black hair that hanged right above her elbows, she had gray eyes that were a bit too far apart and her eyebrows were naturally curved like a 40s Hollywood movie star, so most of the time she looked like she was mad about something. While walking down the street, her black -or dramatic black as the advertisement said- short-heeled pumps made a click-clack noise that interrupted any type of silence, but after a while merged itself with the white noise of the night.
She continued walking until she reached an old building that didn’t fit with the aesthetic of the other houses and apartments neighboring it. Before entering the manor's garden, there was a metal gate that several decades before would have had a radiance comparable to a sparkly mirror. But now it had a funny brown color and made a strange screech every time someone moved it. Right in the middle of the gate there was a plaque that read “Macaulay Manor”. Technically it wasn’t a manor, but the first owner had been an eccentric man that had always dreamed of owning one, and so everyone referred to it as Macaulay Manor.
The building was a three-story manor made out of gray bricks entirely covered in moss and bindweed. The only parts of the house that didn’t succumb to these were the windows, these were all cottage windows except for the one in the center of the house, this one was a Palladian window with a crystalline-looking glass. Overall, the manor looked like a Victorian residence that had been condemned to live forever covered in the strangling beauty of nature. It also smelled like wet grass.
Ligeia approached the front door, and before she could reach the knob, she heard screams coming from inside the house.
- You broke it! — said a very feminine voice.
- I already told you it was an accident! — said another feminine but deeper voice.
Ligeia took a few steps back after getting startled by the screams and then proceeded to enter the house.
The scene looked like it had come out of one of the mediocre plays from the theater a few blocks away. There were five girls all accommodated around the living room, some watching the scene unfold and others not caring. These were Ligeia's friends and cotenants. Five young girls trying to make something of themselves in the promising California.
The younger ones were Tammy Oesterheld and Patricia Prentiss, both 19. Tammy had long brown hair, often tied up into a neat bun, that made her look a few years older. She had smooth chocolate brown skin adorned with delicate freckles. And her eyes were the greenest eyes, like two emeralds that belonged to some ancient empress.
Patricia was where the male eyes would linger. She had blonde hair, always styled in the newest fashion. Her eyes were round and big and had a clear blue color to them. She was what magazines would call the beauty standard. Curiously, they were both the owners of the voices that Ligeia had heard arguing. It looked like they were fighting over some bottle of perfume that Tammy had broken unintentionally, or so she said.
And then there were Virginia, Therese, and Barbara. Virginia Thornton was the oldest one, being 21. She was undoubtedly the most beautiful one in Ligeia's eyes. She had very sharp features that made her look like some pristine goddess. Her wavy jet black hair cascaded down to her waist. And her eyes were also green like Tammy’s, but hers were darker and gave her an intense gaze.
Therese Horowitz was 20 and had the gentlest features that made her look like some saint bathed in golden sunlight. Her eyes were of the most beautiful hazel color. And her refined hooked nose gave her character.
And then there was Barbara Summerfield. She was 20 as well. She had the reddest bush of hair that accompanied her freckled face. But what made her a beautiful young woman was her plump body, which made her look like the benign woman she was. But in a world ruled by white, rich, misogynistic men, the only women worth looking at were the ones beautiful through the eyes of men. What could a girl be if not a fool?
It took them a while to realize that Ligeia had just come in. But once they did, all of their attention was directed towards her. Patricia was the first one to speak:
- Ligeia! Finally, someone that can reason with Tammy. Ligeia, will you please tell Tamara to buy me a new bottle of perfume since she broke this one? — she said with a bittersweet voice.
- For God’s sake, Patricia! I already told you it was an accident! It wouldn’t have fallen if you hadn’t left it right next to my typewriter.
- Aaaagh — said Therese, indicating this bickering had been going on for quite some time now.
- Ligeia, would you please tell them to stop arguing? — said Barbara with a tiredness to her voice.
- Patricia, it’s just a bottle of perfume, and Tammy already told you it was an accident. And Tammy, please stop provoking her. Okay?
Tammy looked like she never had the intention to start the argument and was already tired of it, but Patricia had been looking at her with a grave look on her face.
- Why do you even care so much about that bottle of perfume, don’t you have like dozens? — said Ligeia while sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace.
- We-Well, because Jo-Johnny gave it to me as a present. — she said, looking down while stumbling over heer words.
This made all the girls snap their heads in her direction, even Virginia looked up at the book she was reading to make sure she had heard correctly.
- Johnny? Are we talking about the Johnny Woodstock? — said Therese.
And then everyone went quiet. The sound of the rustling wind hitting the windows and a far whistle of a kettle were the only sounds that kept the room alive.
- Patricia… — said Virginia, finally speaking.
- He said sorry! Okay?! He told me to meet up, and he apologized a thousand times, may I say! And then, and then he showered me with gifts! He changed and I’m giving him a chance! So don’t start telling me how he’s not good enough for me, because I don’t have the strength to listen to your advice on how I should live my love life when none of you except for Therese have a love life! So leave me and Johnny alone! — her face was all red and her nostrils were flared. She was furious.
Everything went quiet again, this time the room carried a tension that felt like the air was strangling each one of the girls; it was like a ticking bomb that could explode at any time.
- You have to be kidding me… — Tammy looked at Patricia with a critical look on her face.
This thing that Patricia and Johnny Woodstock had, had been going on and off for about two years. With all kinds of arguments in between. And somehow Johnny was always the fault for those imminent break-ups. He had cheated on Patricia multiple times throughout their relationship, and he always finagled her into getting back together with him. And Patricia welcomed him with open arms every single time.
- Patricia… You know how many times we have warned you about him… — Barbara had an emphatic look on her face.
- Yes, I know how many times you have warned me! But why should I listen to you? You don’t know anything about our relationship or any romantic relationship in general, so stay out of my business.
- Are you serious?! We don’t need any type of romantic relationship knowledge to know that he’s an asshole! — Tammy jumped out of her seat and was looking at Patricia with a mix of disappointment and anger on her face.
- I don't have the energy to keep arguing about this with any of you! So leave me alone! — Patricia climbed the stairs upstairs to go to her room with more strength than she normally would, making it, so her feet made a loud thud every step she took. Tammy fell back onto her chair and took a random book that someone had left on the coffee table. None of the girls resumed the conversation, knowing it would be better to just clean the air and act as if nothing had happened.
Ligeia woke up the next morning to the continuous sound of the bell ringing. She quickly got out of bed, grabbed her robe and walked downstairs tying her hair, so she wouldn't look like she had just gotten out of bed, although she failed miserably. She mumbled a quick "coming" to whoever was outside the door and finally opened it. On the other side was Nicholas Glass, a tall, about 6'3'' man with dark brown hair that hung right above his ears, he had a long fine nose where a pair of slim round glasses rested, and a well-structured face with a square jaw. He was more on the lean body side than on the buff side. He was in his last year of his literature degree, and was dating Therese Horowitz.
Before Ligeia could even greet him, a sweet voice appeared behind her.
- Nick! I'm sorry, I didn't remember to set up my alarm. Did you have to wait too long?
Therese walked down the stairs in her thin nightgown, with a puffy face and her eyes half closed. She dismissed or didn't notice Ligeia and went straight into Nicholas’s embrace. He engulfed her with his weird-shaped arms and hands as she circled his neck with her slim arms while her fingers went directly into toying with the thin hair that rested at the back of his neck. Ligeia watched them from where she was standing, uninterested in whatever was going on.
- Don't worry too much about it, love. I don't mind waiting.
Therese was so engulfed in the way he looked while smiling like a young bride who just got married to the most handsome man in the world - Nicholas Glass was certainly not the most handsome man in the world - that she didn't even realize that he was talking to her.
Nick waited for Therese to get ready while he made small talk with a grumpy and uninterested Ligeia, who wasn’t in the mood to make small talk with anyone. They then left, leaving Ligeia alone in the old living room.
Today was Saturday the fifth of August 1950. This was the first day of Ligeia's summer holidays - which lasted two weeks. The thought of not having to go to the Dance Academy to teach a couple of girls whose parents had way more money than she ever was going to have, should have pleased her. But now, sprayed in the old ugly ocher color chaise lounge that weirdly enough was displayed in the center of the living room, her tangled hair was falling over the back of the chaise, while she bit her nails thinking how she was going to get enough money to comfortably live until she started working again. The only solution she found was opening the liquor cabinet and pouring herself a glass of whiskey. She then fell asleep in the uncomfortable, lumpy chaise.
- Ligeia! Ligeia woke up to find Tammy looking at her upside down with her hair tickling Ligeia’s face.
- Why are you sleeping here? - Tammy was now seating in one of the armchairs.
- Nicholas Glass came to pick up Therese, and after they left I accidentally fell asleep here.
Ligeia rubbed her face with the palm of her hand while looking around the living room. Before her was Tammy, she was sitting in the aquamarine velvet armchair that Therese had once found at a yard sale - this one was the only one of all the three that looked quite clean, even though it had a few weird-shaped stains. Behind Tammy, a little to the left, was the fireplace, none of them could recall the last time it had been cleaned. The corbel and the surround were all covered in gray and black ash, any trace of its old color was gone. On the right side behind Tammy was a big oak bookshelf with small engravings of sunflowers on the face frame rail and stile. Some books looked like they had been read over and over, with the tips of their covers damaged and their spines broken on purpose or not. The other books were still waiting to be read, some had gotten lucky, and their owners had read about two chapters, but others hadn’t even been opened, some you couldn’t even see the title because of how much dust covered them. On the shelves of such bookshelf resided various objects, from candles to empty glasses or photo portraits of a family none of them knew, that Tammy had once bought at a yard sale while she had been drunk. The bookshelf was also the house of a big family of termites. Next to it was the liquor cabinet from where Ligeia had taken out the whiskey a few hours back. This was a small about 19 inches cabinet, it had two small doors that met at the middle with two little round handles that had engraved an identical pair of roses. The panel of such doors was stained-glass of greenish color. Beside both sides of the chaise lounge where Ligeia was sitting were two other armchairs, they had found them in the attic when they first moved in. These were the ugliest leather armchairs any of the girls had ever seen, but since none of them had enough money to buy new furniture, they contented themselves with what they had. The placement of the three armchairs and the chaise longue created a small circular space in the middle. In the center was a small coffee table, which was mostly used when someone wanted to have a drink while reading, it was full of circles that indicated where the glasses had been placed. Behind the chaise longue were a few other shelves, these were full of old and forgotten things. A few meters away from the right side, of the chaise was the main and only entrance to the house, the only thing that separated 1950s Los Angeles from this dusty living room, was a milk white door that had several daffodils engraved in its top panels and rail, the handle also had a daffodil engraved but because of the patination of the bronze part of it has disappeared. About 19 feet from the left side of the chaise were the stairs that lead to the second story, these were winder stairs that in its oak rail had carved all the way from the bottom to the top wild poppies. Next to it was the kitchen entrance. Books were also stacked on every available surface of the living room, as well as all types of wildflowers inside strange looking vases and ashtrays filled with burned Lucky Strike’s.
- Oh, so that’s why Therese was nervous before going to sleep last night.
Since there were only 3 rooms, each room was occupied by two girls. Ligeia shared a room with Virginia, Tammy with Therese and Barbara with Patricia.
- What do you mean? - Ligeia stretched her arms while sitting up on the chaise.
- Before going to bed she put rollers on, which you know she hates, and couldn’t stop pacing around the room while mumbling incoherently to herself. And when she finally got into bed, she couldn’t stop moving around and changing positions every few minutes.
- Well, now you know why. I bet Nicholas Glass went straight to bed and fell asleep as soon as he hit it.
- Don’t be like that Gia, he’s a good guy, he treats Therese how she should be treated. I really don’t know what you have against him.
- He’s just an elitist prick, like every other literature student, who flaunts his liberal-arts knowledge wherever he goes.
- First of all, not every literature student is an elitist pri-
- Yes they are. - interrupted Ligeia.
- Secondly, you know that you don’t even believe everything that you just said. Nick is one of the few guys in Los Angeles, or even the U.S., that doesn’t treat women as if we are an object. He respects Therese, he respects us; he’s the only man that whenever I talk to, I get a genuine feeling that he’s actually listening to what I’m saying. He’s a rich white privileged guy who believe it or not thinks men and women are equal, he even believes all races and ethnicities are equal! You know how many men, how many people, look me up and down whenever I’m walking down the street just because I’m not white? They make me feel ashamed of my Latin origin when I should be proud! And Nicholas Glass has never made me feel ashamed of where I come from or treated me differently because I’m a woman. And I know that he also respects and listens to you. So if you still can’t get all of that through your thick skull, then do as you please, but don't you dare say any of that crap you just said to Therese, because she doesn’t deserve it. And I understand if you feel jealous of the relationship they have, I do too, I understand that finding that type of relationship as a woman is almost impossible, but that doesn’t give you the right to lash out like you did. - She was furiously articulating while talking. She then got up, grabbed Ligeia’s glass she had left on the floor behind the chaise, and went into the kitchen.
It was around 7 p.m. when Therese arrived back to the house. All the girls, except for Tammy who was in the kitchen, were lounging in the living room, when Therese walked in. All of them turned to her, but it was Barbara who had her body turned towards Therese and her head leaning on the back of the chaise, who spoke to her first.
- So, how did it go? - she had a giddiness to her voice.
Therese was leaning on the back of the door with her knees partially bent while she looked at the up as if the boring white ceiling of the manor had suddenly turned into the Sistine chapel.
- I don’t know what to say… - it was more of a mutter. - I’ve fallen utterly and completely in love with Nicholas Glass.
After that, Therese just walked to the stairs and up to her room. The rest of the girls, now including Tammy, were staring at the now empty stairs with a dumbfounded expression. It must have been a whole minute before Tammy, Barbara and Patricia left whatever they were doing and ran up the stairs while laughing and screaming in a more girly hysterical manner. Ligeia and Virginia stayed downstairs and returned to the books they were reading. Upstairs Patricia, Barbara and Tammy gathered in Therese's bed while she was laying in a starfish position hugging a pillow and dumbly smiling to herself.
- What do you mean you're in love with him?
- How do you know?
- Does he love you back?
The girls fired questions at Therese like bullets, without even giving her the time to answer. They were just too excited to know about a feeling none of them had ever experienced, not even Patricia.
- I just looked at him while we were walking through Griffith Park and I realized I didn't just like him. All the butterflies that I once felt in my stomach were gone, instead I felt - she made a pause as if she was trying to find the word- safe. I felt safe.
- Safe? - asked Patricia slightly tilting her head to the side, you could see the gears in her mind turning while trying to comprehend why Therese had chosen the word safe to describe being in love.
And the girls thought that maybe Therese wasn't really in love, because falling in love was supposed to feel like your heart was bursting out of your chest and your whole body was on fire. They thought falling in love wasn't supposed to make you feel safe. Falling in love was dangerous, especially for a woman.
It was now the 22nd of August, the girls had lived the last weeks on canned and cheap food since none of them had any type of income. There had been a strange type of tension in the manor these last few days, and it was mostly attributed to having to eat the same food every day for every meal. The only one that seemed to be calm was Therese, who disappeared with Nicholas Glass almost every day, coincidentally when the tension between the girls was at its highest point. Ligeia had started working the day before and wanted to quit already. Tammy had also gone back to work, she worked as a secretary for the CEO of a makeup company. Therese studied English literature while simultaneously working a part-time job as a librarian. Virginia, Barbara, and Patricia also had to balance out studying and working. Virginia studied Latin at UCLA and worked as a Kelly girl, Barbara was doing some type of interior design apprenticeship and worked as a telephonist, and lastly Patricia studied education and worked part-time as a teacher's aide.
Not all the girls had gone back to college or work, but they were already dreading it. Today was a particularly hot day and since the only air generator in the manor was an old rusty fan that produced more noise than air, the girls weren’t in a very good mood to say the least. Tammy who was in the kitchen, had been cleaning the same two mugs over and over while staring at some spot in the wall without even knowing what she was doing. Barbara had been deadheading all the flowers in the garden for about an hour fearing that if she went back into the house she would be met with angry stares for no particular reason. Patricia was cleaning a pair of high-heeled white shoes she was going to wear later on her date with Johnny Woodstock which none of the girls approved of, because of it she was the recipient of all the irritated stares. Virginia and Ligeia had been reading the same paragraph of their respective books over and over since they were too occupied glaring at Patricia to pay any attention to the books. And Therese, was just being Therese, she was sitting in one of the armchairs while reading the copy of The Greek Myths Nicholas had gifted and annotated for her. Still to this day none of the girls know what Nick had written in it for Therese to blush every few minutes and silently giggle.
Tammy came into the living room while she was drying a glass with the end of her apron. You could see how she turned the piece of cloth inside the glass going left and right inside it.
- What are you cleaning does shoes for? - she directed the question towards Patricia. Tammy was the only one that didn’t know she had a date with Johnny.
The room went quiet. Therese abruptly stopped reading her book and looked over to Tammy who was still waiting for an answer. Ligeia and Virginia on the other hand went back to reading.
- I have a date, with Johnny. - Patricia smiled smugly at her while standing up from one of the armchairs. Tamara looked at her dumbfounded. She dropped the glass she was drying, it didn’t break, instead it rolled towards Patricia’s feet.
- Are you fucking serious?
- Yes, yes I am, and please do not curse. Now move, I have to go get changed before Johnny gets here. - Patricia was still smiling at her, thinking she had the high ground in this conversation.
- Oh, you bitch, - Therese’s eyes widened at the comment and her head snapped up towards Tammy- you really think you can just shut me up like that? You think I’m reacting like this because I want the worst for you? Can’t you fucking understand for once and for all that John Woodstock isn’t good enough for you? - Tamara was now pointing her index finger towards Patricia in an accusing manner.
- How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone! For God’s sake, just fuck off. - even though she was furious at Tammy, her face expressions showed anything but anger. She looked exasperated, lost even.
- How can any of us leave you alone when all you do is let men use you for your body, do you really think they see behind your looks? - at the time Tammy didn’t regret saying that, but soon enough she would.
Patricia looked on the verge of tears. She couldn’t comprehend how those hurtful words she had often heard come out from the cruel mouth of her mother, were now being spitted out of her best friend's mouth. She loved Tammy, she really loved her, she loved all the girls, but the bond she had with the other girls didn’t even come close to the one she had with Tammy. They were the youngest of the group, still in their teens. They connected almost instantly, every Saturday they would go for a walk and stare at the expensive showcases of Rodeo Drive while imagining they were the wives of some magnates. These little excursions stopped when Johnny Woodstock came into the picture. He despised Tammy, he hated even more that Patricia and her spent a lot of time together, according to him. He often called her a “dyke”, something Patricia and him always fought about.
- I can't believe you just said that. - Patricia was now crying, mascara all smudged and running down her nose.
- You know it’s the truth.
That was enough for Patricia to snap. She grabbed the glass Tammy had dropped and threw it across the room. If she had thrown it a bit more to the left it would have hit Tammy right in the face. The remainings of the now broken glass were scattered around the floor. The room went quiet. Every girl except Barbara who was still outside, were now looking at Patricia as if she was going to explode at any moment.
Patricia grabbed her shoes went into her room to collect her purse and went back down. She put on her shoes, said goodbye to only Therese with a weak smile on her face. She then looked around the living room while tightly grabbing her purse and went outside. She also said her goodbyes to Barbara, but this time she strongly and firmly wrapped her arms around her and kissed her cheek before whispering a weak thank you into her ear. Barbara without understanding what was happening watched Patricia open the squeaky gate and walk down the street. She kept on watching her until she was out of sight.
Patricia did not return to the manor that night.