Demon Stories

Saya: When Left Breathless, 1968, New York City

Saya

When Left Breathless

1968, New York City

In pursual of my own interests, I was once again in the floaty smelling apartment of one Miss Crystal My Dear. She was a lovely creature, always wearing heavy costume jewelry and smelling of sweet Parisian perfume. "Straight from Paris, darling, well of course," she'd say with a cigarette casually between her fingers.

"You never told me you were from Puerto Rico," I said with playful challenge to her this afternoon. 

"There are some things in a girl's heart which men aren't supposed to know, but I trust you, Saya darling," she purred to me in her robust Puerto Rican accent which suddenly made sense all at once after all this time.

There was one thing in her heart which I wanted to know quite dearly, however. Something which had led me to her in the first place three years ago. She had no idea I had known about it when I first met her. In fact, I had sought her out just for this tantalizing information. 

This important information was about the new lover of the one I had hoped to forever call my own. But it was quickly becoming apparent how I would never have him again. All I had left now was the company of this nice older woman and the secret which had led me here. 

For you see, my Beau was now with a demon named Josephine. I had been tracking them, but I had lost them some time ago. The only clue I had was Crystal, and she had all the other clues I would need. But now I was saddened, losing hope. I just wanted to know, what kind of person was Beau with now? What was she like? Would she treat him right? Better than I could? What did she look like? So many questions. 

And Crystal. She knew the demon Josephine. Or had known. For the last clue I had about Josephine was a rumor she had been in New York City right after the war, masquerading as a French immigrant, and participating in the show of one Crystal My Dear. Crystal My Dear, a female impersonator comedienne extraordinaire. But the show had been stopped, put on indefinite hiatus some time in the 50's. For what reason? I needed to find out. Maybe, just maybe, Crystal knew where to find Josephine, or as she was known then, My Darling Clementine.

I was finally getting somewhere, having gotten so close to Crystal. We had laughed together, cried together, cooked together (which was just as important as anything else shared, according to Crystal. "You are not close if you have not cooked together," she would say). And now today, she was sharing with me information I had never thought I would hear.

"I came over from Puerto Rico during the war. I did not want to leave, but things there...it was not going well," she confided, fingering her long strand of glass pearls around her neck as she thought.

I leaned forward in attention. Here it was. Would she speak of Clementine? My fingers and toes felt tinglingly numb in anticipation and nervousness.

She went on. "I don't know what our friends have told you about my show, but it was not as big as they say. Just a few gals singing and joking and having a good time. Sometimes we would be very drunk. It was the best when I would try to walk across a tightrope when drunk. Big laughs, big pay. That was the life." She sighed and attemped to get up from her sapphire blue chair then, but I raised a hand to stop her.