Tangia

Chapter 4

******

At work, by chance, one bright day in June, he received a package via special courier. Upon first glance, he thought it was a bundle of papers from a client to be reviewed and signed. He was wrong. Ripping open the manila envelope, he emptied the contents and became quite intrigued. These were no important papers or contracts; this was an invitation of sorts. An engraved invitation to be precise, accompanied by a handwritten note and a pair of tickets. Scanning the invitation, Ralph did a doubletake. Did he read this right? Was this a special invitation (with complimentary tickets and backstage passes) to a special musical revue featuring "oldie goldie" recording artists? No, not just any old-time recording star, but one in particular: Tangia.
The accompanying note read:

Dear Mr. Burton,
Thank you for giving me that extra boost. Leroy said you asked about me, so I assumed you were a fan from way back, but you seem way too young for my type of entertainment.
I'd like to meet with you, so please come to the address below. I will explain all. Don't tell anyone you're meeting with me, not even your friend. This must be kept strictly confidential. If you can make it Friday around four, it would please me all the more.

Sadie Cooper

******

He wished he hadn't lied to Bev, but the excuse, "I have to meet a client – Last minute stuff. It's the way he is. I may not be home until after supper," worked. She is a good wife, Beverly, even if she comes across as a bit too strait-laced. She stood by him all during graduate school, scrimping and saving every penny for home and children. There wasn't much money coming in back then, and they had two kids to feed, plus the exorbitant expenses of their respective grad studies. He and Beverly had a rock-solid marriage, two beautiful children, a lovely well-appointed house in one of the better upscale suburbs, and a reputation for clean living. Bev saw to that. There would be nothing above reproach, not a trace of scandal...
Ralph, relaxing in the spacious limo and enjoying a cold drink, laughed to himself. Now what would Beverly, an upstanding woman in her own right, be so worried about "scandal". There were no skeletons in the Burton closet, nothing that would even hint at less than ordinary lives.

Much nicer part of town than his upscale suburb, he thought as dozens of questions ran through his head. The endless parade of lush green lawns and stately mansions gave him pause. Now how could a woman of Sadie's means, or lack thereof, afford to live in such a home? What mysterious benefactor was behind Sadie's sudden comeback as Tangia? Then it came to him.
That woman who met with Dinah at the Soul Shack...She must be some bigshot concert promoter and thought Sadie could be persuaded to come out of her self-imposed cocoon of anonymity. But why would Dinah and Lachelle be in on this deal? It didn't quite make sense, and Ralph still wondered why Sadie wanted to see him and not Darryl, the true Tangia fan. He would ask just that once he came face-to-face with Sadie Cooper.
His palms sweated; his heart pounded faster as the car approached the gate then made its way up the long driveway...

******

The transformation was astounding. Was this the same woman he met at the diner months ago? The same who served him meatloaf and greens with a smile and sweet words? Ralph was taken aback at this newly slimmed down lady seated across from him.
Actually he had no idea what to expect once a comely maid led him into the sumptuous drawing room where Sadie waited. He still didn't know exactly why she wanted to see him, in secret, away from prying eyes and ears.
To Ralph, Sadie, despite her middle age, seemed to have blossomed into the sultry siren of long ago. Those curves, partially obscured by excess weight, regained their shape – Full bosom, narrow waist, swelling hips, long shapely legs. The texture and color of the skin had improved, glowed even, and the features enhanced by expertly applied makeup. Those generous lips from which spilled the naughty lyrics that got her songs banned from mainstream radio were painted a brilliant blackberry. The eyes were encircled with black liner, in the fashion of the 1960's – thick and very obvious which gave the impression of a modern-day Cleopatra. The hair, black and glossy as the finest onyx, was piled high and proud in intricate waves as if time itself turned back to the period when such coiffure were in vogue.
In fact, to Ralph, this new incarnation of Sadie/Tangia suggested all things seductive and sensual. The woman, obviously delighting in casting off the workworn waitress, was a whole new person. She wore not the drab uniform of her former occupation but an outfit worthy of a sexy siren. A casual yet provocative ensemble of skintight black leather pants, a clinging wrap-around top of glittering red lamè, black boots with four-inch spiked heels. Her rediscovered curves weren't hidden, that's for sure, and it took much fortitude on Ralph's part not to let his masculine urges get the best of him.

Sadie, ever the gracious hostess, served her guest freshly brewed coffee and warm cinnamon buns. Of the latter she said, "I've been on a strict diet, so no sweets or starches for me. But, please, help yourself."
Ralph acknowledged Sadie's hospitality then said, "I still don't know why you asked me here, let alone send two tickets to your show. I had no idea you were planning a comeback. I just thought when they said you quit the diner–"
"That I'd gotten a better job elsewhere, perhaps left town altogether. Well, Mr. Burton – Err...Ralph...May I call you Ralph?" He nodded, then she continued, "Ralph, when you came to the diner those months ago, I got a strange feeling that we might have met before. Well, not face-to-face, but somehow I got a feeling I'd known you. So I asked Leroy who you were, and he told me. I know all about your friend Darryl, and that he has this extensive collection of memorabilia during my Tangia days..."

Her voice trailed off, the tears began to shine in her eyes. "I didn't invite you to reminisce my glory days. Ralph, what I have to say to you may come as a shock. But wait, let me back up, back to the days when Sadie Cooper died and Tangia took over."
She proceeded to tell of a charmed childhood turned sour during adolescence. "But you probably know that, what with Darryl's recount of my upbringing. That is correct: My parents were of the professional class; my mom was a teacher and my dad was a CPA. I had the usual middle class childhood: Girl Scouts, music and dance lessons, charm schools...just a nice normal life. But once Damon came into the picture, everything changed. I was just fifteen, and Damon was much older, but he lied about his age. I guess he was one of those guys who looked so young to pass as a high school student. He was twenty-three, and had a reputation as sort of a hustler, at least in his circles. My folks bought his lies that he went to private school and had all this money in the bank."

Sadie went on to explain how Damon charmed his way into her parents' good graces, even told the girl that she was musical natural. "He heard me sing in a school play, so he suggested I should try my hand at recording. Nothing life-changing or serious – just make a demo for fun. I took him up on this, much to my later regret."
The girl was barely sixteen, barely went out on dates (Her parents saw to that – "Books and boys don't mix," was their dictum), and had yet to experience life in the adult world. Her relationship with Damon grew serious the night of her junior prom. He was her date that night, and he said there was a talent scout wanting to hear her sing. "I never got to the prom. I never told my folks what happened..."

What "happened" was a sharp detour once the couple neared the high school. Taking her down darkened streets in a decidedly rundown part of town. Sadie had never ventured beyond the comfort and safety of her own neighborhood, so this was a bit of a shock. She demanded that Damon explain himself. As always, such questions were answered with, "Don't worry, baby. I got it all taken care of."
Actually the detour was the beginning of the end for Sadie Cooper, paving the way for Tangia to emerge.

"Ralph, Damon led me down a dark path from which I could not easily escape. That night, when I should have been revelling with my classmates, enjoying every teenage girl's rite of passage, my soul became twisted. My very sense of being altered, I feared, forever. All the good sense and values my parents instilled got trashed the moment I stepped inside that dingy apartment."
That "dingy apartment" was a makeshift recording studio; the man running it was one of Damon's street friends.

"Of course," she said, trying to hold back tears, "what could I say. While I was more than miffed that I missed the prom, I was too thrilled with making my first record. The man, and I forget his name, told me this was a demo, and that he'd get it out to all the major labels. He had a song picked out for me and everything. There wasn't much of a band. Just a guy on guitar, another on drums, and Damon on piano. I got a look at the song. It was pretty raunchy stuff for a girl my age. What did I know of 'getting it on'? But the man told me to sell it no matter what. Just imagine I'm singing it to my boyfriend. Ralph, I never had a steady boyfriend, never been kissed proper, so all this romance and love stuff was very new to me." What happened during the several takes would mark Sadie for life. "They told me to shimmy. You know, show off my body language to sell the song. I questioned this, saying I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know how to be sexy, so Damon...Uh...sort of initiated me right then and there, and so did his buddies."

To an astonished and disbelieving Ralph, Sadie recounted those harrowing moments after the sixth take.
"They grabbed me, stripped off my dress. The very dress Mom made for me. Last thing I remember was someone giving me a shot of something; I think it was dope. I felt bodies on top of me, one after the other. I don't know how many times they raped me, but when I woke up, my head was all swimmy and my body felt like it was on fire. I bled down there. See, I was a virgin, so I guess Damon and his friends thought it was all one big party, to do a virgin."

Afterwards, once Sadie regained her composure, Damon offered to take her home, but not after she recorded one more take to his liking. Then he threatened her: "Don't go to the cops, don't tell the folks. Just do as I say and nothing bad will happen to you. I'm gonna make you a star, baby. Just stick by me. You don't need a college degree when you can make a million dollars just singing your heart out."

"But," said a now sympathetic Ralph, "surely you got up the nerve to report the rape. What did you explain to your parents when you returned home? And your classmates. They wouldn't have seen you at the prom. Anyone could have asked your folks, 'Where was Sadie?'"

  "Ralph," she replied, dabbing her eyes, "I was too scared to say anything. What happened the morning after the prom...Well, let me admit here: When Damon brought me home, he told my folks I got sick, and they believed him. Then he told me to pack a few things and slip out in the wee hours of the morning. No one would be the wiser. He said if I didn't do it, he'd tell my mother about the rape. You know, Ralph, rape was a dirty word back then; it was rarely reported. And I, a virgin teen, despite my innocence and strict upbringing, would be painted as a harlot simply because I chose to date a man much older than myself. I was asking for it once I said 'Yes' to his suggestion that I make that demo record. So, I ran away from home, away with Damon. He coached me in all things I didn't know existed. Since I was, as he said, a fallen woman, I should play the part. The insatiable wanton whose desire was forever in full tilt. He bought all these sexy gowns and taught me how to dance and move as the strippers do. In fact, he took me to strip joints and 'art' movie theaters. I was immersed in all things my parents warned me about."

Much as it pained her to recall a regrettable, yet unforgettable, chapter in her life, she continued non-stop, "Sadie Cooper, although she was barely seventeen, was rechristened Tangia. Already I finished the first album and released those singles, but they couldn't get played on radio. So Damon got me to play the clubs and strip joints. I played private parties, and those performances always ended with me as the 'post-performance' act. I mean, Damon lined up all these well-heeled, perverted sorts who used me to fulfill their own lusts. Damon just sat back and watched. It was his idea to get me into movies, as I guess you saw for yourself. I couldn't get into legitimate film, so Damon lined up a series of cheap skin flicks. Oh, I made money, even owned a big fine house and many luxury cars, had nice clothes. But something was still not right. I missed my folks, and it broke their hearts when they found out I had run off with Damon and became this raunchy singer who wore tight dresses and swivelled herself through one escapade after another. My aunt stood by me in my most trying times. She didn't quite approve of what I was doing, but she understood. Too bad my parents died thoroughly disgusted that their perfect little girl stooped so low...Oh, Ralph, I don't think you know that. Dinah...she is my aunt, my mother's sister."

TO BE CONTINUED...Go to Chapter 5

Copyright©2005 by P.R. Parker. All Rights Reserved.