The Road Not Taken
Chapter 17
June 25, 1973
The next morning Sam was up again early. He headed down to the restaurant for breakfast and on a whim, purchased a New York Times. The front page story was regarding the murder whose aftermath they had witnessed the night before.
Sam read through the article. Apparently there had been some history between the alleged killer, Miss Jennifer Elizabeth Farrington, a writer, and the victim, Vincent Loggia, better known as Vinny the Viper. According the sources used by the Times, Mr. Loggia had been married to the killer's sister about 20 years before. The alleged killer claimed that her sister had been murdered by Mr. Loggia two years after they married and that furthermore, the gangster had murdered her sister's ex-husband, Phillip Dumont, the day that Mr. Loggia had married her sister, Catherine. The Times indicated that the cause of Mr. Dumont's death had been ruled a suicide. Mr. Dumont had apparently jumped off the deck of the Queen Mary to his death during a transatlantic cruise from New York City to London, devastated that his ex-wife was remarrying. The story went on to say how Mr. Loggia had purchased his wife's family company, Farrington Nautical after the wedding. Finally, the Times reported that while the gangster had never been convicted of murder, he had been convicted of a number of felonies, at least three of which preceded his marriage to Catherine Farrington. Apparently, the murder of Vincent Loggia was precipitated by the marriage of the victim's daughter, who was the niece of Miss Farrington to another underworld kingpin.
As Sam finished the article, he shook his head, wondering if there could have been anyway to prevent such a tragedy in the first place. So many lives ruined. He finished his meal and headed out to practice.
When he arrived, he found another pianist practicing the piano. This man would be playing a few days after Sam's concert. He noted that the aria was close to being finished and decided to sit and listen to this man play. He noted there was a German Shepard on the stage with the pianist and that the man wore dark glasses and had no music in front of him. He apparently played totally by ear. When the aria was completed, flawlessly from what Sam could hear, he clapped loudly. The man on stage took the dog's harness in hand and headed toward the sound of Sam's clapping.
"Thank you. I didn't realize I had an audience."
"I'm just here to practice myself. I'm playing tonight, a guest pianist."
"Ah. You must be Samuel Beckett then."
"Yes. I'm surprised you've heard of me. You have me at a disadvantage."
"I'm Andrew Ross. I'm one of the artists who started the Michelle Steven's Guest Player's program," stated the man of medium height with silver beginning to pepper his dark brown hair.
"Then perhaps you can tell me a little about Michelle Stevens."
The man's countenance turned thoughtful as his memory went back. "Yes. She was a beautiful woman and my assistant for a time about eight years ago. She was a nursing student who loved the musical arts. She was strangled in Central Park. Her mother blamed me for her death saying if she hadn't been my assistant, she never would have died. I convinced the Carnegie Foundation to start the guest program in her honor. It certainly wasn't enough, but at least she is remembered."
Sam's voice indicated his sadness at hearing of her brutal death. "I'm honored to have been chosen to play."
"I heard the tape your professor provided. Would you mind if I listened to your practice? I will be here again tonight as well."
Sam smiled. "Not at all. In fact I'd be greatly appreciative if you'd let me know if there's anything I need to change."
Andrew nodded. He sat a few rows back as Sam took the stage. He pulled out his music, a few selections from Beethoven, including Fur Elise and played. When he was finished, he heard the applause from Andrew Ross and a few barks from his dog. He went to speak once more with the maestro.
"Wonderful, Sam. You could definitely become a concert pianist for a living. Your technique is flawless."
"I had some great teachers."
Taking on a more critical look, the maestro continued. "It shows. But your underlying talent is evident as well. There are some things you can never learn from others. You have to have it in yourself. I hear it in your music."
"Thank you."
"Well, I do need to be getting going. I'll see you again tonight." He took the harness to the dog again. "Come, Mozart."
"Have a great day, Mr. Ross."
Sam headed out of Carnegie Hall, a bit of a spring in his step. It wasn't everyday that his music was critiqued by such a fantastic artist. He headed down to the formal wear store for the final fitting of his tuxedo. They indicated they would deliver the suit to Carnegie Hall two hours before the performance time. Sam agreed that would be acceptable.
When he arrived back to the hotel, the three ladies had gone out so he decided to take a nap before the performance that night. It was about four o'clock when he heard a knock on the pass through door. His mother and Donna had arrived back at the room. Katie had indicated that she wanted to visit the gift shop to find some postcards. About ten minutes after Donna and his Mother had arrived back; the sound of Katie entering the room was evident. When she walked in her face was deathly white.
"What's the matter, Katie?" Concern was evident in both the body language and voice of Thelma Beckett.
Katie was just about in tears. "Oh, Mom. I'm sorry. I was calling that lady, Helen La Baron. The modeling agent? The one you told me not to call?"
Thelma was still confused. "What happened, Katie? A phone call couldn't have scared you like this."
Katie sat down on the couch, her head bent, her voice rather subdued, "Well, I was in one of the phone booths down in the lobby area. You know that long line? I was talking on one of the phones when this guy in the booth next to me smiled at me. I smiled back at him and I broke eye contact and my head went down. Mom…he was, um, he was…" Katie was fidgeting.
Thelma took her daughter's hand. "What, Katie? You can tell us."
Katie looked up at her brother, and he saw she was blushing. "Um…Sam, can you leave please? I don't want to say this in front of you."
Sam shook his head. "I'm not leaving, Katie. Whatever it is, I'm here for you. Just tell us what happened?"
Katie started wringing her hands in earnest. "Well, he was…" Finally she just blurted it out as if saying it quickly would take away some of the sting. "He was playing with himself. It was awful! I just hung up the phone and walked fast to the elevators. I got on one and pushed all the buttons. Do you think he'd follow me?" Katie was crying. He mother reached over and hugged her daughter.
"Oh, honey. I'm sorry you had to see something like that. You did the right thing with the elevators. I doubt if he could know where you went." Thelma pulled away and she held both of Katie's shoulders in her hands and looked her right in the eyes. "But we are not going to leave you alone anymore on this trip. You have my solemn word on that."
Sam had started pacing. "That's unacceptable! My little sister shouldn't have had to experience that! What kind of place is this? I thought it was a nice hotel!"
Donna, having lived all of her life in San Francisco took a slightly different take on what happens in big cities. "Sam, I'm sure it is a nice place. Perverts like that can be found anywhere. They might even choose to come into nicer places just so they can victimize people that otherwise they couldn't get to. It happens."
Sam's face held a hardness, his lips pursed and eyes blazing. "It shouldn't"
Donna agreed. "No, it shouldn't. But it does."
Sam was still angry but understood what Donna was saying. "I'm going to report it though."
Donna nodded and watched as Sam walked out to let the proprietors know of the situation. When he returned, Katie was calmer and had gone into her room to rest.
Sam left earlier than the ladies to get changed at Carnegie Hall. It had been an interesting day with both ups and downs. Now he was preparing to live out a dream that many artists had of playing Carnegie Hall. He mentally prepared himself for his performance. When the time came, he entered the stage and sat at the Steinway Grand Piano center stage. He noted that with the lights he really couldn't see well into the crowd but could tell the place was packed. He realized he knew at least five of the people in the audience. He decided to fight stage fright at playing before a full house that he'd pretend to be playing for only those five. It worked well. When he hit his last notes, the audience erupted into waves of applause. He stood and bowed, walking off stage, hearing the request for an encore. He walked back onto the stage and played one more piece by Mozart before giving his final bow and heading back stage.
In the aftermath of the experience, Sam realized he was totally drained. On the one side, he felt absolute exhilaration. On the other side, he felt like he'd just run a marathon. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again it was to see Donna and his family walking over to him.
Sam's mother was beaming. "Sam, that was incredible! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks. It feels good." Suddenly as if it had just hit him, he reached over and gave his loved ones a hug. "I just played Carnegie Hall just like Tom said I would!" He looked up and said softly, "Thanks Tom. I hope you got to see as well."