Beneath The Surface by Roy Glenn Page B

haven’t?”
    “It’s okay. I forgive you.”
    Carmen told Black what she’d found out, which wasn’t much, and about everybody she’d talked to. “In fact, you’d be doing me a big favor if you’d come ride someplace with me.”
    “Where’s that?” Black asked.
    “It’s a place called Lace. Tangela House, that’s the dead woman’s name, used to work there; and I want to talk to some people that work there. You never know, I may want to do a story on adult entertainment clubs.”
    Black agreed to go with her, and before long, they found themselves seated at a table at Lace. After they ordered drinks, it didn’t take long before they were joined by one of the dancers. After telling her that they didn’t want a table dance, Carmen explained who she was and took out the picture she had of Tangela House. “Do you know this woman?” Carmen asked.
    The dancer looked at the picture. “Sure, I know Tish. She dances here. Did something happen to her?”
    “She was found dead a few nights ago.”
    “Damn, that’s fucked up. I know I haven’t seen her around for a while, but that happens all the time. Dancers come and go so quick around here, you don’t hardly notice when one don’t come back.”
    “Were you and her friends?”
    “Kind of, I guess. We’d speak; you know how it is.”
    “Is there anybody I can talk to that was close to her?” Carmen asked.
    “She was real close with Crème and Vallie.”
    “Are they around?”
    “Haven’t seen them in a minute, either. They got involved with this guy that makes porno flicks.”
    “Do you know his name?” Carmen asked.
    “I think his name is Finch. But there goes Wild Cherry. Her and Tish was friends.” The dancer got up. “I’ll get her for you.”
    When Wild Cherry joined them at the table, she cried a little when Carmen told her about the death of her friend. “I didn’t get her name, but that other dancer said that two other dancers also haven’t been around for a while.”
    “ You talkin’ ’bout Crème and Vallie.”
    “Right. She said you were close to them.”
    “Crème more than Vallie. Me and Crème used to dance at a club called Ecstasy,” Wild Cherry said; and Black remembered that Jada West used to dance there, and wondered if she knew them.
    “Do you know their real names?” Carmen asked.
    “Crème’s name is Cecelia Cunningham, and Vallie, her real name is Valerie. I never did know her last name.
    “Is there anything you can tell me about Tish that might help me find who she was with the night she was killed?”
    “I don’t know if this matters or if she was even with him, but Tish used to run with this guy named TR. They used to run scams together.”
    “Do know where I could find him?”
    “I don’t know, but maybe Midori might know.”
    “Which one is Midori?” Carmen asked.
    “I’ll get her,” Wild Cherry said. “Hey, Midori!” she yelled over the music. “These people wanna talk to you!”
    Midori stopped what she was doing and came to the table. “What y’all want?”
    “This lady is a reporter, and she wanna ask you about Tish.”
    “Yeah, I saw on the news that she was dead.”
    “Do you remember TR?” Wild Cherry asked.
    “Yeah, I know that fool.”
    “You know where I might find him?” Carmen asked.
    “Last I heard he was in hidin’.”
    “Hiding from who ?” Black asked.
    “Some guy they supposed to have scammed outta a lotta money. His name was Hammdee Yasir; real scary lookin’ Arab mutha fucka. Used to be a client of mine, but he was just too weird for me. But I introduced him to Tish and she liked him.”
    “You know anything about the scam they ran on this guy?” Black asked, and Carmen looked at him and smiled. He had been so quiet since they’d gotten to Lace that she almost forgot he was sitting there. For his part, Black enjoyed the view and was enjoying being with Carmen. And he was fascinated watching Carmen work.
    “I don’t know nothin’ about the scam her and TR