The Mammoth Book of Terror (14 page)

“And thus, the story.”

At the curb she stopped and turned to stare at the pert blonde who’d just passed. She couldn’t believe it.

“Helene? Helene Ryder, is that you?”

The blonde turned. Her eyes lit with recognition.

“Ohmigod, Denise! Imagine meeting you here! How long has it been?”

They hugged and air kissed.

“Oh, I don’t know. Six months?”

“At least! What are you doing in the city?”

“Just shopping. Accessory hunting.”

“Me, too. Where were you headed?”

“Actually, I was looking for a place to get off my feet and have a bite to eat. I skipped lunch and I’m famished.”

“That sounds good.” Helene glanced at her watch. A diamond Piaget, Denise noticed. “It’s tea time at the Waldorf. Why don’t we go there?”

“Wonderful!”

During the bouncy cab ride down Park Avenue, Denise gave Helene a thorough twice-over and was impressed. Her blonde hair was short and fashionably tousled; her merino wool topcoat,
camel’s-hair sweater, and short wool and cashmere skirt reeked of Barney’s and Bergdorf s.

Amazing what could happen when your husband got a big promotion. You could move from Fairfield to Greenwich, and you could buy any little thing your heart desired.

Not that Helene hadn’t always had style. It was just that now she could afford to dress in the manner to which she and Denise had always hoped to become accustomed.

Denise was still waiting to become accustomed. Her Brian didn’t have quite the drive of Helene’s Harry. He still liked to get involved in local causes and in church functions. And
that was good in a way. It allowed him more time at home with her and the twins. The downside, though, was that she didn’t have the budget to buy what she needed when she needed it. As a
result, Denise had honed her shopping skills to the black-belt level. By keeping her eyes and ears ever open, buying judiciously, and timing her purchases to the minute – like now, for
instance, in the post-holiday retail slump – she managed to keep herself looking nearly as in style as someone with a pocketbook as deep as Helene’s.

And on the subject of pocketbooks, Denise could not take her eyes off Helene’s. Fashioned of soft, silky, golden brown leather that seemed to glow in the afternoon sunlight streaming
through the grimy windows of the cab, it perfectly offset the colors of her outfit. She wondered if Helene had chosen the bag for the outfit, or the outfit for the bag. She suspected the latter.
The bag was exquisite, the stitchwork especially fascinating in its seemingly random joining of odd-sized and odd-shaped pieces. But it was the material itself that drew and captured her attention.
She had an urge to reach out and touch it. But she held back.

Later. She’d ask Helene about it during tea.

And still . . . that handbag of Helene’s, sitting between them on the sofa. She couldn’t escape the urge to caress it, could not keep her eyes off it.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Helene said.

“Hmmm?” Denise felt a flash of embarrassment at being caught staring, and wondered if the envy showed in her eyes. “The bag? Yes, it is. I don’t think I’ve ever
seen anything like it.”

“I’d be surprised if you had.” Helen pushed it closer. “Take a look.”

Soft.
That was the first thing Denise noticed as she lifted it. The leather was so soft, a mix of silk and down as her fingers brushed over the stitched surface. She cradled it on her
lap. It stole her breath.

“Urn . . . very unusual, isn’t it?” she managed to say after a moment.

“No. Not so unusual. I’ve spotted a few others around the room since we arrived.”

“Really?” Denise had been so entranced by Helene’s bag that the others had gone unnoticed. That wasn’t like her. “Where?”

Helene tilted her head to their left. “Right over there. Two tables down, in the navy blue sweater chemise and matching leggings.”

Denise spotted her. AJapanese woman, holding the bag on the coffee table before her. Hers was black, but the stitching was unmistakable. As Denise scanned the room she noticed another, this one
a deep coffee brown. And she noticed something else – they belonged to the most exquisitely dressed women in the room, the ones draped in Helmut Lang and Versace. Among all the beautifully
dressed people here in Peacock Alley, the women who stood out, who showed exceptional flair and style in their ensembles, were the ones carrying these bags.

Denise knew in that instant that she had to have one. It didn’t matter how much they cost, this was the accessory she’d been looking for, the touch that would set her apart, lift her
to a higher fashion plane.

The Japanese woman rose from her table and walked past. She glanced at Denise on her way by. Her gaze dropped to the bag on Denise’s lap and she smiled and nodded. Denise managed to smile
back.

What was that? It almost seem as if the women with these bags had formed some sort of club. If so, no matter what the dues, Denise wanted to be a member.

Helene was smiling knowingly when Denise looked back at her.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Helene sing-songed.

“Do you?”

“Uh-huh. ‘Where do I get one?’ Right?”

Right.
But Denise wasn’t going to admit it. She hated being obvious.

“Actually I was wondering what kind of leather it is.”

A cloud crossed Helene’s face.

“You don’t know?” She paused, then: “It’s foet.”

“
Feet
? Whose feet?” And then Denise realized what Helene had said. “Oh . . . my . . . God!”

“Now, Denise—”

Foet!
She’d heard of it but had never thought she’d see it or actually touch it, never
dreamed
Helene would buy any. Her gorge rose.

“I don’t believe it!”

Denise pushed the bag back onto the sofa between them and glared at Helene.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not as if I committed a crime or anything.”

“How could you, Helene?”

“Look at it.” Helene lifted the bag. “How could I not?”

Denise’s eyes were captured again by the golden glow of the leather. She felt her indignation begin to melt.

“Butit’s human skin!” she said, as much to remind herself of that hideous fact as to drag it out into the open.

“Not human . . . at least according to the Supreme Court.”

“I don’t care what those old farts say, it’s still human skin!”

Helene shook her head, “
Fetal
skin, Denise. From abortions. And it’s legal. If fetuses were legally human, you couldn’t abort them. So the Supreme Court finally had to
rule that their skin could be used.”

“I know all about that, Helene.”

Who didn’t know about
Ranieri v. Verlaine
? The case had sent shock waves around the country. Around the
world!
Denise’s church had formed a group to go down to
Washington to protest it. As a matter of fact—

“Helene,
you
were out on Pennsylvania Avenue with me demonstrating against the ruling! How could you—?”

Helene shrugged. “Things change. I’m still anti-abortion, but after we moved away from Fairfield and I lost contact with our old church group, I stopped thinking about it. Our new
friends aren’t into that sort of stuff and so I, well, just kind of drifted into other things.”

“That’s fine, Helene, but how does that bring you to buying something like . . .” She pointed to the bag and, God help her, she still wanted to run her hands over it.
“
This!
”

“I saw one. We went to a reception – some fund-raiser for the homeless, I think – and I met a woman who had one. I fell in love with it immediately. I hemmed and hawed, feeling
guilty for wanting it, but finally I went out and bought myself one.” She beamed at Denise. “And believe me, I’ve never regretted it.”

“God, Helene.”

“They’re already dead, Denise. I don’t condone abortion anymore than you do, but it’s legal and that’s not likely to change. And as long as it stays legal, these
poor little things are going to be killed day after day, weeks after week, hundreds and thousands and millions of them. We have no control over that. And buying foet accessories will not change
that one way or another. They’re
already dead.
”

Denise couldn’t argue with Helene on that point. Yes, they were dead, and there was nothing anyone could do about that. But . . .

“But where do they sell this stuff? I’ve never once seen it displayed or even advertised.”

“Oh, it’s in all the better stores, but it’s very discreet. They’re not stupid. Foet may be legal but it’s still controversial. Nobody wants trouble, nobody wants a
scene. I mean, can you imagine a horde of the faithful hausfraus from St Paul’s marching through Bergdorf’s? I mean
really.!
”

Denise had to smile. Yes, that would be quite a sight.

“I guess it would be like the fur activists.”

“Even worse,” Helene said, leaning closer. “You know why those nuts are anti-fur? Because they’ve never had a fur coat. It’s pure envy with them. But foet? Foet is
tied up with motherhood and apple pie. It’s going to take a long time for the masses to get used to foet. So until then, the market will be small and select. Very select.”

Denise nodded.
Select.
Despite all her upbringing, all her beliefs, something within her yearned to be part of that small, select market. And she hated herself for it.

“Is it very expensive?”

Helene nodded. “Especially this shade.” She caressed her bag. “It’s all hand sewn. No two pieces are exactly alike.”

“And where’d you buy yours?”

Helene was staring at her appraisingly. “You’re not thinking of starting any trouble, are you?”

“Oh, no. No, of course not. I just want to look. I’m . . . curious.”

More of that appraising stare. Denise wanted to hide behind the settee.

“You want one, don’t you?”

“Absolutely not! Maybe it’s morbid on my part, but I’m curious to see what else they’re doing with . . . foet these days.”

“Very well,” Helene said, and it occurred to Denise that Helene had never said
Very well
when she’d lived in Fairfield. “Go to Blume’s – it’s on
Fifth, a little ways up from Gucci’s.”

“I know it.”

“Ask for Rolf. When you see him, tell him you’re interested in some of his better accessories. Remember that: ‘better accessories.’ He’ll know what you’re
looking for.”

Where was the harm in just looking?

When he appeared, Rolf reminded her of a Rudolf Valentino wannabe – stiletto thin in his black pin-stripe suit, with plastered-down black hair and mechanical pencil mustache. He was a good
ten years younger than Denise and barely an inch taller, with delicate, fluttery hands, lively eyes, and a barely audible voice.

He gave Denise a careful up-and-down after she’d spoken the code words, then extended his arm to the right.

“Of course. This way, please.”

He led her to the back of the store, down a narrow corridor, and then through a glass door into a small, indirectly lit showroom. Denise found herself surrounded by glass shelves lined with
handbags, belts, even watch bands. All made of foet.

“The spelling is adapted from the archaic medical term,” Rold said, closing the door behind them.

“Really?” She noticed he didn’t actually say the word:
foetal

“Now . . . what may I show you?”

“May I browse a little?”

“
Mais oui.
Take your time.”

Denise wandered the pair of aisles, inspecting the tiers of shelves and all the varied items they carried. She noticed something: Almost everything was black or very dark.

“The bag my friend showed me was a lighter color.”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry, but we’re out of white. That goes first, you know.”

“No, this wasn’t white. Itwas more of a pale, golden brown.”

“Yes. We call that white. After all, it’s made from white hide. It’s relatively rare.”

“‘Hide?’”

He smiled. “Yes. That’s what we call the . . . material.”

The material
: white fetal skin.

“Do you have any pieces without all the stitching? Something with a smoother look?”

“I’m afraid not. I mean, you have to understand, we’re forced by the very nature of the source of the material to work with little pieces.” He gestured around.
“Notice too that there are no gloves. None of the manufacturers wants to be accused of making kid gloves.”

Rolf smiled. Denise could only stare at him.

He cleared his throat. “Trade humor.”

Little pieces.

Hide.

Kid gloves.

Suddenly she wanted to run, but she held on. The urge passed.

Rolf picked up a handbag from atop a nearby display case. It was a lighter brown than the others, but still considerably darker than Helene’s.

“A lot of people are going for this shade. It’s reasonably priced. Imported from India.”

“Imported? I’d have thought there’d be plenty to go around just from the US.”