In a Mist Read Free Page A

it her own) will require no further introduction.
    Roy MacArthur
Fredericton, New Brunswick
    * * *
    July 26, 1981
    Dear Roy,
    We have finally had a chance to take a look at the piece you submitted back in February on Bix Beiderbecke and the Wolverines. Unfortunately, it’s not the sort of thing we’re looking for right now. F.Y.I., we don’t as a rule consider unsolicited manuscripts.
    Also, we won’t be running your response to Ms. Alderson’s letter. However, as a personal favour, from one Beiderbecke enthusiast to another, I can forward a copy of your letter to her, though I can’t guarantee she’ll respond. All the best with your radio show.
    Yours,
Allan Brookes
Asst. Editor,
Down Beat Magazine
    * * *
    Five months after
Down Beat
publishes Alice Alderson’s letter, Roy stands outside a gas station on the outskirts of Fredericton, duff el bag in one hand, a Greyhound bus ticket in the other. Roy is not about to let a conviction for dope deter him from attempting to cross the border. He’s more or less kicked the habit and it seems unfair to him that such a trivial off ence should keep him from accepting Alice’s invitation. Roy’s major concern right now is the handful of listeners who tune in regularly to
Two Drink Minimum
and the punker-angst rock they’ll be subjected to during his absence. That week, between customers at the record store, Roy spent hours meticulously selecting tracks and scripting anecdotes for next Thursday’s show. But inaddition to covering his shifts while he was away, Roy’s co-worker Andy agreed to sit in as the host of
Two Drink Minimum
only on the condition that he be permitted to play whatever records he wanted.
    Three days later Roy is strolling down East Houston Street, arm in arm with Alice Alderson. He cleared the border without a hitch. Customs did not run a background check, nor did they detect the flask of rye in the inside pocket of his overcoat. Roy has forgotten what day of the week it is. He is not sure if he is in love, he only knows that he is profoundly elated to be in the company of the young woman at his side, and that he is overwhelmed. Roy is not used to big cities and he is not used to Alice. Their first few days together have been awkward at times, but they have also turned out better than Roy had expected. Though Alice proved to be the confident, opinionated young woman of her letters, Roy knows that in person he could never live up to the dashing persona of his radio broadcasts; which, at little prompting from Alice, he had tape-recorded and sent to her. Alice is not entirely disappointed with the young man she has met, but neither is she swept off her feet. Roy knows this. He also knows that his reticence is nothing a few pulls from his flask can’t remedy. Alice likes it when he does this, not only because it helps him loosen up, but because it was a stylish thing for a young man to do.
    Though Alice has had ample opportunity to become acquainted with Roy’s voice, he is still growing accustomed to hers. They had spoken only once before meeting, and Alice had steadfastly refused to sing over the phone. When Roy requested that she send him a recording of herself, she complained that she had never had the opportunity to be professionally recorded—which is why, on the morning after Roy’s arrival, as they sat drinking coffee in Alice’s tiny apartment, there was an anxious smile on her lips as shepushed the
Village Voice
across the table and pointed out the advertisement she had circled:
    Jazz Vocalists Wanted. Silhouette Studios seeks undiscovered talent to audition/record. $20 fee payable at time of session. Serious inquiries only.
    It is the afternoon of Alice’s audition and they stand beneath an overcast sky in front of an East Houston Street newsstand. The proprietor is half a foot shorter than Roy and on his head is a grey watch cap. A cigarillo protrudes from his lips. His small,