The Speakeasy

“And there’s more snow on the way. Looks like another record-setting blizzard. All citizens are advised to stay indoors from now until tomorrow afternoon. Now back to your favorite jazz musician, Louis Armstrong, on this, January 29^th, 1925.” Geraldine turned down the radio as the music once again issued from the machine.

“Sounds like it’s really gonna be a big one tonight!” she shouted across the room. Even without the weather report, she knew that New York was in for a heavy storm. The wind and snow had been rattling the windows for the last 2 hours at least.

“Maybe we should close up early,” her friend yelled back. “We can always finish this up tomorrow.”

“There’s only a few dozen left,” she began walking through the aisles in between the bookcases, heading towards the sound of her friend’s voice. “Tell you what, I’ll finish restocking these, and you can go on home now.”

Geraldine’s friend was bent down, trying in vain to keep a row of books from falling over as she stuffed more volumes onto the shelf. “Are you sure?” She slowly stood back up. “We’ll get it done faster if there’s two of us working on it.”

“Yes, but you still need to catch a trolley. I just need to cross the street to get home. I don’t want you getting trapped by the storm. Really, Liza, you leave now, and I’ll close up.”

Liza stood there, arms crossed, with a furrowed brow as if she was debating the question with herself. Finally, she answered. “Ok, thanks. I owe you one.” She pulled a large key ring from the pocket of her skirt and handed them over to Geraldine.

“How about next Saturday off?” She said in a teasing voice.

“Is that just so you can go see a picture with someone?”

“I guess you’d have to give me the day off to know the answer.”

“Very well, but only because I’m immeasurably curious.”

“Of course, Liza.”

“Alright, I’d better be off then. See you tomorrow!”

“See you! Get home safe!” She waved to her friend as she disappeared around the corner. “Ok, now let’s fix up this mess.” She knelt down to repair the damage done to the neatness of the bottom shelf by her coworker.

The music coming from the radio kept her company, and drowned out the howl of the wind as she worked her way in and out of the aisles, returning books to their rightful places. She almost resembled a snake, inching its way through tall grass, slithering to and fro towards its prey.

With the last book precisely placed in its spot in the biographies, Geraldine let out a sigh. “There. Finished. Didn’t take too long.” She wheeled her cart back behind the front desk, grabbed her coat and purse, and began making her final rounds of the library, turning off lamps and locking doors.

As she neared the main entrance, she slipped on her coat and looked up. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. “No,” she muttered under hear breath, “Oh, please no!” She rushed forward to the door and pushed with all her might. It didn’t budge. She tried again. The handle felt ice cold, and made a small cracking noise as she leaned all her wait against it, desperately attempting to get it to move. But it was stuck. Frozen solid.

Geraldine stepped back, looking up and down the height of the door. Snow was piled up almost to her forehead, blocking the remaining light outside from coming in. There was no way she could open it.

“A window!” The thought jolted her mind as she immediately turned around and ran to the nearest window. Her heart sank, however, as it too, refused to submit to her force. She raced around the room, trying the next window, and the next, hoping one of them had escaped the effects of the blizzard. But her hope was in vain; her attempts futile. She was trapped.

“What am I going to do?” She sat down on one of the tables. She couldn’t call anybody; the library’s phone had been out of order for over two weeks now, and few repairmen gave their library precedence. She was lucky the building had heat. “I guess I just amuse myself until morning.” Liza would be back around 6:30 to open again. And nothing would stop her from opening on time, not even if she had to shovel a tunnel through the snow to the front door herself.

Geraldine flipped back on a couple of lights and took off her coat. She sat down again and looked around. She had never really noticed how big the library seemed when no one else was around. With the darkness and the howling wind, it seemed almost eerie. And deathly quiet. She needed a distraction. Something to help her forget that she would be trapped in here overnight.

She walked over to the mystery section and picked up an enticing-looking Agatha Christie novel. “This’ll do,” she thought as she walked back towards the table. She had barely taken a few steps, though, when she stopped, twirled on her heel, and grabbed four more of the Agatha Christie collection. “Now this is more like it.”

As she dropped her pile of books onto the table, she glanced at the clock above the front desk. 5:37. “I’m gonna need some more books.” And with that, she sat down, and began to read, with only the sounds of the wind to keep her company.

“CLANG!!!!”

“Aghhhhhh!” The noise startled Geraldine so much she jumped from her chair and dropped her book onto the floor. She put her hand to her chest, and could feel her heart thumping. Taking a deep breath, she stooped down to pick up her novel. Her head twitched to one side. She could’ve sworn she just heard someone shushing. The clock read 8:07.

“The wind probably just blew something over outside.” She walked back to the front door and glanced out. Snow was piled up even higher now. Nothing was even remotely visible.

“CLANG!!!!” There it was again! And it was most definitely not coming from outside. It almost sounded as if…

“No, that’s not possible,” Geraldine had no problem talking to herself now, “who would be in the basement right now?” But she couldn’t deny that the second sound had clearly come from…below her. It was like someone had banged a pipe right underneath her feet. As she stood there, wondering what she should do, a chilling thought came to her: “Or what could be in the basement right now?”

“What am I doing?” Geraldine asked herself as she descended the stairs. She had grabbed a flashlight from the front desk, and was now slowly, cautiously edging herself down the staircase to the basement. Her back lay against the wall, steps inaudible, as she inched her way to the bottom. As she reached the last step, she shone her light around the room.

Boxes, a few broken library carts, some old bookshelves, and the broom closet. Nothing out of the ordinary. She now walked to the center of the room. It wasn’t incredibly big, actually. Not compared to the library anyway. Something on the floor reflected the light into her eyes. She looked down. It was a large piece of auburn-colored glass. “Hm, where did you come from?”

“CLANG!!!!” The noise once again, jolted her from her thoughts. And there was no mistaking it this time. It was in the basement. It was in the closet. Geraldine just stared at the door. She could feel her heart thumping through her blouse. It may as well have thumped right out of her chest. She slowly outstretched her hand towards the doorknob. She stood their another second or two, her fingers firmly wrapped around the handle. A deep breath; she yanked the door with a flourish.

Empty. Practically. Just some brooms and buckets standing up in the corner, and a few more boxes hastily stacked. “What? I could’ve sworn…” And then she felt it. A cold, icy breeze. Coming from the back of the closet. Like a wind that seeps in through the bottom of the front door to your home. Geraldine crept closer. Yes, it was definitely coming from the back. “But how?” She reached to pull the first box down. It all but floated off the stack. It was empty. So were the others. “Why would you put a stack of empty boxed in here?”

Removing the las box revealed a slight crack in the back wall of the closet. Geraldine traced the line with her flashlight. Straight and smooth, it ran from the floor, up to within and inch of the ceiling, then turned to the right, ran again, and then turned back towards the floor. A perfect rectangle. This wasn’t just a crack in the plaster.

Geraldine ran her fingers all over the crack and wall, searching for a way to open it. “This must be some kind of door.” She was talking to herself again. “How is one supposed to ope—” As she was still speaking, her finger had touched a latch hidden within the crack. It swung forward silently. She poked her head around the door, half expecting to see some hideous, secret lair or lab. But what now lay before her was anything but what she expected.

A large bar. A poker table. Black jack tables. Chairs stacked in a far corner. Crates of whiskey were littered over the floor. No windows, only a small door leading to the stairs to the alley behind the library, which was flapping open and shut in the wind.

“CLANG!!!” The door banged against its frame. “Well, that’s what the sound was.” Geraldine was standing rigidly, her feet stuck to the floor of the closet as if glued there. She couldn’t bring herself to move. This was a speakeasy. No, more than that, she had found a gambling hole! Right in her own library! Well, under it.

She forced herself to take a step into the illegal operation she had stumbled upon. How did all of this get here? How long has it been here? Who knows about this place? These, and other thoughts were racing through her head. “Does Liza know? Oh, dear, if Liza knows! If she’s involved somehow.” That thought stopped her in her tracks as it led her to an even more horrific one: “I’m involved now.”

“What do I do now?” She cried to herself as she ran her hands along the smooth finish of the bar.

“Nothing.”

Geraldine turned instantly, Liza appearing behind her.

“What…what are you doing…here? I thought…thought you went home…hours ago.”

“Mr. Donner called me at home. He said our back door was open, and making noise. He could hear it from his shop. I couldn’t exactly call you.”

Geraldine wasn’t sure if she was referring to the out-of-order-phone or the situation unfolding. “Liza, please tell me you had nothing to do with this! Tell me you didn’t know!”

“I think you know I can’t do that.”

“But how could you? This is wrong, and you could go to prison for it!

“Never you mind. How long have you known?”

“I found it just now.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Oh, because you’ve been such a saint?

“Geraldine, I just want to know what we’re dealing with here. Now, tell me honestly, how long have you known?

“What ‘we’re’ dealing with? I’m not at all a part of this. This is YOUR mess. Leave me out of it. And I AM being honest. I found out just now. I could hear the door banging; I came to investigate. That’s all. I swear.”

“Ok, ok, I believe you. But you do realize this is a little…unpleasant now, don’t you?”

“Darn right it’s unpleasant! It’s illegal!” She pronounced every syllable of “illegal” as if trying to make it sting.

“I don’t mean that. I mean you. You were never supposed to find this.”

“How long has it been here?”

“A couple of months. Geraldine’s jaw dropped. But that’s all I’m telling you. Now look, all you need to do is forget you ever came down here. You don’t know anything right? Say nothing, do nothing. And then we can both walk away from this. No harm done.”

“No harm done? Forget this? Liza, how can you stand there, amidst this, and tell me to forget about it? I can’t do that. This is wrong.”

“You’re not doing anything wrong by keeping quiet. You’re just helping yourself out. You don’t have to get involved. I don’t want you involved. So just don’t say anything ok?”

“Wait a second, how did you get here? The snow is up to the doors.”

Liza didn’t answer. She walked over to the open door, closed and bolted it.

“Liza?”

“Ok, listen. There’s a tunnel in the basement that runs under a couple of the buildings on the street. I took the trolley to the dress shop, it’s not nearly so covered. Then I walked through the tunnel to here. Ok? Does that satisfy you? We can both get home that way. Now, let’s go.”

“No. I don’t want to go with you; I want to get away from you. I can’t believe you’ve done this!” Geraldine began walking backwards towards the closet door.

“Now, just hold on a minute! I haven’t done anything. What, you think I’m capable of orchestrating something like this. Not possible. You know I’m not. Someone else is though, and they came to me, asked, well, told me that they were going to use this space. And they pay me 30 dollars a week to keep quiet. That’s more than you and I make together! Don’t you see? This can be good for us. I’ll split the money with you, there’s more than enough. Just please don’t breathe a word of it to anyone. If they find out you told, they’ll. Well, I’m not quite sure what they’d do. But it won’t be good for either of us.”

Geraldine stepped back out of the closet. “Are you hearing yourself right now? Liza, this is crazy! Come with me, let’s go somewhere and call the police, ok? Then they can deal with it, and you and I will be just fine, I promise.” She stretched out her hand towards her friend, palms up, imploring her to join her.

“I’m so sorry, but I can’t do that.” Liza darted towards the closet.

Geraldine slammed the closet door shut before she could reach it. While leaning against the door, she used her leg to drag over one of the broken library carts. Liza was pounding on the door. “Let me through!” Please!!!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you be involved with this! I’m only trying to help you!” She wedged the cart under the handle of the door and then slowly backed away. It held the door shut. For now, at least. She started to search for this tunnel that was apparently down here.

“Ah-ha!” There, behind on of the old bookshelves, was a door. And it wasn’t at all discreet. Others must know about this. Maybe someone in the other stores could help her! She shoved the bookshelf over a bit, enough to open the door wide enough that she could squeeze through. Then she raced down the tunnel, watching her step as carefully as she could. It felt damp and cold. And more cold air was seeping in from somewhere.

A light glowed up ahead. Geraldine pushed herself to run faster. As she neared the light, she could see it was another door, slightly ajar, and it led to the café on the corner. The light was streaming down from their kitchen. She walked in, closing the door behind her, and ascended the cellar steps. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the kitchen door, to be met by the vacant stares of the chef, waiter, and owner of the café. They were in some sort of meeting, she guessed.

“Hi…um…could I…um…use your phone?”

None of them moved or made a sound. They simply stared. The owner pointed into another room.

“Thanks.” Geraldine nodded, made her way to the next room, picked up the phone, and dialed. She had just heard an answer on the other line when Liza came up behind her, panting.

“Please, don’t say anything.” Her eyes, wet and large, were pleading with her. She had put her arm on Geraldine’s shoulder. “Please.”

Geraldine patted her friend’s hand and gave her a reassuring smile. Then she spoke into the phone. “Yes, hello?”

Liza’s eyes had grown wider, her mouth drooped open. She looked horrified.

“I’d like to report a break in. At the library.”

“What are you—”

“Yes, I just came from there. Some noises were coming from the basement. The library is closed though, I just think after the storm has gone, someone should go look into it.” She placed the receiver back on the phone base.

She looked up at Liza. “Now they’ll be the ones to find it. While both of us are home. No one gets hurt. No one gets suspicious.”

“Thank you, really.”

“Not a problem. Sorry I locked you in the basement.”

“That’s alright. Gave me time to think about how dumb I’ve been. I'm sorry.”

“It's ok. So, we’re all good now?”

“Absolutely.”

“Great, now let’s figure out how to get home.”

“Agreed.”