Ellroy – White Jazz
silence for a percentage of their holdings.
They agree.
Dudley recognizes J.C.’s mean streak–and cultivates it. He believes that Negroes could be kept dope-sedated; he urges J.C. to sell them drugs. He urges Chief Davis to let J.C. “serve” them: as a sanctioned dope peddler and informant to the fledgling Narcotics Squad.
Dudley hides his role-few know that he is J.C.’s recruiter. Chief Davis retires in ’39; Chief Horrall takes over. He assumes credit for the Kafesjian recruitment–and taps Officer Dan Wilhite to serve as J.C.’s contact.
Years pass; Dudley continues to extract his business percentage. J.C.’s dry-cleaning shops flourish; he builds up a Southside dope kingdom. Phil Herrick earns legitimate wealth: PH Solvents is hugely successful.
The adultery goes on: J.C. and Joan, Phillip and Madge.
Both women have assured their lovers that birth control precautions have been taken. Both have lied–they loathe their husbands, but will not leave them.
Madge knows J.C. would kill her; Joan needs Phillip’s money and newly developed social connections.
Five children.
Inconclusive patrimony.
No dangerous resemblances emerging.
Joan _wanted_ J.C.’s baby: he treated her atypically tender. Madge wanted Phillip’s: she despised her vicious husband. Guesswork fathers softens things–both women believe it.
Post–World War II:
Major Dudley Smith, OSS, sells black-market penicillin to escaped Nazis. Phil Herrick, naval officer, serves in the Pacific; J.C. Kafesjian runs his dry-cleaning shops and dope racket. Dudley returns to L.A. late in ’45; Herrick, fourteen months at sea, comes home unexpectedly.
He finds Joan nine months pregnant. He beats her–and learns that J.C. has been her lover throughout their marriage. She had planned to put the child up for adoption; Phil’s surprise return prevented her. She hid her pregnancy with long indoor sojourns; Laura, Christine and Richieaway at boarding school-do not know what happened.
Joan runs to J.C.
Madge hears them talking and confronts them.
J.C. brutally beats both women.
Madge admits her long affair with Phil Herrick.
Cuckold husbands, cuckold wives. Enraged men–two women beaten and raped.
Terrible chaos. Abe Voldrich calls in Dudley Smith.
He has the five children blood-tested–the results are ambiguous. Joan Herrick delivers her baby; Dudley strangles it three days old.
Laura and Christine never learn the facts of their lineage.
Tommy, Lucille and Richie do-several years later.
The boys grow up friends–maybe brothers–whose father is whose? They burglarize houses and play jazz; Richie falls in love with Lucille. He comforts her with Champ Dineen–he didn’t know his bloodlines either.
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Ellroy – White Jazz
Tommy emulates his “name” father J.C.–selling dope while still in high school.
He’s always lusted after Lucille-now there’s a chance she _isn’t_ his sister. He rapes her–and makes her his personal whore.
Richie finds out–and swears to kill Tommy.
Tommy relishes the vow–he considers Richie a weakling.
Richie drives to Bakersfield and buys a gun. He gets caught selling dope; Dudley Smith intercedes, but cannot convince the DA to drop charges. Richie Herrick, sentenced to Chino: 1955.
Tommy swears he’ll kill him when he’s released–he knows his personal whore Lucille deeply loves him. Richie swears to kill Tommy–he has debased the maybe sister he loves chastely.
Lucille runs wild–prostitute, window dancer, taunter of men. Phil Herrick seeks her out–his maybe daughter. Their first coupling is a street assignation.
Lucille agrees just to taunt him.
His gentleness surprised her–this maybe daddy more like Richie than Tommy. They continued to meet: always talking, always playing games. Phil Herrick and Lucille: maybe daddy-daughter lovers, maybe just a whore and a john.
And Madge and Joan became friends. They hid from the madness together–fugitive time spent simply talking. Confidantes: years of partial shelter.
Richie escaped from Chine-fit only to voyeur-watch Lucille. Joan and Richie exchanged letters; Richie said a friend soon to be paroled would avenge him painlessly. This man seemed to have a hold on Richie: Richie never even said his name.
Joan killed herself nine months ago; the insanity peaked all at once. Lucille did not know Richie was watching her; Tommy read Junior Stemmons’ reports and assumed that Richie was the voyeur. He vowed to kill him–afraid that Exley-linked men would find him first. Lucille found him–their ticket to shelter in a needle.
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