Chapter 3
The Tears of a Sister
Robbie walked past the couple of idling paparazzi standing outside of Elsa Fowler's building. It was amazing to him the way he could pass by people like a ghost, without them ever giving him a second glance. Elsa was the first interview on his list, even though Guy had full access to her. Guy's rationale was that sometimes people avoided telling the truth to those they were close to. Sometimes they could open up to total strangers with much more ease. Guy just wanted Robbie to ask her a couple of questions and see if she would reveal something to him that she might not have shared with Guy or the police.
Elsa sat inside of a hanging egg hammock in the middle of her hippie downtown loft. Robbie tried his best to breathe as little as possible, knowing the incense she had burning in the room would trigger his allergies. He could tell that she'd been crying, her face was puffy and her eyes were red and swollen. She swung back and forth absentmindedly, while lighting a perfectly rolled joint.
She wore a flowery Asian kimono robe, with a pair of tiny white shorts and tank top underneath, hugging her enviable figure perfectly. Her red tresses fell down in loose waves, and a pair of golden hoops hung from her small ears. Even in grief, Robbie thought she was perfectly stunning.
"My speakers are broken," she said, waving her hand towards the wall, "I'm having someone come fix them today. I wanted to play you that new Zane X beat. It's so sick," she said, and continued to gently swing from the suspended chair, with one long leg hanging out and the other tucked in underneath her. "They're saying he dedicated a whole song for Case on his new album."
"Zane and Casey had an interesting relationship," Robbie started, trying to tread gently. This would be a potentially sensitive subject. He sat on the couch, a few feet away from her. "Was there anything more between them?"
"You mean like, were they fucking?" she asked, not beating around the bush. "No, Casey wasn't into Zane like that. He liked his music and thought the guy was dope, but rappers were not his type. He liked the sporty-and-in-the-closet men more." Robbie nodded, he was already going off script from the questions Guy had told him to ask.
"How did Casey feel about Zane's songs?"
"We loved Zane's `Murda Dat Ass'," Elsa said suddenly smiling, and seeming to remember something fondly. "We'd always blast it in the car when Guy wasn't around." She laughed, took a puff of the joint, then broke into a rap:
"He wanna stay at the crib, won't take no for an answer. I tell that hoe to scatter, Bitch, you ain't Casey Fowler!"
Her smile lingered for a second, then as if suddenly remembering that her brother was gone, her face turned to a frown once again.
"Casey didn't object to being...well, objectified?" Elsa looked confused at the question.
"No, he loved Zane's flows. Who doesn't want to be the object of someone else's desire? He was flattered. He had no real interest in Zane though, he was head over heels crazy about Guy. Wanted to marry him, start a family. He would have given it all up for that man."
"But, it seems he also enjoyed toying with Guy a bit," Robbie suggested.
"What do you mean?"
"Guy mentioned that Casey liked making him jealous."
"Oh, well, it's not so much the he enjoyed toying with him. Casey would complain that Guy was irrational, but I think he secretly liked it. Guy was so terrified of official commitment, that the angry and jealous outbursts made Casey feel like he gave a shit. Like the relationship really mattered to him, you know? He just wanted someone to take care of him. To love him unconditionally. He didn't get that from our dad, he was cold towards Casey, so he always sought that out in men. But he'd inevitably pick men exactly like our dad, who couldn't give him the type of love he wanted. It was a self-destructive cycle." She exhaled a cloud of smoke and Robbie held in a cough.
"How did Guy feel about those Calvin Klein pictures?" Robbie asked, referring to some famous racy shots of Casey in his underwear for an underwear campaign. The photo spread ended the era of "sweet Casey" and took a turn into a Casey that was more in touch with his sensuality. Featuring the singer in just a tight pair of white Calvin's, sitting down on his knees and looking to the side of the camera, as if his lover was just mere feet away, heading towards him.
Elsa started shaking her head, "You're better of not bringing those up to Guy. It's a sore spot for him. They had one of their biggest blow outs over those pictures."
"Really, why?"
"Guy thought Casey was trying too hard to get attention. That it cheapened his brand. Casey got pissed off, called him a controlling jackass. Same old story every time." Robbie was enthralled. Everything pointed to Casey and Guy having a pretty tumultuous relationship. Was Guy capable of murder? Did jealousy drive him to commit a heinous act? Robbie figured he'd lay all his cards out on the table and ask Elsa point blank.
"Do you think Guy was capable of hurting Casey?" She stopped swinging in the hammock and stared into Robbie's eyes with a pointed look.
"Look, I know Guy has his suspicions about what happened. That maybe Casey didn't fall down the stairs, that maybe someone beat him. But, it wasn't Guy. He was obsessed about protecting Casey, and keeping him safe. That's why he was on such high alert recently, even though nobody else took that stalker seriously."
"Stalker?" Robbie asked, surprised by this new information.
"Oh yeah, Casey had a stalker. I mean, he had a lot of crazy and obsessive fans. But there was one that just...sent really creepy letters. And they were getting progressively more and more creepy. But Casey was a celebrity, so the police didn't really care since he received thousands of letters all the time. They didn't think it was a serious threat. Casey laughed it off mostly. But I know Guy was trying to trace them back to the sender."
"What did they say?"
"Oh you know, we have a connection, I think we're meant to be, all the usual creepy bullshit. But there was just something about the way he wrote, that...well, it sounded unhinged I suppose," she said, getting up and going over to table in the middle of the room, where Robbie noticed photo albums and pictures laid out everywhere.
"I'm in charge of picking the photos for the memorial," she answered, before Robbie could voice the question, then started to silently cry. Robbie wasn't sure what the protocol was, after all he had just recently met Elsa under less than ideal circumstances, but he walked over and hugged her anyway. He hated seeing people cry. She hugged him back weakly.
"I just can't wrap my head around the fact that he's gone," she mumbled into his shoulder. Robbie just silently nodded. Even though he didn't personally know Casey, he had felt the pain of his loss just like all of his fans who thought they knew the pop star from listening to his songs, and watching his music videos and interviews. He was an integral part of their lives, and now he was extinguished forever. It seemed surreal.
After she stopped crying, Robbie sat on the couch with her and let her talk while she showed him childhood pictures of baby Casey, and recalled sweet anecdotes from their younger years. When he finally left, he called Guy and filled him in on the conversation, which didn't exactly bring any new information to the light.
"Listen Robbie, thanks for doing this. I just have a few more people I want you to talk to," Guy said.
"No problem," Robbie replied. It's not like he had anything better going on in his life, and Guy was paying him a pretty decent amount of money for just talking to people. "Who's next on the list?"
"I'm trying to get Elsa to convince Ben to talk to you, since I'm technically banned from him building. Long story," he said before Robbie could ask anything. "But for now I managed to convince Zane's manager Stephanie to let you go and talk to him. I highly doubt that asshole had anything to do with this, but I can't rule him out."
"Zane...as in, Zane X?" Robbie asked, trying hard to conceal his excitement. He had no idea Guy would be able to get him a one on one conversation with one of the biggest rappers in the game. His palms felt sweaty just thinking about it.
"That's the one," Guy replied with distaste. "I'll text you the details later, I gotta run."
Robbie hung up and smiled. He couldn't believe how fast things could change in life. From being broke and struggling, to making money from speaking to a musical God. Maybe, just maybe, his luck was slowly turning.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, business establishments or events is entirely coincidental. Comments and feedback are highly appreciated, send to mozlover21@gmail.com.
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Below is the soundtrack I listened to while writing this chapter, in no particular order.
Don't Matter - Drake Heart of Gold - Neil Young Extraordinary Being - Emeli Sandé