Notturno by Z.A. Maxfield Read Free Book Online

followed. To Adin’s everlasting shame, he was on
    his feet and right behind Donte even before he’d looked back.
    Slightly worse for drink, Adin looked out the window of the
    cab and checked his watch. Almost 1 a.m. Donte was silent
    except for a brief phone call during which he spoke in hushed
    tones. Adin paid little attention to it, preferring to give Donte
    his privacy. Donte snapped his phone shut and said nothing.
    After a time, Adin noticed they were staying on Santa Monica
    Boulevard, and they traveled only minutes more before the cab
    stopped on Santa Monica near Gower, at the Hollywood
    Forever Cemetery. They exited the cab, and Donte paid the
    driver handsomely to stay where he was until they returned.
    A security guard was at the gate, waiting, it seemed, to greet
    Donte.
    “Hello, Michael,” said Donte in a warm voice. “Thank you
    for this.”
    “My pleasure, Mr. Fedeltà. I’m glad I could help.” He
    unlocked the gate and pulled it open, allowing the men to enter.
    Donte walked along, seeming to know where he was going, so
    Adin followed. He comprehended that this silent,
    contemplative Donte was someone he didn’t yet know. Most of
    the grounds were lit by the ambient city lights, but Donte was
    leading him to shadowy places, niches where the overarching
    trees or monuments blocked the light.
    “You, of course, can’t see this in the same way I can, Adin. I
    am at home in the darkness, as you might imagine. I have the
    permission of the family that owns this cemetery, and others
    like it, to research some of the names that are found here, they
    believe, for a nonfiction book about Los Angeles.” Adin could
    almost feel his smile. “My credentials were impressive. At any rate, I’ve made friends with the guards.”
    36 Z.A. Maxfield
    “Why would you do that?” Adin asked as he followed along,
    careful to step where Donte walked rather than stumble in the
    darkness.
    “It suits me to walk among the dead.” Donte caught Adin’s
    hand and led him around a metal grid where water drained from
    the landscape. “I know that’s vaguely cliché, but believe me, it’s
    a delight to find a quiet place to think in a city this size.”
    “You could try the botanical gardens,” Adin told him. “Far
    less cliché, and they have things you can eat there.”
    Donte looked at Adin pointedly. “I have things I can eat
    here. Besides, as you can see, I have the run of the place at
    night. This cemetery was opened in 1899. That is comparable to
    the Dark Ages in terms of Los Angeles history. This is a city
    with little or no memory. Actually, I cannot like it much, but I
    like this place, this city of the dead.” He led Adin across a
    footbridge to a small building that seemed to float in the center
    of a lake. Donte urged Adin to sit with him on the steps. “This
    is the Clark mausoleum. Frankly, I neither know nor care who
    William A. Clark, Jr., was.”
    “He was the founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic,” said
    Adin. “I come here mostly in the daylight when I’m in town to
    visit my sister, although last year they did Hamlet here in the summer evenings. That was fun. You’re going to get your nice
    suit all dirty, like my trousers, which will require dry cleaning.”
    “I said I was sorry, caro,” Donte repeated. They stayed silent
    for a few minutes, absorbing the sounds of the night. Adin
    heard the city traffic against the soft music of the fountain in
    the small lake before them. The air smelled like earth and grass,
    and Adin shifted, leaning into the windbreak Donte provided.
    Donte put an arm around him and then unexpectedly kissed his
    forehead gently.
    “Fraternizing with the enemy?”
    “Me or you?” asked Donte.
    “Both.” Adin was afraid to take his hand. “Can you do
    that…thing if you’re not touching me?”
    “Yes.”
    NOTTURNO 37
    “I see.” Adin sighed and took Donte’s hand in his, finding it
    cool to the touch. He interlaced their fingers and lifted them