des perles dans le vents (pearls in the wind)
Zeinab Ajasa
IG: @zeeadaj
“Pearls in the Wind (Pt.1)” | Raven Smith | 2022-2024
“1920s” | Raven Smith | 2022
“Pearls in the Wind (Pt.2)” | Raven Smith | 2022
“After the Bird” | Raven Smith | 2024
“Intrusive Thoughts” | Raven Smith | 2022
a smooth crackle hum slithers from the golden petals of the music box as Azulah places the needle in the groove, a jaunty little record she picked up from the shop the other day. she gives the handle a couple of cranks before soft trombone tones drift throughout the room, invoking the space with a layer of warmth that blends with the honey gold shimmer of the furniture within. Arcelia hums along to herself, contemplating her next move in their lazy game of spades as Azulah sinks into the soft plush of her bed, scooping the abandoned cards back into her hand. two beauties dressed down to their négliée, pampering and champagne, a party for two. a relaxation very much needed for a Azulah after the month she’s had, how that man treated her. clearly, she made a huge mistake trusting him. she wouldn’t do that again. her next moves linger in her mind as she tries to distract herself with the card game at hand. Arcelia takes a sip from her glass before her lips part,
“hey Zulah, you heard?” Arcelia murmurs, not looking up from the card choices in her hand. she takes spades very seriously.
“heard what my dear?” eyes flickering up to give full attention to her cousin. her recently plucked brows furrowing in confusion, hands lowering to rest on the bedspread, Azulah continues, pausing to meet Arcelia’s eyes,
“Jesse’s openin’ a club down on Walker street”
“Jesse?”
“Arsville, darling”
“oh yes, lovely. haven’t heard about him in a while, how’s his Peter? apologies dear, haven’t been
able to keep my head straight, you understand.”
“of course! course i understand don’t apologise to me. either way—Peter’s great, but Zulie, they
went and called the club, La Fée Noir,” she says this with a flourish and giggles a little as she does so. “The Black Fairy, Zulie!” she laughs some more, “it’s quite perfect if i do say so myself. i hear it’ll be an absolutely darling place to let one's hair down if you catch my meaning.”
“a club you say?” Azulah replies while pursing her lips. “of what variety?”
“i think you know exactly what,” a slow smile spreads across Arcelia’s face as she too abandons her cards on the bed. Azulah’s eyes widen briefly at this, it must be quite the thing if Arcelia is willing to pause a game. “i think i’d rather like to have some...fun, don’t you? and i’ve heard he’s got the good juice—ain’t none of that scrap iron. we gotta let loose! it’s been a long few weeks.”
“that is enticing. i am interested in some fun as you say, darling but...” Azulah says this slowly and narrows her eyes in suspicion at her very excitable cousin, “i don’t think i like that look in your eye”
“and i think you should have some faith in me”
“i’m not quite sure about that, you’re always up to something.” Azulah narrows her eyes further, lips curling into a closed mouth smile, “you’re even still wearing those godforsaken pearls. you have no shame,” she says this playfully, gesturing to Arcelia’s wrists knowing full well the necklace dipping into her own ample décolletage were from the same set.
“absolutely none” Arcelia smiles indulgently and responds in kind, “and oh shut up, so are you!”
this makes them both laugh for a good minute, remembering what conspired last month. Arcelia forces herself to sober up, she had a lot to fill Azulah in on Arcelia continues, “it’s all part of the plan”
“ah yes, this elusive plan you have failed to make me privy to. pray tell what’s the business? i don’t think i understand the relevance quite yet”
“getting there! so, guess who’s supposed to be at the opening?”
“it better not be—” Arcelia nods solemnly “you’re pulling my leg, you have to be—”
“never, darling. not about this”
“shit...then—how d’you propose we do this Arcie?
to this Arcelia says nothing and instead lifts her hands to her lips in a flourish and blows, making
a strange whistling sound. following the fluttering of her vocals, soft but rapid flapping comes from the left open window and like an apparition, a raven soars through the frame and straight for Azulah. as the bird approached, Azulah wasn’t as phased about this as she probably should be. it happens so fast she almost doesn’t notice. The majestic creature swoops in and makes quick work of snapping the clasp of Azulah’s necklace, the pearls fly out across the room in response making an abundance of noise and commotion against the dark wood flooring. the bird was rapidly flapping it’s wings causing feathers to join in the chaos. one of the pearls even hits the gramophone, halting the music, interrupting the calm of the room.
Arcelia had a knack for bird calling; it was a favourite pastime. they’d just gotten back from a trip with the Black bird watching society, in town and Azulah was used to birds being in close vicinity with her person. what she was surprised about was why a bird was in her rooms, not outside—and the idea that this was somehow going to help her case.
meanwhile Arcelia had grabbed her champagne from the chest on the end of the bed and was taking a sip. the raven had settled by the closed window to the right of them, creating a protective shadow in the soft sunlight.
“say hello to my friend Clam—”
“really? my god.” Azulah rolls her eyes.
“what? you know i love a good pun,” Arcelia shrugs, “anyway, it’s how we met,” she gestures to
the creature on the sill, currently grooming itself. soft breeze ruffling its feathers and the ones on the red boa lying against Azulah’s supine form. the room bathed in silence after the cacophony of sound. “Clam here swooped in and broke these pearls before,” she gestures to her bracelet, “not long after i...uh acquired them.”
“mhmm”
“and i was so upset...yet quite impressed, she even landed on my shoulder! i decided to keep her and see what i could do about teaching her some tricks. corvids are dead clever you know. it also doesn’t hurt that these pearls are surprisingly cheap to repair for supposed freshwater beauties.”
“i thought, you were just nicking the jewellery. was that not enou—wait, are you insinuating that these may not be real?”
“i don’t have to, the jeweller told me herself. honestly, how little you think of me,” she levels Azulah with a withering stare, “how selfish of me to steal pearls for my satisfaction when you’re the victim. that would be so low brow of me—there’s more to it, of course.
“of course, i’m sorry i ever doubted you. it’s not like your elaborate plans haven’t gone wrong before.”
“trust me Zulie, this plan is basically foolproof.”
Azulah was still skeptical. she knew her cousin very well...and yet—
“okay...let me hear it,” she had nothing else to lose.
“wonderful, the plan is; we show up to the function, give them another spectacle—big enough to
chew on for the next month, while we find enough dirt on that drugstore cowboy to absolutely ruin him. the pearls were just the first part, the counterfeit discovery—a bonus. the town’s already talkin’. you in?
“i—we?”
“yes we, i’m lookin’ to call Irene and Eula, they’re usually down for some shenanigans.” at that, Azulah cottoned on that Arcelia knew exactly what she was doing and Azulah wanted to hate her for it, she did, but she couldn’t.
Azulah sighs deeply, her heart moving at a rapid pace at the thought of seeing Eula again. her cousin knew her too well. it was becoming a problem, a problem she had no desire to deal with at this moment, “...sure.”
this was either going to be grand or a complete disaster and she honestly couldn’t wait to find out.
***
“who’s that?” voices murmur at once as the instruments in the background pluck to a stop. Irene and Eula dressed up to the nines, indistinguishable from the crowd, quickly glance at each other then over with everyone else. they’ve been sitting twiddling their thumbs, waiting longer than anticipated for their cue. breaths held as finally their moment to move approaches. feathers flutter to the ground in silence, disrupting the light of the venue, casting dark shadows over everyone. as the back door creaked open and the wind curled in, they were swept aside by the invisible force. was that a bird? the sudden hush of the venue contrasting with the bright honey gold and dark wood interior. emerging from the shadows like an apparition in a black starry night sequinned slip of a dress, all eyes in the club on her. some more envious and wanting than others, as her silver kitten heels click-clack across the floor towards the small stage,
“Azulah.”
***
Azulah would like to say she was surprised this went wrong...but she really, really isn’t. it was Arcelia after all. what a cliché.
she takes a small breath, her mind stressed. hoping desperately that her distress was not visible on her face. She locks eyes with Eula neck craning in her matching outfit to catch Azulah’s attention. she gives a wink and sends a kiss her way. we can still turn this around. that is in my control. honestly, everything was going smoothly up until this point, she truly thought the other shoe was firmly on the ground. unfortunately, it was merely teetering on a ledge waiting for this precise moment to drop.
the plan was relatively simple, create a distraction big enough to keep everyone occupied, so Irene could do some snooping in the meantime. the problem was that Arcelia forgot to mention what kind of distraction she was meant to pull out of her gloves. to top it all off, traffic made their cab late, but not before Arcelia requested a costume change that took way too long—now they had less time to execute their plan. at least the raven was in the rafters.
it had been a month since she’d last performed, the last time being the fateful night some deeply personal photos were leaked to the press by none other than . ever since the papers started focusing more on pointedly on starlets and less on everything else, dark clouds began to shrouding Azulah’s life in darkness. she couldn’t book gigs anymore, she was known as “Zulie the Floozy” about town and a “sex-symbol” to the press. she was sick of it.
the performer billed wasn’t her so it was safe to say they had been either bribed away last minute or this was part of Arcelia’s plan. it wouldn’t have been hard to get Jesse to agree, he’s very fond of her She’s almost glad she didn’t know, she almost certainly would’ve turned it down had this been suggested earlier. now it seems, all she has to do is deliver a pearl-snatch worthy performance and let the chips fall where they may.
