The Gilda Stories

Ten years have passed, and Gilda is still living in New York. She has begun working as a lounge singer and has found a wonderful group of black women friends. As the chapter opens, she has been singing at a party given by one of the women but is perturbed by the presence of a young woman named Effie who always seems to stare at her when she performs. She feels desire for Effie but closes herself off from her. (Effie is a fellow vampire but conceals her true nature until the end of the chapter.)

When she goes home from the party, Gilda returns to her apartment, which she now shares with Julius. He is traveling but has painted vibrant scenes of the world’s great cities on the apartment windows. She has a brief and friendly interaction with her gay male neighbor, a man named Marcie whom she admires. They banter, and he gives her a beautiful scarf that she wears to the club the following night.

Gilda sings a new song she’s written—a love song from one vampire to another, though a mortal audience wouldn’t recognize it as such.