JERIESTES

Stilettos and Steel, the debut novel from writer and producer Jeri Estes
 
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Chapter 1 WELCOME TO THE TENDERLOIN I turned the corner on Ellis and Powell Streets with a red rose in my hand. The chilly night air stole through my silk shirt as I made my way to the Why Not lounge. Sporting a new leather jacket and polished wing tips, I rehearsed my best clean-up lines. Carmen knew me too well for just anything to work. At this hour, the heart of San Francisco came alive with romance and glamour. Antique fog lamps softly illuminated the sidewalks. Other suitors walked arm in arm with their girls through Union Square. Shiny black limos dropped off well-heeled travelers draped in minks, diamonds and tailored overcoats. Glowing candles on white linen peeked through the windows of the five-star restaurants. Grand facades of elegant shops and historic hotels lent the streets a Parisian grandeur. As I neared the Tenderloin, the neighborhood lost its civility. Flower-crowned hippies, restless soldiers and glossy ladies of the night emerged from the mist. Strip joints, beer bars and panhandlers announced the opening of San Francisco’s red light district. It welcomed runaways from all over, people like me who didn’t fit in at home. Only a few years ago, I was living just north of L.A. in a quiet bedroom community with my family. Predictable and secure, our middle-class suburb was like food without seasoning. I arrived in San Francisco intoxicated by the freedom and dangers that lay before me. Enchanted by the city’s opulent beauty, I’d unfortunately settled into the low-rent Tenderloin district. I walked until I reached a large martini glass with a neon olive hanging above the sidewalk. Traveling the stem of the glass was a large sign: WHY NOT? Good and bad guys mingled after work at this favorite cop watering hole. Inside, my girlfriend was slinging drinks to San Francisco’s finest, from beat heat to City Hall brass.
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