The porch was Perry's favorite room. It was on a corner of his small, square house, with louvered windows on one side and glass doors onto the deck on the other. With all the glass it was usually cooler than the rest of the house, except on warm summer days, but he didn't mind that.
When he had bought the house, the porch had had screens on one side, but he had liked the room so much that he had installed the windows instead, so he could use it in all seasons. It faced west, and he frequently sat there to watch the sun set.
He sat on his porch on that cool, fall morning, his hands cupped around a steaming mug of coffee. He still wore the T-shirt and sweatpants he had slept in, with a robe over that.
His newest article about U-town had been published two days before, and he was sure there would be a controversy about it. But he'd felt it had needed to be said, and his publisher always read his correspondance and summarized it for him.
Perry's house was the only place he felt really safe. Only three people in the world knew where it was (well, he reminded himself, it was a few more than that). He had no telephone, no fax machine, no television and only a small AM radio that he used to listen to baseball games.
"You can't hide forever," she said.
He almost winced as he turned to face his uninvited guest. Nicky Porter stood in the doorway to the living room, a plate of muffins in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. Perry had been exerting all his will power to ignore the pleasant aroma of the muffins baking.
"I'm not hiding," he said patiently (how many times had he said that since her arrival?).
She was probably about sixteen (she was evasive on this point), around 5'2" and (ahem, he thought) shapely. He was uncomfortably aware that she was certainly naked under the white terry cloth robe she wore. Her long, ash-blonde hair was wrapped up in a towel after the shower she had taken while the muffins were baking.
He caught a sudden whiff of shampoo and damp flesh through the smell of the muffins.
"I'm not hiding," he repeated. "Just waiting. Why are you in such a hurry?"
She sighed and sat in the other chair, placing the plate of muffins on the small table between them. She stretched out her tawny legs, then tucked them under her in the chair.
Aging "Boy Wonder" Novelist
Takes
Tawny-Legged Teen Radical to War Zone –
Claims "We're
Just Friends!"
"You think this place is so well hidden," she said. "It's not. If we don't get moving soon, we'll miss our chance."
He sighed as she picked up a muffin. By this time he had given up on reminding her that his travel plans didn't include her.
After a moment, she waved the half-eaten muffin at him. "These are for you, too, you know," she said.
He snorted quietly and leaned forward to take one. Still warm. Blueberry. He took a bite.
"Pretty good, I must say. Nice to have a woman's touch around here."
She sighed, not even rising to the bait. She suddenly looked right at him. "I've been thinking," she said.
Just after dark that night, there was a crack of thunder
and the rains started all at once.
Perry and Nicky were sitting across the low coffee table from each other in the living room. He was sitting on the sofa, his feet up on the coffee table, reading a newspaper that was a little over a month old. She was lying on the day bed, reading one of his novels (the second, Distance and Time) and periodically making notes on a small pad. He wondered if she knew how crazy this was making him.
He looked up suddenly. "Did we close the car windows?" he asked. Before he could continue with, "I'd better go check," she was rushing to the door. She grabbed his yellow rain slicker from the peg as all the windows on that side of the house lit up as if God had flicked a huge light switch so that He could take a quick look around.
The door slammed shut behind her as the thunder came. Two seconds at most, Perry noted absently. And here he was with the perfect opportunity to peek at the notes she had been making while reading his novel.
Feeling virtuous, he stood up and went into the kitchen. There was another flash of lightning and all the lights in the house went out.
"Oh, fine," he said quietly to himself. He stood in the center of the kitchen and waited for the next flash, which was bright enough and long enough for him to locate his flashlight and turn it on. He got his tin of kitchen matches and lit the stove, putting on a kettle of water for tea.
"This irks me," Jan Sleet said, throwing the newspaper down on the meeting table. Marshall handed her a cup of coffee and sat down beside her. "Thank you, dear," she said.
He made a face as Doc asked, "What irks you?"
"Perry Nelson. He's never even been here, and here he is writing another article about how messed up U-town is."
"He was here," Ray said, looking up from some reports.
She looked at him. "He was here? When?"
Ray shrugged. "Within the first couple of weeks. He stayed in a hotel for about three days, I think. Never went out of his hotel room, and then he left before I even heard he was here. If I'd known--"
Jan Sleet still looked annoyed. "Well, that's the same thing, if he was here and didn't leave his hotel room. He wouldn't get very far as a reporter."
"He had somebody with him. A cute teenage girl, at least according to the report I heard. She went out every day and traveled around. Then I guess she reported back to him."
"I think I should go give him a good talking to," Jan Sleet said.
Ray shook his head. "I've heard that only three people in the country even know where he lives. How are you going to find him?"
She smiled. "I know where he lives." She looked at Marshall. "You remember how to get there, don't you, dear?"
Marshall nodded.
Jack said, "You know the rules. If you're leaving Utown, you need to take security."
Jan Sleet looked at Vicki. "Would you like to meet Perry Nelson?"
Vicki nodded. "Sure. My cousin SarahBeth was obsessed with him. It'll serve her right if I meet him before she does."
Jan Sleet turned back to Jack, who laughed. "I'd say that's good enough security."
Marshall drove all the way, with Jan Sleet in the passenger seat and Vicki in the back. The rain had started around noon, and it seemed to come down harder and harder as the afternoon progressed. It was a driving rain, with strong, unpredictable winds. At times, Marshall could see almost nothing except the little patch of highway right in front of the car, and an occasional pair of blurry headlights coming from the opposite direction. And, of course, the lightning.
He had tried the headlights on high beam a couple of times when no cars were coming, but the rain was so thick it just reflected the light back at them, making it even harder to see.
"Isn't that the turnoff up ahead?" he asked. He slowed the car as his employer squinted into the darkness and rain. By the time she responded, they were nearly stopped.
"Yes," she said with some hesitation. "That's it."
Marshall turned off the highway and started along the bumpy dirt road. It was really just two tire tracks through the woods, and he had to drive very slowly. He hoped they wouldn't meet a car coming the other way. If they had, he would probably have had to drive in reverse all the way back to the highway.
Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder, and Jan Sleet yelled, "Stop the car!"
Marshall slammed on the brakes as a tree about ten feet ahead of them slowly started to tilt across the road. He had a brief, crazy idea of gunning the car to get past it before it blocked their way, but then he saw what it really was and instead he threw the car into reverse and backed up another twenty feet or so.
It wasn't a tree, it was a pole carrying electric and telephone wires, and with a mighty creak and crash it fell, completely blocking the road.
"Do you want me to move it?" Vicki asked.
He reached back and put his hand firmly on her arm. "Don't even think about it," he said, peering ahead through the rain. "I can't see where the wires are. They seem to have broken loose. And with this wind . . ." He turned to Jan Sleet. "If we walk from here, it's not that far, is it?"
She nodded, seeming more sure of herself. "It's just over this hill here," she said, gesturing to her left. "The road curves around."
"Well, come on," Marshall said, opening the car door.
Vicki climbed out also, squinting against the rain as she zipped up her leather jacket. Then they both helped Jan Sleet get out and on her feet.
Marshall stretched to get the kinks out of his back, and then opened the trunk to get Jan Sleet's briefcase, leaving the other luggage for the moment. When he closed it, he looked around. "Where is she?"
Vicki laughed, rain running down her face, and gestured up the hill. "Left us behind. She's probably toasting her toes and drinking hot chocolate already. Come on."
They blundered up the hill until they got to the top. By then Marshall's hair was soaking wet, his left foot squished as he walked (he had stepped into a deep puddle) and he was wondering how his employer had managed to move so quickly.
Coming down the far side of the hill, he nearly walked right into the side of the house.
"Is this it?" Vicki asked. "Doesn't seem to be anybody home."
"The power's probably out," he said, feeling his way along the shingled wall. Then they heard a knocking from around the corner of the house.
Sitting on the couch together in the dark, sipping
their tea, the storm still crashing around outside, Perry sighed.
Writer Molests Teen in Secluded
Cottage
"Needs More Lead in his Pencil,"
says Co-ed.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"I wanted something that was totally different from what my life has been until now," she said quietly.
(When exactly had he taken her hand in his?)
"Do you realize I haven't had a drink since I got here?" she asked. "You don't know how wild that feels. It's like I've spent the last couple of years wrapped in cotton padding, and now I'm naked. It's very intense."
He felt her shift on the couch so she was facing him, taking his hand between hers. "I'm no groupie, Perry. I don't give a damn about you. You're just a travel agent to me, someone to get me where I'm going." He smelled her warm breath on his lips. "I don't want–"
There was a thump from outside the house, followed by a hard knock on the door, something harder than flesh on wood.
Nicky whispered, "We have to see who that is," and, squeezing his shoulders with strong fingers, she kissed him as they slowly stood up.
The rapping came again. Perry grabbed the flashlight and made his way to the door, Nicky right behind him. He handed her the flashlight and picked up the baseball bat that always leaned beside the door.
Outside the door was a tall skinny woman in a trench coat and a fedora hat. She was absolutely soaked, holding a large pair of horn-rimmed glasses in one hand and a cane in the other. She waved the cane, which she had been using to knock on the door, in a kind of salute. "Greetings, Perry," she said cheerily. "Sorry to intrude on your solitude, but we have something important to discuss."
They stood aside as she came in. Perry closed the door and she held out her hand. "The others are still wandering around outside somewhere. The power line was down across the road so we had to leave the car."
Perry looked a little disconcerted. "I'm pleased to see you, Jan, but why are you here? What do we have to discuss, and who are the 'others'?"
"My assistant Marshall, and my sister."
Perry gestured towards Nicky. "You–"
Jan Sleet squinted in the dim candle-light. "Oh, Hello, Nicky," she said. "Is Sarah here also?"
Before either Perry or Nicky could respond, the door crashed open again and a tiny black-clad figure burst in, shaking off water in all directions.
"I'm fuckin' soaked!" Vicki announced with feeling. "I– Aaaahhh!" she said as she caught sight of Nicky. Vicki took a step back and caught her foot on the edge of the rug. She windmilled her arms around but couldn't keep her balance and ended up sitting down on the floor, nearly crashing into Marshall as he stepped in behind her.
Nicky came forward and looked down. "Vicki?" she asked uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Vicki demanded as she got to her feet.
"I live here," Nicky said serenely, causing Perry to drop the baseball bat on his foot.
Jan Sleet finished drying her glasses and put them back on. She looked at Nicky for a moment. "You're really SarahBeth Wasserman, aren't you?" she asked the blonde girl.
Nicky glared at each of them in turn, finishing with Jan Sleet. "Who the fuck are you?" she demanded.
"She's my sister," Vicki said, steering Jan Sleet forward.
"You haven't got a sister, Stick," SarahBeth said with disdain.
Vicki grabbed Jan Sleet's arm and held it out for SarahBeth to shake. "I do so have a sister, and here she is. She's a famous writer."
It was around midnight and the rain had finally stopped. There was a nice cool breeze and the moon was full.
Vicki and Jan Sleet lay on lounge chairs on the deck. Jan Sleet was smoking a pipe, an activity Perry had absolutely banned inside the house.
"Hey," said Vicki tentatively after a few minutes.
"What?" Jan Sleet asked.
"Well, I'm sorry about showing you off before, like you were a prize-winning pumpkin or something. It just threw me to find her here, and she always gets my goat. It was the only thing I could think of to do except hit her, and I can't do that anymore."
"Oh, don't apologize. I kind of liked it. I don't get called 'famous' very often. And mostly people don't boast about me. Usually they talk about me like I'm their idiot cousin who happens to be able to memorize phone books."
"And how the hell do you know SarahBeth?" Vicki demanded.
Jan Sleet said, "Well, that's a long story. I met her when I was on the Sane Woman case. She had been stalking Perry, but in the process she'd fallen in love with Sarah Little, the sister of Sam. He's my mother's boyfriend. Our mother's boyfriend. When we found Perry, she decided to stay with her lover. But I guess at some point she changed her mind."
Jan Sleet puffed in silence for a time until Vicki said, "And to think I was boasting that I'd get to meet Perry Nelson before SarahBeth did." She made a face. "I wonder how long she's been sleeping with him."
The reporter chuckled wryly. "She hasn't been sleeping with him."
"What? She acts like she's the queen of the castle here."
"Well, she may be that," Jan Sleet said with a laugh, "but she's been sleeping in the living room."
"How do you know that?"
"While you and she were screaming at each other on the porch, Perry and Marshall went to the car to get the luggage. While they were gone, I poked around a little. Down at the end of that day-bed in the living room there's a small duffel bag. It's kind of tucked in between the day-bed and that bookcase there. I looked in, and it's obviously hers. She's got all her clothing in there, one section for clean clothes and one for dirty laundry. So, she's been living out of it. But, if she's been sleeping in his room, why is all her clothing in the living room? I looked under the cover of the day-bed, and it's all made up with sheets and blankets, and between the sheets I found a couple of threads that must have come from the red flannel nightgown I found on top of the duffel."
Vicki chucked. "Johnny Mac's nightshirt. Heh heh."
Marshall appeared, pulling a folding chair from the porch. He set it up so he was near Jan Sleet, but where he could see both of them.
"I could use a drink," Jan Sleet said, restarting her pipe.
"God, me too," Vicki said.
"There isn't anything," Marshall said. "I looked. So much for the idea that all novelists are drunks."
Jan Sleet shook her head. "He's never going to win a Nobel Prize that way."
Perry opened the door and stepped hesitantly out onto the deck, almost as if he was the uninvited guest instead of the host. They turned to look at him, and he walked forward with a little more determination. "Before we all go to bed," he said, pulling over another chair, then he hesitated. "I wanted to ask about Alex," he said finally. "Have you seen her? She's basically cut me out since that last time you were here."
Glancing nervously at Vicki, who was looking off into the darkness, Jan Sleet said, "I assume you've heard about her book?"
He looked surprised. "Book? Did she really write the book?"
Jan laughed. "And they say we're cut off from the outside world. Yes, she finished it, and it's being published very soon. I've seen ads already. The–"
Vicki got up and went into the house, closing the door quietly behind her. Perry had noticed her expression, and he turned back to Jan.
She shook her head. "Alex is her mother, too, and she just found out. She loves Alex, but when Alex tried to raise her, I gather it was very difficult. So, she left Vicki with the Wassermans, SarahBeth's family, and she was raised there. That didn't go very well either."
Perry sat down. "I gather not," he said, "based on how they seem to feel about each other. Does Vicki get along with anybody?"
"Practically everybody, except family," Marshall said.
Perry laughed. "Now that you put it that way, that's not unusual, I guess. I'll have to remember not to mention Alex when Vicki is around."
Jan Sleet yawned and used her cane to get to her feet. "Perry, we've been assuming we could stay here tonight, but I realize we never asked–"
He nodded. "Not a problem. There's a big double bed on the porch, and I have a sleeping bag. You and Vicki can share the bed–"
"Actually," she said with a smile, "Marshall and I will share the bed, but we thank you for the offer in any case."
Perry blushed. "Oh, that's... I mean, you're welcome." She turned toward the glass doors to the porch, but Perry spoke again. "I do have to ask one thing, though," he said, his cheeks still burning. "I want to find out why you're all here. I gather it's not for Nicky. I mean SarahBeth, I guess."
Marshall shook his head. "We had no idea she was here, or that 'Nicky Porter' was really Vicki's cousin."
"We're here for something much more important than that," Jan said, limping over and knocking her pipe against the edge of the deck. "As you know, we're pretty deeply involved in U-town, and I think you're not being responsible in the articles you've written about it."
Perry started to speak, but she continued. "You and I have both covered the war in Bellona, and you did go there before you wrote about it. You were there for a month or so, and then you wrote the series you wrote, which I'd like to talk about also. Your facts were mostly accurate–"
"Jan," he said sharply, "I appreciate your position, but the biggest difference between the two situations is that in Bellona we were both observers, we were both reporters, but in the case of U-town, you are the story, and you can't dictate how I express my opinions about you and your friends."
He turned. "Good night," he said. "I'll see you in the morning."
Back inside the house, Perry looked around for SarahBeth. She had said she was going to bed, but the day-bed was untouched, and she wasn't in the living room or on the porch.
He found her in his bedroom, sitting cross-legged in the center of his bed, a blanket wrapped around her. She looked very cold.
"So," she said as soon as he'd closed the door, "I suppose you've been telling them all about me."
"Huh?"
"All about how this crazy girl moved into your house while you were gone and you can't get her to leave."
He sat down beside her. "You weren't mentioned at all. We had other things to talk about." He looked at her. "Their coming here had nothing to do with you."
"Oh, sure. It's just a wild coincidence that one of them happens to be my bitch cousin who hates me." She referred to Vicki with the same inflection her grandfather had used during his patriotic radio broadcasts to talk about Hitler and Mussolini.
She gave Perry a sidelong glance. "So, where are they staying?"
"The power line will be down until at least morning, I'm sure, so I told them they could stay here tonight."
"Oh, great," she said. "It would have been nice if you'd thought to ask me before doing something like that."
Perry covered his eyes and bowed his head, his body shaking.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I really . . ." but then he lifted his head and he was laughing helplessly, his face red.
"You're impossible!" he said, grabbing her shoulders. "Absolutely, totally bug-fuck crazy! You don't live here! This is my house! Mine, mine, mine!" He shook her and they were both laughing.
Vicki stood up. "I'm still hungry."
Jan Sleet grabbed her cane and got to her feet. "Me, too."
Marshall lay back and closed his eyes. "We're going to eat him out of house and home. We should go buy him some groceries tomorrow."
Jan Sleet nodded as she followed Vicki into the house. "Good idea," she said.
Jan Sleet examined the contents of the refrigerator as Vicki jumped up and sat on the edge of the kitchen counter.
"Not much here," Jan reported as Vicki sniffed the air a few times, turning her head in different directions. Then she smiled, got to her feet and walked to the end of the counter. She opened the breadbox and looked in.
"I thought I smelled muffins," she said. She took out the plate and put it on the counter. "SarahBeth's been baking." She giggled. "Poor Perry."
"Why?" Jan Sleet limped over and peered at the muffins. "They look okay to me."
"Oh, they are." Vicki took one and broke off a piece to eat. "She makes great muffins. It's just that I know when she usually makes muffins. It's right around the time you've decided you can't stand another minute of her bullshit and are about to throw her ass out." Jan Sleet picked up a muffin and started eating it. "Then she appears in the doorway with a big plate of warm muffins. Usually half-naked, too." She giggled again. "Gets 'em every time. I'll bet anything that she's going to start sleeping in his bed and not letting him . . . you know. Do anything."
"Why would she do that?"
"Who knows? We've all been through it, though. I'll have to welcome Perry to the club."
Jan Sleet's eyes widened. "You . . . you slept with your own sister?"
Vicki smiled. "She's not my sister," she said patiently. "You're my sister. She's my cousin."
"Oh, right." Then her face brightened. "That's right." She looked around. "I'm going to have to get Marshall to make me a chart or something. I'm finding all this family stuff very confusing."
There was the sound of riotous laughter from Perry's room. Vicki made a face. "Isn't that awful?" she asked.
"Is this the first time she's seen you since . . ." she gestured to indicate Vicki's height.
Vicki nodded. "Oh, sure."
"Has she asked about it?"
"Not a word."
"I'm surprised she's not curious."
"Oh, I'm sure she's very curious. But I'm also sure she thinks it's something I'm doing on purpose just to bother and confuse her. She won't give me the satisfaction of asking about it."
The house had been quiet for a while, but Perry was still
awake. SarahBeth lay on her side, facing away from him, still
wearing the terrycloth bathrobe. Even under Perry's quilt, she
had been very cold.
Perry lay on his back, hands clasped behind his head. The events of the day were hard to believe. He rolled over on his side, pressing himself spoon-fashion against the cocoon of terrycloth. He wondered again about SarahBeth as she pressed herself back against him slightly. Not even aware that he was speaking out loud, he said, "Lunatic or genius?"
"Neither one," she whispered sleepily. "Just a girl." He suddenly realized that his hand had worked its way into the layers of terrycloth until it was pressed against her bare stomach. She patted his hand, then cupped hers over it to press it against her. "Go to sleep," she said quietly.
The din on the porch became unbearable at around 3:10am. Jan Sleet, Vicki and Marshall were all sleeping on the porch, Marshall and Jan Sleet in the double bed and Vicki in the sleeping bag on the floor.
Marshall had dozed a few times, but each time he had been awakened by either Jan Sleet's snoring or Vicki's teeth grinding. At right around three in the morning the two sisters had started in together on a sort of postindustrial polyrhythmic dirge.
Marshall stuck it out for about ten minutes, then he pulled on his pants and escaped into the living room, closing the glass doors behind him.
Rather guiltily, he checked the day-bed for possible occupants. As predicted, it was empty. Perry's door was closed.
Feeling that any further snooping would be hard to explain, he went to the window and looked out.
The moon was out, nearly full, and there were a lot of stars visible. He decided to see if there was anywhere to sleep on the deck. Sleeping in the open air to the sound of crickets would have to be easier than in the middle of the experimental music concert on the porch.
He opened the door and stepped outside. It was a beautiful night. He breathed in the cool air and looked up at the stars, smelling pine trees, damp earth and . . . cigarette smoke?
She sat in the darkest corner of the deck, motionless, watching him, hoping he'd go back in without seeing her.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Am I disturbing you?"
"Yes," she said quietly, "but you can stay. I'm going back in as soon as I finish this. Perry goes ballistic if I smoke in the house."
"Mind if I sit down?" he asked.
She shrugged, so he pulled a deck chair a little closer to hers and sat down.
"So, how long are you people staying with us?" she asked, tucking her feet under her and pulling closed the collar of her robe.
Marshall shrugged. "I have no idea. Jan has some things to talk over with Perry."
"Have you read Perry's books?" she asked.
He nodded. "All three."
"I have, too. My grandfather gave them to me. I was the only real reader among the kids." She paused for a moment. "Would you like to hear a story?"
"Sure."
A match flared as she lit another cigarette.
"Once upon a time," she began, "there was a young man who told stories. He had never learned about protecting your true self, so he put it right into his stories. And, because of that, his stories were more real and more alive than anybody else's stories, and his stories were very popular.
"But he had put his true self into his stories, so suddenly many, many people knew him very well. So, he realized he had to find somewhere to live that nobody could ever find.
"He built a house, in an area where nosy strangers aren't encouraged, and few people knew where it was.
"Now, at this same time, there was a girl. The girl had a sister, and her sister was responsible and respectful and liked to do her chores. But the girl I'm talking about wasn't any of those things. She was a 'bad girl.' She drank, and she took drugs, and she had intimate relations with ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages. She brought home the most disreputable boy she could find and told her family he was going to live with them."
"This is a very interesting story," Marshall said quietly, "but I'm finding it hard to believe that the girl's parents put up with this."
"She found it hard to believe, too. Anyway, there were seven people living in the house. The two sisters, the two parents, the disreputable boyfriend, and two others. One was the girl's grandfather, who everybody else thought was crazy. The other was another girl, a cousin whose crazy mother had left her on their doorstep. She was dark, like the boyfriend, while the family was fair.
"Things got ugly. The boyfriend started to chase the cousin. The good sister started to chase the boyfriend. The cousin started to chase the bad sister. It was an unholy mess.
"Then, one day, the grandfather gave the girl a book. It was a book by the boy who told stories. The book meant a lot to the grandfather, so he'd wanted to share it. The bad girl was the only other person in the house who liked stories. She read it, and it made sense to her. She read his other books, then she started to read about the boy. She read about his plans to travel to a far-off land so he could slay the dragon which lived there.
"Some people made fun of the boy for saying this, for saying that he would slay the dragon. Some said there was no dragon. Others said there was a dragon, but nobody could slay it, certainly not a mere boy.
"So, the girl found out where the boy lived. It wasn't really that hard, though she did have to do a couple of bad things to get the address. But, after all, she was a bad girl, so she knew how. But on the way, she met a girl and fell in love. Then she finally met the boy who told the stories, but she was in love, so she stayed with her girlfriend.
"For a while."
She paused there, and Marshall was about to say something when she started speaking again.
"She went to the boy's house, and he wasn't there. So, she got in and waited for him to return. When he came back, several days later, she greeted him as if she lived there.
"She knew him, do you see? From the stories. She knew he wouldn't harm her, and she knew he would do anything to avoid bringing in the local authorities or the press."
She stubbed out the cigarette as thoroughly as the other one and threw it away. He heard her stand up. "The moral," she said quietly, "is this: Good girls can become bad girls. It happens every day. But bad girls can't really become good girls. They can only pretend, and even that usually comes out wrong." She went inside and closed the door.
Marshall sighed.
As usual, Perry woke up as soon as the sky started to get light. He drew in a deep breath, tasting the early morning air that came in through the half-open window. He didn't think it would rain today.
He stretched, his hand encountering an unexpected rump in his bed. He felt alarmed for a second, then he smiled.
SarahBeth Wasserman (when awake) was rather modestly sized, but SarahBeth (when asleep) seemed to have expanded so she filled most of his bed. He sat up and swung his feet down to the floor. Then, thinking that under the circumstances a good morning kiss would not be an unreasonable request, he put his hand on her bare shoulder–
White Terry-Cloth Robe
Vanishes
Mysteriously in Secluded Cabin!
Police Baffled!
–and gave a soft tug. She rolled toward him, smiling dreamily. He leaned over to kiss her and she coiled her soft arms languorously around his neck, kissing him about as thoroughly as he'd ever been kissed in his life.
And then, half-releasing him, hands still locked behind his neck, her eyes nearly closed, she murmured affectionately, "Pancakes."
Perry was out in the dark living room, buckling his belt, padding quickly towards the kitchen, before he remembered that he had no idea how to make pancakes.
He stood in the kitchen mulling this over, realizing absently that at least the electricity was back on.
There were, he knew, two ways to make pancakes:
He didn't have any mix, so what he needed was a recipe. As he scanned his very limited library of cookbooks, he was startled to hear the toilet flush.
The bathroom door opened and Vicki came out. She was wearing a black T-shirt which covered her completely except for her head, hands and feet.
"Oh, hi," she said.
"Wait," he said as she headed towards the porch. She turned.
"Do you know how to make pancakes?" he asked.
"Sure," she said, coming back into the kitchen.
"Without a mix?"
She laughed. "My mother never used a mix in her life. That was for city folks. You want me to show you?"
"If you would."
"No problem. Just let me get dressed." She turned, then turned back. "By the way, when I talk about my mother–"
"I know," he said. "You don't mean Alex. Jan told me–"
"Damn right."
She left and he started to pull out ingredients that it seemed might be used in making pancakes.
Vicki came back a few minutes later wearing a sleeveless
black leotard and black jeans, her feet still bare. She'd tied
her hair back, which emphasized her high, pointed ears.
Looking at her, he suddenly realized that he'd been thinking of her as a child, but she was obviously not that. Her body was actually very similar to SarahBeth's, only in miniature. She glanced at him and he quickly looked away, guilty at having been caught studying her so frankly.
"It was always a joke," she said. "From the neck down, she and I are very similar. From the neck up, she's like her sister SarahAnn, especially the hair and freckles." She laughed. "Come to think of it, from the neck down SarahAnn is like Jan, just not as tall. No hips and no . . ." she gestured across her chest.
"Very symmetrical family," he said.
"Now," she said, "I've been thinking about pancakes." She looked thoughtful, and he knew where she was going. "If you were a pancake person, you would know how to make them already. Or you'd keep mix in the house. I know I didn't ask for pancakes, and Jan and Marshall are still asleep . . ." She folded her arms and tapped her cheek with her forefinger.
"Okay," Perry said, "I confess. SarahBeth asked for pancakes. Now I suppose you won't help me make them."
She grinned and came forward. "Of course I will. I'm just giving you a hard time." She jumped up so she was sitting on the edge of the counter and surveyed the ingredients he'd assembled.
"Do you have any fruit?" she asked. "Apples are her favorite. With a little cinnamon."
She watched him stir the batter for a minute, then shook
her head. "You'll have to do better than that. Look at all those
lumps."
He left the spoon in the mixing bowl and shook out his arm a couple of times. "I think I got a cramp during the night."
She held up a hand. "No details, please. Gimme." She sat on the counter top with her legs straight out on front of her, pulled the bowl into her lap and started to stir.
Within seconds, her right arm was a blur. She cradled the bowl to her chest with her left hand, spinning it periodically in the opposite direction. After about a minute she examined the batter. "Ready," she decided.
Perry said, "Okay, thanks." He decided not to ask any questions.
As the first batch was nearly ready, Vicki went and
pounded on Perry 's door. "Breakfast!" she bellowed. "Put down
that cigarette and come out with your hands up."
Then she threw open the door to the porch and yelled, "Come on, you city slickers. The sun's been up for hours!"
Coming back to the kitchen, she looked out through the big windows to the deck. "I think breakfast outside would be nice," she said.
Perry held his breath and flipped a pancake from the pan onto the plate. Then he went to the screen door. "The table will still be wet from the rain . . ." he said, his words trailing off as he looked out.
Perry's table was six feet across, with a metal base. Vicki was holding it up over her head, shaking it from side to side to get the water off.
She put it down and peeked up over the top. "I'll need to get some paper towels," she announced, slipping past him and into the kitchen. She jumped up on the counter and walked to the paper towel dispenser. As she pulled off some sheets, wadding them under her arm, he said, "That was amazing."
She looked around. "What was?" He turned, gesturing. "Oh, you'll get used to that." She jumped down and went back outside.
Perry doubted very much if he would get used to it.
"My last job was as a bouncer in a bar," she called, "until the cops firebombed the place."
"Oh, well, that's . . . What?" he demanded.
"Pancakes," said Jan Sleet from the doorway. She wore a long nightgown and leaned heavily on her cane. She wasn't wearing her glasses.
Smiling, she drifted over to Vicki and leaned over to hug her. "Hi, sis," she said.
Vicki gently pushed her back to an upright position. "No mushy stuff, please. Not before I've had my coffee."
Marshall was to observe later that, considering
everything, breakfast was fairly pleasant (at least in the sense
that it could easily have been even worse than it was). Nobody
mentioned the subject of U-town or Perry's articles about it.
SarahBeth, immediately after announcing that she felt, "radiant, just radiant," declared that the first batch of pancakes had too much cinnamon and not enough apples, and that the second batch had about the right amount of apples but not enough cinnamon (which was true, since they had no cinnamon at all, Perry had run out).
Jan Sleet had preened some about how clever she had been to locate Perry's house originally until Perry pointed out that if any more people managed to find his house he would have to move out to make room for them all, and SarahBeth muttered darkly about how she'd never have given up the information in the first place if she hadn't been threatened with bodily harm.
(Marshall tells how Jan Sleet got Perry's address in the first place)
Vicki described in some detail the lengths she had gone to in order to make sure her dear, sweet, sainted cousin had pancakes that were exactly to her taste. Vicki then tasted one and pronounced it "radiant, just radiant."
Perry talked very little, perhaps trying to figure out if there was some way to suggest that his new guests go away without bringing up the reason they were there in the first place.
After breakfast, Jan Sleet said, "I know you weren't expecting
guests, Perry, and we'd like to go buy you some groceries to make up
for the dent we're making in your provisions. Marshall and I
will go now."
Vicki thought for a moment. "I'll go, too," she said, standing up.
Perry looked like a deer in headlights for a moment as they prepared to leave. As soon as the door closed behind them, SarahBeth exploded, "What is this? They're staying? They're moving in? What the fuck is going on? Why didn't–"
"They may be staying for a day or two, that's all. It's a nice gesture for them to buy some food, even though I have plenty of money."
"Why are they staying?" she demanded, sitting opposite him, her arms folded and her chin out.
He smiled. "I'm not sure. Jan wants to talk to me about U-town, which I don't much want to talk about. But there may be something else." He looked at her for a minute, trying not to smile. "Why do you and Vicki hate each other so much?"
"I had to grow up with her. Fuck, I don't even want to talk about it." She glanced up at him. "Stop looking at me like that."
He stood up and went to stand next to her. She didn't look at him. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, saying, "You are so beautiful when you're angry." She was still glaring, not looking at him. "And the rest of the time," he continued, walking toward the kitchen, adding, "if there is a 'rest of the time'," as he turned the corner and a hardcover copy of his first novel sailed past his ear.
When Jan Sleet, Marshall and Vicki got back from the store, SarahBeth was smoking on the porch, and Perry was keeping her company. "We'll put the groceries away!" Jan called as they brought the bags in, cheerfully ignoring the fact that SarahBeth had made no move to come in and help, and she was restraining Perry from moving by an iron grip on his wrist.
After the bags were carried in and the groceries were put away, Jan, Marshall and Vicki went into the living room and sat down.
Vicki was looking a little vexed, and Jan asked, "Are you worried about things at home?"
Vicki shrugged. "Not worried, exactly. How long did you tell them we would be away?"
"A few days. I wasn't too specific. Things will be fine without us."
"Have you had a chance to talk to Perry at all?"
"I've mentioned it to him," she said, "but he wasn't receptive to talking about it."
Vicki made a face. "Did you think he was going to just change his mind because you talked to him? He's pretty convinced he's right."
"Do you think we should give up and go home?"
"If that was the only thing going on, I'd say yes. But finding SarahBeth here with him, that was weird. I'd like to know more about how things ended up with all of us here. It seems unlikely that it would just be random."
Jan Sleet nodded. "I agree. And I think there's still hope with Perry. Think what it would mean for him to publish an article saying that he was wrong. That would be a huge boost to the whole thing."
"True, but how likely is that?"
Jan Sleet smiled. "Remember what Ray said, that Perry was there for three days and didn't leave his hotel room. A cute teenage girl went out and then reported back to him." She jerked a thumb toward the deck. "I'll bet it was her. Those are her opinions he's been writing, not his own. She's–"
Vicki moved to stand up. "I'll bet you're right," she said, looking toward the deck. "I will fucking kill her."
Jan Sleet put a hand on her arm. "Satisfying in the short term, but it won't get us what we need. That's not going to win Perry over, even if he might be somewhat relieved to have her out of his hair." Vicki sat down again, looking frustrated. "We need to win him over to give it another try, and make sure he's seeing it through his own eyes this time, not hers."
Vicki nodded, slumping down. She was so small in the chair that she seemed to vanish. "You sure I can't at least punch her or something?"
"Not right now, anyway."
After a few minutes, Perry and SarahBeth got up and left the deck, going directly into the kitchen. A moment later, Perry came back into the living room. "I've been kicked out," he explained. "She's going to make lunch for us."
"Oh," Vicki said, "you should be honored."
He laughed as he sat down. "It's only a lunch."
"Well, she fucks a lot of people, but she cooks for very few."
Jan looked pained and Perry frowned. "I appreciate that there's all sorts of history here," he said, "but, and this applies to all of you, you can damn well be civil to and about the woman I live with, or you can get the hell out of my house."
Vicki shook her head. "You're right," she said, "and I'm sorry. We're here for something a lot more important than family history, and–"
"Honey, can you give me a hand in here, please?" SarahBeth called from the kitchen.
Perry smiled as he went into the kitchen and let the
swinging door close behind him. "I thought you didn't want me
getting in the way," he said.
She looked from where she was chopping peppers. "I don't, and no nibbling, either. But that was nice, what you said about me out there, so I thought I'd rescue you from more hassles about U-town. Fair enough?"
He nodded. "Very fair. Thank you. But I don't think I'm going to be able to evade it forever, at least without just kicking them out."
They ate lunch (fish chowder, and a salad with apples and raisins that even Vicki had to admit was delicious) out on the deck, mostly in silence. After they had finished, SarahBeth insisted in taking all the dirty dishes and glasses into the house herself, though finally she allowed Marshall to help.
When they were done, SarahBeth passed Jan Sleet on the way back to her chair, and she glanced at the reporter's left hand.
She stopped in her tracks, and then glanced at Marshall's hand as he sat down again.
"Holy shit!" she said. "You guys are married? To each other?"
Jan Sleet nodded. "Yes, for six months now."
"I thought he worked for you."
"I gave him a promotion."
"And a cut in pay," Marshall added.
"It was the first wedding ever in U-town," Jan Sleet said happily. "Doc presided."
"So, was it some sort of hippie U-town wedding?"
"Of course not. I'm an old fashioned gal. I made him get on one knee to propose. And then he had to ask for my father's permission."
"Which was difficult," Marshall added, "since he lives in Italy and we have no passports to go see him, so he had to come see us."
"And then he stayed for the ceremony, and he gave me away."
"Is it legal?"
"It is where we live."
"And in many foreign countries," Marshall added. "Just not the one we're in right now."
"Are you going to take Marshall's last name?"
"Of course not. What a silly . . . " She glanced at Marshall. "What is your last name, dear?"
"O'Connor."
"That's right."
"Did you wear a dress?" SarahBeth asked.
Jan shook her head. "I never wear dresses. But Doc did, and Vicki, too."
SarahBeth looked at Vicki. "You wore a dress, Stick?"
"Yup," she said, looking pleased with herself.
SarahBeth glanced at Marshall, who had a rather odd expression on his face.
"Vicki's dress was quite risque," Jan Sleet confided, indicating with a gesture how low the front of the dress had plunged.
"I'm still hungry," SarahBeth announced, going back into the house. Vicki followed her quietly.
"You'd have liked the dress," Vicki said casually as SarahBeth glared at the contents of the refrigerator.
SarahBeth rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her cousin, slamming the refrigerator door closed.
Then, before that tongue could return to her mouth, it encountered another, smaller, tongue.
* * * * *
SarahBeth started toying with the top of Vicki's jet black
pubic hair. "So, you're going back to her?"
Vicki sighed, took SarahBeth's wrist in her tiny hand and moved it up slightly to the neutral ground of her waist. SarahBeth didn't bother to struggle.
"I'm going back to a place, I'm not going back to a person," Vicki explained.
"But she's there, and you'll be with her. Or are you so holy now that you don't care if she's still there for you or not?
"I'm no more holy than I ever was, and of course I care if she's going to be there for me when I get home. You, more than anybody, know how unholy I am. But, as much as I hope she's still waiting, that's not why I'm going back. Even if she was here, I'd go back there. And obviously I came here even though she stayed behind. Of course, she would have come with us if I'd asked." She dug a playful knuckle into SarahBeth's side. "She's nice like that."
Vicki then looked up and fingered her cousin's bruised eye, then moved up to kiss it softly, "I'm sorry about that," she said.
SarahBeth shrugged. "Probably you've wanted to do it for a while."
"No," Vicki said, then she smiled. "Well, yes, but when I was weak, I used to have all kinds of fantasies about hurting people, because I knew none of it could ever happen. Now," she ran her fingernail down SarahBeth's arm. "I could tear this right off your body if I wanted to." She shrugged. SarahBeth didn't flinch or pull away. "So, fantasies like that aren't a good idea, and they don't really serve any purpose either. I had to figure that out pretty quick, or I could have done a lot of damage. It is probably good that I didn't see you in the first day or so."
"So, because your grandmother is God, you get superpowers, and I don't get any because I'm not part of the sacred bloodline?"
Vicki shook her head. She put her arms around the larger girl and kissed her. "All the powers you do have, what have you ever used them for?"
"So, I'm being punished, and you're being rewarded?"
Vicki held her tight. SarahBeth squirmed but couldn't move. "I love you, B," Vicki said. "And you are still a bitch and a complete pain in my ass."
SarahBeth stopped squirming. "So, if I do good stuff, I'll get superpowers, too?"
"No," Vicki said. "Don't do stuff to get stuff."
She kissed SarahBeth's eyelids. "I did a lot of things that ended up with you finally wanting to fuck me again instead of just teasing me, but I didn't do any of it thinking, 'maybe if I do this I'll get laid by my cousin who I'm in love with even though she's such a pain.' I just did it because it was what needed to be done at the time."
She looked at her cousin's expression and bopped her lightly on the head. "This is not a set of instructions on how to get me back."
SarahBeth squirmed around and sat cross-legged. "Then what is it?"
Vicki thought for a moment. "A whole different idea."
"Which is?" She touched Vicki's cheek, and then took her hand away. "And please boil it down. No more speeches."
"Okay. Two things. One, come back to U-town with us. You and Perry. Give it a fair chance, which you didn't do last time. Don't be for it or against it because of me. It's bigger than I am." She smiled. "And not because I'm short. It's bigger than you, or even Jan. Don't try to get Perry to do it, keep your wiles out of the picture. Just be straight with him.
"Two, fuck the people you love. Love the people you fuck. Stop making it either/or. Go out there right now and grab Perry and climb on top of him and change his life. Don't even shower, take your sweat and your skank and your bad attitude and give him the whole package. Maybe he can actually handle it all. If he can't, find somebody who can."
"So," SarahBeth said, "you want me to go out there and screw his brains out, and then, as he's recovering, ask him in a straightforward and non-manipulating way to come to U-town with me?"
Vicki nodded. "You're right, that doesn't make any sense. Oh, well, I guess you'll have to spend the night with me."
"Everything's a long answer with you these days, isn't it?"
Vicki laughed. "Not usually. When we're having meetings, I'm usually the one who says the least."
"So, all this verbiage is just for me, huh? Why am I so lucky?"
Vicki squirmed around until her tiny head was on SarahBeth's lap. "Because I love you," she said simply.
SarahBeth unexpectedly burst into tears. Vicki quickly stood up on the bed and held her cousin close. SarahBeth pounded Vicki's back a couple of times, then threw her arms around the tiny figure and squeezed. Vicki held her cousin for a long time as the tears came and went. She didn't say anything, she just stroked SarahBeth's long, curly hair and kissed the top of her head and held her.
Then, as the tears stopped, she tilted SarahBeth's head up slowly and started to kiss every freckle on her cousin's face, moving gradually in the direction of her soft lips.
Marshall, Jan Sleet and Perry sat uncomfortably on the deck,
though as evening came it was really a little too cold to sit outside. But
it was
the farthest they could get from the sounds emanating from
the bedroom.
They were sipping hot chocolate, arguing about whether it was more
uncomfortable listening to someone crying in anguish, or listening to
people making love.
"Isn't it illegal for first cousins to have sex?" Marshall asked.
"It's illegal for first cousins to get married," Perry said, trying to sound calm and informative as the sounds from the bedroom became louder and louder. "Or to have children. Vicki apparently has several very unusual abilities, but as far I know she's not capable of fathering children."
"Plus, they're both underage."
"It's not illegal in U-town," Jan Sleet said. "The laws there are very simple. Consensual sex is legal, non-consensual sex is illegal."
Perry sipped his hot chocolate. "But aren't there situations where that's difficult to determine? For example, someone underage, are they actually able to give consent?"
Jan Sleet nodded. "Oh, of course, there are some difficult situations. In a couple of instances we had to put together a group of people to evaluate it and make a decision. And sometimes we didn't really like the way things went, but we're not dictators. Recently, three people came to us and they all wanted to get–"
There was a shriek of pleasure from the bedroom and they heard a couple of windows shatter. "That sounded consensual," Marshall remarked as the sound echoed off through the trees.
The small house had become a little claustrophobic, and Marshall had decided to go for a walk. The evening air was cool, the little gravel road was quiet.
"It's good that you came here," said a quiet voice.
He looked around, knowing that he wouldn't see anything. "Hi," he said. "I was really thinking that this was a big waste of time."
Randi laughed. "I know. But it's good, for a variety of reasons. So, don't be in any hurry to get back. Perry and SarahBeth have to work through some things, and so do SarahBeth and Vicki. That's a very complex relationship, as you can probably tell."
"I think any relationship with SarahBeth in it would be complicated."
Randi chuckled. "You are very right. She is a piece of work, isn't she? I'm glad she's not one of mine."
There was a turn in the path, and they came upon a small gazebo. It was beautiful in the moonlight. Marshall noticed a long couch with many cushions, and a small table with bottles and glasses.
Randi, slowly becoming visible, took his hand and led him to the couch.
"This is starting to look like a compromising position for a married man," he said with a small laugh.
She pulled him down beside her on the couch. Her smile was impish, her hair was long and dark and full, her nightgown was sheer.
He looked around. "This is a dream, right? Isn't it?"
"Of course," she said, gently pushing him down so he was lying on the couch. "Dreams don't count as infidelity, or nobody could ever be considered faithful." (She whispered, "close your eyes," as she continued speaking in her normal voice.) "And I know you are devoted to your wife. This is something else. I won't be around for a while," she murmured, "so I wanted to give you something to remember me by."
Marshall had the sensation of being wrapped in a warm, comfortable blanket, though he knew he was naked on the couch. He twitched as he felt the unmistakable sensation of a warm hand on his rump and a slithery tongue toying with his ear.
"Are you a ghost?" he asked.
She laughed.
–Oh, I think the term "ghost" is pejorative, don't you?
"What do you prefer, 'corporeally challenged'?"
She laughed and he felt a tingle around his ankles.
–Oh, don't ask me, she said. I'm under the impression that I'm the most powerful being in the universe. Anybody tells you that, don't trust them an inch.
Marshall laughed. "If you meet the Buddha–"
–Exactly.
"What are you doing?" he asked after a moment as the tingling moved toward his waist.
–Chet isn't jealous, she said.
Marshall smiled. "That isn't the issue," he said. "I am married, you know."
–I know, she murmured. I was there.
Marshall stopped himself from saying, "you were?" Instead, he said, "Then you know–"
–You know how my boyfriend and I make love? she asked softly.
"I really don't–"
–I wrap myself over every inch of his skin, she whispered as the tingling crept up toward his shoulders. So I can make him feel anything, anywhere on his body. Then I climb inside his head and enjoy the whole thing right along with him.
Marshall grunted as he woke up. Jan rolled over sleepily, then
opened one eye, regarding his erection.
"Oh," she said. She reached for the bedside table and put on her glasses. She smiled, leaning forward to examine him more closely. "You've been playing with Randi," she said, rubbing his chest. "It's okay. She asked me if I minded, and I told her that I–"
He pulled her head down to his and kissed her, removing her glasses and placing them back on the table.
* * * * *
SarahBeth, her cigarette forgotten on the deck railing beside her, was breathing so hard that she was afraid they would hear her through the big glass doors. She was suddenly aware of the cold night air and hugged herself. Her nightgown was damp and clammy against her skin.
Considering that she found both Marshall and Jan to be very unattractive, she was surprised at how arousing she had found this.
Jan Sleet smiled. She was straddling Marshall, her sweat
dripping off her face onto his chest.
"So," she asked, still breathing hard, "how does that compare to Randi?"
He put his hands on her bony shoulders. "No comparison," he said.
She arched her back and stretched, squeezing him, and then leaned forward to kiss him.
"I need a cigarette," she said, moving around so she was sitting next to him.
"Perry's sleeping right there," Marshall whispered, pointing through the door to the living room. "The girls exiled him from his bedroom. And he really doesn't want you to smoke in the house."
She shrugged, swung her long legs around and stood up. She picked up her cigarettes and lighter, then reached out and took his hand. "Come out and keep me company."
He smiled. "Of course, boss," he said as he picked up his pants. Leaning over to pull them on, he looked up in surprise to see her pulling open the glass doors to the porch.
"Umm," he said, and she turned.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said, following her outside.
She leaned back against the railing of the deck, and he lit her cigarette for her.
"I noticed your answer to my question was non-committal," she said with a smile.
He leaned against the railing beside her, surreptitiously glancing around to see if anybody was lurking in the trees looking at his employer's naked body. Fortunately, he didn't see SarahBeth, who had jumped off the deck as soon as she'd seen Jan Sleet move toward the door.
He leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Would you want to make Randi jealous?"
She nodded and whispered back, "good thinking." She took a deep drag on her cigarette. "You know, there is one thing I never have asked Randi about. Maybe I've been afraid I wouldn't like the answer."
"About free will?" he asked.
She laughed. "How did you know?"
He shrugged. "It's pretty obvious. You meet somebody who knows everything, past, present and future, you start to wonder if they know what you're going to do before you do it. And, if they do, are you really making a decision, or is it preset?"
She sighed. "I'll probably always wonder how she would have answered that one. I don't think I'll be able to get up my nerve to ask."
He shrugged. "Well, you could find out from me, since I already asked her the same question."
Her eyes widened and she grinned. "Okay," she said, "what did she say?"
"She said she doesn't perceive time the way we do, she can look at any time in history or in the future whenever she wants, like looking at different parts of the same painting. And so she does see everything, including things that, to us, haven't happened yet. And decisions that we haven't made yet.
"But here's the interesting part. When we get to the point where we make each decision, we still have complete freedom to make whatever choice we want."
"But–"
"I asked that. She said that the fact we think it's either one thing or the other, that both things can't be true, it just because we can't see things the way she does. From her perspective, both things are true and not in opposition at all."
She finished her cigarette, then looked around for a place to put it out. Marshall took it from her and stubbed it out in the mug SarahBeth had left on the deck for her own cigarettes.
Jan Sleet came into Marshall's arms and kissed him, and SarahBeth was suddenly afraid that they were going to resume their love-making right there and then. She was crouching under the edge of the deck right below them, and eager to get back into the house.
Her bare feet were uncomfortable on the pine needles, her damp nightgown was clammy and cold in the night chill, and she was thinking longingly of Perry's nice warm bed, and of Vicki, so she was relieved when Marshall picked up his employer and carried her back inside the house.
SarahBeth waited until she was sure they weren't looking, then she got to her feet and padded silently to the kitchen door, her legs still wobbly under her. She let herself into the house, wiped the pine needles off her feet, and walked toward the bedroom.
Then she saw Perry. She was tempted to squeeze onto the sofabed beside him (remembering Vicki saying, "take your sweat and your skank and your bad attitude and give him the whole package").
But, even apart from all the other reasons she was uncertain about doing that, she knew this might be her last night with Vicki (for a while, anyway), and she wasn't about to miss out on that.
Next Chapter: Return to
U-town