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Kristi was to work topless at Steve s next party.
Going undercover was one thing. Going naked was an-
other.
Helen would rather work smart than topless. She knew
how to get what she wanted and keep her clothes on. She
called Steve, the bullying boss of the bartenders.
Helen! I ve been trying to reach you, but I don t have a
number for you. Steve sounded puppy-dog friendly. Did he
need topless bartenders that bad?
You got noticed last time. A guy who saw you wanted
your phone number. He s loaded. If you re smart, you ll be
nice to him. Helen could hear the wink in his voice.
It wasn t the old guy with the shamrock She almost
said shorts, then remembered she wasn t supposed to have
seen the second party. Shamrock cummerbund, she fin-
ished.
You mean ol Parrish Davenport? Nah, it wasn t him, al-
though I m sure he d like you. He never met a girl he didn t
like. Joey s nothing like old man Davenport. He s about
DYING TO CALL YOU 115
thirty-five and good-looking. A little rough around the edges,
but connected, you know what I mean?
He knows all the movers and shakers? Helen said.
Uh, something like that. Gimme your phone number for
Joey.
How about if I call him?
Here s his cell phone. Call right away, will you? He
wants to go to a party Friday night. You promise me you ll
call him? Steve sounded oddly anxious.
I promise, Helen said.
Now, about Saturday night at the Mowbrys house. You
wanna work the second party, too? We pay nice money to
ladies who are your free spirits broad-minded, you know
what I mean?
Helen knew exactly what he meant.
It s a real tasteful atmosphere in your fine private home,
not a strip joint or anything. You ll stand behind the bar, no
dancing. We pay two hundred for the first party, five hundred
for the second. Cash. But I don t want you if you re not will-
ing to work the second party.
I ll do it.
You don t mind showing your tits?
No problem.
Because it s not going to happen, Helen thought. She
would not be taking off her clothes no matter how much
Steve paid her. She would find Kristi on the first shift, slip
out the service entrance and never work for Steve again. He
didn t have her number, and he didn t know where she lived.
Helen dialed Joey s cell phone next.
Joey here, a man said. Then she heard a screech of
brakes and a blaring horn. Joey screamed, Why the fuck
don t you watch where you re going?
He was back on the phone. Asshole cut me off. Who are
you?
I m Helen Hawthorne. Steve gave me your name. I was
tending bar at the Mowbrys party and -
Oh, yeah. I remember you. You re a little older than
116 Elaine Viets
some of Steve s girls. But you got something them dumb
twenty-year-olds don t.
Wrinkles? Helen said.
Class. Them other girls act like whores when they think
a guy s got money. I need someone classy to go to my
friend s house. I don t want my date sitting around picking
her nose and scratching her ass, or vicey-versey.
So far, I ve never been caught doing either one in pub-
lic. Helen wondered if this creature left a slime trail.
Yeah. I knew you d be OK to take to Hank s.
Hank?
Hank Asporth. You know Hank. All the girls do. Has that
big house in Brideport. It s real nice. Nothing like the Mow-
brys . That s a mondo-mansion. Hank just has a big house.
Tomorrow night, some of the guys are hanging out at Hank s,
drinking some brewskis, talking business. The gals will sit
around the pool. Bring your suit. Better yet, don t. Helen
could hear the leer.
That s not classy on a first date, Helen said. Or a last
one.
See? You re a natural when it comes to class. I ll pick
you up at your place.
Helen didn t want him anywhere near the Coronado.
It s a little inconvenient to get to because of construc-
tion, she said. Suppose I wait for you in front of the River-
side Hotel?
More class, Joey said. I ll pick you up at seven
o clock. I . . . The rest of his sentence was drowned out by
angry horns. Joey yelled, Hey, watch it you dumb
Helen hung up before she heard the rest. She had the hor-
rible feeling that going out with Joey would be far more em-
barrassing than going naked.
She sighed. Friday night with Joey the jerk. Saturday
night at the Mowbrys orgy. Her social life couldn t get any
worse. Except the next morning, it did. She had to turn down
the one date she really wanted.
Jack Lace was waiting for her outside Girdner Sales at
DYING TO CALL YOU 117
seven fifty, digging a shoe toe in the dusty asphalt like a lit-
tle boy. Only good little boys wore such polished shoes and
clean shirts and had their hair combed so neatly.
I ve been waiting for you, he said. Would you like to
go out Friday night?
Wish I could, Jack. I have a previous engagement.
Is there someone else? Suddenly the little boy was
gone. This was a man who wanted her.
Not really.
It s not a night out with the girls, is it? I can take you to
better places than they can. How about dinner at the Delano
on South Beach?
The Delano. Possibly the most beautiful of the old Art
Deco hotels. And she would be knocking back brewskis with
Joey the jerk.
I d love to, Jack, but I can t. How about next Saturday?
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| Cytat |
Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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