House of Blues

not here."
    " Could he be in a bedroom or something?"
    She shook her head. "Trust me. That's not what
he's into. Let's go find Maya."
    She led Skip to the dining room group, plucking at a
woman in black jeans and a black, tight-fitting garment that might
have passed for a T-shirt if it had been shaped remotely like a T. It
was mostly Lycra and shaped a lot like the woman inside it.
    " Maya, meet a friend of mine."
    Maya was one of the too-thin ones. Her body looked
fine in the outfit, but her face was a little gaunt, her chin and
nose a little sharp, giving her a raw, unfinished look. Her hair was
brown and thick, but slightly bedraggled.
    However, Skip's attention was instantly riveted not
by Maya, but by the woman she was talking to. It was Tricia
Lattimore, her best friend from McGehee's, the exclusive private
school her parents had sent her to.
    Tricia had moved to New York and dropped out of
Skip's life for a while. When she came back, she hadn't called. Skip
found out she was back coincidentally, from the bartender at the
place where Tricia waitressed.
    Tricia said she hadn't called because she had a drug
habit; but now she was over it.
    She wasn't over it anymore.
    Skip felt her face flush in fear that Tricia would
blow her cover. Just as her ears were starting to ring with panic,
Tricia nodded very slightly with her chin, as if to say that was all
the acknowledgment Skip was going to get. Maya didn't introduce them,
but Skip said, "Hey, Tricia."
    " Hey, girl." That wasn't a way Tricia
normally talked.
    "You know her?" Maya said, ignoring Toni
and Skip. Guests were probably supposed to be prescreened.
    But Toni was impatient. "Look, we don't want
anything. I'm looking for Dennis—you know that guy I sent you?"
    Maya was suddenly cold. "I don't think I do."
    " You know. I called you about him. Has he been
here?"
    "Toni, you're drunk." Maya turned her back.
    Skip said, "Look, he's my brother-in-law. He
left my sister with two little kids." She brought out the
picture, but Maya shook her head.
    "I haven't seen him."
    Casually, she turned to Tricia. "Have you?"
    "I might have."
    "Can we talk?"
    Tricia nodded, and slipped out of the conversational
circle. She and Skip fell back toward the wall.
    Skip said, "Don't blow my cover, okay?"
    Tricia nodded again, seemingly in shock; probably
very loaded.
    " Do you know this man?"
    Tricia shook her head, still not saying anything.
    "Ah. So you wanted to talk to me. I'm sorry to
see you here."
    Tricia looked as anguished as if she'd been caught
stealing.
    "Will you leave with me?"
    "I can't. I haven't—" She stopped.
    "You haven't scored yet."
    But why not? Skip wondered. Why not just plop her
money down and get out?
    Because she doesn't have the money.
    She probably has to go to bed with somebody to get
her drugs. Skip hesitated, but only for a moment. She didn't want to
support a drug habit, but there were worse things. She dug in her
purse. "Do you need money?"
    "No. Of course not."
    The light was too dim to tell for sure, but Skip had
the impression Tricia's color had changed.
    Her hand closed around a wad of bills. She extracted
it and pressed it on Tricia. "Don't argue, Tricia. just take it.
Please."
    They had been talking softly, but Tricia took a
breath and Skip could see she was going to yell; it was too late to
stop her. "Leave me alone, goddammit!" She threw the bills
in Skip's face.
    Mortified, Skip bent automatically to retrieve the
money and heard a ragged sob. It was followed by a loud, "Oooooh,
God!" and then Tricia was a crying machine.
    She had her face down, one hand at her mouth, and
Skip was trying to decide if she ought to hug her, and if so, how to
do it, when Maya said, "Okay, Toni, that's it for you. Take your
friend and don't ever come back. Tricia, you too."
    Toni started to protest, but Maya said, "I mean
it. Out."
    That seemed a fine idea to Skip—the sooner the
better—but she hung back a moment, as if stunned by what was
happening. She wanted to see which of the men would come forward to
police the eighty-sixing.
    Maya turned to her and Tricia. She put an arm around
Tricia's shoulders and started to guide her out. "Let's go,
ladies. That's enough for tonight."
    Skip glanced around. The guests were frozen in a
silent tableau, watching the action. No one seemed about to
participate.
    She followed.
    Tricia was talking low now, pleading. "Maya, I'm
really sorry I lost it. Let me go out and get a breath of air and
I'll be fine. I'll be back in