Manhattan Is My Beat

it’s kind of a coincidence, don’t you think? He seemed real interested when I said something to him about it.”
    Stephanie turned back to
Variety
. “Little far-fetched.”
    But what’s far-fetched in the whole scheme of things—as Richard might have asked.
    Rune found the Brooklyn Yellow Pages. She opened it to Churches. Seemed funny you could find escort services, Roto-Rooter companies, and churches in the same directory.
    She flipped through the pages. Man, there were a lot of pages.
    She started to make calls.
    A half hour later Stephanie asked Rune, “You think I’ll get the part?”
    “What part?” Rune asked absently, phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder. She was on hold. (It also seemed weird to call a church and be put on hold.)
    “Didn’t I tell you? I’m auditioning next week. It’s only a commercial. But still … They pay great. I’ve
got
to get it. It’s totally important.”
    Rune stiffened suddenly as the minister came on the line.
    “Hello?”
    “Reverend, Father, sir … I’m trying to find some information about my grandfather? Robert Kelly? About seventy. Do you know if he spent any time at your parish?”
    “Robert Kelly? No, miss, I sure don’t.”
    “Okay, Father. Thank you. Oh, and have a nice day.” She set the receiver in the cradle, pushed aside the Yellow Pages, and asked Stephanie, “Do you say that to priests?”
    “What?”
    “‘Have a nice day?’ I mean, shouldn’t you say something more meaningful? More spiritual?”
    “Say whatever you want.” Stephanie put
Variety
away, began reshelving cassettes in the stacks. She said, “If I don’t get the job I’ll just die. It’s a whole commercial. Thirty seconds. I’d play a young wife with PMS and I can’t enjoy my anniversary dinner until I take some pills.”
    “What pills?”
    “I don’t know. ‘Cramp-Away.’ “
    “What?”
    “Well, something
like
that. Then I take them and my husband and I waltz off happily. I get to wear a long white dress. That’s so disgusting when they do that, wear white in menstrual commercials. I’m also worried ‘cause I can’t waltz. Dancing isn’t exactly my strong suit. And I can’t—just between you and me—I can’t sing too good either. It’s a real pain in the ass getting jobs when you can’t sing and dance.”
    “You’ve got a great body and great hair.”
    And you’re tall, Goddammit.
    Flipping through more pages, ignoring the synagogues and mosques. “Amanda’s calling too…. I feel sorry for her. Poor woman. Imagine—her friend’s killed
and
they’re kicking her out of the country.”
    “By the way, I don’t think they’re all parishes,” Stephanie said.
    “You think I was pissing them off by calling them parishes?” Rune was frowning.
    “I think they get pissed when you worship Satan and cast spells. I don’t think they care what you call their churches. I’m just telling you for your own, you know, edification.”
    Rune picked up the phone and then put it down again. She glanced at the door as a thin young woman, dark-complected, entered. The woman had a proper pageboy cut and was wearing a navy-blue suit, carrying a heavy, law- or accounting-firm briefcase in one hand. Rune swiftly sized her up, whispered to Stephanie, “A dollar says it’s Richard Gere.”
    Stephanie waited until the woman moved to the comedy section and pulled
The Sting
off the shelf before reaching into her pocket and slipping four quarters onto the countertop. Rune put a dollar bill next to them. Stephanie murmured, “Think you’re getting to be hot shit, huh? You can spot ‘em?”
    “I can spot ‘em,” Rune said.
    The woman wandered around the aisles, not sensing Rune and Stephanie watching her while they pretended to work. She came up to the counter and set the
    Newman-Redford movie on the rubber change mat beside the cash register. “I’ll take that.” She handed Rune her membership card. Stephanie, smiling, reached for the money. The woman hesitated and then said, “Oh, maybe I’ll get another one too.” Stepping away to the drama section.
    She set
Power
next to
The Sting
. Richard Gere’s bedroom eyes gazed out from the cover. Stephanie pushed the two dollars toward Rune and rang up the rental. The woman snagged the cassettes and left the store.
    “How’d you know?” Stephanie asked Rune.
    “Look.” She typed in the woman’s membership number into the computer and called up a history of all the movies she’d