Tales of the City 05 - Significant Others

here,” he replied stupidly. “Has your … uh … friend gone?”
    “Oh, yes.” She opened the liquor cabinet. “There’s some grass in the bedroom. The cigar box on the dresser. Roll us a couple, would you?”
    “Sure.” He made his way down a redwood-paneled hallway to a cozy bedroom. There, he sat on a rumpled bed and rolled joints while an owl hooted outside the window and Thack and Wren laughed over something in the living room.
    When he returned, Wren was seated in an armchair next to the fireplace. Thack and Brian were on the sofa.
    “There’s drinks on that tray,” said Wren, as he handed her the joints.
    “Thanks,” said Michael. “I’m fine.” He sat on a tapestry cushion next to the hearth.
    “In that case …” Wren struck a kitchen match against the fireplace and lit a joint. She took several dainty tokes before offering it to Michael.
    “No, thanks,” he said.
    “C’mon.”
    “I’m on the wagon for a while. Cleaning out my system.”
    She made a face at him, then offered the joint to Brian.
    He shook his head, smiling dimly.
    “I’ll take some,” said Thack.
    “Thank God.” She leaned over and handed Thack the joint. “These Frisco boys are a lot of fun, aren’t they?”
    Thack laughed.
    “So,” said Wren, turning to Michael. “What’s there to do in this neck of the woods?”
    “Well … we’ve been walking a lot, swimming in the creek.”
    “Swell.”
    Michael shrugged. “You came to the wrong place if you wanted action. There are one or two discos….”
    “Forget it.”
    “I agree,” said Thack, returning the joint to Wren.
    “What about your friend?” said Michael.
    “What about him?” She took another hit off the joint.
    So, thought Michael, we’ve established the gender. “Well, hasn’t he shown you around?”
    “No, not really. He’s gone most of the time.” She gave him a crooked, faintly knowing smile, telling him to mind his own business. Was she being kept? Was it somebody famous—like half the men in her memoirs?
    “Michael says you’re gonna make a movie with Sydney Pollack.” This was Thack, jumping in.
    “Well … Michael knows more than I do.”
    “I read it somewhere,” said Michael defensively.
    “ ‘Inquiring minds want to know,’ ” said Wren.
    “No,” said Michael, grinning at her. “It was … maybe I saw it on Entertainment Tonight.”
    Wren gave him a teasing smile. “Oh, well, then … it must be true.”
    “C’mon,” he said.
    “We’re just in the talking stage,” she told him. “I don’t wanna jinx it.”
    “It’s such a fabulous idea,” said Michael.
    “Brian’s wife is gonna be on Entertainment Tonight. ” This was Thack.
    “Is that right?” said Wren, turning to Brian with the dimmest of smiles. Michael braced himself.
    Brian nodded. “They’re taping this weekend, as a matter of fact.”
    “My,” said Wren, “that’s quite a coup for … you know, someone local.”
    There was a definite edge to this remark, but Michael found it forgivable. Mary Ann, after all, had bad-mouthed Wren on the air.
    “She’s pleased about it,” said Brian.
    “You should be there,” said Wren. “Can’t they use a husband?”
    “She wanted me there,” he replied.
    “What’s the matter? Afraid of the camera?”
    “I dunno.”
    “Shouldn’t be,” she said. “That chin would look great on camera.” She turned to Michael for a second opinion. “Doesn’t he have a great chin?”
    “Great,” said Michael, deadpanning.
    Thack laughed and exchanged glances with Brian, whose embarrassment was evident.
    “It’s like a little tushie,” she said. “Two perky little hills.” She squeezed her own chin in an effort to create the same effect. “A plastic surgeon could make a fortune.”
    They all laughed.
    Wren winked at Brian, granting him clemency, then turned to Thack. “So … are you two … you know?”
    Thack looked puzzled. “What … me and Michael?”
    “Yes.”
    Thack hesitated so long that Michael took over. “We’re buddies,” he said.
    “Yeah,” said Thack. “We just met.”
    “I see,” said Wren, nodding slowly. “You guys are worse off than I am.”
    They drove back to Cazadero an hour later. Their arrival was heralded by a sally of yaps from a neighbor’s toy poodle. The people in the pink trailer had built a fire, from which sparks ascended like fireflies into the blue-black velvet sky. There seemed to be more stars than ever.
    “I’m gonna take a walk,” said