“Are you serious? Fantastic! I couldn’t be more thrilled!”
She thought about mentioning Benny’s call, decided not to. “I’m glad you feel that way. But I really have to go now, okay?”
“Veronica, you’ve been an incredible help to me with the whole affair. I’m so grateful you came early and worked the ticket booth even, when Stella called in. Omigod, I almost forgot, this is another reason I’m calling! She’s not coming in tomorrow either. I hate hate hate to ask, but could you do that again tomorrow, be in at about seven o’clock?”
She stifled a groan. Seven o’clock, that was about five hours away. Well, it would get her away from Shannon, if he even comes home. “Sure, but I really need to go to bed right now.”
“You’re an angel. We’ll get through this, dear. It’s only through Sunday, and then everything’s over! Bye-bye now! Remember, Satan is Lord!” He chortled again and hung up.
Jesus. Obviously he was a lonely guy, but he had Benny who wanted to be with him, so why not bend his ear? Hobie acted real faggoty himself, but he seemed sometimes to be contemptuous of other gay men. He was all screwed up, really. Like everybody in this fucking town.
She went to the kitchen and got another bottle of Mex Negri. Maybe it would help her sleep. She was going to have to find out about this drug Benny mentioned. Maybe that was what was happening with Hobie. What did he call it, worm?
Hey, wait. What if that’s what Shannon’s dealing?
CHAPTER 7
SHANNON, DEWEY AND THE GIRL
Shannon was driving, Dewey in the passenger seat and the gorgeous chick in the back, lying down. Redhead with green eyes, looks about twenty and totally foxy, and stoned out of her gourd. Damn! He felt like he’d hit the jackpot, but at this point in life, he just didn’t know what to do with the prize.
He took a hit off a fresh joint out of the glove compartment and considered. Couldn’t take her home, that was for certain. Not being sure he wanted to fuck her that badly, tonight anyway, was the weird thing. He didn’t think it was because of being loyal to Roni. Why shouldn’t he cheat on her? She’d been such a bitch lately. Besides, they didn’t fuck very often anymore, not for the last six months or so. So why shouldn’t he? Maybe he was reluctant because he’d been wanking off a couple-three times this week and wasn’t totally sure he could fuck very well tonight if he tried. Making a bad impression was a drag, hadn’t happened to him much that way, but he hated even a smidgen of that.
Gotta do something with her. She was way too good to just pass up and let go.
Dew, shit, he wasn’t going to do anything but fret about her. He always was afraid of getting the clap ever since that one time fucking fifteen years ago. Or maybe that was an excuse, he was chicken, or whatever. Too bad, but that was how it was. Besides, he couldn’t take her home either. He lived with his grandma and she’d freak.
When he glanced at the rear-view mirror, she was watching him calmly, not nervous at all, but like, waiting for him to do whatever it turned out he wanted to do. He kept watching her back, going back and forth between the road and the mirror. His kind of girl, used to be anyway, before he was married. Dewey was being quiet, sulking. Apparently, this situation coming up had put him in a snit. Really, he was getting to be as bad as Roni.
He handed the joint over to Dewey. “So, sweet thing, what’s your name?” he called out.
“Hmm?”
“You got a name?”
“Sky,” she seemed to say.
“What?”
“Sky,” she said. “That’s my name. Sky.”
“Say again?”
“Sky. Like, you know, the sky. S-K-Y.”
“Your name is Sky? Your real name?”
“Yes.” She sounded a bit bored, like she’d had this conversation a few times before.
“Your parents must have been spaced-out hippies, right?” Dewey gave him a scolding look, but he just shrugged.
“No. Sort of.”
“Well, my name’s Shannon, and this, again, is my man, Dewey. I don’t know if that’s his real name or not.” The car jounced some as he offered his right hand, backward. Her grip was very light, as so often with girls. He glanced over his shoulder, and she seemed to wink at him as though there was a fun secret between them. Wow, did she really wink? Maybe her face was just twitching or something because she was stoned.
She also reached out to shake hands with Dewey, her hand over his shoulder, though at first he didn’t notice. “Shake hands, man,” said Shannon.
As if waking suddenly, Dewey jolted up, turned, and, after hesitating, took her hand for the briefest moment. “Nice to meet you,” he said. She smiled at him almost as intimately as she did at Shannon. Chick likes everybody. She fell back into the seat as if exhausted at the effort, stretched out, laid her sweet head down and closed her eyes. Dewey hit the joint again, hard, and handed it back to Shannon, coughing.
“So how’d you like that band back there, Sky?” said Shannon.
“Wha-aat?”
“The live band at the club back there, the old guys.”
“They were okay,” she said.
“You know what they’re called?”
“No.”
“Their name is supposed to be Bearflesh, like, a bear’s flesh, a grizzly bear or whatever? But everybody calls them Beerflesh ’cause now they’re fat from drinking beer. Pretty funny, huh?”
“Beerflesh?”
“Yeah, like, you know, beer makes you fat. It’s also supposed to mean, like, bare flesh, like naked bodies. I mean, the original name, Bearflesh.”
“Ha,” she said. “Hey, can I have a hit?” Shannon shrugged, a bit annoyed that she didn’t really laugh, passed the joint over his shoulder to her.
“Awright, thanks.” She took a long slow toke. He glanced at Dewey, smirking and rolling his eyes, but Dewey didn’t look up, was studying his fingers. He looked kind of sad. Party pooper.
“They’ve been playing around here for about twenty years,” said Shannon. “Beerflesh has.” He realized the girl was making him a little nervous, too. He wasn’t as bad as Dew, but he wasn’t sure he was coming across all that well to her. Losing his old magic touch, maybe. Just act confident, that’s the key.
“Wow,” she said. “Twenty years.” Long time to her.
Shannon got bolder. “So what about you? Where are you from, babydoll? May I ask.”
“Yes, but pleeeease don’t call me babydoll.” She touched Dewey’s shoulder with the back of her hand, he jumped again, though not as high, and she handed him the joint.
“Or,” she said, “I might have to start calling you Daddy.” He looked in the mirror. She smiled back at him in that knowing way again.
“My apologizes. So, you’re from where?”
“Different places,” she said.
“Now, that’s a good answer. Huh, Dew?” Dewey nodded slightly, didn’t chime in.
“Not from around here,” she said, yawning, tapping her mouth with her hand.
“You all tuckered out?” said Shannon.
“Wha-aat?”
“Tired?”
“Oh, I thought you said something else. Yeah, I’m tired. Can I sleep back here?”
“Say, man,” said Dewey in a low voice, “I hate to ask, but are we still going to pick up Roni?”
“I’m thinkin’ it’s way too late. I bet she went home.” He was keeping his voice a bit low, too. It kind of annoyed him that he was.
“I kind of think we should stop there anyway, just in case.”
Now, who the fuck was Dew to advise Shannon about his marriage? When did he ever have a girlfriend that lasted more than a few months, even? He pretended that Alta chick he was fucking for a minute two years ago was still an item, but obviously he never heard from her anymore.