The engine died at almost one hundred miles an hour. Peach sat up, ears flattened, and Keisha was suddenly fighting an unresponsive steering and bad brakes.
“Shit, shit, shit shit shit…” her stomach heaved, throwing bile into her mouth. She …
Rain is coming. The humidity sends the odor of sage gusting into the crowded club, drafting off the ravines above the big parking lot. Chaparral oils mix with skunk and tar. Perfumes and smokes cling on the sweaty clothes of …
“Oh yeah, I hear you. We’re working on those wrappers and identifying the girls in the pictures.” Ivan listens for some time. “How’s the partner? So Mary’s not looking restless? How’s he playing? Are the solos okay? You’d have to …
Emma turns on the steps below the Metro’s side door, looking up, and waves at Amalia. Dance is carrying Amalia’s cello case, easily, and his own violin case. Drin is on Amalia’s other side, saying something as they walk down …
It’s impossible to just go for a nice lunchtime walk with Drin to a restaurant. He’s too tall, he just looks too authoritative. On his way out the door, people who know him at the Metro run up and chatter …
Dance lays down carefully on the new bed, wrinkling the new sheets. Drin and Emma are looking at him with that suspense on their faces: Will it be all right?
He wriggles a little bit, and stares up at the …
Dance has fallen asleep, head curled up on his arm against the passenger window of the car. His torso is twisted in that funny position again, the way he does when his lower back is hurting him.
He’s been doing …
Dinner was simple, exquisite, and abundant. Drin says so, sighing, and the cook dimples up in a broad smile. When Dance is done stacking up dirty dishes and willing to settle, Drin pulls out a chair for him, slides an …
“You might not want to do that,” Emma says.
Drin looks at her, and then at the skateboard in his fist. “What? This? What’s wrong with giving Dance a decent board?”
She gives a long, slow smile, and turns back …
Emma points at the computer monitor. “See, this queen-sized one has an iron frame, the legs are about two and a half feet long–”
“No, no,” Dance says, “we don’t need–”
“Yes you do need another bed,” Emma says. “Drin …