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Cloud's body swayed ever so slightly, as if there were music in the air that only she could hear "TV is the opiate of the masses"
"Well, if there's anyone who'd know about drugs, it's you"
"Speaking of that, I'ot any cash?"
Tully dug in her purse, found the fifty-dollar bill she kept in her wallet for eive it all to one dealer"
Cloud took a clumsy step forward and palmed the money
Tully wished she'd never co Why couldn't she seem to remember that? "I'll send money for your next rehab, Cloud Every faht?" On that, she turned and walked back to the van
Mutt aiting for her Dropping his cigarette, he ground it out with his heel and grinned at her "Mo?" Tully said, grinning brightly and wiping her eyes "She cried like a baby"
When Tully and Mutt caear The four of the room and turned twenty-six minutes of tape into a sharp, ihts focused on the story, just the story, but lunch with Johnny had dulled her senses; or heightened them She wasn't entirely sure which All she really kneas that whatever schoolgirl crush she'd had on hi else
When they finished working, Johnny picked up the phone and called the Taco up and looked at Tully "They'll air it tonight at ten unless so comes up"
Tully jumped up and clapped her hands "We did it!"
Kate couldn't help feeling a stab of envy Just once, she wanted Johnny to look at her the way he looked at Tully
If only she were like her friend--confident and sexy and willing to rab at whatever--and whoht of Johnny's rejection, of a blank-eyed, Huh? kept her standing in the shadows
Tully's shadow, to be precise As always, Kate was the backup singer who never stepped into the spotlight
"Let's go celebrate," Tully said "Dinner's onfor me"
"I can't do dinner, but how about drinks at nine?" Johnny said
"We can do that," Tully said
Kate knew she should say no The last thing she wanted to do was sit at the table and watch Johnny watch Tully--but what choice did she have? She was the sidekick Rhoda Morgenstern And wherever Mary went, Rhoda had to follow, even if it hurt like hell
Kate chose her clothes with care: a cap-sleeved white T-shirt, black vintage jacquard vest, and tight jeans tucked into scrunchy ankle boots After curling her hair, she combed it carefully to one side and anchored it into a ponytail She thought she looked pretty good until she went out into the living rooreen jersey dress with a plunging neckline, padded shoulders, and a wideto the music
"Tully? You ready?"
Tully stopped dancing, flicked off the stereo, and linked arms with Kate "Come on We're so outta here"
Down on the street in front of their apartainst his black El Camino In faded jeans and an old Aero-smith T-shirt, he looked totally sexy in a casual, ru?" Tully asked She iot a plan," Johnny said
"I love a man with a plan," Tully said "Don't you, Kate?"
The word love paired with his name hit a little close to home, so she didn't look at him when she said, "I do"
Three abreast, they walked down the cobblestone street of the empty market
At the neon-lit sex shop on the corner, Johnny guided theht
Kate frowned There was an invisible line, like the equator, that ran down Pike Street To the south, it got ugly fast This here the tourists didn't go unless they were looking for drugs or hookers The shops and businesses on both sides of the street were seedy-looking
They walked past two adult bookstores and an X-rated theater where the Debbie Does Dallas sequel was playing on a double feature with Saturday Night Beaver
"This is great," Tully said "Kate and I never go down here"
Johnny ca wooden door that had obviously once been painted red "Ready?" he said with a smile
Tully nodded
He opened the door The e black man sat on a stool at the entrance "ID, please," he said, turning on a flashlight to study their driver's licenses "Go on"
Tully and Kate showed their IDs, then moved on ahead, down the dark narrow hallway that was covered with flyers and posters and bu, rectangular room that was packed with people dressed in metal-enhanced black leather Kate had never seen so many bizarre hairdos in one rooelled to sawblade perfection and dyed in rainbow colors
Johnny led theh the dance floor, past a feooden tables, to the bar, where a girl with enta hair cut into spidery spikes and a safety pin in her cheek took their orders At the end of the bar, suspended up in the corner, was a good-sized TV that was currently tuned to MTV No one was paying the slightest attention to it
When the bartender returned, Johnny gave her a healthy tip and a bright smile, then led Kate and Tully to a table back in the corner, beneath the TV
Tully iarita for a toast "To us We totally rocked today"
They clinked glasses and drank
And drank