The Kings Of Cool

247

Paqu lies on the sofa.

Bottle of gin, bottle of pills on the coffee table.

The effects on her face, in her eyes. She sees O come in and says, “You look uncharacteristically nice.”

“Where’s Four?”

“That’s very amusing,” Paqu says, her words a little slurred. “Four is gone.”

“I went and saw Paul.”

“I told you not to.”

“I know.”

“But you did it anyway.”

“Obviously.”

Paqu sits up, pours the last of the bottle into her glass, and says, “And are you happier now? Did you gain an epiphany? One that might propel you from this perpetual adolescence of yours?”

“He said he wasn’t my father.”

“The man is a liar.”

“I believe him.”

“Of course you do,” Paqu says. “You believed in the tooth fairy until you were eleven. I considered having you tested.”

“Who was he?”

“Who was who?”

“My father,” O says.

Just tell me.