Waist Deep

55

“You didn’t have to hit him, did you?”

Kris had been crying silently ever since we left the apartment.

I shook my head, turning out of the parking lot and heading south.“No, I didn’t.”

“Then why’d you do it?”

“Because I wasn’t allowed to kill him.”

Kris shot me a venomous look.“If you hurt him again, or if you go back on your word, I will run away. I’ll go so far that not even the FBI will find me.And I’ll tell my father that it was your fault.”

I believed her.“I’ll keep my word, Kris.You just keep yours.”

We drove in silence for a few blocks.The early nightfall of winter had begun to shroud the city streets and the first weak glare of streetlights came on.I drove easily, in no hurry.It was nowhere near ten o’clock.I had plenty of time.

“Tell me something,” I said to her, downshifting for a stop light.

“What?”

“The running away.It was all a sham, wasn’t it?”

She looked at me as if I were retarded.“Duh.”

“And you weren’t upset about losing the play?The one-part production?”

“I suppose I was at the time,” she said with a shrug.“But high school is small time.”

“What about the hooking?”

“Huh?”

“You were out on East Sprague, working for a pimp.I saw the police report.”

She laughed.“I was out there for two nights.”

“Why?”

“Research,” she said, in a perfectly serious tone.“Gary says that method acting is the most persuasive.Anyone can ooh and ahh while getting fucked, but only an actor can sell it to the audience.”

“Method acting?”

She nodded, her face serious.“It’s the only way to become a star.”

“I talked to a pimp.Rolo was his name.He said-”

“He got his cut,” Kris said.“It was all part of the research.”

I let it go.Had Rolo lied to me?I thought about it for a moment and realized that he really hadn’t lied.He just hadn’t told me the whole story.In fact, he really couldn’t have without giving up LeMond or Jackson.I suppose he was good to his word.He sure could have saved me a lot of trouble, though.

The light turned green and I accelerated.“Why these movies, Kris?They’re so…crude.”

She gave a confused look.“Porn, you mean?”

I nodded.

“It’s just sex,” she told me.“And porn is no big deal.Look at Adriana Apple.”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“Right,” she snorted.“Whatever.”

“No,” I said.“I really don’t.”

She glanced over at me.Her expression had changed from one suspecting retardation to one of disbelief.I might as well have said that I’d never heard of Elvis.“She’s only the biggest star this side of Jenna Jameson.Duh.”

“I gathered that,” I said.“But she’s a porn star.Not a movie star.Not like Audrey Hepburn.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.“Do they talk about Adrianna Apple on Entertainment Tonight?Is her picture in People Magazine?”

“I don’t know.I don’t have a TV and I don’t read People.”

“Well, they do,” Kris snapped. “Adrianna Apple is on TV and in all the magazines. Because she’s a star.” She stared at me, then shook her head in wonder.“Jesus, what planet are you from?”

“One where sixteen year olds chew bubble gum and moon over Leif Garrett, I guess.”

“He’s gross,” Kris said.“I saw a special on him on the E! channel.All old and bald and stuff.He wasn’t that cute even back in ancient times when he was a kid, either.”

“You know what I meant,” I said.

She shrugged.“The world changes.Maybe you’re getting old or something.”

I fell silent, navigating the car west and then south.Kris chewed on her thumbnail absently, then asked, “What are you going to tell my mom and dad?”

“What do you want me to tell them?”

“Nothing.”

“Then that’ll be part of the deal.”

She smiled briefly, then went back to chewing on her thumbnail.