'Late morning, I think. She came out of there with suitcases. Then later I saw her coming out of three-H.' He shook his head.
'Won't miss them, I can tell you that. Don't mind a couple of pretty girls want to make an honest living. But those two. He shook his head and leered.
I went down the hall to 3-H. A lean young man, preppie type, with nice even features, opened up the door. He wore jeans and a ribbed black tank top. A Thank of light brown hair hung across his forehead.
'Hi.' He smiled at me, but something in his smile struck me as forced.
'Sorry to intrude,' I said.
'The super suggested I talk to you. My name's Geoffrey Barnett. I'm a friend of Kim Yates down the hall.'
'Kimberly@ure. But she's gone. Left yesterday. I'm Brent.' He offered his hand.
'One of your neighbors said he saw her coming out of here.
'That's right. She stopped in to say good-bye to Jess. Jess Harrison, my roommate.'
'Is he here? Could I talk to him?'
'He's here.' Brent lowered his voice.
'But I don't know-'
'I'd really like to talk to him,' I said.
Brent studied me for a moment.
'All right, I'll check.' He motioned me inside.
While I waited I looked around the living room. A potted plant, leaves starting to brown, stood before the window. A framed Diane Arbus exhibition poster was mounted on the wall. A pair of ballet slippers, signed by Heather Watts, hung beside the light switch from a hook. There was a handsome rosewood stereo system and a large collection of compact discs.
Brent reappeared.
'Jess isn't feeling all that good, but he'll talk to you a little anyway. He's got AIDS. Wanted me to tell you. If you change your mind, he'll understand.'
'I haven't changed my mind,' I said.
Brent nodded.
'One thing I ask, seems like he's getting tired, please excuse yourself.
He had a pretty rough night last night.'
Jess, older than Brent and starting to bald, waved to me from the bed.
He lay on top of the sheets wearing a pair of gray gym shorts and a T-shirt that bore the faded words 'West Point.' He held a damp washcloth to his forehead and he looked pretty sick.
'You're the photographer?' Inodded, 'Kimberly mentioned you.' He gestured toward a chair.
'I appreciate your seeing me,' I said, 'because right now i m pretty confused. Kim and I had a brunch date yesterday afternoon. She didn't show, so I called and called. Now her apartment's empty and the guy down the hall says he saw her moving out with suitcases yesterday before she and I were even supposed to meet.'
'was around noon when she left,' Jess said.
'She stopped in to say good-bye.'
'You say she mentioned me?'
He nodded.
'Not yesterday. But she spoke of you several times. Said you were taking these fantastic pictures of her. I know she liked you a lot.'
Liked me! 'That's nice to hear,' I said.
'But apparently she didn't like me well enough to say good-bye.'
'I'm sorry…'
'Didn't even call.'
He looked at me.
'What can I say?'
I stood, then started to pace.
'Look, you don't know me, Jess. No reason you should care. But Kim and I, we had something going. Something serious-at least that's what I thought. Now she's stood me up, no reason I can think of except we had a fight on Friday night. But we made it up on Saturday. Meantime she's cleared out her place. And now the slob super and the jerk in three-C, they talk about her like she and Shadow, like they were… I don't know-'
'What?'
'Hookers. Or something like that.'
'they said that?' 'No. But they made it pretty clear.'
He turned away. There was silence in the room. When he spoke again it was in a whisper.
' It's true, I'm afraid.'
I stared at him.
'Now, what the hell, Jess! I mean, how the hell can that be?'
'It's awkward for me to be the one-'
'I understand.' I sat down again. I felt as if I'd been kicked.
'Please, you got to tell me what you know.'
He shook his head, as if to clear his brain.
'Kimberly told me she and Shadow did tricks. She also told me they'd been lovers once. I assumed they still were. At least sometimes. Of course there's nothing wrong with being gay.'
'Of course not. But 'tricks'?' He shrugged. I could see the word made him uneasy.
'She told me they were actresses, models-'
'they are. Shadow's a very successful model, and Kimberly's extremely serious about her acting. She didn't talk all that much about herself, even when we dished the dirt. I know she's from Cleveland, upper-middle-class family, and that she quit college to come here and study. She met Shadow in one of her classes. Shadow introduced her to a lady who ran an escort service. Shadow was working for the woman, so Kimberly started working for her too. Just to make extra money. Part time at first. Then, I gather, she and Shadow-they became sort of famous as a team.' Jesus!
He shook his head.
'I know it sounds bad. But maybe not as bad as you think.'
'I think it's pretty bad,' I said.
'Well, it's not like she was out hooking on the street.' He removed the washcloth from his forehead and carefully wiped his brow.
'Look, I know guys… I mean I used to hustle occasionally myself when I needed the bread., At least her way was safe. Prescreened clientele. Rich guys, tycoons, big-shot attorneys. Not sleazy salesmen from out of town.'
'Jesus, Jess! was she really so goddamn desperate?'
'It wasn't like that. I don't think desperation had anything to do with it. Way she explained it to me, she did it for the experience.'
'Experience!'
'She told me she liked the acting part, that was what turned her on.
Also the novelty, and what she called 'the risk.' But what she liked best, she told me, was the whole notion of sex for money, that there existed this marketplace where, if you did it well, you could sell it very high. She took great pride in the price people paid to be with her, even for a little while. 'I'm very expensive, Jess,' she said. She and Shadow, as a team, she told me, they could earn up to fifteen-hundred dollars.'
I'sat down.
'She actually told you that?'
He nodded.
'Like I said, we were pretty close. Maybe because she knew with me she didn't have to pretend, me being ill the way I am.' He paused.
'I'm really sick.
Doubt I'll make it through the fall. Brent's been great. Stuck by me.
