'Joe? Oh, yeah. He's at my place.'
'I thought he was going around with his connection.'
'He's at my place. Or he was.'
George pulled the car over again as Farmer woozily began cooking his shot for him. 'Let me fix and I'll drive you over there, okay?' he said, smiling thinly over his shoulder at me.
The kid threw himself over my lap and fumbled the car door open. 'Wanna go for a walk,' he mumbled, crawling over my legs and hauling himself upright on the door. He stood swaying and tried a few tentative steps. 'Can't make it. Too loaded.' I caught him and pulled him back in, shoving him over next to Stacey. He smiled at me. 'You're a real nice girl, you know that? You're a real nice girl.'
'Shit!' George slammed his hand against the steering wheel. 'It broke, the fucking needle broke!'
'Did you fix?' asked Farmer.
'Yeah, just in time. Sorry, Priscilla.' George turned to look at her and nearly fell across Farmer. 'I'll find mine and give it to you. Never been used, I swear.'
Priscilla made a disgusted noise.
'Hey, if everybody's happy, let's go over to Priscilla's place now,' I said.
George wagged his head. 'Not yet. Can't get that far, stuff was too strong. I gotta let it wear off some first. Where are we?' He opened his door and nearly fell out. 'Hey, we're back near Streep's. Go there for a while, okay?' No one answered. 'Okay? Go to Streep's, get some coffee, listen to some music. Okay?' He nudged Farmer. 'Okay?'
'Shit.' I got out, hauled the kid out after me and left him leaning on the door while I dragged Stacey out. She woke up enough to smile at me. Farmer and Priscilla found their way around the car, stumbling over each other. I looked around. A few cars passed, no one paying any attention. Here we are in scenic Junk City in the Land of Nod, where five loaded hop-heads can attract no interest. What's wrong with this picture?
George reeled past me and I grabbed him, patting his pants pockets.
'What?' he said dreamily.
'Let me borrow your car.'
'It's not my car. It's' His voice trailed off as his head drooped.
'That's okay,' I said, shaking him, 'just give me the keys.' I dug them out of his right pants pocket, giving him a thrill he was too far gone to appreciate. George wasn't wearing any underwear. 'Priscilla.'
She had managed to go nearly half a block unassisted. At the sound of her name, she swivelled around, hugging herself against a cold she probably wasn't really feeling.
'Is Joe really at your place?'
She shrugged elaborately. 'Hurry, you might catch him.' Farmer went by and yanked her along with him. I watched them all weaving and staggering away from me, a ragged little group minus one, who was still leaning against the car.
'My name's Tad,' he said. Probably short for tadpole, I thought. 'Take me with you.'
I went to call out to Farmer and the rest of them but they had already turned the corner. I was stuck with their new friend unless I chose to leave him in some doorway. He was grinning at me as he swayed from side to side. The coat was dirty now but it was still pretty nice. His gloves looked like kidskin and the boots were brand-new. If I left him, I'd come back and find him up on blocks, nude. I shoved him into the back seat.
'Lie down, pass out, and don't give me any trouble.'
'You're a real nice girl,' he mumbled.
'Yeah, we could go to the prom together in a couple of years.'
The front seat was too far back for me and wouldn't move up. I perched on the edge of the broken-down cushion and just managed to reach the pedals. I got the car started but pulling out was the tricky part. I'd never learned to drive. The car itself wasn't in terrific running condition — it wanted either to stall or race. I eased it down the street in half a dozen jerks that pushed me against the steering wheel and sent the kid in back off the seat and on to the floor. He didn't complain.
Priscilla had an apartment in one of the tenements near the railroad yard. The buildings looked abandoned at first glance; at second glance, they still looked abandoned. I steered the car off the road into an unpaved area that served as a parking lot and pulled up in front of the building nearest to the tracks. In the back, my companion pulled himself up on the seat, rubbing his eyes. 'Where are we?'
'Wait here,' I said, getting out of the car.
He shook his head emphatically. 'No, I was here last night. This is Priscilla's. It ain't safe. I should go with you.' He stumbled out of the car and leaned against it, trying to look sober. 'I'm okay now. I'm just high.'
'I'm not going to wait for you.' I headed towards the building with him staggering after me. The heroin in his system had stabilized somewhat and he fell only three times. I kept going.
He gave up on the first flight. I left him hanging on the railing muttering to himself while I trotted up to Priscilla's place on the second floor. The door was unlocked, I knew — the lock had been broken ages ago and Priscilla wasn't about to spend good junk money on getting it fixed — but the sagging screen door was latched. I found a torn place in the screen and reached in to unhook it.
'Joe?' I called, stepping into the filthy kitchen. An odour of something long dead hit me square in the face, making me gag. 'Joe?' I tiptoed across the room. On the sink was a package of hamburger Priscilla had probably left out to thaw then forgotten about, three weeks before, it seemed like. I wondered how she could stand it and then remembered how she liked to brag that coke had destroyed her nose. The rest of them wouldn't care as long as they could get fixed. My stomach leaped and I heaved on the floor. It was just a bit of bile in spite of the breakfast I'd eaten but I couldn't take any more and headed for the porch.
