There were three silver boxes on the coffee table in front of them. I went over and opened one; there were several syringes in it, all clean and new. The box next to it held teaspoons and the one next to that, white powder. That one was next to the table lighter. I picked it up. It was an elaborately carved silver dragon coiled around a rock or a monolith or something, its wings pulled in close to its scaly body. You flicked the wheel in the middle of its back and the flame came out of its mouth. All I needed was a can of aerosol deodorant and I'd have had a flamethrower. Maybe I'd have been able to get out with a flamethrower. I doubted it.
'Jeez, will you look at that!' said the kid, sitting up in delayed reaction to the boxes. 'What a set-up!'
'This is such a great place!' Farmer said, picking up the box of heroin.
'Yeah, a real junkie heaven,' I said. 'It's been nice knowing you.'
Farmer squinted up at me. 'You going?'
'We're all going.'
He sat back, still holding the box while the kid eyed him nervously. 'You go ahead. I mean, this isn't exactly your scene anyway. But I'm hanging in.'
'You just don't get it, do you? You think Blondie is just going to let you wander back put across the river with all the horse you can carry?'
Farmer smiled. 'Shit, maybe she wants me to move in. I think she likes me. I get that very definite feeling.'
'Yeah, and the two of you could adopt Tadpole here, and Stacey and Priscilla and George can come over for Sunday roast.'
The kid shot me a dirty look. Farmer shrugged. 'Hey, somebody's got to be out there, takin' care of the distribution.'
'And she throws out Joe to make room for you, right?' I said.
'Oh, yeah, Joe.' Farmer tried to think. 'Well, hell, this is a big place. There's room for three. More, even.' He giggled again.
' Farmer . I don't think many people see this place and live.'
He yawned widely, showing his coated tongue. 'Hey, ain't we all lucky, then.'
'No. We're not lucky.'
Farmer stared at me for a long moment. Then he laughed. 'Shit, You're crazy.'
The door at the far end of the room opened again and the woman came out. 'Here he is!' she announced cheerfully and pulled Joe into the room.
My brother Joe, the original lost boy, the disposable man in an ankle-length bathrobe knotting loosely at the waist, showing his bony chest. The curly brown hair was cleaner than it had been the last time I'd seen him but duller and thinner, too. His eyes seemed to be sunk deep in the sockets and his skin looked dry and flaky. But he was steady on his bare feet as he came towards me.
'Joe,' I said. 'It's me, Chi'
'I know, babe, I know.' He didn't even change expression. 'What the fuck?'
'I got your card.'
'Shit. I told you, it was for the last time.'
I blinked at him. 'I came home because I thought' I stopped, looking at the woman who was still smiling as she moved behind the bar and poured a little cognac into a glass.
'Well, go on,' she said. 'Tell him what you thought. And have your cognac. You should warm the bowl between your hands.'
I shook my head slightly, looking down at the plush carpet. It was also beige. Not much foot traffic around here. 'I thought you needed me to do something. Help you or something.'
'I was saying goodbye, babe. That's all. I thought I should, you know, after everything you seen me through. I figured, what the hell, one person in the world who ever cared what happened to me, I'd say goodbye. Fucking parents don't care if they never see me again. Rose, Aurelia — like, forget it.'
I looked up at him. He still hadn't changed expression. He might have been telling me it was going to snow again this winter.
'Have your cognac,' the woman said to me again. 'You warm the bowl between your hands like this.' She demonstrated and then held the glass out to me. When I didn't move to take it, she put it down on the bar. 'Perhaps you'll feel like it later.' She hurried over to the couch where Farmer and the kid were rifling the syringes and the spoons. Joe took a deep breath and let it out in a not-quite sigh.
'I can tell her to let you go,' he said. 'She'll probably do it.'
' Probably?' I said.
He made a helpless, impotent gesture with one hand. 'What the fuck did you come here for?'
'For you, asshole. What the fuck did you come here for?'
Bending over the coffee table, the woman looked back at us. 'Are you going to answer that, Joe? Or shall I?'
Joe turned towards her slightly and gave a little shrug. 'Will you let her go?'
That smile. 'Probably.'
Farmer was holding up a syringe. 'Hey, I need some water. And a cooker. You got a spoon? And some cloth.'
