Skin Deep

tansy was.'

'Chamomile's an herb,' I said since Nana showed no sign of replying.

'Herb, schmerb,' Toby said impatiently. 'Who cares? As long as you can eat it.'

'Toby just drips class,' Nana said to me. 'Sometimes we have to mop the floor after he leaves.'

'I came here to say I was sorry,' Toby said. 'But maybe you two would prefer to be alone.'

'Honest to God, Toby,' Nana said, 'do you think you can just punch me out and leave me on the floor and then come back and make kissy-face? What do you think I am, a blow-up doll?'

The Stones faded out as Toby sulked, and Amber crawled around to pick up her tips before going very carefully down the steps and teetering toward the dressing room.

Nana shook her head, watching her. 'Maybe six months,' she said to herself. She caught me looking at her. 'You can't junk like that and expect to collect an old-age pension.'

'Nana,' Toby said as though it cost him an effort. 'I'm sorry.' He was staring at his lap. 'That's why Simeon and I came here. So I could say I was sorry.'

'Sony's a word, Toby. Like caring. Like love, if you'll pardon the expression. When I want words, I'll read a book.'

The girl with the spike haircut put her hand on Toby's shoulder and tucked the coke into his shirt pocket. 'Terrific, Toby,' she said. 'You've made my day. Maybe tomorrow, too.'

'Great, baby,' Toby said. He gave her the grin.

'So your name is Simeon,' Nana said, lighting a cigarette and tilting her head up to blow smoke into the air. 'I don't think I've ever met anyone named Simeon.'

'Swell,' Toby said truculently. 'A new name. Maybe you want I should leave with a new girl.'

'Why not two girls?' Nana said, turning on him. 'Why not three? Why should you be a cheapskate your whole life?'

'Fine,' Toby said, standing up and pushing his chair back. 'See you lovebirds later.'

'Where's he going?' I asked, watching him move toward the back of the club.

'He's going to pack his cute little nose,' Nana said. 'He's fine until about six, and then it's a long downhill slide until midnight. I don't know how his system stands it.'

'What about your system?'

'Fooey. Half a load or so every night. Listen, you think I could dance like that straight?'

'What's the hardest thing to do?'

'Smiling,' she said. 'The hardest thing is smiling. Listen, I haven't said thank you.'

'Nana,' I said, 'Toby really did come here to say he was sorry.'

'Too late,' she said. 'You know, the dumb thing is that he really is sorry. It just doesn't last.' She blew some more smoke and looked critically at the coal on her cigarette. 'Sooner or later even someone as turkey-stupid as I am has to figure it out.'

'Tell me something.'

'Let's hear it first.'

'How come you look like Madame Butterfly and sound like Tex Ritter?'

She laughed. It wasn't a ladylike laugh. There was no apology for not covering her mouth or for letting her teeth hang in the breeze. It was a laugh that came straight from the belly, without detours. She drummed her feet on the stage by way of emphasis.

'I mean, you're Korean, right?'

'Fifty-fifty,' she said, fanning her face. 'Whoo, pretty good. But Tex Ritter? God, honey, you must be older than snails.'

'Half American,' I ventured.

'You know what's an army brat?' she said. She waved the question away. 'Aaah, skip it. Daddy's American, Mommy's Korean. Daddy took his gonads to Korea during the war. Hell, there wasn't anywhere he could park them. So he came home with Mommy and me.'

'Home to Texas,' I said.

'Home to Killeen. Home to wherever they stuck him. And her, and me, by the way. And now I'll ask you one, okay?'

'Shoot.'

'What are you doing with Toby?'

'It's a job,' I said for what felt like the fiftieth time. 'I'm protecting the world from him.'

She nodded, thinking it over, and the music kicked in again. A new girl climbed onto the stage, blond and pretty except for a slight postacne moonscape that had been imprinted on her cheeks a couple of years ago, when she was maybe sixteen. Pepper followed, naked from the waist up, and went onto the other stage.

'What kind of a job?' Nana finally said. 'What do you do, anyway?'

'I'm a private detective,' I said, feeling as foolish as I always did when I told anyone.

She sucked in her cheeks reflectively and nodded again, then looked up as Tiny rippled whitely across the room and disappeared into the dressing room. 'Hope Amber's not doping in there,' she said. 'Tiny will kill her.'

'Of course she's doping,' I said. 'She has to stay up there or she'll fall apart.'

Nana patted my hand. 'Honey, I know that. And he'd kill himself before he'd kill her. She used to be his girlfriend, and he hasn't got the faintest damn idea what to do about her. He can't fire her because he's afraid she'll kill herself all at once instead of slow, like she's doing now.' She glanced over my shoulder and stood up. 'Excuse me,' she said. 'Here comes the Dutch elm disease.' She walked to the bar without looking back.

'Somehow,' Toby said, sitting, 'I don't think a simple apology will suffice.' He waved for another drink. 'Counting down,' he said.

'To what?'

'The climax. Don't you know? Every scene should have three stages, a beginning, middle, and end. You need a climax-we're talking dramatically here-to punch up the end of the scene. Otherwise, things get sloppy.' He finished his drink and waved his hands around to demand the refill. 'An actor's work is never done.'

Miss Spike put the drinks in front of us at the same time that Amber and Saffron emerged from the dressing room in street clothes and headed for the back of the club. Amber's blue jeans were tightly belted, making vast ripples of excess denim gather around her waist.

'What gives?' I asked, watching them.

'Probably a private party,' Toby said, inhaling part of his new drink. 'You know, bachelor parties and shit. They dance around, take off their clothes, sit on a few laps, and come back to the club a hundred bucks richer. Tiny lets them go when things are slow, like tonight.'

Tiny came out of the dressing room and looked angrily in the direction Amber had gone. Shaking his head, he went to the bar and talked to Nana, obviously asking her a question. Nana gave a negative, opening her hands to indicate her lack of information.

'Nana does that, too?' Somehow I didn't like the idea.

'Sure, champ. Who's Nana, anyway, the Virgin Mary? Believe it or not, I am going to make that girl happy with old Toby before we split tonight.' He sounded full of cocaine confidence.

'Give it a couple of days,' I said.

'It's a challenge. I'll do it if we have to stay here all night.'

Tiny came over from the bar and tapped Toby on the shoulder. He still looked upset. 'I need a minute,' he rumbled.

'Tiny,' Toby said, 'I can't leave my friend alone in this environment. He might get corrupted.'

'That's his problem,' Tiny said. 'Now, Toby.'

'Watch my drink,' Toby said to me, getting up to follow Tiny.

I hit my own drink lightly. I had a feeling it was going to be a long night. The record ended, the girls left the stage, and Nana sat down next to me. 'Give me a gulp,' she said. 'Some nights are rougher than others.' I watched the fine working of her throat as she swallowed several times. 'I think Tiny caught her,' she said, lowering the glass. 'Whoo, is he mad.'

'I don't think I'd get into a fight with Tiny,' I said, 'if I could borrow somebody else's body.'

'Borrow Toby's,' she said absently.

'So tell me about the parties.'