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merit were The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey , while the man argued vehemently against her, the noise finally stopped. The man left, the stereo washed out the sounds of her cleaning, and then she popped her head into the back area.
    Lamar said, “I don’t want to know. Like, none of it.”
    Deb faked a scowl. “You guys get lunch yet?”
    Mike set down his paintbrush. “Seriously?”
    “Yeah, I’m hungry. That was hard work!”
    Lamar said, “Girl, you just cut up a dude’s dick! How in the fuck you gonna eat?”
    “Well I wasn’t going to get hot dogs, if that makes you feel any better.”
    Mike said, “I guess I could eat.”
    “There is some seriously messed up shit happening in here,” Lamar said. “Seriously. How could you two even think about food right now? I feel sick just sitting here.”
    “What do you want?”
    “Did that new Mexican place open yet?”
    “Have Becky give them a call.”
    Deb stuck her head out of the doorway and screamed, “Becky, call that Mexican joint!”
    She called back, “OK!”
    Lamar and Mike stared at her as Deb sat at the table. Mike said, “I could’ve done that. I meant walk down there and see if she could call.”
    “My way is more efficient.”
    “Louder, too.”
    “See? It’s better in a couple of different ways.”
    Becky screamed from the lobby, “They’re still closed!”
    “Well Mexican’s out, then,” Deb said. “Too bad, I wanted some flautas.”
    “How about pizza?” Becky screamed from the lobby again.
    Deb yelled back, “I’m sick of pizza!”
    Mike said, “How about Chinese?”
    Lamar interrupted: “So we’re all just gonna yell now?”
    Becky called from the front, “How about Chinese?”
    Deb yelled back, “That’s what Mike just said!”
    “I’ll get the menu!”
    Lamar, sitting now with his hands over his ears, finally lowered them. “Done?”
    “I think so. You want some Chinese?”
    He sighed. “Fine. But y’all seriously don’t need to be yelling.”
    “Cool. Is the menu in the filing cabinet?”
    Mike said, “Yes.”
    “Hey, Mike?”
    “Yeah?”
    “You want to go see a movie at the UICA? They’re showing Happiness . I’ll get the menu.”
    Deb left the room. Lamar leaned back in his seat and stared at Mike.
    Mike said, “Don’t start.”
    “Dude.”
    “Don’t start.”
    “Dude, for real. Her?”
    “We’re just friends.”
    “Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re finally doing something, but Mike, she is crazy. Crazy crazy. Crazy.”
    “She’s nice. There’s a lot she doesn’t show.”
    “She just cut a man’s dick in half. That makes you crazy. Don’t even discuss that with me.”
    “It’s nothing right now anyways—we’re just friends.”
    “Mike?”
    “Yeah?”
    “What in the hell is the UICA?”
    “I suppose I’ll find out tonight.”

CHAPTER TEN
    The UICA, as it turned out, was an acronym for the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts. It was an art gallery/indie movie theater that Mike was surprised to find was located less than a couple of miles from the shop. They took a cab there, passing most of the same things they’d seen after they’d left Founders. Deb sat next to Mike in the cab, close but not close enough to be suggestive of anything more than companionship. They probably smelled like essence of doctor’s office to anyone but each other, but beneath that thick veneer of disinfectant, Mike could smell what remained of her perfume and even that deeper scent of her . He was quite happy to be sitting next to her, even in a cab on the way to a movie he knew nothing about, at a venue he’d never heard of.
    “That was pretty good grub.”
    “Yeah, not too bad. There’s a little place in a suburb south of here that’s even better.”
    “We should go sometime.”
    “Maybe we will. So what’s this movie about?”
    “It’ll be better the less you know.”
    “Have you seen it before?”
    “Yeah, it came out a while ago. I saw it when I was just out of high