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name?”
   I released the breath I’d been holding and said, “Nope, I sure don’t.”
   “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I told him you don’t even have a brother.”
   “That’s right. Must have been one of those crazy nut jobs.”
   “I guess so. You’re getting to that place where they’re starting to notice you, I suppose. Time to start being careful.”
   “Right.” I faked a yawn. “Well, thanks for telling me, Franz. I’m exhausted though. I’ll call you in the morning?”
   “You do that, babe. Sleep tight.”
   “I will. Goodnight.”
   “Night.”
   Though I really had been sleepy before his call, by the time I was hanging up, I was wide awake.

31

   At the age of 22, after 7 years of struggling, I finally had my “big break.”
   It came in the unlikely form a cable TV show called “Exquisite Afterlife.” Finally, I had a script in my hands that I genuinely loved. It was funny, but in a smart way, serious, but not sappy, tooth-decaying syrup.
   The premise was this: a band of Mues, one of each kind, are killed in a plane crash and returned to Earth in the form of angels to try to save the other victims of the crash and figure out the evil government conspiracy behind it.
   It didn’t make too much sense if you thought about it too hard, but it was still entertaining with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.
   Plus, I was working with two very well known, very respected actors: Dove Sabotka, one of the worlds most famous Unie Mues, was hired to play the head angel Woodrow. As you already know, Dove could morph his limbs into any shape or color he desired, which was perfect for his character. Gorgeous purple Skin Lavinia Camano would be playing his second in command, Jardena. That alone was enough to make me ecstatic, but our entire ensemble cast was phenomenal. There was myself, playing the wisecracking, gum-chewing Outie angel Star, David Fredrickson would be the not-so-bright Split angel, Sacheverell and for the chilly but beautiful four-armed angel, they cast the Norm, Lucia Housner.
   David, Lucia and I were all relative unknowns but the producers told us we had “youth appeal.” We didn’t give a shit what they said; we were just stoked.
   And so began the long lustrous chapter of my story called “Exquisite Afterlife.”
   It was easily the best chapter yet.

32

   I was not prepared for the amount of work that went into producing a fifty-minute once a week cable show.
   My mornings now began at 4:00 am, with a 6:00 am makeup call. I was picked up every day in a white Lincoln Towncar by a driver named Lotus. Lotus was fairly amusing. She had no idea who I was or what was going on. She saw the place where I lived and clucked her teeth in sympathy. I agreed with her that it was a dump and hoped that the show would do well and I could finally move to a real place and not be afraid that I’d have to move right back to the slums again.
   Every day, I was happy to get up and go to work, but I was also happy when, at midnight or later, Lotus dropped me off and we said our goodnights. It took a long time to adjust to the exhaustion and even longer to adjust to the fame that was suddenly mine. Of the three of us newbies, I think I had the hardest time coming to terms with it, but David wasn’t the greatest at it either. Lucia seemed fairly comfortable with the insanity, maybe because she’d always expected it.
   The cast and crew of Afterlife became my new family, the only one I’d known since my carnival days. We instantly bonded with each other and I took a particular liking to Lavinia, who played a tough bad-ass angel on the show but in reality was the sweetest Uni I’d ever met in my life. Whenever I watched her work, her delicate purple skin so perfect for the camera, those high cheekbones, I knew I was watching a legend. Of course, she was too young to be a legend back then, but she still