“That’s nice. I want some more a that when I get back.”
He stood and she said, “Hurry back.”
Andy left the trailer. A moment later, she heard his pickup truck start. A moment after that, he backed out, then drove away.
Sherry licked her lips, then smacked them. Now she could function. She stood and prodded one of the lumps on the floor with her bare foot. “Okay, who’s on my floor?” she said. “C’mon, guys, it’s – “ She looked at the clock on the VCR. “ – it’s almost nine-thirty. It’s nighttime, guys.”
The bodies began to stir on the floor. Blankets shifted and a head popped up from beneath one of them.
“Lissa?” Sherry said.
“What?”
“Hi. I’d forgotten you were here.”
Lissa smiled, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She smacked her lips and rubbed her eyes. Looked like Lissa was feeling pretty gummy, too. She had short dark hair and a round face and was plump. Lissa and Sherry had been friends since high school.
“Who else is here, anyway?” Sherry said.
“Rob. Remember? And Philpott.”
“I remember Rob being here. When did Philpott come?” His name was Sherman, but everybody called him by his last name, Philpott.
“I dunno. Oh, and some guy.”
“Some guy?”
“Yeah, some guy, I dunno who he is.” She nudged the body beside her with a knee. “Come on, guys, wake up. It’s late.”
“You want some more, Lissa?” Sherry said.
“Oh, yeah.”
Sherry opened her kit as Lissa got up on the couch beside her. Sherry went through all the motions.
“Oh, God,” Philpott groaned as he slowly rolled over and peeled the blanket back. “My back.”
“What?” Rob said.
“My back. It’s in pain. From sleeping on the floor. How long’ve I been down here, anyway?”
“All day,” Lissa said as Sherry injected the needle. “No wonder your back hurts. Mine doesn’t feel so good, either.” Her voice became quieter and quieter and her head fell back on the cushion, and a big, slow smile spread over her face. “Mmm,” she said, and it sounded like a cat’s purr.
Sherry pulled the needle out and put her things away in the black vinyl kit.
“What the hell is this ?” Philpott said.
“Oh, God,” Rob said.
Sherry looked down at the boys and tried to focus on what they were looking at.
There was one remaining lump beneath a blanket. A corner of the blanket was pulled back, and there was a puddle of something on the dirty old cigarette-burned beige carpet, something white and foamy and lumpy that disappeared under the blanket.
“Hey, dude,” Philpott said. “Wake up.” He reached over and shook the body beneath the blanket, but it did not respond.
Philpott grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it back in one quick movement.
A young man in his early twenties, their age, lay on the floor on his side with his mouth and eyes open. The foamy substance clung to his lips and chin. He’d vomited it onto the floor. He stared at nothing with dull, flat, milky eyes. His face was pale with a sick, yellowish hue, his messy hair dark.
“Holy shit !” Philpott said as he scrambled to get to his feet and get away from the body.
“Oh, God,” Rob said as he got on hands and knees, then stood.
Sherry gasped and shot to her feet, still holding her kit. She swayed a little unsteadily, then found her footing. “Who is that?” she said. “What ... what happened ?”
Rob said, “It looks like ... he O.D.’d.”
“Oh, dear Jesus,” Sherry whimpered as she pressed both fists to her chin and dropped her kit to the floor. “But who is he?”
“Didn’t he come here with David this morning?” Philpott said.
“When was David here?” Sherry said.
They stared at the corpse for a while – all but Lissa, who sat slumped on the couch, her eyes closed.
Sherry tried to speak, but only croaked like a little frog. She did not recognize the pale, dead young man on the floor.
“Yeah, he was here,” Lissa said, still slumped on the couch