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with her eyes closed. She opened them and slowly leaned forward to sit on the edge of the couch. “David was here early this morning. Today was still on TV, so it was early.” Lissa slowly looked down and saw the body and gasped. “What the ... who’s that ?” she said, her voice breathy.
    “That’s right,” Rob said, frowning. “I’ve got a fuzzy memory of David being here.”
    Sherry said, “What’s he doing here now ?”
    “Well, he’s ... dead,” Philpott said.
    “But who is he?” Lissa said as she stood.
    “We don’t know,” Philpott said.
    “Well ... what are we supposed to do ?” Sherry said.
    Timidly, Lissa said, “Call the police?”
    Sherry said, “We can’t call the police, Lissa, there’s a fuckin’ meth lab in the other room.”
    “Oh, yeah,” Lissa whispered.
    “And we’re stoned,” Sherry said.
    “Hey, I’m not stoned,” Rob said. “I gotta go, anyway.” He started looking around for his shoes.
    “What?” Sherry said. “You can’t leave.”
    “I brought you, Lissa,” Rob said as he put his shoes on. “You comin’ with me now?”
    “No, you guys can’t leave!” Sherry said. “We have to wait till Andy gets back. Andy’ll know what to do. Don’t go!”
    “I gotta go,” Rob said. “You comin’, Lissa?”
    “I-I don’t know,” Lissa said. She put a hand to the side of her head, as if it hurt.
    “Come on, Lissa, you can’t  go,” Sherry said. “You, either, Rob. You have to stay till Andy comes back.”
    “No, I don’t need this shit,” Rob said. “C’mon, Lissa, let’s go.”
    “But I don’t wanna leave Sherry here with this.”
    “Fine, then, stay. But I’m goin’.” Rob went to the door and opened it as he fished his keys from his pocket. Outside, it was dark. “I’ll see you guys later.” He pulled the door closed after him.
    They heard his car door open, then close, heard his engine start.
    “I can’t believe he left,” Sherry said quietly. “I mean, we, we’ve got a-a dead body on the floor, and he, he just leaves .”
    “Please cover him up,” Lissa said.
    “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea,” Sherry said as she bent down and tossed the blanket over the staring body.
    “I’m hungry,” Philpott said.
    “How can you eat now?” Sherry said.
    “My stomach’s growlin’, that’s how.”
    “Well, have some cereal, or somethin’. Help yourself.”
    “What are you gonna do?” he said.
    Sherry sighed. “Wait for Andy to get back. I don’t know what else to do. Maybe Andy will.”
    Philpott nodded and said, “Yeah, he probably will. When’s he coming back?” He went to the cupboard, got a bowl and a box of Cap’n Crunch, poured the cereal into the bowl, then went to the refrigerator for milk.
    “I don’t know,” she said, thinking, Not soon enough.
    “What are we gonna do with him?” Lissa said, her eyes puffy. “I mean, if we take him to the hospital, they’re gonna wanna know who we are. They’ll ask about our connection to him, they’ll wanna know who he is, they’ll ask – “
    ” Stop it , Lissa!” Sherry snapped. She raised her hands and buried her fingers in her hair on both sides of her head. “Just stop it , please. My God , I need a cigarette. And a drink.”
    Sherry went to the end table, found her Marlboros, and lit one up with a red butane lighter.
    Philpott stood leaning on the kitchen counter and ate his cereal.
    “I wish I’d gone with Rob now,” Lissa said, her voice quavering. She turned and stared down at the long lump in the blanket on the floor.
    “I’m sorry, Lissa,” Sherry said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m ... tense. I really appreciate you stayin’ here with me. Both of you, thank you for stayin’, really.”
    Philpott put his cereal down and held up a half-full bottle of tequila. “You serious about having that drink?”
    “Yeah,” Sherry said. She went to the kitchen, took a glass from the counter and rinsed it out. She held out the glass and Philpott