The Trouble With Eden - Lawrence Block [8]
“Don’t be silly. No, I seem to be taking it pretty well. I suppose I’ll fall apart in a little while but maybe not. As a matter of fact, I was feeling really rotten all afternoon, and I came home to the note and immediately felt better.”
“Maybe you were picking up vibes this afternoon.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been very terrific at picking, up vibes.”
“Well, maybe—oh, shit.”
“What’s the matter?”
“He’s supposed to be lighting a show tonight. Marc. I don’t think he told anybody. It’s almost seven and the curtain’s at eight thirty and—can I use your phone?”
“Sure.”
“Just to call the Playhouse. Tony’s going to shit when he hears this.”
She paid little attention to the conversation. It did not much surprise her that Marc would leave without telling anyone at the theater. He had always been the sort to take his responsibilities seriously only while they affected him personally. Once he was out of New Hope, whatever difficulties his absence might cause simply would not occur to him.
Peter said, “Well, that’s a break. At least I think it is.”
“What?”
“They’re going to let me light the show.”
“That’s great.”
“I’ve done a couple of matinee performances of other shows, and I handled the board once during rehearsals of this one, so it shouldn’t be too rough. The thing is, I might get to do it regularly if it goes all right tonight.”
“You’ll be good.”
“I don’t have to be fantastic. Tony knows I’ll work for less than he would have to pay anybody else. I don’t know what Marc was getting but it must have been around eighty.”
“You’re close. He was getting eighty-five and felt he should have been getting a hundred and a half.”
“Josh Logan couldn’t get a hundred and a half out of Tony. He was doing good to get eighty-five. Now if he offers me the job, and he probably will, I’ll get fifty.”
“You shouldn’t take that little.”
“Well, I could probably get sixty if I fought, but I probably won’t fight. I should, but I probably won’t.” The boyish face flashed a smile. “The money doesn’t really matter. Gretch always has enough. I want to do the work, see. A few dollars one way or the other doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“That’s the trouble with the theater. Everybody wants the work.”
“And a son of a bitch like Tony gets away with slave wages. That’s why we have to scrounge, which leads to a question. How’s my chances of scrounging another cup of coffee?”
“Don’t you have to get over to the theater?”
“I have half an hour. Coffee keys me up and I want to be keyed up tonight. What I was going to do, I was going to go downstairs and take a pill, and I thought if I had another cup, I could get away without taking the pill. I don’t like to take uppers too much because I like them too much, if you follow me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You’re going to be okay, Linda.”
“I am?” She looked at him thoughtfully. “You’re right,” she said. “I was wondering about that before you came up. If I was going to be all right. And I think I am.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to stay here in New Hope.” She tilted her head back and gazed up at the ceiling. “Do you know, I didn’t know that until just this minute. I thought about going home or going back to New York, and I hardly considered staying here, but I’m going to. I came here last fall because Marc wanted to come here, but from the first day I liked it more than he did. Just because he’s left is no reason I should leave, is it?”
“No. I think you’re right to stay.”
“I think this is an easier place to be alone in.”
“Well, New York is supposed to be impossible.”
“Oh, it is. And I’ve had practice being alone here. The past few months.”
“I didn’t know it was bad.”
“Nobody ever knows. When I was married. Well, forget that.”
“Sure.”
“Why read something that’s gonna depress you?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Something someone said to me this afternoon, and she was absolutely right. I’m sorry, Peter, I’m talking to myself.”
“Say, I don’t suppose—no, of course not.”
“Now you’re talking to yourself.”
“No, the reason I was looking for Marc. He was going to sell me some dope,