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.He got her alone in the bedroom and slapped her around for a while, telling her it was her fault, that she had to know that she had to be where he could find her when he needed her.Gredel lay on her back on the bed, letting him do what he wanted, and she thought, This is going to be my whole life if I don't get out of here.She looked at the pistol Lamey had waiting on the bedside table for whoever he thought might kick down the door, and she thought about grabbing the pistol and blowing Lamey's brains out.Or her own brains.Or just walking into the street with the pistol and blowing out brains at random.No, she thought.Stick to the plan.Lamey gave her five hundred zeniths afterward.Maybe that was an apology.Sitting in the car later, with her bruised cheek swelling and the money crumpled in her hand and Lamey's slime still drooling down her thigh, she thought about calling the Legion of Diligence and letting them know where Lamey was hiding.But, instead, she told the boy to take her to a pharmacy near Caro's place.She walked inside and found a box of plasters that would soak up the bruises, and she took it to the drug counter in the back.The older woman behind the counter looked at her face with knowing sympathy.“Anything else, honey?”“Yes,” Gredel said.“Two vials of Phenyldorphin-Zed.”She was required to sign the Narcotics Book for the endorphin analog, and the name she scrawled was Sula.* * *Caro was outraged by Gredel's bruises.“Lamey comes round here again, I'll kick him in the balls!” she said.“I'll hit him with a chair!”“Forget about it,” Gredel said wearily.She didn't want demonstrations of loyalty from Caro right now.Her feelings were confused enough: she didn't want to start having to like Caro all over again.Caro pulled Gredel into the bedroom and cleaned her face, and then she cut the plasters to fit Gredel's face and applied them.She did a good enough job at sopping up the bruises and swelling so that the next day, when the plasters were removed, the bruises had mostly disappeared, leaving behind some faint discoloration, easily covered with cosmetics.Her whole face hurt, though, and so did her ribs and her solar plexus where Lamey had hit her.Caro brought Gredel breakfast from the café and hovered around her until Gredel wanted to shriek.If you want to help, she thought at Caro, take your appointment to the academy and get us both out of here.But Caro didn't answer the mental command.And her solicitude faded by afternoon, when she opened the day's first bottle.It was vodka flavored with bison grass, which explained the strange fusil-oil overtones Gredel had scented on Caro's skin the last few days.By mid-afternoon, Caro had consumed most of the bottle and fallen asleep on the couch.Gredel felt a small, chill triumph at this.It was good to be reminded why she hated her friend.Next day was Caro's phony Earthday.Last chance, Gredel thought at her.Last chance to mention the academy.But the word never passed Caro's lips.“I want to pay you back for everything you've done,” Gredel said.“Your Earthday is on me.” She put her arm around Caro.“I've got everything planned,” she said.* * *They started at Godfrey's for the full treatment, massage, facial, hair, the lot.Then lunch at a brass-railed bistro south of the arcades, bubbling grilled cheese on rare vashe roast and crusty bread, with a salad of marinated dedger flowers.To Caro's surprise, Gredel called for a bottle of wine, and poured some of it into her own glass.“You're drinking,” Caro said, delighted.“What's got into you?”“I want to toast your Earthday,” Gredel said.Being drunk might make it easier, she thought.Gredel kept refilling Caro's glass while sipping at her own, and so the first bottle went.Gredel took Caro to the arcades then, and bought her a summer dress of silk patterned with rhompé birds and jennifer flowers, a jacket shimmering with gold and green sequins, matching Caro's hair and eyes, and two pairs of shoes.She bought outfits for herself as well.After taking their treasures to Caro's place, where Caro had a few shots of the bison vodka, they went to dinner at one of Caro's exclusive dining clubs.Caro hadn't been thrown out of this club yet, but the maitre d’ was on guard enough to sit them well away from everyone else.Caro ordered cocktails and two bottles of wine and after-dinner drinks.Gredel's head spun even after the careful sips she'd been taking; she couldn't imagine what Caro must be feeling [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]