document. ‘At least your mother just wants you to do a folk dance at your wedding,’ I said to Hermyn. ‘Mine thinks I’m a drug addict.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I like to take walks by the river.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Welcome to the Wonderful World of Sydney.’ I saw two new letters in my mailbox, and sure enough, the first was from my mom. I recognized the subject line as a chapter title from Your Spiritual Lifeboat : ‘Healthy Habits Are the Oars.’ I didn’t bother opening it.
The second one bore an unfamiliar return address: ER425160 at one of the major Internet providers, and the subject line was blank. When I opened it up, I saw just one word on the screen: Your . It was probably a mistake - some disgruntled Addie patron, angry at me over the theater’s ‘no refund’ policy, someone who had started to write Your rules are unfair , or Your policies leave much to be desired, or Your job is history and had hit the send button too early. All of us got angry e-mails, especially since Addie had opened.
There were, however, two unusual things about this note. The first was that I hadn’t had a run-in with a customer in over a week and a half - and that person, a Southern woman who had actually accused Roland and me of pocketing her money to finance ‘that disgusting May-December thing y’all have going on,’ had already sent us a nasty letter, by regular mail, from West Virginia. The second was that the word your was centered on the screen.
‘Happy days, kids!’ said Roland. He was smiling, a rare sight, particularly lately.
Shell said, ‘Did you fire St. Germaine?’
dth height="1em" width="1em" align="justify"> ‘No, my dear. He’s gone home. We’re canceling Addie . And you’ve all got a week off, paid.’
I sensed movement in the courtyard, and when I looked out the window I saw several cast members leaving the theater in their street clothes.
‘Yes!’ said En. Hermyn let out a huge whoop. Shell said, ‘You’re shitting me.’
‘I’m going to miss you guys.’ After I said it, I realized I wasn’t being sarcastic.
‘How about helping me close up?’ said Roland.
‘Sure.’ I wondered why Yale had left so quickly. Probably to avoid me, but at least it wasn’t to meet Peter. He says no one’s worth the company I keep .
‘Miranda! Miranda!’ Shell said into the ticket window microphone. She’d been peering out the window over my shoulder, and her voice was like broken glass in my ears. ‘Miraaaanda!’
Miranda, an actress who naturally possessed the blond, patrician looks Shell strove for, played Dewey Dell in Addie and had made the mistake of introducing herself to the box office staff at the start of the show’s run.
Having seen All About Eve several times too many, Shell thought that the quickest route to stealing the part for herself was to glom onto Miranda like some sort of deranged fan, shrieking her name whenever she passed the box office, which had been happening less and less. I watched the young actress, her shiny, butterscotch hair backlit by a streetlight, shielding her face with a black glove as she pretended to search for something near the heel of her boot.
‘Why don’t you give it a rest?’ I said. ‘The show is over, so you’re not going to get the part.’
Shell was already out the door.
‘I can’t believe she wanted to play that part in that show at this theater,’ En said as he buttoned up his coat. ‘Imagine aiming that low and still not getting what you’re after.’
I emptied the thin envelopes, made a small pile of unclaimed will-call tickets, and placed them in the drawer. ‘Do you want me to enter these into the computer?’ I asked Roland.
‘Nah, I’ll do it later. Just make a sign for the door, if you would, and I’ll see ya next week.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Don’t be late.’
‘I’m sorry, Roland. It won’t happen again.’
‘I know it won’t. It wasn’t like
‘Why?’
‘Because I like to take walks by the river.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Welcome to the Wonderful World of Sydney.’ I saw two new letters in my mailbox, and sure enough, the first was from my mom. I recognized the subject line as a chapter title from Your Spiritual Lifeboat : ‘Healthy Habits Are the Oars.’ I didn’t bother opening it.
The second one bore an unfamiliar return address: ER425160 at one of the major Internet providers, and the subject line was blank. When I opened it up, I saw just one word on the screen: Your . It was probably a mistake - some disgruntled Addie patron, angry at me over the theater’s ‘no refund’ policy, someone who had started to write Your rules are unfair , or Your policies leave much to be desired, or Your job is history and had hit the send button too early. All of us got angry e-mails, especially since Addie had opened.
There were, however, two unusual things about this note. The first was that I hadn’t had a run-in with a customer in over a week and a half - and that person, a Southern woman who had actually accused Roland and me of pocketing her money to finance ‘that disgusting May-December thing y’all have going on,’ had already sent us a nasty letter, by regular mail, from West Virginia. The second was that the word your was centered on the screen.
‘Happy days, kids!’ said Roland. He was smiling, a rare sight, particularly lately.
Shell said, ‘Did you fire St. Germaine?’
dth height="1em" width="1em" align="justify"> ‘No, my dear. He’s gone home. We’re canceling Addie . And you’ve all got a week off, paid.’
I sensed movement in the courtyard, and when I looked out the window I saw several cast members leaving the theater in their street clothes.
‘Yes!’ said En. Hermyn let out a huge whoop. Shell said, ‘You’re shitting me.’
‘I’m going to miss you guys.’ After I said it, I realized I wasn’t being sarcastic.
‘How about helping me close up?’ said Roland.
‘Sure.’ I wondered why Yale had left so quickly. Probably to avoid me, but at least it wasn’t to meet Peter. He says no one’s worth the company I keep .
‘Miranda! Miranda!’ Shell said into the ticket window microphone. She’d been peering out the window over my shoulder, and her voice was like broken glass in my ears. ‘Miraaaanda!’
Miranda, an actress who naturally possessed the blond, patrician looks Shell strove for, played Dewey Dell in Addie and had made the mistake of introducing herself to the box office staff at the start of the show’s run.
Having seen All About Eve several times too many, Shell thought that the quickest route to stealing the part for herself was to glom onto Miranda like some sort of deranged fan, shrieking her name whenever she passed the box office, which had been happening less and less. I watched the young actress, her shiny, butterscotch hair backlit by a streetlight, shielding her face with a black glove as she pretended to search for something near the heel of her boot.
‘Why don’t you give it a rest?’ I said. ‘The show is over, so you’re not going to get the part.’
Shell was already out the door.
‘I can’t believe she wanted to play that part in that show at this theater,’ En said as he buttoned up his coat. ‘Imagine aiming that low and still not getting what you’re after.’
I emptied the thin envelopes, made a small pile of unclaimed will-call tickets, and placed them in the drawer. ‘Do you want me to enter these into the computer?’ I asked Roland.
‘Nah, I’ll do it later. Just make a sign for the door, if you would, and I’ll see ya next week.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Don’t be late.’
‘I’m sorry, Roland. It won’t happen again.’
‘I know it won’t. It wasn’t like
Similar Books
