Chapter Thirteen
     By ten the next morning it was obvious to Earl that he'd made a big mistake. He was out of speed, having taken the last of it around five that morning, and it was impossible for him to stay awake. He was crashing and he knew from experience that he was coming down hard and soon.
     In addition to the aches and pains that resulted from the fight a couple days earlier, Earl's jaw ached from having been clenched and stressed for the last few days. His balls hurt from having sat up all night beating off to the unexpected and delightful display that Vicky had given him, and his throat was raw and parched. It was always like this near the end of the run, Earl thought, all except the aching balls. His body had been thrashed, both by the fight and by the speed, and his eyes burned and his tongue was swollen and felt as if it would crack.
     The main thing, though, was that Earl's brain was no longer working. It needed rest, he knew, and the difficulty he had focusing his eyes or his attention was a sure sign that he needed to either sleep or get more speed. Whenever he moved his head it would take a moment or two for his consciousness to catch up, and Earl found himself yawning, long and frequently.
     He popped off his helmet and went over to the office, where Ed was working on some papers.
     "Say, Ed, gotta minute?" Earl asked. When his boss looked up, Earl continued. "I need a favor."
     Ed leaned back in his chair and laid his hands on the top of his desk. "What's up?"
     "I'm not feeling real good," Earl said. "I think I need to go home."
     "You look like shit."
     "Yeah, I bet. I hope it's not a flu or something. We got that whole job for BCS to get done by Friday."
     Ed looked at Earl. "Ya wanna take the rest of the day off?" he asked.
     "Yeah, I think I better. And I got another favor."
     "What's that?"
     "Can ya give me an advance on my pay? I only need twenty bucks or so to get some medicine at the drug store."
     Ed smiled. "Yeah, you've earned it," he said as he pulled a couple twenties from his pocket and lay them on the desk. "But, God, you do look like hell."
     "That's how I feel," Earl said, scooping up the money. "Hey, thanks," he said as he put the money in his wallet.
     "Just rest up, okay?" Ed said. "And I hope you feel better." He gave another grin and went back to his papers and Earl walked out to his car. He waved good-bye to Mark, and drove past the Single Spire Motel, past the next block where the Screeching Falcon titty bar was, and down to the next block where there was a small market.
     Earl bought a loaf of bread, a quart of milk, a coupe cans of beer and some cold cuts before driving back home. At this hour he was able to find a parking spot inside the lot and he parked his car and entered his room.
     He ripped open the bag and made a quick sandwich piled high with the bologna and salami. He didn't have any butter, but washed the sandwich down with the milk.
     Earl was still wired enough to not have any appetite, but he knew that he needed to eat since he hadn't had anything since the bowl of soup he'd had when he took Vicky out for their date. Even though he didn't want to eat, he took large bites and methodically moved his jaw up and down fifteen times before washing the food down. It was a mockery of eating, but one that Earl knew he had to do.
     When he finished the sandwich, he made another and repeated the chewing and washing down ritual. He'd gone through the milk and was now using one of the cans of malt liquor to move the food from his mouth to his stomach. When he finished the second sandwich and the other can of beer, Earl pulled off his boots and pants and wrapped himself in the sturdy bedcover. Within five minutes he was asleep.
     He slept right through the visit of the housecleaning lady, who didn't question why he hadn't answered his knock. When she opened the door and saw him passed out on the bed, she closed the door quickly and went off to the next room. It wasn't unusual in the Single Spire to have patrons dead to the world at one in the afternoon.
     He woke up around ten that evening, and made and ate two more sandwiches, finishing off the cold cuts. He was able to chew and swallow these normally and as soon as he'd eaten them he laid down and went right back to sleep.
     This time he slept right through Vicky's knock when she came home and didn't notice Perris coming by and knocking, either.
     His alarm woke him early the next morning, but Earl only called Ed and said he was still sick and rolled back over and went back to sleep.
     When he next woke up, around ten the next morning, got dressed and found a note on his door.
     "Where are you?" someone had written, and Earl thought it looked like a woman's writing. Under it, in a more masculine hand, someone else had written "We need to talk," and Earl figured that Perris had done that one.
     He stuffed the note in his back pocket and drove off down the street away from the liquor store and down past the Screeching Falcon and the small market. He went, instead, to a coffee shop a block or two further down and ordered a large stack of pancakes and an extra side of hash browns. After devouring that, Earl picked up a half pint of whiskey and a couple cans of beer and made it back to the Single Spire Motel.
     He crawled back into bed and it was early evening when he woke back up. He'd been sleeping for a day and half and was hungry, but felt pretty good. He took a shower and was pleased with how his wounds had healed and in spite of being stiff with sleep, no longer had any soreness from the fight.
     He shaved around his beard and noticed that his lip was mostly back in one piece, but knew that he would have a scar. His nose still hurt if he pushed on it, but his eyes were no longer black and Earl decided that he was as good as ever. The cut in his stomach was healing up nicely, too, and he realized that he'd never bandaged it since buying the pads.
     Earl slipped into his clothes and drove back to the coffee shop, this time having steak and eggs with biscuits and gravy. He felt even better after eating, and drove slowly back to the motel. He got his spot in the lot back, and walked over to the liquor store before going back to his room.
     Perris was behind the counter, waiting on a couple teenagers, and when they were done he called Earl over.
     "Hey," Earl said. "What's up?"
     "Where were you last night? I came by after work because I thought you wanted to see me."
     "Yeah," Earl said. "I got your note."
     "It looked like Vicky came by, too," Perris said. "I ended up going over to her place and we talked."
     "Sorry," Earl apologized. "I guess I missed you guys. Anything new?"
     "I've got some news about Scott," Perris said. "Can we swing by your place after work and talk?"
     "Sure. I'll be there tonight." Earl figured that the "we" referred to Perris and Vicky. He picked up a six back of beer and a quart of water.
     Earl went back to his room and called Gerry, his dealer. After a short talk, Gerry agreed to front Earl a quarter gram and said he'd be by with it later.
     Earl took some beer and headed out to the front of the motel to wait for Gerry to show up. As he sat on the sidewalk, leaning against the building and watching the cars pass. He wondered what was up with Vicky and what she wanted to talk about last night when she left the note.
     He smiled at the thought of her maybe wanting another verification of her looks and wondered if he missed a second show. He doubted that, but was still unsure why it happened in the first place. He'd never had anything like that happen before, not with a relative stranger and wondered if Perris had gotten the same treatment last night when he'd visited her.
     It shouldn't have bothered Earl if she did, but it did. He wasn't in love with her or anything like that and didn't really have any claim on her, but Earl wanted to think that there was something special about the show, something that demonstrated that she valued his opinion and considered him a close friend.
     It was important for Earl to be respected. He got the feeling a lot of the time that most people simply tolerated him and maybe even considered him a loser. He didn't have much to combat that with, he knew. He was fat, and a lot of people could never see beyond that. Earl knew there was more to him than just being a fat guy, but too many people started and stopped with that one feature.
     Perris, Earl thought, may be one of those. He'd never shown any interest in Earl until he wanted him for the fight. Earl had been going to the liquor store once or twice a day and certainly knew Perris by sight and by name, but the two had never talked until he came by that night when Scott and he had been fighting.
     He thought about how eager Perris had been to arrange the fight and be his buddy then, and contrasted it with how cold and distant he'd been when Earl and Vicky had run over to the store the other night.
     Now Perris was all interested in seeing Earl, and Earl could only imagine that Perris needed another favor. He wasn't sure if he wanted Perris as a friend, or if he even really liked him, but he had the feeling that something more was going to be asked of him.
     He was thinking about Perris's troubles with the house and wondered if that had become an issue with him and his frat brothers. Earl was wondering if they'd found out about him yet when he saw Gerry coming down the sidewalk from his parking place in the liquor store lot.
     Earl heaved himself to his feet and they went to his room to do the deal. A minute or so later, after shaking hands and Earl's promising to call Gerry Friday with the money, Gerry took off and Earl shot himself up.
     He went back out front of the motel to finish watching the evening sky darken into blackness and to smoke a bowl of weed. Earl was happy again, feeling powerful and excited and he was no longer thinking about his worth or worried about how people saw him.
     It was getting cold out and in spite of the speed, Earl was uncomfortable. He stood up and got in his car and drove off. He was thinking about Perris's comment about "we" coming over and wanted to have something on hand if Vicky was coming by. He drove over to the drugstore and picked up a small bottle of rum, some Coke, and found a small candle holder thing that had a small glass fairy on it that he thought Vicky might like.
     He had about ten dollars left after paying for his purchases, and stopped off at the Screaming Falcon on his way back home. He took a seat in the back, by the bar, and nursed a beer while watching several girls gyrate and pretend to dance on the stage. The girls not on the stage all stopped by to see how Earl was doing, but he knew that there was nothing special in their attention: they flirted with all the customers.
     Earl came here often enough to have some favorites, but none of the girls he particularly liked were here tonight. He was thinking about Vicky, and wondering what she would think of his coming here when Earl was interrupted by one of the dancers.
     "How ya doin' big fella?" Earl looked over to see Emerald, a girl about Vicky's age but with a much more manufactured face that still failed to hide the years and travels that had unkindly left their mark. Her body was more fit than Vicky's and wasn't hidden at all in the skimpy outfit that she had to wear of the stage.
     "Just kicking back," Earl said. He usually enjoyed the fantasy that the girls had any interest in him, but things were different with him now. He wasn't sure if it was all Vicky, or if it was because he was suddenly embroiled in a little drama with Scott and Perris, but the hollow, purchased attention of professional women with near-perfect bodies and shallow souls held no interest for him at the moment.
     "Would you like another beer?" Emerald asked and Earl gave her a smile and shook his head. He got to his feet and drove back home, but had to park out on the street since all the inside spots were taken.
     He carried his bags into his room and went to the bathroom to refresh his after-shave and brush his teeth. He examined his nose, which still looked off-center and swollen, and his eyes, which would no longer draw comment. He smiled at his reflection, deciding that if he had been the one displaying himself for Vicky, she would not have called him pretty.
     Earl returned to his room, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed on his bed. His cigar box was within reach, his beer was handy and cold, and so everything he needed or wanted to occupy him until his visitors came was handy.
     He switched on his small clock radio and listened to music and smoked, thinking and wondering about the past week. He was surprised that he had been doing that, and little else, when there was a knock at the door and he discovered that it was nearly eleven.
     Earl got up from the bed, brushed his hair back and straightened his shirt around his frame and opened the door expecting to see Vicky.
     He had a smile on his face, which made him look much more pleasant than he had the last time Simone had seen him. Earl was startled to see her standing there, tall, thin, and dark in charcoal gray pants, a pale yellow sweater, and a thin black leather jacket.
     "Hi," she said, and it sounded to Earl as if she felt as awkward as he did. "Remember me?"
     "Uh, yeah. You're Simone, right?"
     "Uh-huh. And you're Earl. Mind if I come in?"
     Earl stepped aside and let her walk into his room, which was the same thing as letting her walk into his life. "This is a quaint little place," she said after taking the two or three seconds needed to examine the room. "Mind if I sit down?"
     Earl nodded dumbly and watched Simone ease herself into a seat near the foot of the bed. She didn't sit back comfortably on it, but rather perched on the edge as if she might take flight at any moment.
     "This is your home?" she asked.
     Earl nodded, not so much because he was ashamed, but he was still too flabbergasted to speak. He didn't know Simone at all and had no idea why she was now sitting on his bed and making small talk.
     "Would you like a drink?" she offered and held up a bag that she'd carried in with her. "I'd like one, if you don't mind."
     She obviously wanted Earl to make her a drink and had brought all the things that she wanted him to use to make it. Earl took the bag, not certain if she'd brought it so as not to put him out or because she didn't trust him to have what she wanted. When he looked in the bag it was obvious that she brought over what she wanted and she was right if she'd thought that he wouldn't have any of these things.
     "You're a dear," she said sweetly as he began pulling the things from the bag. There was a bottle of Sapphire gin, a small bottle of Noilly Prat vermouth, a small jar of olives stuffed with pimentos, and a large bag of ice. The ice, Earl knew, would present a problem since he didn't have a freezer, but there was a small ice bucket in his bathroom that came with the motel room.
     He'd already washed all three of his glasses and had them ready and waiting on his nightstand. Two of them were alike and he chose the dissimilar one to prepare her martini.
     "I'm sorry I don't have any martini glasses," Earl said. "I hope you don't mind a tumbler."
     "No, that's fine," Simone said, slowly and carefully crossing her legs on top of hands. "And don't forget to fix one for yourself if you want one."
     "Thanks. I think I will."
     Earl mixed the martinis in the third glass, swirling the mixture around since he didn't have a shaker and seemed to remember that martinis shouldn't be stirred. He poured the drinks into the the two glasses and made a second batch to fill the drinking glasses up.
     "Here you go," he said, handing Simone her drink. After she took it he remembered the olives and dug a couple out of the jar with his fingers and dropped them in her drink.
     He didn't see Simone close her eyes at the action, and repeated it with his own. When he was done he held his glass out for a toast and she gently touched her glass to his before drinking.
     "Thank you," she said and gave Earl a little smile. He was a bit surprised by the potency of the drink and had a hard time believing that this is what Simone normally drank. He doubted that she would have more than one of these and wondered how many it would take to get her drunk. He also wondered how many it would take to get her to dance for him, but he doubted that would happen.
     "So, um, what brings you over?" he asked.
     "Don't you know?" Simone looked openly at Earl, and he was pleasantly surprised to see that she didn't look either hostile nor did she stare at him.
     "I have no idea."
     "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought Perris had told you."
     "He didn't say a thing, and I saw him earlier today."
     "Oh, well, this must seem a little strange to you, then. I was able to get a ride to his work from a friend who was going to the airport," she said. "But Perris didn't want me hanging around the liquor store all night with him." She took another sip and gave Earl an honest smile.
     "You make a good martini."
     "Thanks," Earl said. "It's my first. I guess it's beginner's luck."
     "Anyway, Perris didn't think I should stay at the liquor store, so he thought I should come over here. He's coming himself when he gets off, and then he'll take me home."
     "Oh, so you're not moving in and spending the night?" Earl joked.
     Simone blinked once, quickly, and hid her reaction in another sip of her martini. "No, not this time. Sorry."
     They spent the next half hour nursing their drinks, and Simone told Earl about how she had met Perris and that they'd been going together for the last year or so. She wasn't going to school, she had a job with the phone company doing customer service, which she described as answering questions and taking service orders.
     "Would you like another?" Earl asked when she finished her drink and she told him she did. He made another round of the martinis and this time Simone must have expected the fingers in the olive jar since she didn't wince when he repeated the action.
     While they finished the next drink Simone began easing back on the bed and was soon leaning back on it, supported by her elbows. She'd taken off her leather jacket and the turtleneck she was wearing was sleeveless and Earl was thinking that she had very skinny arms. Her skin was white and contrasted with her blue-black hair and Earl knew that no more beautiful woman had ever been in the Single Spire Motel.
     "You know that Perris may be in serious trouble over that little fight?" she asked.
     "You mean about the charter thing?"
     "Yes. It's all so silly," Simone said. "Nobody got hurt and I don't know why it should be such a big deal."
     "Nobody got hurt?" Earl repeated. "I lost three teeth among other things, and Scott's in the hospital with a broken back."
     "Well, none of the fraternity brothers," she explained. "You guys were supposed to get hurt. It was a fight."
     Earl swallowed a lot of his martini, and tried to make sense of her perspective. "It doesn't matter that we got whacked up as long as you guys enjoyed it?"
     "Oh, now, sweety, don't be like that," Simone said. She sat up and reached out to pat Earl on his arm, and he enjoyed the slight caress. "I only meant that none of the people in the house were shocked or hurt in any way, so it makes no sense to punish them."
     "Do you think they'll get in trouble?" Earl asked. He'd decided for the time being not to question her any more about who did or didn't get hurt.
     "It looks like it. I think so, yes." She finished her martini and waved the glass for another. There wasn't much gin left, so Earl didn't fix one for himself but just dumped the rest of the gin and a splash of vermouth in the glass, added a couple ice cubes, and strained them out with his hand when he poured it into her glass. This was the largest martini Earl had ever seen, and he wondered if she would be able to finish it.
     "Thank you, sweety," she oozed. Earl couldn't tell if she was drunk, but she was certainly getting there. He was glad that he was wired enough not to notice the effects of the alcohol.
     "So what's gonna happen if the word gets out?" Earl asked.
     "The way Perris puts it, there will be a notice from the University for them to all move out. The national, back in Pennsylvania, will kick them all out of Phi Psi Rho and they'll all be on the streets."
     "Holy shit. I hope that doesn't happen."
     "Me too. Imagine if Perris had to live in a place like this," Simone said, screwing her face up in disgust.
     "Yeah. Imagine that." Earl stood up and took his glass and the one he'd used for a pitcher into the bathroom to wash them. He knew that this wasn't a great place to live, in fact it was just a step off the streets, but he was hurt and mad that Simone had referred to it so poorly. He was rinsing and wiping the glasses when he felt a hand laid tentatively on his shoulder and when he turned around, Simone was directly behind him.
     Her eyes were glassy but looked to be full of contrition. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," she said meekly, and raised her chin to look Earl in the face.
     Earl didn't know why, and didn't think much about it, but he leaned forward the inch or two that separated them and kissed her full on the lips. To his surprise, she didn't recoil in horror, or even recoil at all but kissed him back intently.
     He reached around her, pulled her close, and was amazed that she didn't move to back up. He reached down and grabbed her ass, cupping her cheeks in his hand and all that Simone did was kiss him back with more passion than ever.
     Earl realized that Perris wouldn't like this much, and that made the kiss all the sweeter. He fenced with her tongue, massaged her ass, and reached his other hand under her sweater to find a breast and run his thumb over a hardening nipple beneath her thin bra when she broke off the kiss and stepped back.
     "Better?" she asked. "Am I forgiven?"
     Before Earl could answer, or even collect his thoughts, there was a knock at the door, and Simone and he exchanged a look before bursting out in laughter.