?What do you want?? Preacher said, his eyes still fixed on the television screen.
?My name is Mona Drexel, Preacher. We met once,? a voice replied.
?I don?t remember the name.?
?Liam is like a client of mine.?
He turned his head slowly and looked at her shadow on the frosted glass. ?Liam who??
?Eriksson.?
?Come in,? he said.
He smelled the cigarette odor on her clothes as soon as she entered the room. Against the outside light, her hair possessed the frizzy outline and color of cotton candy. The foundation on her face made Preacher think of an unfinished clay sculpture, the lines collapsing under the jaw, the mouth a bit crooked, the eye shadow and rouge both sad and embarrassing to look at.
?Can I sit down?? she said.
?You?re in, aren?t you??
?I heard that maybe people are looking for Liam because of this government check he took into one of these car-title loan places. I didn?t want to have my name mixed up in this, because I?m not really involved or a close friend of his. See, we had a few drinks, and he had this check, and he wanted to party some more, so I went along with him, but it kind of hit the fan for some reason, and Liam said we ought to get out of there, and he thought you were gonna be pissed off, but that was all over my head and not really my business. I just wanted to clear this up and make sure nobody has a misunderstanding. Since we?d already met, I didn?
?t think you?d mind me coming by to answer any questions you might have.?
?Why should I have questions for you??
?A couple of people told me this is what I should do. I didn?t mean to bother you during your program.?
Then she looked at the empty screen. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, out of breath and holding her hands in her lap, unsure of what she should say next. She placed one foot on the top of the other as a little girl might, chewing her lip.
?I don?t like touching the bedspreads in motels,? she said, half smiling. ?There?s every kind of DNA in the world imaginable on them, not that I mean this place is any worse than any other, it?s just the way all motels are, with unclean people using everything and not caring that other people are gonna use it later.?
The side of Preacher?s face was immobile, the eye that she could see like a marble pushed into tallow. ?Mona Drexel is my stage name,? she said. ?My real name is Margaret, but I started using Mona when I was onstage in Dallas. Believe it or not, it was a club Jack Ruby once owned, but you can call me whatever you want.?
?Where?s Liam now??
?That?s why I?m here. I don?t know. Maybe I can find out. I just don?t want to hurt anybody or have anybody think I?m working against them. See, I?m for people, I?m not against anybody. There?s a big difference. I just want everybody to know that.?
?I can see that,? he said.
?Can you turn down the volume on the television?? she said.
?Do you know what I do for a living??
?No.?
?Who told you I was staying at this motel??
?Liam said you use it sometimes when you?re in town. That noise is really loud.?
?That?s what Liam told you, did he??
?Yes,? she said. ?I mean, yes, sir, he just mentioned it in passing.?
?Do you know where Liam got the government check??
?No, he didn?t tell me. I don?t talk with clients about their personal business.?
?That?s a good way to be.?