“That’s right,” Evelyn said, smiling at Amanda as if she’d won a prize. “Bowie was on Dinah last week with Fonzie from Happy Days.”
“I seen ’em.” Kitty ambled over to the couch and collapsed onto the cushions. Amanda didn’t know if it was the drugs or her circumstances that made the girl’s speech almost unintelligible. She sounded as if someone had turned upside down the entire Flannery O’Connor canon and shaken her out. “I don’member what’e sang.”
“You know, I don’t either.” Evelyn motioned for Amanda to check the rest of the place.
Amanda asked, “What am I looking for, back editions of Good Housekeeping?”
Evelyn smiled sweetly. “Wouldn’t that be funny if you actually found some?”
“Just hilarious.”
Reluctantly, Amanda did as she was asked, trying not to let her arms touch the walls of the narrow hallway as she walked to the back. The apartment was larger than her own. There was a proper bedroom separate from the living area. The door to the closet was off its hinges. Several torn black garbage bags seemed to hold the girl’s clothing. The bed was a pile of stained sheets wadded up on the carpet.
Impossibly, the bathroom was even more disgusting than the rest of the apartment. Black mold had replaced the grout in the tile. The sink and toilet were serving double duty as ashtrays. The trashcan was overflowing with used sanitary napkins and toilet paper. The floor was smeared with something Amanda didn’t want to know about.
Taking up every available surface were various personal grooming products, which, to Amanda’s thinking, was the very definition of irony. Two cans of Sunsilk hairspray. Four Breck shampoo bottles at varying levels. A ripped box of Tampax. An empty bottle of Cachet by Prince Matchabelli. Two open pots of Pond’s cold cream, both caked with a yellowed rind. Enough makeup to stock the Revlon counter at Rich’s. Brushes. Pencils. Liquid eyeliner. Mascara. Two combs, both clumped with hair. Three very well used toothbrushes sticking out of a Mayor McCheese drinking glass.
The shower curtain was torn from the hooks, giving the cockroaches in the tub a clear view of Amanda. They stared at her intently as she shuddered uncontrollably. She gripped her purse, knowing she was going to have to shake it out before she even thought about putting it in the car.
Back in the living room, Evelyn had moved on from Arthur Fonzarelli to the reason for their visit. “Andy Treadwell is your cousin or your brother?”
“Uncah,” the girl said, and Amanda assumed she meant the elder Andrew Treadwell. “Wha’ time it is?”
Amanda looked at her watch. “Nine o’clock.” She felt the need to add, “In the morning.”
“Shee-it.” The girl reached down between the couch cushions and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Amanda watched as, entranced, the girl studied the pack of Virginia Slims as if they’d just fallen like manna from heaven. Slowly, she took out a cigarette. It was bent at an angle. Still, she grabbed the matches off the table and with shaking hands lit the cigarette. She blew out a stream of smoke.
“I hear those will kill you,” Evelyn said.
“I’s waitin’,” the girl answered.
Evelyn countered, “There are faster ways.”
“You stick aroun’, you see how fast.”
Amanda detected an edge to the girl’s tone. “Why is that?”
“Them kids done seen ya pull up. My daddy gonna wanna know why two white bitches chattin’ me up.”
Evelyn said, “I think your uncle Andy is worried about you.”
“He want his dick suck again?”
Amanda exchanged a look with Evelyn. Most of these girls claimed an uncle or father had abused them. Around the sex crimes units they called it an Oedipal complex. Not technically correct, but close enough, and obviously a waste of police time.
Kitty said, “You cain’t arrest me. I ain’t did nothin’.”
“We don’t want to arrest you,” Evelyn tried again. “We were told by our sergeant that you’d been raped.”
“S’what I get pay for, ain’it?” She blew out another plume of smoke, this one straight into their faces.
Evelyn’s sunny disposition faltered. “Kitty, we need to speak with you and take a statement.”
“Ain’t ma problem.”
“All right. We’ll just leave then.” Evelyn snatched the bag of heroin off the coffee table and turned on her heel.
If Amanda hadn’t been so surprised to see Evelyn take the drugs, she would’ve been heading toward the door herself. As it was, she saw everything—the shock on the girl’s face, the way she sprang from the couch, fingers out like the claws on a cat.
Seemingly of its own volition, Amanda’s foot rose up. She didn’t trip the girl. She kicked her in the ribs, sending her straight into the stove. The blow was hard. Kitty slammed into the television, breaking off the stove door. The TV cracked against the floor. Tubes popped. Glass shattered.
Evelyn stared at Amanda in visible shock. “What was that?”
“She was about to jump you.”
“You certainly stopped her.” Evelyn knelt down on the floor. She took a handkerchief out of her purse and handed it to the girl.
“Bitches,” Kitty slurred. Her fingers went to her mouth. She pulled out one of her last remaining teeth. “Got damn bitches.”
Evelyn stood back up, probably thinking it wasn’t wise to kneel in front of an angry prostitute. Still, she said, “You need to tell us what’s going on. We’re here to help you.”
“ ’uck you,” the girl mumbled, fingers feeling around inside her mouth. Amanda saw old scars across her wrist where Kitty had tried to slice open the veins. “ ’et the ’uck outta ’ere.”
Evelyn’s voice turned hard. “Don’t make us drag you to the station, Kitty. I don’t care who your uncle is.”
Amanda thought of her car, the time it would take to wash away the grime from the back seat. She told Evelyn, “You can’t seriously be considering—”
“Like hell I’m not.”
“There’s no way I’m letting this—”
“Shut up!” the girl yelled. “I ain’t even Kitty. I’s Jane. Jane Delray.”
“Oh for the love of—” Amanda threw her hands into the air. All the terror she’d experienced on the stairwell turned into anger. “We don’t even have the right girl.”
“Hodge didn’t give a name. Just an address.”
Amanda shook her head. “I don’t know why we even listened to him. He’s been here less than a day. The same as you, I might add.”
“I was in uniform for three years before—”
“Why are you back?” Amanda demanded. “Are you here to do the job or is it something else?”
“You’re the one who wants to hightail it out of here.”
“Because this whore can’t tell us anything.”
“Hey!” Jane screamed. “Who you callin’ a whore?”
Evelyn looked down at the girl. Sarcasm dripped from her voice. “Really, darling? You want to make that argument now?”
Jane wiped the blood from her mouth. “Y’all ain’t from the gubmint.”