"You had no right coming into my room without my permission," I fired back at him.
"Really? And I suppose you girls have a right to climb the fire escape to the rooms above?" he asked, his eyes lifting toward the ceiling.
"This is trespassing," I charged. He shrugged.
"And what you're doing isn't? We were all told what was and wasn't off-limits here."
He shrugged.
"I suppose you could always tell on me. Ms. Fairchild and Madame Senetsky would call me on the carpet and I would have to describe this scene, I guess. Whatever you want. Maybe we should march down to Ms. Fairchild's quarters right now. What do you think?"
He started for the door, put his hand on the knob, and turned.
"Well?"
"You're a real bastard. Howard," Cinnamon said.
"Is there any other kind?' he countered. "So, what will it be, girls?" he asked after we all looked at each other. "Am I going to be brought in on this or do I have to conduct a more elaborate investigation? Is Steven in on it?" he added quickly.
"No. Steven is not poking his nose into our business. thank you," Rose said.
"That's his choice. I have more of an inquisitive mind. It's part of what makes me a good actor."
"No, what makes you a good actor is your ability to be two- faced," Ice said.
We all laughed. Howard's smile wilted.
"What's going on here?" he demanded. 'And don't give me any junk about Honey's love affairs."
The three of us looked at Cinnamon. She considered and then nodded.
"Okay, Howard. Well tell you all of it, but if you say anything to anyone else. you'll make big trouble for yourself as well as us, believe me," she warned.
He suddenly looked more worried than arrogant.
"So, if you still insist on knowing..." she continued.
"I insist," he said.
"All right," she said, and she began to tell him everything.
"I want to see her' he decided when Cinnamon concluded.
Rose, Ice. and I sat on my bed and let Cinnamon relate the story. Howard sat in the chair and listened, looking from her to us every once in a while to be sure what she was describing was not something she was making up on the spot. Our glares, half angry, half interested in his reaction, affected him.
"You can't see her. Howard. As far as we know, they don't take her out of the house. They don't bring her downstairs, unless it's done very late when we're all asleep or something," Cinnamon explained.
"I'll just go up when you go up again," he decided.
"Who said we're going up there ever again?" Ice asked him. He smiled, looked from her to the rest of us, and nodded.
"You will. I can see it in your faces. Well," he said, rising and pondering. "I have to admit this is very interesting, more interesting than I had
imagined."
"If you do anything, say anything, we'll all get thrown out of here. Howard, including you, now that you know it all!" Cinnamon emphasized.
He shook his head. "I doubt it."