30 for a Harry by Richard Hoyt

Author:Richard Hoyt
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781590772751
Publisher: M. Evans & Company

12

TIlE FIRST PLACE I TRIED was called “Mona’s Photographer’s Models” and was on the road to Sea-Tac Airport. Mona liked her name and had it painted huge and in hot pink. “Photographer’s Models” was smaller and in Day-Glo chartreuse. Class all the way. Mona did without windows. Nobody was parked in the asphalt lot. A sign on the door said Mona accepted MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.

I stepped inside. A blonde looked up from watching “As the World Turns” on a small black-and-white television set that had a problem with snow.

“I can’t marry Bob,” said a girl on the tube.

“Just a second, I don’t want to miss this,” said the blonde.

The TV girl’s male companion looked stunned. “You can’t marry Bob?”

“No,” said the girl. She was a looker. A tear formed on her cheek. The tear began to roll. So did the set. The blonde put it straight with a knob on the back.

“But why? Why?” said the man. He was a looker too. A stud.

“I can’t tell you,” said the girl.

“Goddamn,” said the real-life blonde who was watching the set, transfixed. She adjusted the set again.

“You can’t just skip out on the wedding without seeing Bob,” said the stud on the screen.

“I can and I will. I don’t have any choice,” said the girl. She looked like she was on the very verge.

The young man looked understanding. “I’m your friend, Val, you can tell me.” He looked tender.

“Is he going to play grab ass? Is that what’s next?” I asked the for-real blonde who was caught up in all this.

The blonde glared at me.

“Are you my friend, Derek? Are you?” asked the girl on the set.

Derek took Val’s hand. “I’m your friend, Val, and I’m Bob’s. I’ll do anything you ask. You know that. But you have to tell me why you aren’t going through with the wedding.”

Val looked stricken. The set began to roll.

“Fuck,” said the real-life blonde. She adjusted the set once more.

“I found a letter from Bob to his parents open on his dresser. Derek, he hadn’t told his parents or his sister about the wedding. He’s, he’s ashamed of me.”

The camera moved in on Derek’s face. He looked sincere and compassionate. There was suddenly an ad about floor wax. The blonde turned the sound down.

“No, he’s not gonna play grab ass. We don’t do that here either. We take all major credit cards and have cameras to rent. The girls are beautiful and professional.”

Sure they were.

“I’ve got my own camera.” I showed her my Nikon. “How many girls you got here this afternoon?”

The blonde was suddenly wary. “This is an on-the-level business. We provide professional models for serious art photographers.”

“Look, I’m not a cop. I just like variety, that’s all.”

The blonde relaxed. The ad was off and a brunette and a woman with a perfect face were on the tube. The woman with a perfect face strode nervously back and forth with a letter in her hand.

“She’s gone, Alice, gone. Bob is due here in a half an hour for his wedding and Val is gone.

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