Photoplay by Hallie Ephron

Author:Hallie Ephron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

DUANE WAS THE last to leave. He’d packed away his equipment and started to walk down the driveway back to his car when he heard girlish singing dissolving into laughter. Shrieks and giggles.

Deirdre and Joelen were on the lawn, silhouetted in the spotlights mounted at the corners of the house. Joelen had her arms out and her head pitched back as she spun around. She caught her foot on the hem of her dress and sat down hard. Meanwhile, Deirdre twirled, her arms forming an arch over her head as her skirt floated around her. She looked like an ethereal ballerina.

Duane rummaged in his bag for his camera, but before he could get it out, Deirdre had staggered to a halt. She doubled over, sank to her knees, and just hung there.

“Are you okay?” Duane heard Joelen ask.

Deirdre hiccupped. “I’m—­” She put her hand over her mouth. Burped. Spasmed. And threw up, vomit exploding from between her fingers. Even from a hundred feet away, Duane could smell it.

Doubled over, Deirdre vomited again. And again. Finally she just hung there for a few moments before falling over and lying facedown in the grass. “He said—­” The words came out in a croak. Duane moved closer so he could hear better. “He said they were Shirley Temples.”

“Tito?” Joelen said, crawling over to Deirdre.

Duane couldn’t hear the answer. Only Joelen’s next question. “Were they pink?”

“Huh?”

“The drinks. Were they pink?”

Duane didn’t need to hear the answer. After long pause, Joelen said, “The bastard. Did he do anything else?”

Deirdre started to cry.

Duane fought the urge to rush over and comfort her. If anything like this had happened to Susan, he’d have wanted to be there. To tell her that whatever had happened, it wasn’t her fault. Not that he’d ever let Susan dress up and swan about at a Hollywood party like some ingénue. But now that Susan was turning sixteen, soon she’d be driving and God knew what her mother would let her to get into in the back-­of-­beyond Maine. Reality was, Duane was going to miss the rest of his daughter’s firsts: good and bad, triumphs and traumas. He started to weep, and that’s when he realized just how soused he was. He’d lost count after the fifth shot. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose.

The girls were getting to their feet. With Joelen holding Deirdre up, they started for the house. Now that was a picture. But before Duane could get out his camera, the outdoor lights went out and the girls disappeared in shadow. A few moments later, a rectangle of light flashed—­the front door opening and closing. The lights in downstairs windows of the house went out. At last only a bank of upstairs windows was lit.

Duane sat on the lawn. He yearned for sleep. He lay down and closed his eyes. He’d rest just for a few moments, until the world stopped spinning and he’d regained his bearings. Then he’d drive home and close himself into his darkroom to develop the proofs he’d promised for tomorrow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.