She turned over on her stomach and put her head down on the pillow. “Where’s Marcie?” “At home. Where else?” “What time is it? Oh, I asked you that. My head hurts.” “Take these, Mother,” he said, handing her some aspirin and a glass of water. “I don’t think I can swallow.” “That’s a chance you’ll have to take. Here we go.” He popped the pills into her mouth and gave her the water. She gulped them convulsively. “That’ll see you through till—” He looked at his watch. “—about noon. After that, take three more and a No-Doz tablet. And hit the sack tonight about six. It’s Friday. You can sleep for two days.” “I will, too.” She rolled gingerly to a sitting position, and looked at Jack with aching eyes. “You did this to me,” she said mournfully. “Be fair, Mother. I said I’d go whenever you wanted to. I kept asking and you kept saying no.” She stared at him, disbelieving. “Jack, you louse. You should have dragged me out, you knew I—what’s that?” There was a dime on the bed table. Jack grinned at her. “Beebo’s calling card,” he said. Laura remembered it in a flash, although the rest of the evening was little more than a blur. She picked it up and threw it angrily across the room. “Give it back to her for me,” she said. “All I remember about last night is that awful girl and those awful mushrooms! God!” Jack went out of the room laughing. Chapter Eight The first thing Laura did when she got to work was to call Marcie. “Where were you?” Marcie demanded. “I was just going to call you. I was worried sick.” “You were?” She felt a momentary relief from her headache. “Are you all right?” “I think so. It got so late. We were talking. I finally spent the night—” It suddenly occurred to her, as if a brick had dropped on her tender head, that she had spent the night in a man’s apartment. For the first time in her life. Never mind that it was an innocent stay, or a short one. Or that the man had no designs on her. It was the idea of the thing. “I spent the night with Jack,” she blurted. Marcie was silent, having suspected as much, but not sure what to say. And it was then Laura realized that she had said the best possible thing. Even if it hadn’t happened it would have been the best thing to say. Marcie didn’t know either of them was gay. She only knew they were man and girl and they had spent a night together. What could sound more normal, more straight? Immoral, maybe, slightly immoral. But straight. Marcie laughed finally. “Is it funny?” Laura said. “I’m sorry,” Marcie said through her giggles. “I never dreamed you and Jack would hit it off like this. He must really like you, Laur.” She sobered suddenly. “He never took much to the other girls we fixed him up with.” Laura squirmed a little. “But he talked you up for half an hour before you got home last night. He thinks you’re very pretty.”