Read Online Cherry Money Baby by John M. Cusick - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John M. Cusick
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them knows how to change a tire.”
Spanner slipped her phone into a tiny black clutch and closed it with a
snap.
Had Vi been right there, Cherry’s response would have been an instant and firm
no.
Vi would beg, Cherry would put her foot down, Ardelia would go, and they’d probably never see each other again.
But.
No one Cherry knew was standing there to make sure she acted like her usual self. Right now she was
Ardelia Deen’s
Cherry, who maybe could do things Regular Cherry couldn’t. Maybe Ardelia’s Cherry could say
fuck it
and go to parties . . . in Boston . . . with celebrities . . . in her Daisy Dukes. Shit, anything was possible.
“Okay,” she heard herself say. “Can my friend come? She’s inside.”
“The more, the merrier!”
“Not really,” Spanner mumbled. Cherry pretended not to hear it.
“I’ll be back in a second,” Cherry said. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Vi did not raise her eyes as Cherry relayed the invitation. She contemplated her tuna melt instead.
“I can’t.”
“What?” said Cherry, unbelieving. Vi turn down a party? They were now officially in Bizarro World. “I mean,
what
? I thought you’d freak. Why not?”
Vi glanced out the window. Ardelia was taking a picture with a passing gaggle of girls.
“Cherry, I just . . . with them? It’s too much. I’d be too nervous.”
“Don’t be like that. She’s nice.”
Vi shook her head.
Ardelia was waving to her again. A black SUV pulled to the curb. It was all sparkles and chrome out there.
“I’m going,” said Cherry. “You’re invited. You should come.”
“I’ll just go home,” said Vi, her voice small.
“You don’t have a car.”
“I guess I’ll walk, then.”
Cherry wanted to smack her, to snap her out of it, to punish her for this guilt trip. Instead, they hugged good-bye stiffly, and it was Cherry who held on a little too long. She wandered back outside, realizing too late she’d stuck Vi with the bill, but she was too embarrassed to go back. Suddenly Mel’s Diner was the warmest, friendliest place ever, and she was stepping into a cold night with strangers.
“All good?” Ardelia said.
Cherry nodded. She climbed into the plush SUV, glancing back. Vi was texting, sipping Cherry’s milk shake. She looked content enough.
The car, the party, the jealous gaggle on the sidewalk . . . and Cherry was
something,
but
all good
wasn’t it.
Stars of
Alive and Unmarried
stayed at the Parcae, a scalloped and terraced hotel in the shadow of the John Hancock building. At midnight the facade was lit white as a wedding cake, and men in gold frogging held open the doors.
Cherry felt her pockets.
“Did you lose something?” Ardelia asked.
“Should I tip the door guy?”
Ardelia laughed and took her arm. It was just the three of them in the elevator, and Cherry was possessed by a childhood impulse to push all the buttons. But this elevator had no buttons at all.
“It’ll take us straight to the master suites,” Ardelia explained.
“First time in a lift?” Spanner asked.
“No. Obviously,” said Cherry. “And in America we call them
elevators.
” This was out before Cherry realized she might also be insulting Ardelia. Spanner pounced.
“Did you hear that?” Spanner asked her friend. “
Elevator.
What a novel word! Why, I must remember it next time I’m taking the
lorry
to the
loo
to find my
bumbershoot.
”
“Oh, stop it,” Ardelia said, smirking.
“Is this the new thing in America?” Spanner asked Cherry’s reflection. She pointed lazily to Cherry’s cutoffs.
“Sort of.”
“Very rustic.”
“Well, I didn’t know I was going out tonight.”
“No, Spanner’s right.” Ardelia tapped her chin.
“She is?”
There was an Emergency Stop button. She could always hit that. Why wasn’t there a Teleport Home button?
Ardelia snapped her fingers. “I know! Let’s switch shoes.”
Cherry obeyed, exchanging her frayed Converse for Ardelia’s pumps. Unused to high heels,
Spanner slipped her phone into a tiny black clutch and closed it with a
snap.
Had Vi been right there, Cherry’s response would have been an instant and firm
no.
Vi would beg, Cherry would put her foot down, Ardelia would go, and they’d probably never see each other again.
But.
No one Cherry knew was standing there to make sure she acted like her usual self. Right now she was
Ardelia Deen’s
Cherry, who maybe could do things Regular Cherry couldn’t. Maybe Ardelia’s Cherry could say
fuck it
and go to parties . . . in Boston . . . with celebrities . . . in her Daisy Dukes. Shit, anything was possible.
“Okay,” she heard herself say. “Can my friend come? She’s inside.”
“The more, the merrier!”
“Not really,” Spanner mumbled. Cherry pretended not to hear it.
“I’ll be back in a second,” Cherry said. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Vi did not raise her eyes as Cherry relayed the invitation. She contemplated her tuna melt instead.
“I can’t.”
“What?” said Cherry, unbelieving. Vi turn down a party? They were now officially in Bizarro World. “I mean,
what
? I thought you’d freak. Why not?”
Vi glanced out the window. Ardelia was taking a picture with a passing gaggle of girls.
“Cherry, I just . . . with them? It’s too much. I’d be too nervous.”
“Don’t be like that. She’s nice.”
Vi shook her head.
Ardelia was waving to her again. A black SUV pulled to the curb. It was all sparkles and chrome out there.
“I’m going,” said Cherry. “You’re invited. You should come.”
“I’ll just go home,” said Vi, her voice small.
“You don’t have a car.”
“I guess I’ll walk, then.”
Cherry wanted to smack her, to snap her out of it, to punish her for this guilt trip. Instead, they hugged good-bye stiffly, and it was Cherry who held on a little too long. She wandered back outside, realizing too late she’d stuck Vi with the bill, but she was too embarrassed to go back. Suddenly Mel’s Diner was the warmest, friendliest place ever, and she was stepping into a cold night with strangers.
“All good?” Ardelia said.
Cherry nodded. She climbed into the plush SUV, glancing back. Vi was texting, sipping Cherry’s milk shake. She looked content enough.
The car, the party, the jealous gaggle on the sidewalk . . . and Cherry was
something,
but
all good
wasn’t it.
Stars of
Alive and Unmarried
stayed at the Parcae, a scalloped and terraced hotel in the shadow of the John Hancock building. At midnight the facade was lit white as a wedding cake, and men in gold frogging held open the doors.
Cherry felt her pockets.
“Did you lose something?” Ardelia asked.
“Should I tip the door guy?”
Ardelia laughed and took her arm. It was just the three of them in the elevator, and Cherry was possessed by a childhood impulse to push all the buttons. But this elevator had no buttons at all.
“It’ll take us straight to the master suites,” Ardelia explained.
“First time in a lift?” Spanner asked.
“No. Obviously,” said Cherry. “And in America we call them
elevators.
” This was out before Cherry realized she might also be insulting Ardelia. Spanner pounced.
“Did you hear that?” Spanner asked her friend. “
Elevator.
What a novel word! Why, I must remember it next time I’m taking the
lorry
to the
loo
to find my
bumbershoot.
”
“Oh, stop it,” Ardelia said, smirking.
“Is this the new thing in America?” Spanner asked Cherry’s reflection. She pointed lazily to Cherry’s cutoffs.
“Sort of.”
“Very rustic.”
“Well, I didn’t know I was going out tonight.”
“No, Spanner’s right.” Ardelia tapped her chin.
“She is?”
There was an Emergency Stop button. She could always hit that. Why wasn’t there a Teleport Home button?
Ardelia snapped her fingers. “I know! Let’s switch shoes.”
Cherry obeyed, exchanging her frayed Converse for Ardelia’s pumps. Unused to high heels,
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