Read Online The Schwarzschild Radius by Gustavo Florentin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Gustavo Florentin
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offering a prize if she could guess how much she was about to put into the machine. Rachel guessed forty-seven dollars and sixty-two cents.
She fed the coins and waited for the final tally and possible prize. The total was sixty-three dollars and seventeen cents. No prize, but more cash than she had expected.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK THE COIN RETURN BEFORE YOU LEAVE
, said the cartoon.
Rachel checked the slot and found three rejects. Two were Canadian coins.
The third was an odd coin with PP written over the outline of a naked girl.
“Is Brother Horace here?” she asked back at Transcendence House.
“He’s fundraising,” said one kid.
“Fundraising for what?”
“For himself. He’s hustling the chess tables in Washington Square.”
Rachel found Brother Horace in the middle of a King’s Indian defense against a hippie throwback. Brother Horace prevailed, then defeated another opponent in seventeen moves―four minutes in blitz chess. He was four dollars richer. Rachel sat down opposite him.
“I know you,” he said. “Two dollars a game. I’ll give you white.”
“I was thinking about what you said, Brother Horace. About Olivia changing. How did you know about the porn movie?”
“Word was going around. Then I saw it.”
“Do you know the other girl in the scene―or the guy?”
“I take it you found the video.”
“Yes.”
“I hear the girl is a graduate of Transcendence House,” he said.
“I didn’t know they offered job placement for porn.”
“I didn’t know either.”
Rachel lowered her voice. “Was Olivia screwing the priest?”
Brother Horace looked up and his eyes glanced sideways for a moment.
“You gonna play or what?”
Rachel advanced her pawn and hit the clock. Five seconds a move. It was over in twenty-two moves. She collected the two dollars.
“Another. I’ll take white,” he said.
“You thinking about my question?”
“I don’t know the answer to that question.”
“Brother Horace, let me tell you something. I knew that girl better than anyone on Earth. We were like sisters. I know she was brilliant, beautiful, going to Harvard, and won more awards than the New York Yankees won pennants. I need to know what made her turn into a whore overnight. Doesn’t that interest you in the least, even if she was a stranger to you?”
“Not especially. People can do anything. They can turn in a second. And they can turn on you.”
“Did Father Massey know about what she was doing?”
“There isn’t much Father Massey doesn’t know about the kids.”
“So did Olivia get thrown out of Transcendence House for this?”
“Who said she got thrown out?”
This time it took sixteen moves.
“You’re distracting me. And cutting into my profits,” he said.
“I’ll spot you a bishop.”
“Hell no. One more. I’ll keep white.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Four months ago, I guess.”
“So she volunteers at this shelter, starts making porn, then leaves on her own. And does what?” Rachel recalled that Olivia’s schedule hadn’t changed. She claimed, until last week, that she was still volunteering at Transcendence House. That accounted for her hours. So if she wasn’t at Transcendence House, where was she?
Rachel defeated him again.
“Damn, woman, that’s some fine playin’. You don’t mind if a man earns a living, do you?”
“That’s Sister Rachel to you. I give lessons if you’re interested.” She got up and checked her pocket for her Metro Card. She remembered the coin she’d found in Olivia’s change can.
“Any idea what this is?” she asked, handing the coin to the boy.
“That’s a peep show token. You buy these in the peep shows, then use it to see porn or naked girls in a booth.”
Back at her dorm, Rachel did a search on peep shows in New York and got two dozen hits. Her eye scanned the page, then fell on one line:
The Pleasure Palace
, and the logo of the naked girl.
t was on Tenth and Twenty-third
She fed the coins and waited for the final tally and possible prize. The total was sixty-three dollars and seventeen cents. No prize, but more cash than she had expected.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK THE COIN RETURN BEFORE YOU LEAVE
, said the cartoon.
Rachel checked the slot and found three rejects. Two were Canadian coins.
The third was an odd coin with PP written over the outline of a naked girl.
“Is Brother Horace here?” she asked back at Transcendence House.
“He’s fundraising,” said one kid.
“Fundraising for what?”
“For himself. He’s hustling the chess tables in Washington Square.”
Rachel found Brother Horace in the middle of a King’s Indian defense against a hippie throwback. Brother Horace prevailed, then defeated another opponent in seventeen moves―four minutes in blitz chess. He was four dollars richer. Rachel sat down opposite him.
“I know you,” he said. “Two dollars a game. I’ll give you white.”
“I was thinking about what you said, Brother Horace. About Olivia changing. How did you know about the porn movie?”
“Word was going around. Then I saw it.”
“Do you know the other girl in the scene―or the guy?”
“I take it you found the video.”
“Yes.”
“I hear the girl is a graduate of Transcendence House,” he said.
“I didn’t know they offered job placement for porn.”
“I didn’t know either.”
Rachel lowered her voice. “Was Olivia screwing the priest?”
Brother Horace looked up and his eyes glanced sideways for a moment.
“You gonna play or what?”
Rachel advanced her pawn and hit the clock. Five seconds a move. It was over in twenty-two moves. She collected the two dollars.
“Another. I’ll take white,” he said.
“You thinking about my question?”
“I don’t know the answer to that question.”
“Brother Horace, let me tell you something. I knew that girl better than anyone on Earth. We were like sisters. I know she was brilliant, beautiful, going to Harvard, and won more awards than the New York Yankees won pennants. I need to know what made her turn into a whore overnight. Doesn’t that interest you in the least, even if she was a stranger to you?”
“Not especially. People can do anything. They can turn in a second. And they can turn on you.”
“Did Father Massey know about what she was doing?”
“There isn’t much Father Massey doesn’t know about the kids.”
“So did Olivia get thrown out of Transcendence House for this?”
“Who said she got thrown out?”
This time it took sixteen moves.
“You’re distracting me. And cutting into my profits,” he said.
“I’ll spot you a bishop.”
“Hell no. One more. I’ll keep white.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Four months ago, I guess.”
“So she volunteers at this shelter, starts making porn, then leaves on her own. And does what?” Rachel recalled that Olivia’s schedule hadn’t changed. She claimed, until last week, that she was still volunteering at Transcendence House. That accounted for her hours. So if she wasn’t at Transcendence House, where was she?
Rachel defeated him again.
“Damn, woman, that’s some fine playin’. You don’t mind if a man earns a living, do you?”
“That’s Sister Rachel to you. I give lessons if you’re interested.” She got up and checked her pocket for her Metro Card. She remembered the coin she’d found in Olivia’s change can.
“Any idea what this is?” she asked, handing the coin to the boy.
“That’s a peep show token. You buy these in the peep shows, then use it to see porn or naked girls in a booth.”
Back at her dorm, Rachel did a search on peep shows in New York and got two dozen hits. Her eye scanned the page, then fell on one line:
The Pleasure Palace
, and the logo of the naked girl.
t was on Tenth and Twenty-third
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