Free Sex and Violence in Hollywood by Ray Garton Page A

today?”
    She stared at her coffee, took a cigarette from a pocket and lit it. She looked sad. “Some, maybe. I don’t know.” She took a drag on the cigarette.
    Mrs. Yu stepped into the breakfast nook, smiled. “’Scuse me, Missy Jurian, but Missa Jurian no rike cigalette smoke innadoors.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Yu, for pointing that out,” Gwen said pleasantly. “But from now on, there are some things Missa Jurian is just gonna have to get used to. I’m tired of being sent outside my own house to smoke, like a dog with fleas.”
    Mrs. Yu bowed her head and hurried away.
    “Hey, hey, go easy on Mrs. Yu, okay?” Adam whispered.
    Gwen frowned and leaned toward him. “What’s wrong with you?”
    Adam scrubbed his face with both hands, yawned. “Nothing. I’m sorry. Just lay off Mrs. Yu. You might even want to get to know her. She’s had a very rough life and somehow she’s managed to remain a good person in spite of it. That’s more than you can say for most people who’ve led easy lives.”
    Mrs. Yu returned briefly to set a small crystal ashtray in front of Gwen, then disappeared.
    “So, what did you do that kept you out so late?” She gave him a calm smile, as if to show the sudden outburst was forgotten.
    “First, I was with Carter. He’s making this severed head that is truly amazing.”
    “I’m telling you, that boy is a serial killer in the making. What about last night?”
    “I went...out.”
    The left side of Gwen’s mouth curled upward. “Who is she? What’s she like?”
    Adam cautiously searched her face.
    She laughed and said, “You don’t have to worry, Adam. You should be dating, I want you to date.”
    Adam put down his fork and smiled, pleased to hear her say that. “Her name is Alyssa. She’s...different. Not like anybody I’ve known, really. We just met, but when I’m around her, she makes me feel like...like we’ve known each other a long time but didn’t get around to actually meeting until this week.”
    “Oh, such a romantic, Adam. It’s sweet.”
    “I guess that’s better than being a boy.”
    “Did you happen to see Rain anytime last night or this morning?”
    He chuckled. “Thought you wanted me to stay away from her.”
    “The more I think about it, the more I think you might be good for her.” She sighed, shook her head. “She just got back to L.A. and she stays out all night. She’s upstairs asleep now, but I don’t know where she’s been.”
    “Did you ask her?”
    “Not yet. You’ll be hearing that when it happens. We always end up shouting, she says horrible things—” A deep breath as she fidgeted, “—and I suppose I do, too.”
    “Does she have friends around here?” Adam asked.
    “A few. She did before she went off to live with her dad, anyway. A bunch of lowlifes.”
    “Why did you let her hang out with them?”
    “Let her?” She tipped her head back and laughed. “Same reason I let the earth revolve, honey. I don’t have much choice.”
    Having spent some time with Rain, that made perfect sense to Adam.
    “She’s...you just don’t know her. Her dad could talk to her. I never could.” She smiled at Adam again. “Maybe you’ll be a good influence on her.”
    Adam laughed to cover his discomfort. “Yeah. I’ll let her borrow my Bible. I’ve already underlined all the holiest parts.
    “Just be careful. Like I said.”
    “You talk about her like she’s the Incredible Hulk, or something. What are you afraid she’ll do, break my neck with her bare hands and throw me down the Hitchcock steps?”
    Gwen scooted her chair closer to Adam at the end of the oval table, leaned close. He smelled whiskey on her breath.
    “An ex of mine, before I met Michael,” she said. “He’s in prison right now. At the bottom of the food chain, you know what I mean?”
    “What’s he in prison for?”
    “Child molestation.”
    “Is he a child molester?”
    Gwen laughed. “Of course not. Rain was never a child, not even at twelve.”
    Adam