Free Roadside Bodhisattva by Paul Di Filippo

month before I could manage to open more clams in an hour than I had cuts on my hands. You can learn something new and useful from any job.”
    “Okay, okay, honorable Supreme Master of the paintbrush, I get your point. Now I’d better start washing dishes before you come back there to teach me how to scrub lipstick off a coffee cup.”
    I got off the stool and went to work.
    Now the clock above my sink said it was nearly ten. I looked out front to see if any tables needed bussing. They were all clean.
    Yasmine rested her slim butt on the edge of a stool, long legs braced out in front of her.
    “Sue come back?” I asked
    She stopped inspecting her painted fingernails for chips long enough to flash me a smarmy grin. “Aw, did you miss your little friend? Did you two have a playdate planned?”
    I tried to control my anger. “Listen, Yasmine—”
    Ann popped up from below the level of the counter, a package of napkins in her hand. “Yasmine, that’s quite enough. Yes, Kid, Sue’s back. She’s fine.”
    I took ofF my apron. “Mind if I stop and say hello to her before I go help Sid?”
    “Not at all.”
    I found Sue coming out of one of the cabins, juggling an armful of dirty sheets and a pail with cleaning stuff in it. She wore a different shirt today, a long-sleeved one with the phat farm logo on it, but with the same farmer pants and Docs. I noticed that for a heavy girl, she moved real easily.
    “Hey.”
    “Hey, Kid. You look like a good excuse for a cigarette break. Just let me dump this stuff.”
    Sue disappeared, then rejoined me at the nearest cabin. Like yesterday, we sat on the stoop. She lit up a Camel, inhaled deeply, the cut loose with a big cloud of smoke.
    “Ah, that’s sweet. So, how’s the job going? Everybody treating you okay?”
    “Well, washing dishes isn’t my idea of a stimulating career. But it’s okay. And your aunt Ann is pretty neat. She’s fair, and it seems like she really cares about people.” didn’t say anything about how Ann had been worried about Sue, or how Ann and Sid had tried to get me to weasel information out of Sue.
    “Oh, yeah, Ann’s a regular bleeding heart. Takes in strays like me and you and your hobo buddy like we were kittens someone planned to drown. And you can see where all her goo-goo ways get her. Hanging on by her bloody fingertips to a loser lifestyle.”
    “You think things’re really that crummy here?”
    Sue swung an arm around to indicate the whole Deer Park setup. The cigarette in her hand trailed an arc of smoke, and its red tip flared. “Jesus, Kid, just look at this place. A greasy spoon, a broke-down lube joint, and a row of shacks, all by the side of a road to nowhere. Oh, and don’t forget your luxury accomodations. They add that final trailer-park touch. It’s a sure bet nobody’s getting rich here. None of us’d stay if we had even half a chance to leave for something even a little bit better.”
    “I don’t know. Even if this place isn’t a big moneymaker, it still seems kinda exotic to me.”
    Sue took another drag. “Then you must be a natural-born romantic. Or maybe you just haven’t been here long enough.”
    “I didn’t get the feeling yesterday that you were so down on this place.”
    “Today’s a different day.” Sue’s echo of what Sid had said last night made me curious if they had talked, but I couldn’t see when they would’ve, so I forgot about it. Sue threw her cigarette down and ground it out. “How’s Yasmine treating you?”
    “She’s a pain in the butt. I try to ignore her. I figure her problems with her mother must be making her mean.”
    Sue looked slyly at me. “Know what kind of actress her mother was, out in her wonderful California? A third-rate porn star.”
    A million tiny hot needles prickled my skin. My eyes automatically dropped to Sue’s impressive chest, but I forced them up to look her in the face. I wondered if every conversation with Sue was going to lead to sex. “No