Page:Angna Enters - Among the Daughters.djvu/426

 didn't have your number with me. I wasn't sure you wanted to see him."

"I don't." Vida's throat constricted and she coughed as though having swallowed the coffee too fast. Lucy's body began to tremble and Vida rushed to her. "I think I'll phone the doctor," she said frightened.

"A doctor can't do anything for what happened to me."

"What happened? Too much bad liquor? I've never seen you drunk before."

"I didn't have that much. It was a surprise party all right! I recognized the butler who opened the door as a waiter at Piselli's gambling club, you know the white stone house in the sixties with two Greek statues in front. He always waited on Lyle and me in the private dining room. Naturally, I thought Piselli's place was catering the party.

"There was a big wood-paneled hall and a lot of men's top hats on a long carved chest. There wasn't a rug, though you could see a line around the floor where one had been. A colored maid said Take your coat, honey?' which isn't the way maids in swell homes talk. Even Cleo wouldn't. Then the waiter opened a double door and there was a big square room with Tiffany-green walls that are fashionable now. There were places on the wall where pictures had been taken down and there weren't any knickknacks like in homes. I thought, This Miss Smith must have just sublet this place and hasn't fixed it up yet or is closing it to go away. There were lots of flowers.

"I saw Nino talking to some men and women at the other side of the room and started over when a tall heavyish-girl, the Texas Guinan type but younger, came up. She was in an emerald-green chiffon, three orchids on her shoulder, and had a lot of junk jewelry'. But some real. She said, 'Hello Lucy, I haven't seen you for ages,' and I saw she was one of the girls in that apartment Lyle took me to. I didn't know what to say because I was so surprised so I said 'Hello, I didn't expect to see you here.' I could see that surprised her. Then I asked if Horta had come. She gave me a funny look and said no but she might drop in later. So I asked her to introduce me to Miss Smith. She said, 'I'm Lorna Smith, remember?'

"Nino came to get me and I saw I knew at least five of the men, including Beman and Lyle, and that the girls included four showgirls known for being 'on call' and the other girl who had lived with Lorna Smith. 414