‘Now get to the fuckin’ point.’ Vanja held up the three hundred bucks. ‘What’s this bullshit?’ ‘What?’ ‘You know goddamn well what. ...here’s three hundred dollars here. That ain’t what we agreed an’ you know it.’ ‘Yeah, well. The arrangement’s changed. But you girls did good out there.’ He gestured with his thumb at the big window behind him, which overlooked the stage. ‘Damn good. In fact, you three got me so fuckin’ hot under the collar that I had to get Cherry in here to put me outta my. Phil was equally disappointed that I would not be joining them for the annual pilgrimage. I suspected that he was nervous about spending the holiday with his new in-laws."Phyllis will be home, and I'm sure she'll want to see her favorite brother," he quipped.I was looking forward to seeing Phyllis, too, but not to renew our step-sibling liaison. I had several unfinished scripts that I wanted her to read. "We'll have her over for dinner one night while she's here," I offered.My first big test. "For what its worth Sophie, Dr Tabatha is very strict about allmatters she considers ethical. Grace teases her about it even, andadmittedly it can be an irritation, but she couldn't really do herjob otherwise."She ran her finger round the rim of her glass reflectively. "Butthen I would say that wouldn't I? That is your problem, ourproblem, isn't it. There is no point that is marked 'The truthstarts here'."David sipped his drink. Giving himself time to think. The truthseemed easiest."Yes. I know. At night they look like an adult play ground. I pull Ashley a little closer, I just want to grab onto someone. I wanted to go home or maybe get a hotel. I felt dirty and hot. I wanted a cold shower and a bed. I asked Ashley if she wanted to get one. She told me she didn’t have the money. To be honest I didn’t either. After a couple of minutes of hopeless thinking I became distracted by flashing lights down by the club. It seems an ambulance was in the street. I went and asked what was.