Carmen said, “Dora’s a kick, but don’t ever kid yourself she isn’t on the job. She has eyes in the back of her head. She knows everything that’s going on. She’s good that way.”
“What happened to Flo?” I asked.
“I don’t know. She drifted away. I don’t know what did happen. Trouble with the boss perhaps. Dora’s only been here about a week, but she’s taking a hold. Listen, you didn’t come here to talk about me and my troubles or about the business. How about a little dance?”
I nodded. The music had swung into a dance. The small strip of floor was crowded with people jostling each other around. Carmen pressed up close against me, opened her eyes wide, slightly raised her head, smirked her lips into a smile, and kept the same expression all the time we were dancing. She danced skilfully, intimately, and with her mind on the child at home who had a cough and a fever. I didn’t say anything to change the direction of her thoughts.
After a while the music quit, and we went back to the table. I said to Carmen, “That waiter’s looking us over. I have an idea you’d better get commission on another drink.”
“Thanks,” she said.
I nodded to the waiter, and he came over on the double quick. “Fill them up,” I said, and when he had taken the glass, I said to Carmen, “How about Evaline? Did you know her well?”
She shook her head.
“She told me she had some relatives up in the northern part of the state. I can’t remember the name of the town.”
“No relatives in this state,” Carmen said. “She came from the East.”