it.”
“Not here,” Sister Peg said. “Let’s go somewhere more private. Wouldn’t want people to get the wrong impression.” A minute later they were behind a drugstore in a dark parking lot. Sister Peg killed the engine and turned away from Josie. “You don’t know how bad I need this,” Sister Peg said. This wasn’t their first time together, and if Sister Peg had anything to do with it, it wouldn’t be their last. She needed simple human contact and this is where she found it.
Josie reached over and put her hands on Sister Peg. As Josie performed her magic, Sister Peg moaned. “Oh God, yes. That feels so good.” Josie knew exactly where the sister wanted it. “Oh yeah, right there.” Sister Peg closed her eyes. “Harder,” she said. “I won’t break.” Sister Peg arched her back and leaned into Josie’s skilled hands.
Josie, it turned out, was a part-time masseuse in addition to being a hooker. “Girl, you sure are tensed up,” Josie said. “Something you wanna talk about?”
“What I want is the knots out of my shoulders. I’ll talk later.”
Josie worked the tight muscles like bread dough. Afterabout ten minutes Sister Peg was so much nun putty. She lifted her head and spoke quietly. “They’re going to foreclose, I can just tell.” Her head dropped a little. “And I’m scared.”
Josie had known Sister Peg long enough to know she didn’t scare easily, and when she was scared she usually wouldn’t admit it. So the confession meant things at the Care Center were worse than usual. “What about that lady you said was helping you out? The one at the bank.”
“They fired her. Too much customer service apparently.” Sister Peg turned around to face Josie. She rolled her head to one side and something in her neck popped. “Ahhhh.”
“Don’t mention it.” Josie propped her sequined platforms up on the dashboard. “I wish I could help, but I’ve got to take care of myself. Know what I’m sayin’?”
Sister Peg put her hand on Josie’s. “You could help both of us if you got off the street,” she said. “Come work at the Care Center. I need your help. Think about those kids.”
Josie nodded. “And give up all this?” She laughed nervously.
“I know it doesn’t pay as much,” Sister Peg said. “But you’ll get beaten up less and there’s almost no chance you’ll get any STDs.”
“That’s a helluva sales pitch, Sister.” Josie reached into her spandex waistband and produced several condoms. “But you know I’m careful.” Josie folded one of her long legs under the other and sat sideways. “Besides, I’m not the flimsy little thing I was when we first met.” She flexed her biceps. “I’m tougher, harder, and a lot smarter.”
Sister Peg reached over and brushed Josie’s lemony bangs to the side. “Well, with all due respect, Professor, the hardness shows.” Sister Peg and Josie met almost seven years earlier when Josie was a fresh runaway in the clutches of a pimp with an anger-control issue. Josie, with two black eyes, had approached Peg on the street and begged for her help. Peg took Josie to the Care Center, where she stayed a while beforereturning to the life. Ever since then, Sister Peg had been after Josie to quit for good. “Did you get tested like I asked?”
“No need,” Josie said, holding up one of the condoms. “Shower caps, remember?”
“Please,” Sister Peg begged. “Do it for me. The clinic doesn’t charge anything.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Josie said. She hated thinking about AIDS. She’d seen it kill a dozen friends and she knew the chances were good that she’d been exposed, since some guys absolutely refused to wear a raincoat. “I gotta get back to work,” Josie said. “And you look like you need some sleep.”
Sister Peg drove back to Sepulveda Boulevard. Josie hopped out to the sidewalk, then leaned back in the window. “That’ll be twenty bucks, girlfriend.”
“Okay,” Sister Peg said. “Let’s