Tales from the Nightside Read Free Page A

but there was always some idiot with a five-dollar bill... at four in the morning with a five-dollar bill.
    His eyes would be stinging by then, because instead of sleeping when the sun came up he would write his resumes and make calls and once in a while take a sick day to drive out to an interview. He had done that yesterday, in fact, and finally there was a chance that he could kiss nickels and quarters and dimes good-bye forever. He had not mentioned it to Terry, though, because he didn't want to jinx it.
    He waited, instead.
    And walked with her back to the road.
    A yellow van was waiting in his lane, honking his horn and shouting for attention. At first Wes thought the driver might be in trouble, but when he hurried to the island and tightroped to the gate, the booth was empty.
    The driver was mad.
    Wes apologized for the delay, received a curse for a tip, and the quarter was thrown against his chest as the van sped away.
    "Terry," he called, "do you see Pete anywhere?"
    Silence. Then, "No," her voice thin in the damp air.
    It wasn’t the best damned job in the world, he thought as he strode angrily toward the parking lot behind the authority building, but damnit, whoever's doing it ought to do it right, for God's sake.
    He heard Terry calling him, ignored her and rounded the back corner, and stopped. The lot was empty except for her station wagon and his sedan. Both of them were old, and both of them were alone.
    Good God, he thought, walked back to the plaza and stared east, then west, shaking his head.
    ***
    The following night there were two new takers and one, a young blond man with a wisp for a mustache, appealed to Wes instantly. During one break then, instead of going inside with Terry, he leaned against the booth and they talked, trading lies and histories until Wes learned that Joseph was a student looking to make ends and tuitions meet somewhere, it was hoped in the direction of a bank account
    "You're crazy, you know that?" Wes said with a grin. "How you going to study and do your papers out here, huh? You'll be dead for your classes, you know. You won't be able to stay awake."
    Joseph grinned, gap-toothed and pleasant. "I'll work it out, Wes, don't worry. As long as I don't get fired for being cheated—"
    "Terry told you?"
    "Yeah. As a matter of fact, I got one of them things just a few minutes ago, while you were getting coffee."
    He held out his palm and Wes picked at the coin clumsily, finally grabbing it and holding it close to his face. There was the pyramid, and on the opposite face... an odd representation of what looked to be some kind of bird. A hawk, he thought, or maybe an eagle.
    "Osiris," Joseph said.
    "What?"
    That's Osiris there, I think. The head, I mean."
    "You're kidding," Wes said. "You mean, folks are dumping Egyptian coins on us?"
    He couldn't wait to tell Terry. Not that it would do her much shrugged and had turned to step down from the ledge when a station wagon pulled up and a hand stuck out. He couldn't move. It was Terry. He saw her through the windshield and she was... not exactly crying, not exactly happy. Her lips fought to give him a smile, but as soon as Joseph had taken her toll, her hand snapped back to the steering wheel and he had to press tight against the booth to keep from being knocked off the island when she floored the accelerator and raced west toward the hills.
    "Goddamn," Joseph said. "She stuck me! Do you believe it? Terry... He held out his hand. The coin was there.
    In the glove compartment, Wes remembered suddenly; when they had arrived simultaneously at the parking lot and he'd hurried over to greet her and help her from the wagon, she'd been fumbling in the glove compartment, had snatched back her hand as though it had been burned. She'd slid out quickly, grabbing his arm, but not before he saw the silver glitter lying on top of a folded worn map.
    "Joe, cover for me," he said quickly, and without waiting for an answer, raced for his car, put it in gear, and