In the bedroom where her roommate let her keep her She had a job today, handing out announcements on Ocean Drive for a party at one of the clubs. Big smile. Hi! Party at the Gear Box on Thursday. It’s gonna befiun! And the manager had told her not to give them out to obvious tourists or anybody younger than twenty-one; it was a waste of paper. . Ali was trying to ignore her mother, who was in the living room folding Ali’s sheet and blanket from the convertible sofa, acting motherly. Her mother’s voice came through the half-open door. “He talked to me for the longest time. He was so nice, not like a lawyer at all. I know y’all would take to each other.” She worked in a bank. She’d taken the morning off to drive all the way to South Beach. Ali had noticed her mother’s breath smelled like mints, meaning she’d probably had a drink already. “Honey? Can you hear me in there?” “I sure can.” “Well?” “I don’t want to sue them right now. Mr. Hagen says wait till the trial is over.”
