第30部分(第7/7 頁)

eavesdropping　and　examining　his　fingernails　in　a　typically　gay　way。

？Piotr？s　working　on　a　new　series　of　paintings　and　he？s　been　using　me　as　a　model？I　can？t　wait　for

you　to　see　them。？　Scowling　at　the　receiver；　Vanessa　stomped　out　of　the　room。　Okay；　so　Piotr　was

still　in　the　picture。　And　presumably　he　was　still　using　Vanessa？s　room　as　his　studio。　But　maybe

Ruby　wanted　her　to　move　back　in　anyway：　she　could　get　a　cot　or　something。　She　walked　down　the

long　crumbly　hallway　to　the　kitchen　and　began　to　spoon　granules　of　Folgers　into　a　lumpy　yellow

ceramic　mug　Dan？s　mom　had　sent　over　from　Europe　ages　ago。

？Um；　sure；　I？ll　check　the　paintings　out　at　some　point。　。　。

。？　The　last　she？d　heard　about　Piotr？s　？art；？　he？d　been　doing　a　series　of　paintings　of　？monolithic

nudes　and　their　canines。？　She　pictured　a　huge　canvas　of　Ruby　naked；　astride　a　slobbering　German

shepherd。　Not　exactly　her　idea　of　？art。？　This　from　the　girl　who　prefers　photographs　of　dead

pigeons　and　spat…out　gum？

？Anyway；？　Ruby　went　on；　her　voice　as　breathless　as　if　she？d　been　running　the　10K；　？