第20部分(第3/7 頁)

emy　was　in　a　cab　on　his　way　to　an　interschool　squash　club　game　at　the　Ninety…second　Street

Y。　？Sorry；　dude；？　his　voice　crackled　over　the　line。　？I？ve　been　doing　mom？s　Zoloft　all　day。　Why

don？t　you　just　buy　a　dime　bag　from　one　of　those　dealers　in　the　park　or　something？？

Nate　shrugged。　Something　about　buying　a　dime　bag　in　the　park　seemed　so　。　。　。lame　。　？Whatever；

man；？　he　told　Jeremy。　？See　you　tomorrow。？

Charlie　was　in　the　Virgin　megastore；　buying　DVDs　with　his　little　brother。　？Bummer；？　he　said

when　Nate　told　him　about　the　situation。　？But　you？re　right　near　the　park；　right？　Just　buy　a　dime

bag。？

？Yeah；　whatever；？　Nate　replied。　？See　you　tomorrow。？

Anthony　was　having　a　driving　lesson　in　the　new　BMW　M3　sports　car　his　parents　had　given　him

for　his　eighteenth　birthday　last　weekend。　？Check　your　mom？s　medicine　cabinet；？　he

advised。　？Parents　are　the　ultimate　resource。？

？I？ll　look　into　it；？　Nate　answered。　？Later。？　He　clicked　off　and　sucked　the　last　drag　off　his　puny

little　roach。　？Damn！？　he　cursed；　flicking　the　charred　remnants　into　the　dirty　snow　beneath　his　feet。

This　semester　was　supposed　to　have　been　a　twenty…four…hour　party。　He？d　had　an　awesome

interview　at　Brown　in　November；　and　he　was　pretty　sure　his　application　rocked　hard　enough　to　get

him　in。　Plus　he　was　no　longer　hanging　out　with　little　Jenny　Humphrey；　who　was　very　sweet　and

had　a　great　rack；　but　who？d　taken　up　a　shitload　of　his　free　time。　For　the　rest　of　senior　year　Nate

had　been　planning　to　smoke　up；　kick　back；　and　just　stay　mellow　until　graduation；　but　without　his

trusty　dealer；　that　plan　was　basically　moot。

Nate　sat　back　on　the　green　wooden　bench　and　gazed　up　at　the　sumptuous　lime