Crystal by Walter Dean Myers Read Free Book Online Page A

much money in my life. I’ve never even dreamed of so much.”
    “Think about this, baby,” Loretta said softly and slowly. “Modeling is a tough racket. You have to put up with a lot of garbage. You’re earning this money. No one is giving it to you. Watch for Rosemarie’s leads tonight.”
     
     
    Jerry had a problem with the lights flickering and was trying to find the landlord. He told Crystal to go up to the studio.
    “Alyce Winslow is there already,” he said. “Rowena’s there, too. She’ll fill you in on the details.”
    Going up the stairs to the studio the second time was different from the first. Crystal felt more comfortable with it than she had the first time, and she was glad to see Rowena again. She rarely had time to talk to other models. Even when there were other girls on the same job, they rarely spoke. The mothers of the other girls would be fixing their hair or somehow fussing with them or just talking to them while they stared at one another, especially during auditions.
    There was usually a lot of staring. Crystal would stare at the other girls to see how attractive they were, or if their breasts were more developed than hers. They would look at one another’s hair or legs or the way each girl moved, and compare themselves. It was not one of the nicer parts of the job.
    A tall, incredibly thin man brushed past Crystal as she went into the studio. He seemed annoyed. Crystal turned towatch him storm down the stairs she had just climbed and into Jerry’s first-floor apartment.
    “Oh, are you Crystal?” The voice from behind her had a slight English accent.
    “Yes.” Crystal turned to see a young girl, near her own age, sitting astride a chair.
    “I’m Alyce Winslow,” the girl said. “That mad, mad stork was my tutor. He’s quite annoyed that I don’t choose to learn anything about subjunctive clauses.”
    She was the most exquisitely beautiful girl that Crystal had ever seen. The brown hair, disappearing behind her shoulders, framed a face that Crystal somehow remembered from story-books. She was the beautiful princess of every story that Crystal had ever read. Her eyes were blue but not the sparkling kind that Crystal had seen in some White models. Instead, they were incredibly calm and distant.
    “I’m glad to be working this morning,” Crystal said. “I would have Geometry if I didn’t.”
    “Do you go to school?” Alyce asked.
    “You could call it a school,” Crystal said. “I’d call it a zoo.”
    “Jerry told me you were beautiful, but I couldn’t imagine how you would look,” Alyce said. “I like to do that, to hear about someone and imagine how they might look.”
    “How did you think I would look?” Crystal asked.
    “Well, of course he said that you were Black, so I imagined someone darker,” Alyce said. “I thought of Iman, the African girl. I envy her neck. Then I thought you might look like one of the rock stars. But you’re quite special. You’re vulnerable.”
    “Vulnerable?”
    “It means that you look as if you can be hurt easily,” Alyce said. “Men like that sort of thing, I’m told.”
    “I think you’re very attractive,” Crystal said.
    “But I’m different than you, so we won’t be competing,” Alyce said. “We’ll work well together. I have a cold look. Men adore that in young girls.”
    “Do you know what we’re doing today?”
    “Probably nothing. The electricity’s not right or something and Jerry think’s he’s too upset to work. He’s already spoken to the account, and they’ve agreed to put off the shoot until next week.”
    “Oh, he didn’t tell me that,” Crystal said.
    “He’s upset,” Alyce said. “Have you seen Rowena?”
    “No. Jerry said she’s here, though.” Crystal slid down the wall until she reached the floor.
    “She’s slinking around in Jerry’s bathrobe.” Alyce smiled with her mouth, but her eyes didn’t change expression. “I’m supposed to work with her next Wednesday, but I