Moonshine: A Novel by Alaya Johnson Read Free Book Online Page B

know why I thought I would see him, and the excitement I felt at each false alarm was enough to make me want to sink to the floor in embarrassment. It was just that he was so unfamiliar, so completely different in looks and manner and speech than anyone I'd ever encountered.
    In the end, those assembled voted to investigate the matter further and reconvene at a later date.
    "A fine waste of a meeting," Iris grumbled to me, as we left the back room in the Jewish Russian coffee shop that hosted our monthly gathering. "You'd think we were selling twopenny romances on the streets!"
    I thought of Aileen and Verity Lovelace's popped cherry. "I imagine if we were, there'd be a great deal more demand for prophylactics," I said, valiantly suppressing a fit of the giggles. Iris, with a yawn, pulled back a chair from an empty table in the front shop, and sprawled into it. For a moment, I was afraid that the spindle legs might crack under her bulk, but it managed to hold her up.
    "I believe I shall revivify with some coffee," Iris said. "Should I order two?"
    I shook my head. "I'd love to, but I have to leave. I have . . ."
    She nodded knowingly, which thankfully saved me from concocting some inadequate excuse. "The energies of youth, I see. Well, take care. I daresay I'll see you at some event, soon. And it seemed you and Lily got on swimmingly. Perhaps there's hope for the darling little closed-minded debutante yet, eh?"
    Iris winked at me and I felt such an overwhelming burst of affection that I nearly hugged her. I managed to make do with pressing her hand and promising to see her at the Socialist Worker's Party meeting next week. Just as I turned to leave, I caught a glimpse of a tall figure walking out of the shop. His hair was dark and curled, his attire several degrees more refined than the average in this Lower East Side haunt. I ran from the shop and onto the sidewalk, where snow I hadn't even known was expected covered the ground two inches deep. Through the blanketing white, I attempted to catch a glimpse of the man I had just seen leave, but it appeared that the only people on the sidewalk beside myself were two respectable Hasidim in beaver hats and heavy black coats.
    "You're losing your mind," I said. I hadn't even buttoned my coat or replaced my hat and gloves. I did so before the snow made me even colder and went to fetch my bicycle.
    I pedaled home quickly, even though I had nearly two hours before I was expected at the club. I would need at least that much time to get ready. My encounter with the incomparable Lily had at least proven that. I didn't want to embarrass myself in this adventure any more than strictly necessary. And in any case, this might be the last chance I had to, well, go dancing , as Aileen would put it. Amir hadn't found me, and without him as the miraculous source of my financial reprieve, I would have to take other measures. And seeing as how those measures either involved telegraphing Daddy back in Montana to ask for a loan or selling my soul to the Citizen's Council . . . obviously, I would have to take the Citizen's Council. Oh, Daddy had the money. He stockpiled as if Yarrow was Fort Knox. But I would die before I asked him for help. It would just prove that he was right, that I couldn't make it on my own in this city as a useless "do-gooder."
    They would probably make me teach hygiene and nutrition courses. I hated those. Marching into people's homes like some Bible-spouting missionary to tell them that the food their grandmothers' grandmothers made is scientifically inadequate. Fewer cheap vegetables, more meats. As though they could afford them. Damn Amir for getting my hopes up.
    It was early, yet--just half past seven--but Aileen was waiting when I made it home.
    "Thank God!" I said, shutting the door behind me.
    She looked up from her book, a different one from last night. "You didn't think I'd make it?"
    "I thought you might forget. It is Friday."
    "How could I miss your big debut?" She