"Charlaine Harris - Sookie Stackhouse 04 - Dead to the World" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harris Charlaine)

than we needed a good time.
 And I hadn't had any invitations to do anything else. At least when I'm working at Merlotte's, I'm

a part of the scenery. That's a kind of acceptance.

I was sweeping up the shredded paper, and I reminded myself again not to comment to Sam on

what a poor idea the bags of confetti had been. We'd all made ourselves pretty clear about that, and

even good-natured Sam was showing signs of wear and tear. It didn't seem fair to leave it all for Terry

Bellefleur to clean, though sweeping and mopping the floors was his job.

Sam was counting the till money and bagging it up so he could go by the night deposit at the

bank. He was looking tired but pleased.

He flicked open his cell phone. "Kenya? You ready to take me to the bank? Okay, see you in a

minute at the back door." Kenya, a police officer, often escorted Sam to the night deposit, especially

after a big take like tonight's.

I was pleased with my money take, too. I had earned a lot in tips. I thought I might have gotten

three hundred dollars or moreтАФand I needed every penny. I would have enjoyed the prospect of totting

up the money when I got home, if I'd been sure I had enough brains left to do it. The noise and chaos of

the party, the constant runs to and from the bar and the serving hatch, the tremendous mess we'd had to

clean up, the steady cacophony of all those brains . . . it had combined to exhaust me. Toward the end

I'd been too tired to keep my poor mind protected, and lots of thoughts had leaked through.

It's not easy being telepathic. Most often, it's not fun.

This evening had been worse than most. Not only had the bar patrons, almost all known to me

for many years, been in uninhibited moods, but there'd been some news that lots of people were just

dying to tell me.

"I hear yore boyfriend done gone to South America," a car salesman, Chuck Beecham, had said,

malice gleaming in his eyes. "You gonna get mighty lonely out to your place without him."

"You offering to take his place, Chuck?" the man beside him at the bar had asked, and they both