"Christopher Pike - The Immortal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pike Christopher)

"What?"

"I said, don't swear. A girl your age should watch her mouth."

I snorted. "A girl your age should watch her liver."

Silk giggled. If it had been her first drink she would have been annoyed. "You don't like me much, do
you, Josie?"

I shrugged. "What's there to like?"

Silk put her feet upon a nearby chair. "I don't know. I'm not a bad person. I'm pretty. I'm talented. I
make your father happy."

"You don't bring him happiness. You bring him distraction."

"In this world the two are synonymous."
32

THE IMMORTAL

I sat beside her. "In your world the two are synonymous. My father has talent; you have schemes. You
like my father for what he has, what he can do for you. Well, I have to warn you, in Hollywood sleeping
with a writer is no way to break into the movies. The writer is way down on the totem pole, below the
director, the producer, the studio execs* and the stars. You'll never be a star, Silk. You can't fool an
entire audience. You'll never be my father's wife. You may be able to fool him for the time being, but he's
smart. He has nothing in common with you:"

Silk blinked at me, dazed, then belched into her drink before moving the glass to her lips. "You sound
pretty sure of yourself for a bitchy little snot," she muttered.

I grabbed her drinking arm before her mouth could touch the booze. I held it hard for a moment, wanting
to shake the drink onto her clothes. Silk stared at me, momentarily helpless. I saw then how pathetic her
life was, living this fantasy that was so deeply entrenched that she actually rehearsed her Oscar
acceptance speech each night before she went to bed. I had heard her reciting it through the wall. I let go
of her arm, suddenly ashamed of myself.

"I'm sorry," I said. "We're on vacation. I shouldn't be chewing you out at a time like this."

"I heard you almost drowned," Silk said abruptly as it were pertinent to our discussion.

I got to my feet. Helen had betrayed my confidence. "I didn't 'almost' drown. I just faked it so that a
handsome boy could come rescue me."
33

CHRISTOPHER PIKE

Silk nodded her approval. "I'll have to try that someday. When I learn to swim."

I found my father on the terrace off his room with his humming laptop on a table in front of him. He sat