"Just have to run a quick errand, okay, babe?" Phoenix looked over at Kelsey with a smile as he parked his car. It was a cool car, and Kelsey thought it reflected Phoenix perfectly. It was a silver 1955 Mercedes convertible with gull-wing doors and a red interior. Kelsey loved it, and loved to ride in it.

"Should I come in?" she asked. They were in Hollywood, but the old part, where the trees actually provided shade, and the houses had yards.

Phoenix looked at her speculatively, eyeing her leather miniskirt and white tank top. "Yeah, why not?" he said with a nod. "Give the fellows something to talk about, at any rate." He came around and lifted the door for her.

"Listen," he warned her as they walked up the steps. "Be very careful when we're inside, okay? There are some weird people here. Don't eat anything while we're here. Or drink anything they give you."

Kelsey stared at him as he rang the bell. "Are you serious?" she asked.

"As a heart attack, baby," he assured her.

Kelsey laughed, lifting her sunglasses to her head.

"I mean it, all right?" Phoenix said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"All right," Kelsey said, chastened by his tone.

The door was opened by a huge man with long, unkempt brown hair and a filthy pistolero mustache. "Phoenix, my man!" he cried.

"Swede!" Phoenix answered .

Phoenix and Kelsey entered, and Kelsey blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the very dark interior. There was a TV going, along with a stereo, and she could see at least seven people in the living room, watching cartoons. She wondered why someone didn't turn off the music, at least.

"Come on," Swede rumbled, moving his bulk through the room. "Let's head to the kitchen, it's quieter, and there's more light."

Phoenix took Kelsey's hand and they threaded their way through the crowded living room, around a corner, and into a kitchen, which was, for the moment, uninhabited, and brighter, as Swede had said.

"So who do we have here?" Swede said. He looked at Kelsey, eyeing her up and down, the way Phoenix had in the car, but without the humor. It was more of an appraisal, humorless, and Kelsey was suddenly glad she was meeting him here, in his house, as Phoenix's friend, and not, say, on the street at night. "You, young lady, are famous. You're a bona fide movie star, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," she answered, leaning into Phoenix, who put a reassuring arm around her.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Swede offered, opening the refrigerator. "We got beer, water, wine, Pepsi, milk--" he opened the carton, took a whiff, made a face, and said, "--never mind on the milk, sorry."

"No, we're fine," Phoenix said, pulling out a chair for Kelsey, who sat. "We're kind of in a hurry, though, buddy, so could we just take care of business? Would you mind?" He smiled at Swede, who was standing in front of the open fridge.

Swede smiled back, showing a mouthful of questionable teeth. "Fuck no, man, sorry. Let's step into my office and do this, then." And he gestured down the hallway.

"Sit tight, okay?" Phoenix said to Kelsey as the two men disappeared.

Kelsey looked around. It looked like a very disreputable frat house, or a seriously gone to seed rooming house. The sink was full of dirty dishes, but only bowls, glasses, and silverware. No pots, pans, or anything else used to actually prepare food. Some of the cupboards were open, and Kelsey could see at least seven or eight different open boxes of cereal, the sugary kind that children ate, along with every kind of PopTart made. She shifted her feet, and her foot came up with a sticky sound.

Eww.

"Who the fuck are you?"

She jerked her head toward the doorway. Standing in it was a man who was the opposite of Swede in every way. He was slight, with about a quarter inch of white blond hair, and rheumy blue eyes. He was slat-thin and had bad posture.

"Hello," Kelsey said, smiling her most disarming smile. "I'm Kelsey, I'm a friend of Phoenix's. He's here, um, doing some business with Swede." She made a vague gesture in the direction of the hallway.

"Oh." The man continued to regard her. "I'm Lopez. I'm Swede's roommate." He walked over, hand extended, so Kelsey rose to shake with him. She towered over the much smaller man, and she felt ridiculous as she loomed over him.

"Shit, you're tall," Lopez said, looking up at her. "And damn, ain't you fine." He released her hand, and Kelsey fought the urge to wipe her hand on her skirt as she sat down.

Suddenly a voice from down the hall made them both jump. "Lopez!" they heard Swede bawl. "Get your skinny ass in here!"

Lopez scuttled down the hall, like a rat, leaving Kelsey alone in the kitchen. Phoenix came back in, while a lot of colorful language proceeded to emanate from Swede's "office."

"What's going on?" Kelsey asked Phoenix as he took a seat at the table. "What is this place?"

Phoenix gave her a "you didn't just ask me that" look. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you ask that, okay?" he laughed. He shrugged. "I think that Lopez messed around with some of Swede's, um, stuff," he said delicately. "Seems like some of it isn't where it's supposed to be, if you know what I mean. From what I gather, most of the people in the living room are Lopez's friends, and they got into things that they weren't supposed to get into. So Swede's tearing him a new one."

Swede and Lopez came out of the office, bringing the argument down the hall and into the kitchen. Their voices matched their bodies as much as their names didn't, with Swede's sounding like it came from the bottom of a barrel, and Lopez's sounding like the piping of an out of tune piccolo.

"You and your fucking friends aren't supposed to get into my shit, you fucking know that!" Swede roared. "And they've been here for going on three fucking days!"

"But Swede," Lopez protested, "We both live here, and I helped pay for that, remember? Last month when we brought in that load from San Diego, we both pulled--"

There was a thud and Lopez's words ended suddenly.

Phoenix rose, holding his hand out to Kelsey. "Maybe bringing you here wasn't such a good idea," he said with an easy laugh. "They're good guys, and I'm pretty much 'live and let live,' but this is getting kind of out of hand, you know?" He gave Kelsey a grimace. "I'm sorry, babe, let's go."

"No, it's okay," Kelsey assured him. "This is fascinating, really. I never get to see stuff like this."

"I bet," he answered wryly. "I'm really making you go slumming, huh? God, I'm so sorry."

"Honestly, I don't mind," she said firmly. "My ex was like a schoolboy, you have no idea how boring he was. It's fun to live on the wild side a little bit sometimes. He didn't even drink, you know? Never mind getting high."

Phoenix gave her a double take. "Really? No alcohol?" He shook his head. "Wow. I must seem like a non-stop party compared to that."

Feeling extremely disloyal, Kelsey nodded and laughed. "Yes, it's great."

Lopez and Swede entered the kitchen, with Lopez holding the side of his head, looking doleful.

"Oh," Swede said, looking at the young couple. "You guys are still here? Sorry you had to hear that."

"It's okay," Phoenix said, waving his hand. "We're just leaving."

The four of them went into the dark living room, where Swede opened the drapes and shut off the stereo. The people held up their hands against the offending daylight, letting out groans and squinting like zombies and vampires.

"Oh god, turn it off," someone groaned.

"Look at this pitiful bunch," Swede said to Kelsey and Phoenix, sighing.

He turned back to the zoned out group. "Okay!" he thundered. "Party's over! If you don't live here, get the fuck out!" He noticed various joints, bowls of pills, and piles of white powder here and there. "And leave all the shit! It's not yours."

One of the people who'd been watching cartoons opened his mouth, but Swede shushed him in no uncertain terms. "Don't talk, just go."

Lopez looked apologetic.

Swede began to gather up some of the drugs and paraphernalia which was lying about. He yelled at Lopez to help him, and the smaller man leapt into action.

"Can you believe this mess?" Swede asked Phoenix. Kelsey was standing next to him, looking around.

"It looks like something from a movie," she confessed to the tall blond boy. He laughed, nodding.

Swede turned to Phoenix and Kelsey, holding a granite cutting board covered with white powder. "You want a bump?" He offered the board to the two young people. "Consider it an apology for having to witness this pitiful event." He waved his arm to include the people, who were wandering around like patients at a mental institution, gathering their possessions.

Phoenix looked at Kelsey. "You want some?" He looked inquisitive, as if he were assessing her.

Kelsey looked at the cutting board and began to shake her head.

"Too wild?" Phoenix asked with a smirk. "How much time did you spend with that swimmer again?"

Too wild? Kelsey looked at him with narrowed eyes. Very deliberately she looked around. Phoenix quickly pulled a fifty out of his wallet and rolled it up, handing it to her with a flourish and the same, knowing smirk. Kelsey separated the powder into four lines, leaned forward and delicately inhaled one, two, and then a third line, flicking her eyes up to look at Phoenix in between each line.

His eyes were getting wider and wider each time she looked up. She considered going for the fourth line, but knew that this was a lot, even for her. It had been a long time since she'd snorted any, not since that awful, awful, night...

Whoa. Something was wrong...