Chapter 150

Celina returned 15 minutes later, dressed in borrowed clothes, and headed toward Walt and Sean. She spoke to them for a few minutes before turning down the music.

"I just want everyone to know that Subarctic Enterprises acquired the adjoining lot this afternoon," she announced. "I also submitted an application for a grant to help with construction of an office complex and retail center. If we submit plans for at least one business downstairs and at least eight offices above it, the county will assist us and offer us property tax deferments for 10 years. So, party on, folks and congratulations again to Katey."

She turned the music up and grabbed Walt and pulled him out to dance.

"This is really happening," Tyanna said from Adam's side. "I swear, every day it somehow gets better."

"I couldn't say it better," Adam said. "How is your class going?" Tyanna shrugged and nodded slightly. It was going about the way she expected. It was the only portion of her life that wasn't improved by the friends she had made.

Coming from inner-city Oakland, Tyanna Wilkins had been convinced she wouldn't live long enough to attend college. She had spent her teen years avoiding pressure to become a gang bitch. She didn't want that for herself. She knew too many people who had gone that route and wound up dead or in prison.

Her father had been in prison from the time Tyanna was eight until she was 12. He came out a changed man. In some ways, he was better. He preached education to his youngest daughter. He had already lost a daughter and a son to the gang lifestyle. They were too far gone to come back. Indeed, both quit school at 16. Tyanna's brother was in prison and would be for another dozen years. Her sister had four children from four different men and lived in subsidized housing only a few blocks from where Tyanna grew up.

The fathers of Tyanna's nieces and nephews were either dead, in prison or unknown. There was no child support and a 10th-grade education hadn't done her sister a bit of good. Her father had wept when Tyanna graduated high school and was accepted to UCLA.

Tyanna didn't enjoy the other changes in her father. He had always been a hard man but prison made him harder. He didn't smile or laugh. He went to work as a garbage man every morning and came home every night. He didn't drink or smoke any longer. He didn't spend time with his friends –if he even had friends. He no longer lived. He simply existed.

He wasn't surprised to learn Tyanna had entered the adult industry. In his world, a person did whatever he or she had to in order to survive.

"It's a better life than shacking up with a no-account homeboy and living on welfare," he'd said. "Not a lot better but better. Just don't get knocked up or get the AIDS."

Adam, being Adam, had told Tyanna he would pay their way if her parents ever wanted to visit. She passed the word along but her father had declined.

"I see enough white people on my route," he said. "I don't need to travel 300 miles to see more of them. You seen one, you seen them all. But don't you be bringing them around here."

Tyanna had no intention of bringing her friends to her old neighborhood. A part of her was ashamed of how she grew up. At least she was until she was introduced to Celina Gomez. The women had a lot in common even though their personalities were completely different.

Celina – and everyone else – had shown her that the past holds no power unless you let it. Sean had made it a point to tell Tyanna that she would always have a place at Subarctic Enterprises.

She could see herself opening a law office right down the hall from the offices of Five Friends Casting in a few years.

Adam walked over to where Wayne Carter and his crew were stuffing their faces. The construction guys were surprised when Allie and Sarah told them to come up to the house for a small party when they were done.

Wayne had explained the situation to them – and made it abundantly clear that the quickest way to the unemployment line was to say or do something offensive toward one of the females – before they even arrived in Los Angeles. Most of them knew Walt, so they wouldn't have acted like asses anyway. He was one of those guys you didn't really want angry at you – sort of like his father in that respect.

The guys had to admit that they didn't mind the view while they were working. It was far better than spending the day looking at nothing but open space or trees as they had in the past. Still, everyone was friendly. They all smiled and waved whenever they saw the guys. They didn't bother them while they were working. So the invitation wasn't that surprising.

What was surprising to the crew was what this group considered a "small party." There had to be at least 30 people milling around. The crew consisted of small-town guys. They were not used to seeing so many beautiful women in one place, so they clustered around each other and Wayne. Others had stopped by from time to time to make sure they didn't need anything but mostly the hosts seemed content to allow the guys to get acclimated before joining conversations.

"Wayne," Adam said when he came to stand with them. The guys thought the presence of this guy was another reason to maintain a little decorum. Adam had shaken hands with them when they arrived. There was no question he had gotten his physique by hard work and not from spending all his time in the gym and taking steroids.

"Hi, Adam, looks like I have another job," Wayne said. He was happy because if the county provided a grant and tax amnesty, he could charge a slightly higher price for labor. In fact, he was almost positive the county would insist that he charge prevailing union scale.

"Looks like," Adam replied with a smile. "What I was wondering was where you got your trailers."

"Rented them from a place about halfway between here and home," Wayne said. "I know the guy and he gave me a good deal."

Adam considered the answer.

"Think he'll sell us one?" Adam asked. "Or, if he won't, do you think he could find us one to buy?"

"Why?" Wayne wondered.

Adam took a deep breath.

"Well, we've been operating a business out of a residence," Adam answered. "Now that we own that little piece of heaven next door, we're going to have to make it our temporary headquarters before Celina has an aneurysm."

"Oh, yeah, I can see where that might be necessary," Wayne replied. He was very familiar with the nuances of zoning laws. "I can call him in the morning. They're not cheap. Plus you'll have to run electricity from somewhere. They can't run a line from the pole to it or anything."

Adam nodded again.

"I just didn't want you to get caught out," Wayne replied with a small smile. "I'll call him first thing in the morning. If it looks like a go, I'll find an electrician to rig up a generator or something."

"That would be great, Wayne," Adam said sincerely. "We've gotten away with it for now. But if someone complained – which is exactly what would happen if others in the business knew – we'd be toast. I really appreciate all you're doing to help us. I can't believe how far along you are in just a couple of days."

"So we got the contract to do the other building, too?" one of the laborers asked.

"Unless they have to hire union guys to get a grant," Wayne answered.

Adam shook his head fiercely.

"No, you've got the contract," he said firmly. "We deal with companies we like and we trust. We will pass on the grant if it comes with any sort of riders like that. We want you and your company to do the construction Wayne, even if we have to pay out of pocket for it. That is the way we operate and, well, if Walt and I have anything say about it, that is how we will always operate."

"It could be pretty big chunk of money, Adam," Wayne said. "You can't dismiss that, particularly when you're talking about a 10-year tax abatement."

"True, I guess we'll just have to be persuasive when it comes time to deal with the county," Adam replied with a laugh. Like the others, he asked if the guys needed anything – not just from the party but at the trailers.

Wayne walked away and felt like he was a part of something that had real potential. One look at his crew told him they thought the same thing.

The party broke up about 8 p.m. People had classes the next day and they had studying to do. The construction guys would be up and working at 7:30 a.m., busting their asses for 10 hours in the Southern California sun. They needed sleep, too.

Adam was surprised when Katey joined him in driving Lucy home. Katey had thawed some as the party progressed. Lucy and Snuggles had scrambled into the backseat of Adam's car, leaving the front seat to Katey. It was only a short distance to Lucy's apartment so Katey worked quickly.

"I want to apologize for how I've been behaving," she said, turning in the seat to face Lucy. "I think you know I'm still angry about what happened and how but, intellectually, I know it's not your fault."

Adam glanced up in the mirror and saw that Lucy was looking at Snuggles on her lap.

"I still feel responsible, though," Lucy admitted.

"And I'm sure I'm not helping any," Katey said. "I stayed away from you so I could watch how you acted around the others. You weren't awkward around them. So I'm going to try to do better."

"My family didn't ruin their lives," Lucy pointed out.

Katey tilted her head.

"My life isn't ruined," she answered after a moment. "It was derailed for a bit but I think it's back on track. I'm probably in a better place now than I would have been if I'd gone straight to Ohio State like I'd planned. In fact, I'm sure of it. If I had moved to Columbus instead of Los Angeles, I would be spending a lot of my weekends at home with the same group of friends I used to have. I would be working toward taking a spot working with my dad instead of having a variety of options as I do now.

"Sure, my GPA might be better but a lot of that is because I got sick midway through a semester and wasn't smart enough to drop the classes. Instead I tried to power through and wound up failing three classes."

"God, I hope it wasn't anything serious," Lucy said. To Lucy, a novice in the industry, serious meant cancer or a burst appendix. To Katey and Adam, it meant AIDS.

"No, I couldn't work if I had HIV," Katey said unabashedly.

Lucy made a small squeak from the backseat.

"That's not what I meant," she said. "God, I would never think that about you."

Katey smiled slightly and glanced at Adam.

"It's a fact of life out here and in this business," Katey said. "No one actually mentioned it aloud but I got the impression I wasn't the only one who joined Five Friends today."

"Well, uh, no," Lucy replied, looking at her dog again. "But I'm a nobody. They'll sign a hundred like me in the next few months. You're a somebody."

"You're not a nobody," Katey said. She was happy that Adam was staring straight ahead and letting her handle the conversation. He also appeared to be taking a very circuitous route to Lucy's apartment. "You saw the type of people we surround ourselves with. That makes you someone, too. That means everyone sees huge potential in you. Not as Emily Proper but as Lucy Miller.

"I think it is safe to say that no one would care if you decided tomorrow that you would prefer a different job at Five Friends. They'd shrug their shoulders and find you a job that paid enough that you could live comfortably. They'd make sure your schooling was paid for and they would make sure you were included in all the fun stuff they do."

She told Lucy about how she met the group and mentioned that Meredith started to come around at the same time.

"So far, in three months, she has done five girl-girl scenes – oh, and a four-girl orgy scene last weekend," Katey said. "That means she has contributed about $50 to Five Friends Casting. But she helps Mary with 'Sweet Things'. She has even helped Walt with some things. She lives there in the house with us and no one cares a bit. She pulls her share of the load in other ways. Once she gets her personal life figured out, I think she'll work more for Five Friends, but maybe not. I guess we'll see in the coming months.

"My point is that for them to invite you to stay around means they like you and see something in you. I'm going to do my best to make sure that I get to know Lucy Miller and stop looking at you as Warren Miller's daughter."

Tears formed in Lucy's eyes. It was what she had hoped for most of her life – to be considered her own person instead of someone's daughter.