5
Billy, Bucky, and Alice go to Boulder, where Alice trawls through three different malls, shopping at stores with names like Deb, Forever 21, and Teen Beat. She discusses every choice with Bucky, who will be taking the pictures Giorgio （or Judy Blatner） will send to Klerke. Billy mostly follows them around, garnering suspicious looks from some of the sales staff. Alice buys a lightweight quilted parka, four skirts, two shirts, a blouse, and three dresses. One of the dresses has a boatneck top, but that’s as close to sexy as any of the clothes get. Bucky vetoes a pair of low heels in favor of sneakers.
He also vetoes some low-rise jeans she likes, at least for the pictures. ‘Buy the jeans for yourself if you want, but he’ll want to see you in a dress.’
Once the shopping is done, four hundred dollars’ worth, she gets her hair cut at Great Clips. While she’s occupied with that, Billy buys shoes, slacks, and a bomber jacket with inside pockets. He shows Bucky a lime green silk shirt and Bucky clutches his head. ‘You’re not going for the streetcorner pimp-daddy look. Concierge service, remember?’
Billy puts the green shirt back on the rack and selects a gray one instead. Bucky looks it over and nods. ‘Collar’s a little Rick James for my taste, but never mind.’
‘Rick who?’
‘Never mind.’
As they walk back toward Great Clips, both of them carrying bags, Alice comes bouncing out. Her hair is shorter and styled. She’s wearing a Colorado Rockies hat with a ponytail threaded through the back. She breaks into a run, the ponytail swishing, and Billy thinks, Holy God, I think this really might work.
‘The stylist tried to argue me out of cutting it. She asked me why I wanted to lose such beautiful hair that must have taken me years to grow. But the best part? She asked me if I liked high school so much I wanted to look like I was still there!’
She laughs and raises a hand, palm out. Bucky gives her a high five. Billy does the same, but his enthusiasm is fake. In the excitement of the shopping expedition, Alice has forgotten why they’re shopping. He thinks Bucky has too, because he’s drafting off her happiness. But Billy remembers. He’s thinking of that little girl in TJ, clutching a toy and listening to the sound of approaching footsteps.
6
Alice wants to take the pictures as soon as they get back, but Bucky tells her to wait until the next morning, when she’s looking her youngest and freshest. He calls it the September morn look.
‘Neil Diamond, right?’ Alice asks. ‘My mom’s a big fan.’ And to Billy: ‘Don’t even ask, I called her last night.’
Maybe Bucky is thinking of Neil Diamond, but Billy is thinking of Paul Chabas, and the girl in the house on the outskirts of TJ, and Shanice Ackerman. In his mind the two girls have become a pair.
7
Bucky sets up their little photo shoot the next morning. He wants to use the east-facing window for natural light. The sofa is there, but he says they should move it and put a chair there instead. When Billy asks why, Bucky says it’s because sofas say sex, and that’s not the look they’re going for. Innocent young girl is the look they’re going for. Maybe selling herself just this once to help her poor old broke-ass mother.
When Alice comes out in one of her new skirts and tops, Bucky tells her to go back into the bathroom and scrub off most of the makeup. ‘You want just a little blush on your cheeks and enough mascara to make your eyelashes look good. Tiny touch of lipstick. Got it?’
‘Got it.’ Alice is excited, a kid playing dress-up.
When she’s gone, Billy asks Bucky how he knows about this stuff. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad because I couldn’t do half as good a job, just the clothes go a long way toward selling it—’
‘No,’ Bucky says. ‘The clothes are good, but it’s mostly the hair. The ponytail.’
‘How did you learn that stuff? You didn’t ever …’ Billy trails off. What does he know about Bucky Hanson, really? That he brokered stickup guys, that he’s good at getting fugitives out of the country, that he has contacts in the legal profession and maybe even some top echelons of the New York judiciary. If so, Billy doesn’t know who any of those guys are. Bucky is discreet. Which is probably one reason why he’s still alive.
‘Did I ever take pictures of young women dressed up to look like jailbait? No, but it was a thing for awhile in the porno mags like Penthouse and Hustler. Back in the 80s, when there were porno mags. As for taking pictures, I learned at my father’s knee.’