Violet answered the door dressed only in a ratty bathrobe. “Mr. Hewitt. Is everything okay?” She opened the door wider to let Leo inside. The five aluminum steps that led up to the trailer groaned in protest under Leo’s weight. For a moment, he seriously wondered if the steps would simply collapse. He could see places at the joints where rust had completely eaten through them. But they held, and he gratefully entered Violet’s squalid trailer.
Packing boxes were set out on every available surface. Some were sealed shut; others overflowed with clothing and dirty kitchen wares.
“You’ll have to excuse the mess. I’m moving next week.” She retrieved a beer bottle stuck between two couch cushions and took a long swig from it. With her head upturned, the bathrobe fell open, revealing the swell of her breasts and the beginnings of her pubic hair. She made no effort to cover herself.
“Moving up in the world, Violet?”
“Sure, why not?”
“With a little help from Monty?”
Violet closed the robe, belting it tightly. “Monty? Who’s that?”
“C’mon, Violet. I’ve had a really hard week.”
“Oh! Monty! He’s that guy from Let’s Make a Deal, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, he is. And you made a deal with him, didn’t you, Violet? About twenty thousand deals.”