He lifted his head and stared at her pretty, childish face, flushed pink from anger and the cold. “I’m never going back to yeshiva. I’d rather live on the streets.” He sat up, his eyes suddenly bright. “Listen, I’ve got this plan. I started playing poker on the internet. First I did it for fun, just a few dollars. But I was really, really good at it. Every time I played, I made money! So I’m going to get a stake together and start playing for real. And when I have enough, I’m going to buy a ticket to Vegas and play there for real. You know, they have, taka, these poker tournaments and you can, taka, like win a million dollars! Yeah, a million dollars.” His eyes shone.

“Isn’t that … like … assur?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re not allowed to gamble.”

He grinned at her. “And isn’t it, like, assur for a nice Bais Yaakov girl to meet boys in dark parks and take the subway into the city at night?” he mocked. “Where do your parents think you are?”

She blushed a deep crimson. “What’s that your business?”

He leaned back, spreading his arm casually behind her, almost touching her shoulders. This time, she let him. “So let’s make a deal. No mussar, okay? Let’s just have some fun tonight?”

“Where are we going?” she asked again, leaning back. It was a relief to be with someone as bad as Duvie, who you knew was in no position to judge anything you did. No matter how bad you were, he was always worse. All her wrongdoings seemed so mild compared to his.

“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously.

They got off at Broadway-Lafayette. The neighborhood didn’t look too promising to her.

“What’s so great about this?” she asked him, wondering why they hadn’t gone to Forty-second Street and Broadway. She’d had her heart set on seeing all the bright lights, the theaters and movie houses, places she’d only ever heard about.

“Stop complaining already, or I’ll leave you here!”

This was new, this nastiness. She wasn’t sure how a boy you liked was supposed to treat you, but this didn’t sound right. She looked around at the dark, unfamiliar streets. She didn’t even have a subway card to go home and had no idea where to buy one. Reluctantly, she followed him.

It was a long walk. The houses seemed exactly like the ones in Boro Park, cramped old brownstones with no yards or driveways.

“What a dump!”

“Yeah, a five-million-dollar dump!” he hooted. “You see over there, that’s Bedford and Grove Street!”

“So?”

“So that’s where the Friends apartment is!”

“What friends?”

“The television show! With Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc…”

“From where do you have a television?”