Luke answered her with an air of humor that said everything his words did not. “Some of us did before. We all know each other now. I wouldn’t say that all of us are friends. But we’re like roommates.” He switched topics despite Aria’s curiosity. “Are you guys hungry? I know a place if you are.”

“Hell, yes,” Taylor replied, looking at Aria like he had hit the jackpot by meeting Luke. He gathered his things as if he intended to take them along.

“Nah,” said Luke, “you don’t have to take your stuff. That’s the benefit of living here – we sorta watch out for each other, ya know? You can leave your stuff here, no one’s gonna take it.”

“Oh, cool,” Taylor said and dropped what he was doing. Aria wasn’t so quick to trust the other people in the camp. There was only so much you could trust desperate people with. She pulled her backpack on and scooted out of the tent, waiting for Luke to take the lead again.

“Hey!” She heard a voice cut across the car lot. “Who you got?”

The woman who had been brushing her hair in the wing mirror was walking toward them. Aria was caught off guard by her gregarious nature. She was wearing a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a purple tank top. Her stringy brown hair was streaked with highlights whose roots had grown out a long time ago. Her skin was mottled with purple acne scars.

“I’m Ciarra,” the woman said, extending a stiff hand directly at Aria, like a knife meant more to establish dominance than affinity.

She accepted the handshake as fast as she could. “I’m Aria.”

“I’m Taylor,” Taylor interjected enthusiastically, giving her his hand to shake.

Ciarra turned her focus back to Aira. “I like your hair,” she said, crossing all the usual boundaries of social etiquette to touch it. Aria was noticeably uncomfortable, but let Ciarra do whatever she wanted to establish that she was not to be considered a threat.

The dance of hierarchy that so often played out between women, which was playing out now between herself and Ciarra, was exhausting Aria. She could tell that Ciarra had no interest in her except as an opportunity to establish her superiority. Luke’s voice cut through the tension. “I met these guys yesterday. They’re good people. They’re gonna stay here for a while.”

Ciarra pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, nodding up and down as if to say, “Just who do you think you are to make that sort of decision?” But she simply said “Ah, OK. Well, tell me if you want to go shopping, I know all the good places, and make sure to introduce them to everyone else so no one tries to shoot ’em.” She winked at them in a seductive manner, satisfied with having elicited fear.