“YEAH, IT HAS BEEN pretty useful,” said Carrie.

“Do you have a preference between film and digital photography?” Megan asked.

“Well, I really love developing film and making prints in the darkroom. That was a lot of fun in school. But, for work, it’s easier to use a digital camera. At first we used digital offset plates, which you just print out from a computer, rather than developing, and now we don’t even use an offset printer. We just have a nice printer. If I used film, I’d have to print it, then scan it, then print it again, so . . . The pictures I get from a digital camera with a nice lens are great. And you can, of course, always manipulate the . . . ”

Anthea was looking around, bored.

“WHO IS THIS? Can I help you?” asked Elena.

“This is Jillian,” she said, still using the voice. “Jillian Bradley.”

“Jillian, why are you talking like that?”

Jillian cleared her throat, opened her eyes and mouth as wide as she could and then called on the power of God. “Sorry,” she said in her normal voice.

IT LOOKED LIKE Megan was smiling while she was talking to Carrie. Randy was watching her and felt nervous and noticed that Amanda looked nervous. But, she probably just looked nervous because she and Megan hadn’t made up yet. Probably.

“JILLIAN, WHAT do you want?”

“It’s not about what I want, it’s about what I need. I know what you think of me. I’m not completely oblivious.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Elena.

“Yes you do, ok? So let’s just get that straight. I need you to give me eight hundred dollars for Adam’s day care, and so that is what you are going to do. I need eight hundred dollars from you.”

“Jillian, I’m not going to give you eight hundred dollars. That’s absurd. If anything, you owe me one hundred dollars for all the gas I’ve been using getting your son off to day care, plus a little extra for my wasted time.”

“You shriveled, heartless little bitch, you will give me 800 dollars or I will go through with it.”

“Go through with what? You don’t have the guts to do anything to me. You’re weak and you’re too much of an idiot to come up with a way to hurt me. Jesus, Jillian, what are you thinking?”

“Ok, I’m telling, then.”

“Telling who?”

Jillian grinned and giggled then whispered, “God.”

She continued to giggle and whisper things that were not words. She drew herself up into a ball.

MEGAN SAID a few things that made Carrie laugh and they were getting along fairly well.