“Not as much as they used to. Deidre blacklisted them so we can call security if they refuse to leave. This is the first time they’ve been back since. I think they’ve got another hustle going on. Drugs or prostitution, probably. A few weeks ago I watched the older one flirting with this guy at the Swim Club, kept putting her hand on his leg, laughing at his jokes. Or maybe she stole his wallet.”

I must have looked surprised.

“Oh, come on, didn’t you say you grew up here? That kind of stuff happens all the time.”

“Sure,” I said. “I know that.” But it still gave me the chills to think about it.

From far away the women had looked to be the same age, but I could see through the spa’s door that one of them was older than I had first thought and the other much younger, just a girl.

“Hello, sunshine,” the older one said, greeting Emily. “Long time no see. And look! You’ve got a new friend.”

“Des, this is Lily. And she’s not going to put up with any of your bullshit either, so don’t even try.”

The woman, Des, held out her hand. Up close I could see that her face was caked with makeup that had settled into the lines around her mouth, her eyes. She wore so much mascara that her eyelashes matted together in five distinct spikes. The younger one had wandered over to the magazines arranged on the coffee table. She picked one up, flipped through a few pages, and rubbed a perfume sample on her wrist. When I shook Des’s hand, she clasped her other hand on top of mine and squeezed. It felt strange to be touched with such tenderness and intent by someone I had just met.

“Ooh, pretty!” she said, fingering my bracelet hungrily. I pulled my hand away.

“Okay, seriously, Desmina, beat it,” Emily said. “Deidre is here today, and she won’t hesitate to call security on you. Neither will I, for that matter.”

Desmina turned to me wearing an exaggerated pout. “I’m so glad you’re here. See how mean she is to me? And most of the time we just want to come by for a quick visit, a little chat.” She turned over her shoulder. “Clara, come meet our new friend, Lily.”

The girl looked up from her magazine and stared at me. Her mouth parted a little, and a strange blankness came over her face, like she had been waiting for a bus for a long time or watching a run of late-night infomercials on TV.

“Is she okay?” I asked.

“Oh, she’s fine. She gets like this when she’s having a vision, is all.”

“A vision?” I asked. I felt Emily sigh.