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Show page 4 past the depot to the Bottom, the Negro business section. He wondered b r i e f l y where the beautiful music had gone and why the jukebox couldn't keep playing forever. He reached under his apron and pulled out a coin. "You like Range Buddies?" he asked the g i r l s. Pat the-brunette fluttered her heavy mascara and twitched on her ^tool. "Irene, honey, you like Range Buddies?" Irene said she liked i t she guessed, and Johnny Mack stepped through the counter a i s l e and selected i t . Returning behind the counter, he asked the brunette, "Make your acquaintance tonight, I'm kinda lonesome?" The brunette leaned toward the blonde. "Honey, the way he says i t !" The blonde reached in her purse for c i g a r e t t e s . Her gingham dress, sleeveless and low cut, gave her the appearance of a rural housewife on a Saturday shopping tour. Johnny Mack, had i t not been for the lines around her neck, would have chosen her. He would have the chance, he knew; Irene would travel the southern c i r c u i t again and again, u n t i l the lines got larger and u g l i e r. He would have the chance plenty times with Irene, he knew, u n t il the lines forced her t o take anything she could get in an unknown town - maybe even hashing like himself. The blonde read Johnny Mack's thoughts and f e l t hostile toward the cruel daylight. The brunette was l i v e l i e r . She said, "We're leaving tonight, honey." Johnny Mack looked from one g i r l to another without speaking. |