“Then let's do the interview over the phone. I've got a list of questions right-'He hung up on me.I stared at the phone in disbelief, then ripped a clean sheet of paper from my notebook. I scribbled Jerk on the first line. On the line beneath it I added, smokes cigars. Will die of lung cancer. Hopefully soon. Excellent physical shape. ”

“He hung up on me.I stared at the phone in disbelief, then ripped a clean sheet of paper from my notebook. I scribbled Jerk on the first line. One the line beneath it, I added, Smokes cigars. Will die of lung cancer. Hopefully soon. Excellent physical shape.I immediately scribbled over the last observation until it was illegible.”

“I stared at the phone in disbelief, then ripped a clean sheet of paper from my notebook. I scribbled ' Jerk ' on the first line. On the line beneath it I added, ' Smokes cigars. Will die of lung cancer. Hopefully soon.”

“As soon as I wake up, I check my phone, hoping there's a message from you.”

“Dave hung up. And unplugged the phone. With a fierce and bitter pain he stared at it, watching how, over and over again, it didn't ring.”

“I've got a gig," Jim said.I sat up in my bed, wide-awake. A gig was good- I needed the money. "Half.""Third.""Half.""Thirty-five percent." Jim's voice hardened."Half."The phone went silent as my former Guild partner mulled it over. "Okay, forty."I hung up.(...)The phone rang. I let it ring twice before I picked it up."Fine." Jim's voice had a hint of a snarl in it. "Half.”