“Who are you? the band sang. I tried to remember but I really couldn't say.”

“I wanted to hear what she was saying. I wanted to smell that burnt midnight again, I wanted to feel that wind. It was a secret wanting, like a song I couldn't stop humming, or loving someone I could never have. No matter where I went, my compass pointed west. I would always know what time it was in California.”

“I couldn't imagine owning beauty like my mothers. I wouldn't dare.”

“All that was a dream, you couldn't hold on, you couldn't depend on frosted glass and Debussy.”

“They say drugs are not the answer, but really, what is the question?”

“What can I say about life? Do I praise it for letting you live, or damn it for allowing the rest?”

“You want car?' Rena said. 'Artist college? You think I don't know? How you think you pay? So this dress. Pretty dress. Someone gave. But money is . . .' She stopped, struggling to find the words, what money was. Finally, she threw her hands up. 'Money. You want remember, so just remember.”