Johnny met Marie for dinner on Christmas Eve at Umberto"s Clam House in Little Italy. He learned to his chagrin that she had contracted to work almost every day except for the major holidays and that she stayed at the brownstone most nights as a convenience. He would be bringing her back there tonight and picking her up there tomorrow afternoon unless he got lucky, and there was no indication he would be getting lucky anytime soon.
She was old-fashioned in a sense, though she knew all about music and sounded very much like she envied the other girls who were hanging out at Washington Square Park. She liked reading poetry, kept up with current events, and playing with Johnny made her feel like she was getting involved with the music scene. He also found out she wasn"t into violence or viol
