I found her sitting in a corner booth underneath a red lamp shade. She was sitting alone at the table, nursing a glass of beer, with her coat lying in an empty seat beside her neatly folded over and with her purse lying on top of that. Beside the glass of beer was an ashtray. While waiting she smoked two cigarettes and drank at least half of the glass of beer.
The little restaurant was only three blocks from campus. Not much light was available except for the small red lamps at each table. But I had enough light to see that the place was mostly empty. A young girl was standing behind the cash register busy reading some college textbook. In the back I heard men"s voices, the hiss of high-pressure water running and steel pots banging around as the men talked loudly. In an opposite corner wa
