And the Oscar goes to… Alice Pieszecki, for the most brilliant exploitation of a parental unit, ever.

Well, I mean… what are deadbeat parents good for if not exploiting them?

“Shoot, yeah.” Kit slid her arm around my shoulders and nodded. “I got places to be, but I’ve got some time. It’s no problem.”

***** score.

Kit led me toward the van. I started rifling through my purse to find my tape recorder and the list of tips that my friend Roy (the guy who had given me the tip of Kit Porter’s gig) had written out for me. It had a bunch of general interest areas of questioning, but I had only managed to skim it before I’d gone and gotten wasted and started talking to Bette Porter.

Speak of the ridiculously hot devil. I managed to stop myself short just in time to avoid bumping into her as she exited the club and I headed for Kit’s van.

“Hey,” she said.

Kit poked her head out of the van. “You can just sit in the back here-oh.” She cast her gaze over toward Bette and almost stumbled out of the van. She caught herself, chuckling. “Heeey, baby sis. Where you been? I thought I might’ve seen you in the crowd, but I wasn’t sure.”

Bette ignored Kit. “I guess you got the interview, huh?” she asked me.

I nodded. Kit was laughing loudly.

“You two know each other?” she asked.

Bette didn’t appear to want to answer Kit, so after a long, awkward beat of suckiness, I jumped in and said, “Yeah, we met a few hours ago. I’m Alice, by the way. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself.”

Kit shrugged. “Any friend of my baby sister is a friend of mine. Come in.” She headed back into the van, leaving me alone with Bette, who had her arms crossed. I tried to think of something to say, but couldn’t, so I climbed into the van. Kit brushed past me as she hung her head out the door again. “You, too, Bette, come on.”

I made myself comfortable on the couch in the back of Kit’s van. A few of the band members were littered about, smoking, some crowded around what seemed to be a makeshift bar, a cabinet put into the paneling of the wall of the van, filled with drinks. I looked at it dubiously. Was that even legal? Well, I guess as long as it was out of reach of the driver…