Stubborn. She doesn't know the half of it. Billy drove to the Emerald Diner on Freemont Street. The pounding in his head seemed to back up the music from last night that still played in his mind no matter how much he tried turning down the volume. When he pulled into the diner's parking lot, he was disappointed to see that Charlie was already there. He waved as he walked in. Charlie, slumped against the back seat of a booth, looked old enough to be his own father. Billy noticed how his friend's eyes drooped so low they looked like they might fall into his mustache.

"Hey, bud," Billy said. "You're looking uglier than ever."

Charlie lifted the end of his upper lip in an attempt to smile. "Some night, huh?"

"Yeah. How much did we drink, anyway?"

"Near as I can figure," Charlie said, "we bought twenty rounds, so that would be about forty beers for the three of us."

"That all? It feels like a hell of a lot more. We used to drink more than that in college. You sure they didn't buy us some free rounds?"

"Free? That was The Howling Pussycat, man. Nothing free there."

"You can say that again. Hey, did we tip the dancers?" Billy asked. "I don't remember."

"Don't remember? You were the one that got on stage and danced with the blond with the big bazookas. She finally had to stand still for you to stuff her garter belt with money."

"Me?" Billy asked. "That was you. Remember? Some big guy put a five dollar bill in your belt buckle."

"Oh, yeah." Charlie said. A real smile formed across his face. "I made out all right then."

Billy ordered coffee and dry toast. Charlie took a refill of coffee.

"Where's Derek?" Billy asked. "What time is it?"

"Past eight." Charlie took out his cell phone. "Hey, Marlene. This is Charlie. Just wondering how Derek's doing? Oh, that's too bad. Well tell him me and Billy's having breakfast at the Emerald. Be sure to tell him, okay? My love to the kids."

As soon as he snapped off his cell, Charlie and Billy high-fived one another. "I guess we know who's paying next month," Charlie said.

---

"You'll never guess where Charles and Bill are." Marlene was already on the phone talking to Jenna. "The Emerald Diner."

"What? Bill was a walking zombie when he left here. He can't be eating breakfast."

"Probably not. Kathy called and said Charlie threw up all night. Never fell asleep, but first thing this morning he was out of the house. Poor Derek looks green. He couldn't get out of bed. He kept moaning, "Kill me, Marl. Please kill me." When I told him that Charlie called saying that he and Bill were at the Emerald, he looked at the clock and said, "Damn it! Now I have to pay next month." From what I could get from him, Charlie paid this time because last month he had been the first to throw up. Your Billy hasn't paid in a long while, Derek told me."

"I'm so proud of my man," Jenna said. And in some odd way, she was. She was proud of herself, too, for understanding his monthly binge. "Look, I'm about to go for a run," she told Marlene. "Are we still on for lunch at The Sweet Tooth? I've been good all week so I deserve a piece of that Seven Layers of Heaven chocolate cake."