Book Description

A DEAD MAN'S APARTMENT. Lonnie, a married but lonely truck driver, and Nickie, his mistress, a married but lonely hardware store clerk, meet twice a week in an apartment to talk and kiss. They have chosen a day to tell their spouses they are leaving them, but when the day comes, there is a message on Lonnie's answering machine: "You're a dead man." Lonnie wants to put off telling their spouses until he finds out who is after him, but when Nickie's brother, Al, reveals that Lonnie left his own message on the machine, Lonnie admits to being too scared to make the big move. Lonnie loses his secret life, but he realizes he loves his wife and that all this is for the best anyway. (2 men, 2 women.) ROSEMARY WITH GINGER. Two sisters meet in a closed-down diner and slowly reveal the strife they're experiencing at home: Rosemary, an alcoholic, is about to lose custody of her children, the pain of which leads her to drink more and to tolerate an abusive relationship with her boyfriend; Ginger finds herself in a loveless marriage, but more important, she needs to explain to Rosemary why she divulged Rosemary's alcoholism to her ex-husband, thus creating the custody battle. The sisters wrangle, accuse and attack, but mostly discover that, without each other, they have nothing. In the end, some hope is evident as the sisters rediscover their common bonds. (2 women.) FACE DIVIDED. In the emergency room of a Providence, Rhode Island hospital, Debbie waits for her husband. Their daughter, Jess, has fallen down the basement steps. That, at least, is what she tells the nurses, and this is the story she's sticking to. When Freddie arrives, he angrily confronts Debbie about the telltale signs of childabuse that mark their daughter. Debbie refuses to admit the truth and desperately talks about their simple life together before they were married and how she wants things back the way they were. Freddie warns Debbie that they'll lose their daughter, but Debbie won't cooperate. In the end, Freddie goes along with her story, all the while knowing that the state will do what it has to do and that Debbie will go on living in a dream world. (1 man, 2 women.)