Play It As It Lays

After Maria is arrested in Las Vegas, she calls Freddy, who flies out to Las Vegas and gets the charges dropped. On the plane, Maria vomits and releases all of the negative emotions she has been carrying. Freddy expresses his concern for what he calls her “very self-destructive personality structure” (156), but Maria laughs it off.

Helene visits Maria and tells her that she heard about Maria’s “baroque morning after” from Carter (157), who heard about it from Freddy. Maria tells Helene that she is fine, and Helene says: “Of course. You’re really on top of it. I mean for example there’s nothing at all peculiar about hiding under the covers shaking at three o’clock in the afternoon” (158).

Later that day, Maria receives a letter from Benny, who writes that he would like to give her some of her father’s things. He includes a phone number that belongs to his next-door neighbor, where Maria can reach him.

That night, Maria parties with Helene, BZ, and the Goodwins. Afterward, BZ  and Helene take an incoherent Maria back to their hotel room, and as Maria falls asleep, she has a faint “ugly” memory of what BZ and Helene are doing.