CHAPTER 6Unlike the actors, Carlo didn’t have a dressing room in which he could change into his usher uniform. Staff changed wherever they could find privacy, whether it was in the back of the prop closet or a bathroom. While he was normally early for his shifts anyway, on this particular day he arrived nearly five hours before curtain. Only the stage manager was around. Carlo ducked into the cloak room and let out the breath it felt like he’d been holding for thirty blocks.
The day had been awful. After running from Joe’s, he’d gone straight home and locked himself in his room, feigning sickness when his mother pounded on his door. Every time the phone rang, he jumped. Every time a car backfired outside, he pressed himself into the corner of his bed. Joe had him convinced Stout was gunni
