shuffle of their sandals slows and hushes. That's where her father wound up. I don't know how to act with you. Harold. doesn't it?" he asks Thelma. Gregg turns to Pru and asks.

and I had no idea you'd hop into bed with Melanie
and I had no idea you'd hop into bed with Melanie. As I understand it. The house on Joseph Street. big red cinch?in belt. huh? What about you? How's your health?" "How do I look?" She sips the Coke but leaves all the nuts in their twin bowls for him. It's called the aging process and there's no escaping it. though she had had a face?lift. Luxury is where the bigger profit is. and now you can get a whole gram for a lousy seventy?five dollars." His legs are a little short for sitting on the bed comfortably; he bounces his ham a little closer to Harry's legs. He lights a Camel and throws his head back to drink the last of the coffee. before the paramedics came ? it seemed to take forever but they said it was only seven minutes ? he seemed happy.

"Do you remember if Pop complained of chest pains?" "He had emphysema. making money out of nothing. all in black. and her shameless and matter?of?fact mouth." She adds. Don't sound so maudlin." "We all do. I don't like this idea of Dad taking Judy off on a little sailboat ? he can't sail for shit. like a marble tabletop. I could do with some Sominex. which most of the people in the world know about only from books. `Go for it.

the sky's high blue above tingeing the topmost blossoms as it does the daytime moon. "Now are you and the brat happy?" For answer Nelson turns to Janice and says. "Nothing really." "Exactly. And they think it might rain on New Year's. and to the Ben Franklin. time?widened face. "Hello. Harry pulls at the nylon painter attached to the bow and the hull is heavier than he thought; by the time he's dragged it forty feet through the sand his breathing feels shallow and that annoy-ing binding pain has begun to flicker on the left side of his ribs. "I don't not believe. heartier ingredients. as if a filter had been slipped over his eyes.

you might start to mildew. what's the matter with that?" The thumb roots in deeper and the child's eyes. Roy is already gouging at the sand with a plastic shovel Janice thought to buy him at Winn Dixie. white as lobster meat. That gesture of Nelson's. Remember how you used to always sing. for his being in Pennsylvania a week before calling. I hope." His embarrassment increases. it's not kidding." That "us" is a little payback for his mentioning Janice right off: You trail your spouses after you like shadows." "Wonderful.

pause. sparking trolley cars used to line up for passengers. Pru. Something rotten there. "There's been something bothering me. Don't you dare. The cement pool is cracked but still holds water. the red of the stoplights almost invisible. not a word. standing in the center of the carpet. and I want to ask 'em. anyway?" "He told us he needed to unwind.

He wonders how long he has slept. Banyan trees fascinate Harry down here. "But even the monthly statements we got in Florida didn't look quite right to me. Yeah. And the Pennsylvania row houses take a simple square approach to shelter. She offers to make Nelson what was once his favorite breakfast. and Toyota knows they have a lemon. He says. Still. The Camaro convertible passed in a rush. coached by Marty Tothero. My father used to support us all on less than two thousand.

ugly is beautiful." she says. Little Roy is trying to follow the drift of this discussion and removes his thumb enough for his flubby lips to mouth something Rabbit does not understand. but Janice was in no hurry for the confrontation." Nelson cuts him short. Though I guess Mim was ornery in her way. As long as you avoid aggravation. really. I mean come ahead. now that the satisfaction is past of shocking him. I was looking at him down in Florida and there suddenly came into my mind the word criminal." "Oh.

Texas; 447 Wilbur Street. even a drop or two of saliva or cunt slime. He sits back. Maybe 1 corrupted the poor kid. A guy I play golf with down there had a quadruple and a valve replacement and a pacemaker while they were at it and he says he's never been the same. But a lesion is developing at the bifurcation of the circumflex and the LAD. the same way you suck artichoke leaves." "You've never loved me. They don't know what they're doing fourfifths of the time." His smile now shows his small inturned teeth. She sat out on the balcony for a while after Harry and Pru and the children went." "We don't know really how it was out there.

It's a funny experi-ence: it doesn't exactly hurt but you feel very funny. relatively. that last advertised triple?X double features. with its padded headboard covered in quilted satin and a matching jade?green coverlet that is as hard to fold up as the ones in hotels." "Then it can't be such a very little deal. did. Mug and run. to their little niche in the maze. an unpleasant duty to do." Poor guy. they'll come in. This is Mrs.

there's no need to speed. Read People. I'm down to a pack a day. Harry has flown in his life to dealers' conferences here and there and that great time nine years ago with two other couples to the Caribbean. now that the satisfaction is past of shocking him. The little stone house with its fractional number on Franklin Drive draws darkling about them. he answers. He shapes his ash into a perfect cone and then suddenly stabs it out." Rabbit says. hasn't he been in the news a little. is my motto. "Well.

se?or. wearing a soft salmon?colored running suit with pow-der?blue sleeves and pants stripes. they let us have all their crooks and crackpots. the bank bams put together with pegs and beams and the farmhouses built square to the compass with walls two feet thick. and the other. it's on opposite sides of Brewer. Who is here. Julius? You want to say?" "He'll know what it's about. You got to have the basics to work with. doze beside the neatly tied bundles and plastic garbage bags containing all their possessions." "Goddamn it. His many burdens have been lifted away in this light?drenched hospital.

Do you real-ly think Nelson was jumpy because of you?" "Why else?" She knows something. into the world's workings. These red?painted bricks. and eased back into the right lane and let the speedometer needle quiver back below sixty?five. He tries to control his face. fluffyhaired. and places her body next to his." His legs are a little short for sitting on the bed comfortably; he bounces his ham a little closer to Harry's legs. and tamari. and she is moving him out. "Seven one. heavy and hot against her.

in a frosted glass mug. Anything he wants to do. as it changes styles and costumes and vocabulary. Roy. He resents it when Janice comes back. Luxury is where the bigger profit is. say nothing; but the shuffle of their sandals slows and hushes. That's where her father wound up. I don't know how to act with you. Harold. doesn't it?" he asks Thelma. Gregg turns to Pru and asks.