leave.”
“Isn’t it awful to have your life measured out like that?”
“I need the money.”
“Couldn’t you paint? You used to be so good at it.”
“Paint? There’s no money in painting. Maybe I could paint houses. I’ve thought about doing something like that. Sam and I kicked around the idea last summer. He’s really going nuts at the store.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do when I get out of college.”
“It would help to have a major. But if you’re marrying Doctor Mark, I don’t guess you even need to finish.”
“I want to go to school. I mean, I want to finish. I didn’t go there to get a husband.”
“Now that you’ve got one, why don’t you just quit?”
“He’s not even my husband. He’s just my boyfriend.”
“Propose to him,” Charles says. “I wish I could propose to somebody and have them take care of me.”
“I’m not going to propose to Mark!”
“Why not? Don’t women propose to men now?”
“That’s not why I’m not doing it. I just don’t want to do it.”
“Face it. You want him to marry you.”
“Then he can propose,” Susan says.
“How quaint.”
“You deliberately get me on these subjects so you can goad me,” Susan says.
“I know. I can be so unpleasant. Maybe if somebody took care of me I’d be in a better mood.”
“Get that woman to leave her husband.”
“It’s more than a husband. It’s a daughter and an A-frame.”
“That’s nothing. Women walk out every day.”
“Not for me they don’t.”
“You should keep after her.”
“She’s sick.”
“When she’s well.”
“Yeah,” Charles says.
“Don’t sound so defeated. You’ll never be persuasive if you sound like that.”
“What should I do? Read a Dale Carnegie book?”
“Who’s that?” Susan says.
“What a generation. Never heard of Amy Vanderbilt. Never heard of Dale Carnegie. And you think Woodstock was a drag.”
“I know it was a drag. It was nothing but mud.”
“And nobody is into drugs any more, huh?”
“Not many people. I don’t know … maybe I just don’t know them.”
“Have you got a lot of friends at school?”
“A couple that Mark knows are pretty nice.”
“I don’t have any friends. I just have Sam.”
“Why don’t you meet people?”
“Next you’ll be telling me to dance.”
Charles goes into the kitchen, looks through the cabinets to see what there is for dinner. Susan is right; he thinks about food too much. He picks up a package of dried peas, drops them back on the shelf. There is a large bottle of vanilla, a package of dried beans, a box of Tuna Helper, no tuna, a can of baby clams, two cans of alphabet soup, a canister with four Hydrox cookies (what happened to them? They used to be so good. Sugar. No doubt they’re leaving out sugar), a package of Cheese Nabs, and a can of grapefruit juice. There is also a package of manicotti shells. They will have to go out for dinner. It is too cold; it was thirty degrees when he went out early in the afternoon to buy Sam some magazines.
“You don’t have a hair dryer, do you?”
“Of course not. What would I be doing with that?”
“A lot of men blow-dry their hair now.”
“I don’t want all that junk around me. What would I have a hair dryer for?”
He is cantankerous. That’s probably the real reason Susan’s leaving. If Doctor Mark’s Cadillac will start.
“Does Mark use a hair dryer?” he calls.
No answer. The rumble of the television. He looks at the thermometer on the window outside. It is twenty-eight degrees. The thermometer was a Christmas gift from an uncle in Wisconsin. An ornamental squirrel is huddled on top of it. It is made out of some plastic-looking black material. The squirrel looks like it won’t make it. There is a black plastic nut in its paws. Charles goes back to the cabinet, looking for the jar of bird seed. He finds it, shoved to the back of the highest shelf. There is also another box of Tuna Helper there, and a jar of
“Isn’t it awful to have your life measured out like that?”
“I need the money.”
“Couldn’t you paint? You used to be so good at it.”
“Paint? There’s no money in painting. Maybe I could paint houses. I’ve thought about doing something like that. Sam and I kicked around the idea last summer. He’s really going nuts at the store.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do when I get out of college.”
“It would help to have a major. But if you’re marrying Doctor Mark, I don’t guess you even need to finish.”
“I want to go to school. I mean, I want to finish. I didn’t go there to get a husband.”
“Now that you’ve got one, why don’t you just quit?”
“He’s not even my husband. He’s just my boyfriend.”
“Propose to him,” Charles says. “I wish I could propose to somebody and have them take care of me.”
“I’m not going to propose to Mark!”
“Why not? Don’t women propose to men now?”
“That’s not why I’m not doing it. I just don’t want to do it.”
“Face it. You want him to marry you.”
“Then he can propose,” Susan says.
“How quaint.”
“You deliberately get me on these subjects so you can goad me,” Susan says.
“I know. I can be so unpleasant. Maybe if somebody took care of me I’d be in a better mood.”
“Get that woman to leave her husband.”
“It’s more than a husband. It’s a daughter and an A-frame.”
“That’s nothing. Women walk out every day.”
“Not for me they don’t.”
“You should keep after her.”
“She’s sick.”
“When she’s well.”
“Yeah,” Charles says.
“Don’t sound so defeated. You’ll never be persuasive if you sound like that.”
“What should I do? Read a Dale Carnegie book?”
“Who’s that?” Susan says.
“What a generation. Never heard of Amy Vanderbilt. Never heard of Dale Carnegie. And you think Woodstock was a drag.”
“I know it was a drag. It was nothing but mud.”
“And nobody is into drugs any more, huh?”
“Not many people. I don’t know … maybe I just don’t know them.”
“Have you got a lot of friends at school?”
“A couple that Mark knows are pretty nice.”
“I don’t have any friends. I just have Sam.”
“Why don’t you meet people?”
“Next you’ll be telling me to dance.”
Charles goes into the kitchen, looks through the cabinets to see what there is for dinner. Susan is right; he thinks about food too much. He picks up a package of dried peas, drops them back on the shelf. There is a large bottle of vanilla, a package of dried beans, a box of Tuna Helper, no tuna, a can of baby clams, two cans of alphabet soup, a canister with four Hydrox cookies (what happened to them? They used to be so good. Sugar. No doubt they’re leaving out sugar), a package of Cheese Nabs, and a can of grapefruit juice. There is also a package of manicotti shells. They will have to go out for dinner. It is too cold; it was thirty degrees when he went out early in the afternoon to buy Sam some magazines.
“You don’t have a hair dryer, do you?”
“Of course not. What would I be doing with that?”
“A lot of men blow-dry their hair now.”
“I don’t want all that junk around me. What would I have a hair dryer for?”
He is cantankerous. That’s probably the real reason Susan’s leaving. If Doctor Mark’s Cadillac will start.
“Does Mark use a hair dryer?” he calls.
No answer. The rumble of the television. He looks at the thermometer on the window outside. It is twenty-eight degrees. The thermometer was a Christmas gift from an uncle in Wisconsin. An ornamental squirrel is huddled on top of it. It is made out of some plastic-looking black material. The squirrel looks like it won’t make it. There is a black plastic nut in its paws. Charles goes back to the cabinet, looking for the jar of bird seed. He finds it, shoved to the back of the highest shelf. There is also another box of Tuna Helper there, and a jar of
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