Arleen.
"Finally one noon, just as Buck awoke, he said to Arleen, 'Arleen, I love you very much. Do you love me?' And, of course, Arleen replied,
'yes,' to which Buck said, 'Would you be willing to take a big risk and h e l p m e ? W e c o u l d b e t o g e t h e r a l w a y s a n d I c o u l d h e l p y o u l e a v e Texlahoma.'
"Arleen was thrilled at both thoughts and said, 'Yes, yes,' and then B u c k t o l d h e r w h a t s h e w o u l d h a v e t o d o . A p p a r e n t l y , t h e r a d i a t i o n waves emitted by a woman in love are of just the right frequency to b o o s t t h e r o c k e t s h i p ' s e n g i n e s a n d h e l p i t t o l i f t o f f . A n d i f A r l e e n would just come with him in the ship, they could leave, and Buck could get a cure for his space poisoning at the moon base. 'Will you help me, Arleen?'
" 'Of course, Buck.'
" T h e r e ' s j u s t o n e catch.'
" 'Oh?' Arleen froze.
'You see, once we take off, there's only enough air in the s hip
for one person, and I'm afraid that after takeoff, you'd have to die. Sorry.
But, of course, once we got to the moon, I'd have the right machines to revive you. There's really no problem.'
"Arleen stared at Buck, and a tear came down her cheek, dripped over her lip and onto her tongue, where it tasted salty, like urine. '
I'm s o r r y , B u c k , b u t I c a n ' t d o t h a t , ' s h e s a i d , a d d i n g t h a t t h i n g s would probably be for the best if she no longer took care of him.
Heartbroken b u t u n s u r p r i s e d , B u c k f e l l b a c k t o s le e p a n d A r l e e n w e n t u p s t a i r s .
"Fortunately, Darleen, the youngest daughter, got fired from her p e rfume sales job that day and was able to take care of Buck next, while Arleen got hired at a fried chicken outlet and was no longer around to cast gloomy feelings on Buck.
" B u t w i t h B u c k ' s b e i n g o n t h e r e b o u n d a n d D a r l e e n ' s h a v i n g t o o much free time on her hands, it was only a matter of minutes, practically, before love again blossomed. Days later, Buck was making the same
plea for help to Darleen that he had made to Arleen, 'Won't you please help me, Darleen, I love you so much?'
"But when Buck's plea came to the part about Darleen's having to lie, like her sister before her, she froze. 'I'm sorry, Buck, but I can't d o t h a t , ' s h e , t o o , s a i d , a d d i n g t h a t t h i n g s w o u l d p r o b a b l y b e f o r t h e b e s t i f s h e n o l o n g e r t o o k c a r e o f h i m . A g a i n h e a r t b r o k e n b u t a g a i n u n surprised, Buck fell back to sleep and Darleen went u p s t a i r s .
"Need I say it, but history repeated itself again. Darleen got hired at t h e l o c a l r o a d s i d e s t e a k h o use, and Serena, the middle child, got fired from Woolworth's scent counter and so was put in charge of taking
care of Buck, who had ceased being a novelty in the basement and had b e c o m e i n s t e a d , k i n d o f a g r u d g e —of the same caliber of grudge as, say, a pet dog that the children argue over whose turn it is to feed. And when Serena appeared at noon with lunch one day, all Buck could bring himself to say was, 'God, did another one of you Monroe girls get fired?
C a n ' t a n y o f y o u h o l d a j o b ? '
" T h i s j u s t b o u n c e d right off of Serena. 'They're just small jobs,'
she said. 'I'm learning how to paint and one of these days I'm going to become so good that Mr. Leo Castelli of the Leo Castelli art galleries of New York City is going to send a rescue party up to get me off of this God forsaken asteroid. Here,' she said, jabbing a plate of erudite celery a n d c a r r o t i n h i s c h e s t , ' e a t t h e s e c e l e r y s t i c k s a n d s h u t u p . Y o u l o o k like you need fiber.'
"Well. If Buck thought he had been in love before, he realized now that those were merely mirages and that Serena was indeed his real True Love. He spent his waking time
"Finally one noon, just as Buck awoke, he said to Arleen, 'Arleen, I love you very much. Do you love me?' And, of course, Arleen replied,
'yes,' to which Buck said, 'Would you be willing to take a big risk and h e l p m e ? W e c o u l d b e t o g e t h e r a l w a y s a n d I c o u l d h e l p y o u l e a v e Texlahoma.'
"Arleen was thrilled at both thoughts and said, 'Yes, yes,' and then B u c k t o l d h e r w h a t s h e w o u l d h a v e t o d o . A p p a r e n t l y , t h e r a d i a t i o n waves emitted by a woman in love are of just the right frequency to b o o s t t h e r o c k e t s h i p ' s e n g i n e s a n d h e l p i t t o l i f t o f f . A n d i f A r l e e n would just come with him in the ship, they could leave, and Buck could get a cure for his space poisoning at the moon base. 'Will you help me, Arleen?'
" 'Of course, Buck.'
" T h e r e ' s j u s t o n e catch.'
" 'Oh?' Arleen froze.
'You see, once we take off, there's only enough air in the s hip
for one person, and I'm afraid that after takeoff, you'd have to die. Sorry.
But, of course, once we got to the moon, I'd have the right machines to revive you. There's really no problem.'
"Arleen stared at Buck, and a tear came down her cheek, dripped over her lip and onto her tongue, where it tasted salty, like urine. '
I'm s o r r y , B u c k , b u t I c a n ' t d o t h a t , ' s h e s a i d , a d d i n g t h a t t h i n g s would probably be for the best if she no longer took care of him.
Heartbroken b u t u n s u r p r i s e d , B u c k f e l l b a c k t o s le e p a n d A r l e e n w e n t u p s t a i r s .
"Fortunately, Darleen, the youngest daughter, got fired from her p e rfume sales job that day and was able to take care of Buck next, while Arleen got hired at a fried chicken outlet and was no longer around to cast gloomy feelings on Buck.
" B u t w i t h B u c k ' s b e i n g o n t h e r e b o u n d a n d D a r l e e n ' s h a v i n g t o o much free time on her hands, it was only a matter of minutes, practically, before love again blossomed. Days later, Buck was making the same
plea for help to Darleen that he had made to Arleen, 'Won't you please help me, Darleen, I love you so much?'
"But when Buck's plea came to the part about Darleen's having to lie, like her sister before her, she froze. 'I'm sorry, Buck, but I can't d o t h a t , ' s h e , t o o , s a i d , a d d i n g t h a t t h i n g s w o u l d p r o b a b l y b e f o r t h e b e s t i f s h e n o l o n g e r t o o k c a r e o f h i m . A g a i n h e a r t b r o k e n b u t a g a i n u n surprised, Buck fell back to sleep and Darleen went u p s t a i r s .
"Need I say it, but history repeated itself again. Darleen got hired at t h e l o c a l r o a d s i d e s t e a k h o use, and Serena, the middle child, got fired from Woolworth's scent counter and so was put in charge of taking
care of Buck, who had ceased being a novelty in the basement and had b e c o m e i n s t e a d , k i n d o f a g r u d g e —of the same caliber of grudge as, say, a pet dog that the children argue over whose turn it is to feed. And when Serena appeared at noon with lunch one day, all Buck could bring himself to say was, 'God, did another one of you Monroe girls get fired?
C a n ' t a n y o f y o u h o l d a j o b ? '
" T h i s j u s t b o u n c e d right off of Serena. 'They're just small jobs,'
she said. 'I'm learning how to paint and one of these days I'm going to become so good that Mr. Leo Castelli of the Leo Castelli art galleries of New York City is going to send a rescue party up to get me off of this God forsaken asteroid. Here,' she said, jabbing a plate of erudite celery a n d c a r r o t i n h i s c h e s t , ' e a t t h e s e c e l e r y s t i c k s a n d s h u t u p . Y o u l o o k like you need fiber.'
"Well. If Buck thought he had been in love before, he realized now that those were merely mirages and that Serena was indeed his real True Love. He spent his waking time
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