now.
Graham’s head felt stuffed and stupid. He swam in the pool at his hotel until he was rubber-legged, and came out of the water thinking of two things at once—a Tanqueray martini and the taste of Molly’s mouth.
He made the martini himself in a plastic glass and telephoned Molly.
“Hello, hotshot.”
“Hey, baby! Where are you?”
“In this damned hotel in Atlanta.”
“Doing some good?”
“None you’d notice. I’m lonesome.”
“Me too.”
“Horny.”
“Me too.”
“Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, I had a run-in with Mrs. Holper today. She wanted to return a dress with a huge big whiskey stain on the seat. I mean, obviously she had worn it to the Jaycee thing.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told her I didn’t sell it to her like that.”
“And what did she say?”
“She said she never had any trouble returning dresses before, which was one reason she shopped at my place rather than some others that she knew about.”
“And then what did you say?”
“Oh, I said I was upset because Will talks like a jack-ass on the phone.”
“I see.”
“Willy’s fine. He’s covering some turtle eggs the dogs dug up. Tell me what you’re doing.”
“Reading reports. Eating junk food.”
“Thinking a good bit, I expect.”
“Yep.”
“Can I help you?”
“I just don’t have a lock on anything, Molly. There’s not enough information. Well, there’s a lot of information, but I haven’t done enough with it.”
“Will you be in Atlanta for a while? I’m not bugging you about coming home, I just wonder.”
“I don’t know. I’ll be here a few more days at least. I miss you.”
“Want to talk about fucking?”
“I don’t think I could stand it. I think maybe we better not do that.”
“Do what?”
“Talk about fucking.”
“Okay. You don’t mind if I think about it, though?”
“Absolutely not.”
“We’ve got a new dog.”
“Oh hell.”
“Looks like a cross between a basset hound and a Pekingese.”
“Lovely.”
“He’s got big balls.”
“Never mind about his balls.”
“They almost drag the ground. He has to retract them when he runs.”
“He can’t do that.”
“Yes he can. You don’t know.”
“Yes I do know.”
“Can you retract yours?”
“I thought we were coming to that.”
“Well?”
“If you must know, I retracted them once.”
“When was that?”
“In my youth. I had to clear a barbed-wire fence in a hurry.”
“Why?”
“I was carrying this watermelon that I had not cultivated.”
“You were fleeing? From whom?”
“A swineherd of my acquaintance. Alerted by his dogs, he burst from his dwelling in his BVD’s, waving a fowling piece. Fortunately, he tripped over a butter-bean trellis and gave me a running start.”
“Did he shoot at you?”
“I thought so at the time, yes. But the reports I heard might have issued from my behind. I’ve never been entirely clear on that.”
“Did you clear the fence?”
“Handily.”
“A criminal mind, even at that age.”
“I don’t have a criminal mind.”
“Of course you don’t. I’m thinking about painting the kitchen. What color do you like? Will? What color do you like? Are you there?”
“Yeah, uh, yellow. Let’s paint it yellow.”
“Yellow is a bad color for me. I’ll look green at breakfast.”
“Blue, then.”
“Blue is cold.”
“Well goddammit, paint it baby-shit tan for all I care. . . . No, look, I’ll probably be home before long and we’ll go to the paint store and get some chips and stuff, okay? And maybe some new handles and that.”
“Let’s do, let’s get some handles. I don’t know why I’m talking about this stuff. Look, I love you and I miss you and you’re doing the right thing. It’s costing you too, I know that. I’m here and I’ll be here whenever you come home, or I’ll meet you anywhere, anytime. That’s what.”
“Dear Molly. Dear Molly. Go to bed now.”
“All right.”
“Good
Graham’s head felt stuffed and stupid. He swam in the pool at his hotel until he was rubber-legged, and came out of the water thinking of two things at once—a Tanqueray martini and the taste of Molly’s mouth.
He made the martini himself in a plastic glass and telephoned Molly.
“Hello, hotshot.”
“Hey, baby! Where are you?”
“In this damned hotel in Atlanta.”
“Doing some good?”
“None you’d notice. I’m lonesome.”
“Me too.”
“Horny.”
“Me too.”
“Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, I had a run-in with Mrs. Holper today. She wanted to return a dress with a huge big whiskey stain on the seat. I mean, obviously she had worn it to the Jaycee thing.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told her I didn’t sell it to her like that.”
“And what did she say?”
“She said she never had any trouble returning dresses before, which was one reason she shopped at my place rather than some others that she knew about.”
“And then what did you say?”
“Oh, I said I was upset because Will talks like a jack-ass on the phone.”
“I see.”
“Willy’s fine. He’s covering some turtle eggs the dogs dug up. Tell me what you’re doing.”
“Reading reports. Eating junk food.”
“Thinking a good bit, I expect.”
“Yep.”
“Can I help you?”
“I just don’t have a lock on anything, Molly. There’s not enough information. Well, there’s a lot of information, but I haven’t done enough with it.”
“Will you be in Atlanta for a while? I’m not bugging you about coming home, I just wonder.”
“I don’t know. I’ll be here a few more days at least. I miss you.”
“Want to talk about fucking?”
“I don’t think I could stand it. I think maybe we better not do that.”
“Do what?”
“Talk about fucking.”
“Okay. You don’t mind if I think about it, though?”
“Absolutely not.”
“We’ve got a new dog.”
“Oh hell.”
“Looks like a cross between a basset hound and a Pekingese.”
“Lovely.”
“He’s got big balls.”
“Never mind about his balls.”
“They almost drag the ground. He has to retract them when he runs.”
“He can’t do that.”
“Yes he can. You don’t know.”
“Yes I do know.”
“Can you retract yours?”
“I thought we were coming to that.”
“Well?”
“If you must know, I retracted them once.”
“When was that?”
“In my youth. I had to clear a barbed-wire fence in a hurry.”
“Why?”
“I was carrying this watermelon that I had not cultivated.”
“You were fleeing? From whom?”
“A swineherd of my acquaintance. Alerted by his dogs, he burst from his dwelling in his BVD’s, waving a fowling piece. Fortunately, he tripped over a butter-bean trellis and gave me a running start.”
“Did he shoot at you?”
“I thought so at the time, yes. But the reports I heard might have issued from my behind. I’ve never been entirely clear on that.”
“Did you clear the fence?”
“Handily.”
“A criminal mind, even at that age.”
“I don’t have a criminal mind.”
“Of course you don’t. I’m thinking about painting the kitchen. What color do you like? Will? What color do you like? Are you there?”
“Yeah, uh, yellow. Let’s paint it yellow.”
“Yellow is a bad color for me. I’ll look green at breakfast.”
“Blue, then.”
“Blue is cold.”
“Well goddammit, paint it baby-shit tan for all I care. . . . No, look, I’ll probably be home before long and we’ll go to the paint store and get some chips and stuff, okay? And maybe some new handles and that.”
“Let’s do, let’s get some handles. I don’t know why I’m talking about this stuff. Look, I love you and I miss you and you’re doing the right thing. It’s costing you too, I know that. I’m here and I’ll be here whenever you come home, or I’ll meet you anywhere, anytime. That’s what.”
“Dear Molly. Dear Molly. Go to bed now.”
“All right.”
“Good
Similar Books
