years. You’ll be younger then and enjoy yourself more. For instance, why did you let Ari scoop Melissa up like that?”
“He didn’t scoop her up.”
“Misha, I was there. I saw it. And you didn’t raise a finger.”
“Melissa came into my room last night. She came into my bed.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Misha,” she said with a sly smile, “I hope you were a gentleman.”
“I was
not
a gentleman.”
“You don’t understand me. I hope you didn’t send her away. That would have been very ungentlemanly indeed.”
She was so pleased with herself. I could have struck her. I called to Blackheart and stalked off toward the house. He ran beside me, barking and jumping.
9
On Love
THE NEXT AFTERNOON Mr. Strangfeld dropped Hillyer off. Hillyer was big, with kind of a small head. He was over six feet and weighed a hundred and ninety, most of it muscle, which was a mystery because he didn’t move around much. Mother loved to watch him eat. That night she roasted two chickens, and he ate one by himself. Also, Father liked to play straight man to Hillyer. I think it was with this in mind that he asked him if the boys at school worried about venereal disease.
“We pretty much stick to virgins, sir.”
Father asked what happened after they ceased to be virgins.
“We move on, sir.”
“Is there an inexhaustible supply?”
“If you know where to look.”
“Where is that?”
“Among younger girls, sir. You can always find one among younger girls.”
“There must be a limit even there.”
“As we go down the age scale some of us lose interest, so demand never exceeds supply, if you see what I mean, sir.”
Although the next morning was clear, a strong wind from the ocean lifted sand along the beach. Instead of swimming we took the Angela out on the bay. When the wind comes off the ocean, chopping it up, it blows into the bay and keeps the water tight. Four of us were just the right weight for the Angela—she really dug in. Hillyer was a good sailor, and we all took turns at the tiller, even Mother.
After lunch Hillyer, Blackheart, and I went for a walk to the end of the Point. The only thing we passed was the wreck of the Rita M, which ran aground in the great storm of l938. The hull had lain exposed on the beach until World War II, when the Army Engineers, to stop erosion, constructed a two-thousand-foot stone jetty from the tip of the Point into the sea. As a result the tides collected sand in the pocket. The bay beach built up, and the wreck was mostly buried.All you could see now was the bleached fo’c’s’le sticking up sideways.
We sat down beside it, Blackheart sniffed it and peed on it, and Hillyer broke out some pot. Pot is special on a bare beach in bright sunlight. There’s not much to fasten your eyes on. Waves and clouds become important. Hillyer and I chose favorite clouds and argued their merits as they passed overhead.
Hillyer’s girl, it turned out, was named Rita. He said that at first he thought I was kidding with the story of the Rita M, but then he realized I didn’t know his girl’s name. He thought the coincidence was fantastic, especially after a few more puffs. He said that Rita’s nipples were like the dials of a safe. The current combination was two turns to the left on the right one and three turns to the right on the left one. “But the combination keeps changing. You have to experiment.”
I asked him if he was in love with Rita.
He said he didn’t believe in love, and if you don’t believe in it you can’t be in it. “It’s like mortal sin. If you don’t believe in it, you can’t commit it.” Hillyer was a Catholic.
I pointed out that that logic didn’t work for, say, diseases. “I’ll give you a test,” I went on. “If you had to choose between saving your mother from a sinking ship and saving Rita, which would you save?”
“My mother’s a pain in the ass.”
“Your father then.”
“Pain in the ass.”
“Is there
“He didn’t scoop her up.”
“Misha, I was there. I saw it. And you didn’t raise a finger.”
“Melissa came into my room last night. She came into my bed.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Misha,” she said with a sly smile, “I hope you were a gentleman.”
“I was
not
a gentleman.”
“You don’t understand me. I hope you didn’t send her away. That would have been very ungentlemanly indeed.”
She was so pleased with herself. I could have struck her. I called to Blackheart and stalked off toward the house. He ran beside me, barking and jumping.
9
On Love
THE NEXT AFTERNOON Mr. Strangfeld dropped Hillyer off. Hillyer was big, with kind of a small head. He was over six feet and weighed a hundred and ninety, most of it muscle, which was a mystery because he didn’t move around much. Mother loved to watch him eat. That night she roasted two chickens, and he ate one by himself. Also, Father liked to play straight man to Hillyer. I think it was with this in mind that he asked him if the boys at school worried about venereal disease.
“We pretty much stick to virgins, sir.”
Father asked what happened after they ceased to be virgins.
“We move on, sir.”
“Is there an inexhaustible supply?”
“If you know where to look.”
“Where is that?”
“Among younger girls, sir. You can always find one among younger girls.”
“There must be a limit even there.”
“As we go down the age scale some of us lose interest, so demand never exceeds supply, if you see what I mean, sir.”
Although the next morning was clear, a strong wind from the ocean lifted sand along the beach. Instead of swimming we took the Angela out on the bay. When the wind comes off the ocean, chopping it up, it blows into the bay and keeps the water tight. Four of us were just the right weight for the Angela—she really dug in. Hillyer was a good sailor, and we all took turns at the tiller, even Mother.
After lunch Hillyer, Blackheart, and I went for a walk to the end of the Point. The only thing we passed was the wreck of the Rita M, which ran aground in the great storm of l938. The hull had lain exposed on the beach until World War II, when the Army Engineers, to stop erosion, constructed a two-thousand-foot stone jetty from the tip of the Point into the sea. As a result the tides collected sand in the pocket. The bay beach built up, and the wreck was mostly buried.All you could see now was the bleached fo’c’s’le sticking up sideways.
We sat down beside it, Blackheart sniffed it and peed on it, and Hillyer broke out some pot. Pot is special on a bare beach in bright sunlight. There’s not much to fasten your eyes on. Waves and clouds become important. Hillyer and I chose favorite clouds and argued their merits as they passed overhead.
Hillyer’s girl, it turned out, was named Rita. He said that at first he thought I was kidding with the story of the Rita M, but then he realized I didn’t know his girl’s name. He thought the coincidence was fantastic, especially after a few more puffs. He said that Rita’s nipples were like the dials of a safe. The current combination was two turns to the left on the right one and three turns to the right on the left one. “But the combination keeps changing. You have to experiment.”
I asked him if he was in love with Rita.
He said he didn’t believe in love, and if you don’t believe in it you can’t be in it. “It’s like mortal sin. If you don’t believe in it, you can’t commit it.” Hillyer was a Catholic.
I pointed out that that logic didn’t work for, say, diseases. “I’ll give you a test,” I went on. “If you had to choose between saving your mother from a sinking ship and saving Rita, which would you save?”
“My mother’s a pain in the ass.”
“Your father then.”
“Pain in the ass.”
“Is there
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