about him?’
‘Like I say, it’s nothing to get too worried about. Your husband was brought into the precinct station house a couple of hours ago. He was drunk and he’d been in a
fight.’
‘A fight? Oh, Jesus!’
‘He’s not badly hurt. A few cuts and bruises is all, although he seems to have lost his keys and his phone. We normally let people like this sleep it off in the cells, but it being a
Saturday night they’re all full. At the moment he’s asleep in one of our interview rooms, but he can’t stay there. So we were wondering if you could come over and take him off our
hands. We couldn’t get much sense out of your husband, but he did manage to tell us where you work, so I know you’re only a few minutes away. We found your phone numbers in his address
book. I tried your work number but they said you’d gone out on a break, so I hope you don’t mind me calling you on this number.’
‘No, that’s fine. I’ll come right over.’
‘You know where we are?’
‘I think so. By Tompkins, right?’
‘That’s it. Just ask for Detective Doyle at the desk.’
She ends the call. ‘Shit!’
In the bed, Alex is sitting up. ‘Who was that?’
She starts searching for her clothes. They got thrown in all different directions not long after she got here.
‘Some detective called Doyle at the Eighth Precinct. Gary’s there. Drunk and beat-up. They want me to go get him.’
Alex lets out a snort of laughter. She picks up one of his socks and throws it at him.
‘It’s not funny. You know, one of these days we’re going to get caught doing this. The cops even tried calling me at work tonight. I think Bella must have covered for me. But
what if Gary calls one night when I’m supposed to be working? What if it’s not Bella who answers, but someone who doesn’t know I’m supposed to be at work when really
I’m over here getting my brains banged out?’
‘Yeah, well if Gary did a little more brain-banging himself, maybe you wouldn’t have to put yourself through all this.’
‘Shut up, Alex. You’re really not helping.’
She’s cheating on Gary. She accepts this. Mostly she tries not to think about it. When she can’t avoid it, she tries to justify it to herself. Unreasonable behavior on his part. Lack
of attentiveness to her womanly needs. Her conjugal rights. Whatever. But when others attack him, as Alex just did and frequently does, she feels compelled to leap to his defense. Gary has issues.
After what they went through they both had issues, but she got over it and he didn’t. It’s sad, but there it is. He’s not a bad man, she thinks, and he doesn’t really
deserve what I’m doing to him.
As she starts to dress, Alex relaxes back into the pillows and watches her.
‘Couldn’t you spend just another few minutes here?’
‘No, I couldn’t. The cops believe I’m practically on their doorstep. They don’t know I have to drive all the way downtown to get there.’
‘This time of night, it shouldn’t take too long.’
She ignores him, continues dressing. When she passes the bed on her way to the door, he lunges forward and grabs her by the arm.
‘Come on. Just a little longer. I’ll be quick, I promise.’
‘No change there, then.’
He pulls her closer to the bed. ‘Well, if that’s what you think, I’ll just have to prove how wrong you are.’
She yanks herself free. ‘No, Alex. No. Okay?’
She picks up her bag from a chair by the door, then gives him one last look. In response, Alex pulls back the sheets and shows her what he’s got.
You don’t have a clue, Alex, she thinks. Not a clue.
Shaking her head, she opens the door and leaves.
The apartment is way up on West 107th Street, near Amsterdam Avenue. She knows that what Alex likes about it is its proximity to Columbia University, where he works as a lab
technician, and the karate school where he gets paid as an instructor. The only thing she likes about it is that she can usually get a
‘Like I say, it’s nothing to get too worried about. Your husband was brought into the precinct station house a couple of hours ago. He was drunk and he’d been in a
fight.’
‘A fight? Oh, Jesus!’
‘He’s not badly hurt. A few cuts and bruises is all, although he seems to have lost his keys and his phone. We normally let people like this sleep it off in the cells, but it being a
Saturday night they’re all full. At the moment he’s asleep in one of our interview rooms, but he can’t stay there. So we were wondering if you could come over and take him off our
hands. We couldn’t get much sense out of your husband, but he did manage to tell us where you work, so I know you’re only a few minutes away. We found your phone numbers in his address
book. I tried your work number but they said you’d gone out on a break, so I hope you don’t mind me calling you on this number.’
‘No, that’s fine. I’ll come right over.’
‘You know where we are?’
‘I think so. By Tompkins, right?’
‘That’s it. Just ask for Detective Doyle at the desk.’
She ends the call. ‘Shit!’
In the bed, Alex is sitting up. ‘Who was that?’
She starts searching for her clothes. They got thrown in all different directions not long after she got here.
‘Some detective called Doyle at the Eighth Precinct. Gary’s there. Drunk and beat-up. They want me to go get him.’
Alex lets out a snort of laughter. She picks up one of his socks and throws it at him.
‘It’s not funny. You know, one of these days we’re going to get caught doing this. The cops even tried calling me at work tonight. I think Bella must have covered for me. But
what if Gary calls one night when I’m supposed to be working? What if it’s not Bella who answers, but someone who doesn’t know I’m supposed to be at work when really
I’m over here getting my brains banged out?’
‘Yeah, well if Gary did a little more brain-banging himself, maybe you wouldn’t have to put yourself through all this.’
‘Shut up, Alex. You’re really not helping.’
She’s cheating on Gary. She accepts this. Mostly she tries not to think about it. When she can’t avoid it, she tries to justify it to herself. Unreasonable behavior on his part. Lack
of attentiveness to her womanly needs. Her conjugal rights. Whatever. But when others attack him, as Alex just did and frequently does, she feels compelled to leap to his defense. Gary has issues.
After what they went through they both had issues, but she got over it and he didn’t. It’s sad, but there it is. He’s not a bad man, she thinks, and he doesn’t really
deserve what I’m doing to him.
As she starts to dress, Alex relaxes back into the pillows and watches her.
‘Couldn’t you spend just another few minutes here?’
‘No, I couldn’t. The cops believe I’m practically on their doorstep. They don’t know I have to drive all the way downtown to get there.’
‘This time of night, it shouldn’t take too long.’
She ignores him, continues dressing. When she passes the bed on her way to the door, he lunges forward and grabs her by the arm.
‘Come on. Just a little longer. I’ll be quick, I promise.’
‘No change there, then.’
He pulls her closer to the bed. ‘Well, if that’s what you think, I’ll just have to prove how wrong you are.’
She yanks herself free. ‘No, Alex. No. Okay?’
She picks up her bag from a chair by the door, then gives him one last look. In response, Alex pulls back the sheets and shows her what he’s got.
You don’t have a clue, Alex, she thinks. Not a clue.
Shaking her head, she opens the door and leaves.
The apartment is way up on West 107th Street, near Amsterdam Avenue. She knows that what Alex likes about it is its proximity to Columbia University, where he works as a lab
technician, and the karate school where he gets paid as an instructor. The only thing she likes about it is that she can usually get a
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