keep away from me the better."
She said, Oh, disappointedly, but agreed that it was probably best not to see me. She was leaving town for a couple of weeks-some business for Uncle Pat. Naturally, she would have liked a session with me before departing. But since I seemed to be coming down with something, and it wouldn't do for her to catch it…
"You just take care of yourself, Britt. Get to feeling hale and hearty again, because you'll have to be when I get back."
"I'll look forward to it," I said. "Have a good trip, baby."
"And, Britt. I put a two-thousand-dollar bonus check in the mail to you."
"Oh, that's too much," I said. "I'm really overpaid as it is, and-"
"You just shut up!" she said sternly, then laughed. "Bye, now, darling. I gotta run."
"Bye to you," I said. And we hung up.
I had sent Connie three thousand dollars out of my first PXA check, and another three out of the second. Explaining that I'd gotten on to something good, though probably temporary, and that I'd send her all I could as long as it lasted. After all, I hadn't sent much before, lacking much to send, and it was sort of a conscience salve for my affair with Manny.
When my bonus arrived, I mailed Connie a check for the full two thousand. Then, after waiting a few days, until I was sure she had got it, I called her.
Britt Rainstar, stupe de luxe, figured that getting so much scratch-seven grand in less than two months- would put her in a fine mood. Bonehead Britt, sometimes known as the Peabrain Pollyanna, reasoned that all that loot would buy reasonableness and tolerance from Connie. Which just goes to show you. Yessir, that shows you, and it shows something about him, too. ( And please stop laughing, dammit! )
For she was verbally leaping all over me, almost before I had asked her how she was feeling.
"I want to know where you got that money, Britt. I want to know how much more you got-a full and complete accounting, as Daddy says. And don't tell me that you got it from Hemisphere, because we've already talked to them and they said you didn't. They said that you had severed your association with them. So you tell me where you're getting the money, and exactly how much you're getting. Or, by golly, you'll wish you had."
"I see," I said numbly; surprised, though God knows I should not have been. I was always surprised, when being stupid, that people thought I was stupid. "I think I really see for the first time, namely that you and your daddy are a couple of miserable piles of shit."
"Who from and how much? I either find out from you, Mister Britton Rainstar, or -What? What did you say to me?"
"Never mind," I said. "I tell you the source of the money, and you check to see if I'm telling the truth-as to the quantity, that is. That's your plan, isn't it?"
"Well…" She hesitated. "But I have a right to know! I'm your wife."
"Do you and are you?" I said. "A wife usually trusts her husband, when he treats her as generously as I've been treating you."
"Well, all right ," she said at last, grudgingly defensive. "I certainly don't want to make you lose your job, and- and-well, Hemisphere had no right to get huffy about it! Anyway, just look at what you did to me!"
"I didn't do anything to you, Connie. It was an accident."
"Well, anyway," she said. "Just the same!"
I didn't say anything. Simply waited. After a long silence, I heard her take a deep breath, and she spoke with an incipient sob.
"I s-suppose you want a divorce, now. You wouldn't talk to me this way, if you didn't."
"Divorce makes sense, Connie. You'll get just as much money, as if we were married, and I know you can't feel any great love for me."
"Then you do want a divorce?"
"Yes. It's the best thing for both of us, and-"
"WELL, YOU JUST TRY AND GET ONE!" she yelled. "I'll have you in jail for attempted murder so fast, it'll make your head swim! You arranged that accident that almost killed me, and the case isn't closed yet! They're ready to reopen it any time Daddy and I
She said, Oh, disappointedly, but agreed that it was probably best not to see me. She was leaving town for a couple of weeks-some business for Uncle Pat. Naturally, she would have liked a session with me before departing. But since I seemed to be coming down with something, and it wouldn't do for her to catch it…
"You just take care of yourself, Britt. Get to feeling hale and hearty again, because you'll have to be when I get back."
"I'll look forward to it," I said. "Have a good trip, baby."
"And, Britt. I put a two-thousand-dollar bonus check in the mail to you."
"Oh, that's too much," I said. "I'm really overpaid as it is, and-"
"You just shut up!" she said sternly, then laughed. "Bye, now, darling. I gotta run."
"Bye to you," I said. And we hung up.
I had sent Connie three thousand dollars out of my first PXA check, and another three out of the second. Explaining that I'd gotten on to something good, though probably temporary, and that I'd send her all I could as long as it lasted. After all, I hadn't sent much before, lacking much to send, and it was sort of a conscience salve for my affair with Manny.
When my bonus arrived, I mailed Connie a check for the full two thousand. Then, after waiting a few days, until I was sure she had got it, I called her.
Britt Rainstar, stupe de luxe, figured that getting so much scratch-seven grand in less than two months- would put her in a fine mood. Bonehead Britt, sometimes known as the Peabrain Pollyanna, reasoned that all that loot would buy reasonableness and tolerance from Connie. Which just goes to show you. Yessir, that shows you, and it shows something about him, too. ( And please stop laughing, dammit! )
For she was verbally leaping all over me, almost before I had asked her how she was feeling.
"I want to know where you got that money, Britt. I want to know how much more you got-a full and complete accounting, as Daddy says. And don't tell me that you got it from Hemisphere, because we've already talked to them and they said you didn't. They said that you had severed your association with them. So you tell me where you're getting the money, and exactly how much you're getting. Or, by golly, you'll wish you had."
"I see," I said numbly; surprised, though God knows I should not have been. I was always surprised, when being stupid, that people thought I was stupid. "I think I really see for the first time, namely that you and your daddy are a couple of miserable piles of shit."
"Who from and how much? I either find out from you, Mister Britton Rainstar, or -What? What did you say to me?"
"Never mind," I said. "I tell you the source of the money, and you check to see if I'm telling the truth-as to the quantity, that is. That's your plan, isn't it?"
"Well…" She hesitated. "But I have a right to know! I'm your wife."
"Do you and are you?" I said. "A wife usually trusts her husband, when he treats her as generously as I've been treating you."
"Well, all right ," she said at last, grudgingly defensive. "I certainly don't want to make you lose your job, and- and-well, Hemisphere had no right to get huffy about it! Anyway, just look at what you did to me!"
"I didn't do anything to you, Connie. It was an accident."
"Well, anyway," she said. "Just the same!"
I didn't say anything. Simply waited. After a long silence, I heard her take a deep breath, and she spoke with an incipient sob.
"I s-suppose you want a divorce, now. You wouldn't talk to me this way, if you didn't."
"Divorce makes sense, Connie. You'll get just as much money, as if we were married, and I know you can't feel any great love for me."
"Then you do want a divorce?"
"Yes. It's the best thing for both of us, and-"
"WELL, YOU JUST TRY AND GET ONE!" she yelled. "I'll have you in jail for attempted murder so fast, it'll make your head swim! You arranged that accident that almost killed me, and the case isn't closed yet! They're ready to reopen it any time Daddy and I
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