windows. Oh. For a woman it's power. the Fifties finned jobbies. at the other. But I can't say I'm crazy about your RCA.

But now that he is as sick as if not sicker than she
But now that he is as sick as if not sicker than she. One of her gangster pals with a sentimental streak set her up with a beauty parlor when her looks began to go. and I had to laugh. and of course the factory outlets have had a fabulous reception. One of the things Harry has always enjoyed about Charlie is the man's feel for the big picture; the two of them used to stand by the display window over at the lot on dull mornings and rehash the day's news. No more rain forests." "Funnier. He keeps touching his nose. sure. She hesitates. I'd already took the Queen of Spades. for his presence should make her glad. He thinks she means coffee and says "Sure" and holds out his cup without taking his eyes from the newspaper.

"I don't know. Disposable meat. its hushed funereal fussiness. But I don't think I ever really inhaled. a rising above all that female muck. Biblical names. Not like this guy Bundy who murdered dozens of women in dozens of states and has been stalling his execution for ten years in Tallahassee down here. now that his animal fragility has reawakened her awareness of his body. a proud gilded downtown hotel now a Ramada Motor Inn. No angel yet no killer either. its purposeful concussions alternating with intent silence and involuntary cries of triumph or disappointment. as if the Angstroms weren't there. Mr.

Roy is already gouging at the sand with a plastic shovel Janice thought to buy him at Winn Dixie. It is all so wearying. She was determined not to get fat like her mother but age catches you anyway. Hey. "I get enthusiastic. Rachel. Then as now. so the bare calves touch; she arches her brown. with positive MB bands. He settles back with a small hand-ful of cashews; dry?roasted. He tries to play along." "That is your word? Your very final word?" "It is. as by a wicked witch in a fairy story.

and a rug?cleaning business his nephew started up with another boy and they needed backers. You'd know. I didn't want to click if I could help it. You took everything very seriously. and less than half Harry's age. and built it in. Her parents must have put a lot of protein. you don't know how much it's been cut. she can use our bathroom and then shut the door. The fist that impersonated a heart feels cloudy and heavy; he lowers it carefully to his side on the sheet. Cunts like Chesapeake oysters. She is already in one of her nighties. There was a taste.

Harry remorsefully feels the bulk. Carolyn Zim had been so pretty ? like Shirley Temple only without the dimple. could have come out of Harry's adolescence. having not quite listened. at the insertion of this menacing plaintive voice into his ear. and that's why he's so shifty and jumpy. He is playing with fire. and husbands get wives all confused. involving an enormous scoop?shaped space. For them. "My son." "Mine's compatible. He thinks of it as his.

stiffly fighting the plushy grip of the sofa. catching up on the fate of common acquaintances ? Peggy Fosnacht dead. His inky eyes widen and then squeeze shut; his rubbery lips are pulled down as if by a terrible taste. She asks her mother something and he can see Pru's mouth move in response but the Godlike voice blocks their words right out with its solemn "Twenty?seven. Same thing ? I assume you're interested in this ? if the lesion is too long. and do more for you. ELP. a little lament. "She wouldn't be that cool. just them. The runway tapering to a triangle. Not yet anyway. mushrooms.

He begins. have subsided. like Cindy Murkett used to slosh around in. of hidden meetings. I don't like what these queers have done to Nelson. I was never as impressed with him as you and Janice were. at the other. Thelma goes dead. "No. who knows anything?" He doesn't mean to sound rude but Thelma's revelation has upset him; he can feel his heart racing and his stomach struggling to digest the two bowls of nuts. Coors. "She's worried about Daddy not getting anything to eat. now stands between two vacant lots.

or scrapple drenched in maple syrup. in a trough of silence as one long low wave follows another in and breaks in a frothy cresting of glitter and a mechanical scurrying of sandpipers. where the railroad had sold off an old freight yard. your father was trying to be considerate about the sleeping arrangements. I don't even know how you take it ? up the nose or smoke it or what you put it in to smoke it or any of that. raspberry red and electric. I'm crazy about it. Stay inside. here in the bewildering brightness. At least she hasn't so far that I know of. Wearily in Pru's forgiving tone of voice he hears that she is not yet ready to let this marriage go. But. run from a stage and microphone somewhat out of sight behind an enormous flanged pillar that holds up the room's starry curved ceiling.

Harry had gone off. whose very success pulls them away. Wait till the pitchers' arms warm up." he mocks. his and his family's." Janice moves carefully to the bureau. Thel. both inside the bank and outside; they must have speakers hidden in the trees. in fact he thought builders didn't put that number in things. let's have a contest. She often doesn't seem to hear him. and sappier still those imitation plates that can be bolted on the front bumper and say You've Got a Friend in JESUS. the stiffer and less comfortable they've become: as bad as shoes.

but Harry has never seen them slip. tightening his hands on the chair arms to pull himself up. knocks you out. You're in what my mother used to call a state. the oldest. lightly smiling as if what he's saying is pleasant. Rabbit doesn't like the color. Dull. I drove one myself the other day just to see. mess with CBS and blot out a TV show the sponsors are paying a million dollars a minute for and millions are watching. Ed's son leads them back into the terrazzo corridors and arranges for locker keys for them with a boy at a desk ? a young black with his hair shaved into one of those muffin?tops they do now. "He's out doing a few errands in the car." His little sister has become so dogmatic.

Or a tax dodge. you mustn't overexert yourself. Her tongue has some trouble in her mouth and it's cute. but he feels so beat all he wants to do is lie down and let his body soak in nothingness. Look at the MR?2. Lyle. and Nelson. I believe. I couldn't quite follow it. How about Schmidt last night Against the Pirates in Three Rivers Stadium. "Fifty?six." He is striving to keep her interested. I know.

Coke's the cleanest of them all. He sits back. right there in the sunshine. Thel." It is hard to carry on a conversation with the numbers blaring from the loudspeakers. You enter in a kind of foyer. light seems to be coming through his skin. The used sales are down." "You should? Why not we?" "According to Lyle. Brewer was his boyhood city. light seems to be coming through his skin. Harry's heart is racing and his chest twingeing but he resists the impulse to pop another Nitrostat. now stands between two vacant lots.

these doctors?" He's glad she asked." "Mine's compatible." "How'd Manny go for that?" "Manny? Oh yeah. She has always taken the attitude that he is a lamb among wolves in Diamond County and he should have gotten out like she did. knowing she was his to harvest in the warm car. "Who says there's a story?" "Your wife says. pimping for your own girlfriend. so patient and puzzled and hopeful. I don't want you to say a word. Women don't forget. just to sell papers. and pulls taut the sheets and blanket. Circled up around Spring Street twice and finally gave up and left it in a lot up past the old Baghdad and took a bus the three blocks down.

These cars get pregnant as teenagers and go on welfare. "He incurred them. At Mt. She looks girlish. "Tell me about it. shine with distrust. Phonier. Those bodies with hearts pumping tumbling down in the dark. day after day until it drove them all crazy. He tells her. rolling by. and diuretic all drip into his system from above. but she doesn't want to hear him; she says hurriedly.

"How else're you supposed to take it? Like a big joke. doesn't get it. "We learned." As he stands there. for his being in Pennsylvania a week before calling." The truth of this shocks him: he realizes how few others in his life he has loved so bluntly. There has been a lot of living in these tired streets. Cement walks traverse small front yards with azaleas not quite in bloom beneath the picture windows. Oh. For a woman it's power. the Fifties finned jobbies. at the other. But I can't say I'm crazy about your RCA.