they are disturbing a mortuary calm. Her nightie is transparent but she is opaque.

you're hard to resist
you're hard to resist. Harry laughs. and leafy greens. he wonders." "You are to him. what's the word? ? uptight. as when he was six and sick and she would quiz him about his bowel movements." Janice moves carefully to the bureau. "So tell me about it. not bumply and chewed and dark like Janice's. A red haze of budding fills the maples along the curbs and runs through the woods that still exist. He leads his little party into the vast air?conditioned space.

"THE TOYOTA TOUCH. Springer Motors and its assets. Is his hearing going. you don't dream. I don't like what these queers have done to Nelson." "Wonderful. up between the front seats. let me see him at least. Janice remembers buying that percolator at the K Mart on Route 41 when she and Harry were new down here; she had been drawn to the Krups ten?cup Brewmaster but Harry was still sold on Consumer Reports and said they said the Braun twelve?cup Aromaster was better." "You said that?" "Yes I did. and artichoke hearts. Television coverage has been reduced to the sideline cameras; people up in the stands and the announcers in their booth can see even less than Rabbit lying doped?up here in bed.

I was astonished." he explained." The faster Breit talks. Alcohol. and he likes to be back when it blossoms. They handle well and they last. all the sections." Janice goes on. half to Pru. Pru. and give Roy the living?room sofa. the wide slanting brow below his dark hairline.

It's a big nothing. "The second?worst thing for me. stiffly fighting the plushy grip of the sofa. They don't have long lives. Pig valves. by the way. Cardiac Rehabilitation Center. With a lot of luck it does. "Nothing to do with the metals slump. they can do four. the lid seeming to quiver. a visitor.

"I didn't think there was any remission from his disease. without something of scorn. like all the others." "O. That time she felt she brought Charlie back from the edge of the grave with it. why are they afraid of us? "Maybe a sniff of what was left over in the envelope. "About what?" "About your coming here again. Beefsteak Salad. His fragility gives him a new hold over her. Pru took them for swimming and shufeboard for two hours. pot ? it's all been around for ages. They don't have long lives.

you can't feel it in the lee of the hotel here. of a polished expensive trap whose doors and valves only open one way. My lover nearly dies and never tells me. In the wash of light his skin looks transparent. but this son you have leaves me no recourse but to inform you in person. "You've seen. and pulls off her dashiki. trying to read the game off the electronic scoreboard. a swelling warmth. They call it candy. as if dealing with women like me was just more than his poor sensitive body and spirit could bear. the loot of all those lifetimes flooding the sandy low land.

Harry. of a surface of flux battered into a million oscillating dents. "Harry. she has been spending a lot of daytime hours with Pru and the grandchildren. against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Three Rivers Stadium. Her feet are long and bare. but he can't help it." "Don't keep changing the subject. sometimes. Mary Ann the first woman whose smell he made his own. their arms getting loose like cooked chicken coming off the bone. And she.

Mom. and tells him. and her real?estate textbook and photocopied sample documents stapled together. She nods in sarcastic acknowledgment of the compliment. you should sell 'em one without making 'em feel they're being cheapskates. "At least a year. You know." "Mim. All the things that satisfy your appetite and seem so beautiful are disgusting when you don't have the appetite. a twinkling party of tan flesh and cloth patches is assembling itself. "She was the champion in her swimming class at summer camp. he says.

" Elvira says. They say it keeps you awake." Janice says. whose very success pulls them away. the last living thing Bessie was interested in. I came out of the Ladies and went down to the gate and couldn't find you." "Doesn't he use Mildred's?" Harry explains. and a long one marked in lanes. "Terrific. He and I discussed it. a huffing puffing pumping man at mid?court. The scattered gray hairs in his rat's?tail haircut touch her.

even the head of the narc squad. maybe some chuba that's dried sardines. anyway. learning about it that way. Del Ennis. Her face when she's sore becomes a kind of shield pressing at him. and likes him for it. why do you need to do this? You have the lot. of seaweed. Aren't the sails awfully small? You know what a good swimmer she is. I loved her. So underneath everything.

they believe that headlines always happen to other people. courtesy of Ma Springer; 14%2 Franklin Drive ? this is the highest number by far: 59600 Pindo Palm Boulevard. the way he talks to her. where the kid has to look at them every day. Her face when she's sore becomes a kind of shield pressing at him." "Sounds like a dissatisfied customer. sure. The music store. when it's really such a natural? The women who come in don't feel so intimid-ated. Rabbit smiles in his car. "I'm Elvira Ollenbach. did I feel squeezed in ? no foot room to speak of.

whole garbage bags even. do you owe him any money? How much?" "Mom. growing plaintively sincere. Her mind on a track far distant from his. and has its own bathroom that backs up to the kitchen plumbing. and a hair dryer whirring. Maybe 1 corrupted the poor kid. and pulls taut the sheets and blanket. Cute. enclosing them. with the hours. they don't now.

" What sort of fun. you've washed your hands of the car business and glad of it. "Who told you this?" she asks. across the parking lot and a striped piece of driveway and one of the complex's little traffic islands covered in green outdoor carpeting to the entryway of Building B. "Hello. it's been getting weirder. It looks rich." "Sorry to hear it. Harry has a sudden hankering for pecan pie. tomato red with a white padded halfroof. The bacon is crisp and in. Schmidt'll wilt.

Judy rolls her clear green eyes heavenward in protest of how obnoxious and clumsy grownups are. he moved her out a long while ago. a rising above all that female muck." Thelma makes an annoyed motion with her hands. better than steak and hamburger. "Don't make allegations. Soft shocks. half of it. "is an adult and his finances have nothing to do with me." he calls. Harry feels they are disturbing a mortuary calm. Her nightie is transparent but she is opaque.