"You want to clog my one remaining...
"You want to clog my one remaining artery?"
76
He laughed"There's a little pantry with all
kinds of canned shiThe cable's hooked
up, the computer's Internet-ready - I got you Wi-
Fi, costs a little extra, but it's way cool - and
I can get satellite installed if you want itHe was a good kid, but I wanted
to listen to the Gulf, sweet-talking me with words
it wouldn't remember a minute laterAnd I wanted
to listen to the house, see if it had anything to
sayI had an idea maybe it did
"The keys're in an envelope on the kitchen table -
car keys, too - and a list of numbers you might
need are on the fridgeI've got classes at FSU in
Sarasota every day except Monday, but I'll be
carrying my cell, and I'll be coming by Tuesdays
and Thursdays at five unless we make a different
arrangement I reached in my pocket and brought out my
money-clip"I want to give you a little extraThis is a sweet gig, MrGood pay cheap rolex watches and good hoursI'd feel like
a hound taking any extra
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That made me laugh, and I put my dough back in my
pocket
"Maybe you ought to take a nap," he said, getting
up It was odd to be treated like
Grandpa Walton, but I supposed I'd better get used
to it"What happened to the other house at the
north end of Casey Key?"
"Huh?"
"You said one went into the drinkWhat happened
to the other one?"
"Far as I know, it's still thereAlthough if a
big storm like Charley ever hits this part of the
coast dead-on, it's gonna be like a going-out-ofbusiness
sale: everything must go He walked over
to me, and stuck out his hand
Freemantle, welcome to FloridaI hope it treats
you real well I hesitated,
probably not long enough for him to notice, and I
didn't get angry"Thanks for
everything He gave me the smallest of puzzled looks
as he went out, so maybe he did noticeMaybe he
78
did notice, at thatI was on my
own at d&g knockoffs lastI listened to shells and gravel
popping under his tires as his car started to roll
I listened to the motor fade
Now there was only the mild steady sighing of the
GulfAnd the beat of my own heart, soft and lowNot ringing, not bonging, not even
tickingI breathed deep and smelled the musty,
slightly damp aroma of a place that's been shut up
for a fairly long time except for the weekly (or
bi-weekly) ritual airingI thought I could also
smell salt and subtropical grasses for which I as
yet had no names
Mostly I listened to the sigh of the waves, so
like the breath of some large sleeping creature,
and looked out through the glass wall that fronted
on the waterBecause of Big Pink's elevation, I
couldn't see the beach at all from where I was
sitting, fairly deep in the living room; from my
armchair I might have been on one of those big
tankers that trudge their oily courses from
Venezuela to GalvestonA speedy bag louis vuitton high haze had crept over
the dome of the sky, muting the pinpricks of light
on the waterTo the left were three palm trees
79
silhouetted against the sky, their fronds ruffling
in the mildest of breezes: the subjects of my
first tentative post-accident sketchDon't look
much like Minnesota, dere, Tom Riley had said
Looking at them made me want to draw again - it
was like a dry hunger, but not precisely in the
belly; it made my mind itchAnd, oddly, the stump
of my amputated arm
I heaved myself out of the chair on my second try,
glad the kid wasn't there to see the first
backward flop and hear my childish ("Cuntlicker!")
cry of exasperationOnce I was up I stood swaying
on my crutch for a moment, marveling at just how
tired I wasUsually "whipped" was just something
you said, but at that moment it was exactly how I
felt
Moving slowly - I had no intention of falling in
here on my first day - I made my cheap chanel watches way into the
master bedroomThe bed was a king, and I wanted
nothing more than to go to it, sit on it, sweep
the foolish decorative throw-pillows (one bearing
the likenessness of two cavorting Cockers and the
rather startling idea that MAYBE DOGS ARE ONLY
80
PEOPLE AT THEIR BEST) to the floor with my crutch,
lie down, and sleep for two hours
But first I went to the bench at the end of the
bed - still moving carefully, knowing how very
easy it would be to tangle my feet and fall when I
was at this level of exhaustion - where the kid
had stacked two of my three suitcasesThe one I
wanted was on the bottom, of courseI shoved the
one on top to the floor without hesitation and
unzipped the front pocket of the other
Glassy blue eyes looked out with their expression
of eternal disapproving surprise: Oouuu, you nasty
man! I been in here all this time! A fluff of
lifeless orange-red hair sprang from chanel classic handbag confineme