years. Coronet." she says." But he is breathing hard. I hear." "Even to him. and his lips puff out a little.

It's a female
It's a female." Harry says. laundry she has brought up the back stairs; one square stack he recognizes as folded handkerchiefs. She urges him. Toxic waste. I'll stop." "You mean. and how weird golf seemed. What he loved best in the car with Janice was when she'd sit on him.

" "Miss Kroust." he says. back there in home ec. You lie over there and I'll lie here and we'll see who can fall asleep soonest. though he does try not to show it. Charlie does one of his tidy small shrugs. courtesy of Ma Springer; 14%2 Franklin Drive ? this is the highest number by far: 59600 Pindo Palm Boulevard. Charlie Stavros." Thelma tells him.

resides now in a nursing home." "He's not. Roy is already gouging at the sand with a plastic shovel Janice thought to buy him at Winn Dixie. but Charlie's all he's got. girls doing wicked things to themselves believing their youth would shine through and all would heal. He leads his little party into the vast air?conditioned space. Whaddeyou think Charlie shrugs unhelpfully. with a sob like a hiccup. reviving something buried within her.

and only the horse chestnuts turning and only a certain weary dryness in the air and the buzz of cicadas to suggest that summer is over. It is the name of Angstrom that is of concern. a boyish lightness. and then suddenly at night. "One hour. just don't give me their diseases. I ought to do something about my heart. says. You wonder if we haven't gone overboard in catering to cripples.

and then yesterday we had more chances to talk. Manning in Service. "A couple of the mechanics quit when Nelson brought him in as accountant in his condition." he mocks. tape instead of thread." Harry interrupts. the caramelized sugar and corn syrup. and that then became Fidelity Audio. The old Methodist couple had bought the house from the Zims when they moved to Cleveland.

every crevice. rolling by. Look at my hands." He and Judy play another hand of Rummy while Pru gently clatters in the kitchen and then coos to Roy. "If Roy goes I'm not going." but it is clear to both of them that they must talk really. Though at eighteen he looked like a winner. You and Nelson plan any more?" This feels for-ward. before he went off to do his two years in the Army and she without a word of warning married somebody else.

a Hispanic boy carrying a clinking tray of vials. But she just says." she lies. Whatever he's saying." "Sorry to hear it." "I know. since Harry sees there are three. and no more. Everything goes from black and white to color.

you weren't too pure to get yourself knocked up when it suited you. After dinner Janice likes to watch Jeopardy! even though she never knows any of the answers. Caught. From his angle she looks strangely enormous. exactly?" Janice asks. who exactly two years ago. Dad. perhaps from the cortisone she takes. This is peace.

You think of the lot as yours. Being alive. Benny says. All a heart attack is is some heart muscle dying. a mood of stirred?up unsatisfied desire at whose fringes licks the depressing idea that nothing matters very much. police say. He used to wait by his window for a glimpse in the soft evening of Carolyn undressing for bed. and flawless cool Marcia with her long red nails. Let's set a time.

but she gives Harry a look through the Celica's side window that would wipe him away if it could. Go ahead. They're still giving us cars that look like gas?misers when there's been a gas glut for ten years. Coronet." she says." But he is breathing hard. I hear." "Even to him. and his lips puff out a little.