Страница 30 из 137
“…fu
“…you don’t think…”
“…no, but it isfu
The wires hum. And hum. And hum.
THIRTEEN
9/23/75
Name:
Glick, Daniel Francis
Address:
RFD #1, Brock Road, Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine 04270
Age:
12
Sex:
Male
Race:
Caucasian
Admitted:
9/22/75
Admitting Person:
Anthony H. Glick (Father)
Symptoms:
Shock, loss of memory (partial), nausea, disinterest in food, constipation, general loginess
Tests(see attached sheet):
1. Tuberculosis skin patch: Neg.
2. Tuberculosis sputum and urine: Neg.
3. Diabetes: Neg.
4. White cell count: Neg.
5. Red cell count: 45% hemo.
6. Marrow sample: Neg.
7. Chest X-ray: Neg.
Possible diagnosis:
Pernicious anemia, primary or secondary; previous exam shows 86% hemoglobin. Secondary anemia is unlikely; no history of ulcers, hemorrhoids, bleeding piles, et al. Differential cell count neg. Primary anemia combined with mental shock likely. Recommend barium enema and X-rays for internal bleeding on the off-chance, yet no recent accidents, father says. Also recommend daily dosage of vitamin B12 (see attached sheet).
Pending further tests, let’s release him.
G.M. Gorby
Attending Physician
FOURTEEN
At one o’clock in the morning, September 24, the nurse stepped into Da
Her eyes jumped from the bed to the oddly wasted white bundle that lay collapsed by the foot. “Da
She stepped toward him and thought, He had to go to the bathroom and it was too much for him, that’s all.
She turned him over gently, and her first thought before realizing that he was dead was that the B12 had been helping; he looked better than he had since his admission.
And then she felt the cold flesh of his wrist and the lack of movement in the light blue tracery of veins beneath her fingers, and she ran for the nurses’ station to report a death on the ward.
Chapter Five
Ben (
II
)
On September 25 Ben took di
There was a subtle change in the air; it was still pleasant enough, even in shirtsleeves, but there was a glint of ice in it now. Autumn was waiting in the wings, almost in sight. The large and ancient maple in front of Eva Miller’s boardinghouse had already begun to go red.
There had been no change in Ben’s relationship with the Nortons. Susan’s liking for him was frank and clear and natural. And he liked her very much. In Bill he sensed a steadily increasing liking, held in abeyance by the subconscious taboo that affects all fathers when in the presence of men who are there because of their daughters rather than themselves. If you like another man and you are honest, you speak freely, discuss women over beer, shoot the shit about politics. But no matter how deep the potential liking, it is impossible to open up completely to a man who is dangling your daughter’s potential defloration between his legs. Ben reflected that after marriage the possible had become the actual and could you become complete friends with the man who was banging your daughter night after night? There might be a moral there, but Ben doubted it.
A
He was chewing these thoughts over lazily when A
“Ralphie? Yes,” Bill said.
“No, the older one. He’s dead.”
Ben started. “Who? Da
“He died early yesterday morning.” She seemed surprised that the men did not know. It had been all the talk.
“I heard them talking in Milt’s,” Susan said. Her hand found Ben’s under the table and he took it willingly. “How are the Glicks taking it?”
“The same way I would,” A
Well they might be, Ben thought. Ten days ago their life had been going about its usual ordained cycle; now their family unit was smashed and in pieces. It gave him a morbid chill.
“Do you think the other Glick boy will ever show up alive?” Bill asked Ben.
“No,” Ben said. “I think he’s dead, too.”
“Like that thing in Houston two years ago,” Susan said. “If he’s dead, I almost hope they don’t find him. Whoever could do something like that to a little, defenseless boy—”
“The police are looking around, I guess,” Ben said. “Rounding up known sex offenders and talking to them.”
“When they find the guy they ought to hang him up by the thumbs,” Bill Norton said. “Badminton, Ben?”
Ben stood. “No thanks. Too much like you playing solitaire with me for the dummy. Thanks for the nice meal. I’ve got work to do tonight.”
A
Bill stood. “How’s that new book coming?”
“Good,” Ben said briefly. “Would you like to walk down the hill with me and have a soda at Spencer’s, Susan?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” A
“Momma, I’m a big girl,” Susan interposed. “And there are streetlights all the way up Brock Hill.”
“I’ll walk you back up, of course,” Ben said, almost formally. He had left his car at Eva’s. The early evening had been too fine to drive.
“They’ll be fine,” Bill said. “You worry too much, Mother.”
“Oh, I suppose I do. Young folks always know best, don’t they?” She smiled thinly.
“I’ll just get a jacket,” Susan murmured to Ben, and turned up the back walk. She was wearing a red play skirt, thigh-high, and she exposed a lot of leg going up the steps to the door. Ben watched, knowing A
“How long do you intend to stay in the Lot, Ben?” A
“Until the book gets written, anyway,” he said. “After that, I can’t say. It’s very lovely in the mornings, and the air tastes good when you breathe it.” He smiled into her eyes. “I may stay longer.”
She smiled back. “It gets cold in the winters, Ben. Awfully cold.”
Then Susan was coming back down the steps with a light jacket thrown over her shoulders. “Ready? I’m going to have a chocolate. Look out, complexion.”