eyes as dead white as the parting in her hair. it's work to stay alive.

They see us as soft
They see us as soft. for the time being. The last word hurts Harry's stomach. that know him as well as a woman's can. some spic truck driver from West Miami was caught over near Maiden Springs with they estimate seventyfive million dollars' worth of cocaine. A body can see at a glance things aren't right. "Nellie's been having some problems. Now half the fingers ? look at them! Deformed.Dr. Gregg asks him. a galley slave or one of those blinded horses that turn a mill wheel. its great prismatic chandelier and splashing fountain and high rear wall of plate glass flooded with the view of Deleon Bay: beach in the foreground and sea like a scintillating blue?green curtain hung from a horizon line strung between two pegs of land. he did? I'm not even dead yet.

and eased back into the right lane and let the speedometer needle quiver back below sixty?five. smiling. "I don't know. "Maybe not altogether. Janice. the fat's been squeezed out. the moment says. Every day the temperature has been in the eighties." Lyle's lids lower again. to keep the courtesies between them. the one who's a man ? a nice familiar Italian type. "Like women are always the stingiest tippers. in the one time Harry met him.

Inc. The shower outside has already lifted. he answers. the spiky retaining walls and sharp slopes crowned by a barberry hedge or tulip bed. whole garbage bags even." Pru speaks up. "No. His yell when it comes arrives at full volume; against its sonic background Judy explains to them all. backing out ofhis arms and rubbing the back of one hand with the other. putting it on. but now they've let Ford and GM right back into the market. Cardiac Rehabilitation Center. it's still Johnny Frye's Chophouse.

" Harry says." "Speaking of accountants. You take care of yourself. when I wake up needing to take a leak. "No sweat if you don't bring it in on the dot. Little squeezy pains tease his ribs. like Nelson's. has less of a dip." "We have a computer system here. Harry or Janice responds that Nelson does not live here. `Cool it. while your father was walking ahead with the children. Once you break the cap on a ginger?ale bottle.

" Harry says wearily." "Oh yeah?" These marginal sects depress Harry. the oldest. though in a darker shade. Frowningly the child dumps the sand into a bucket shaped like an upside?down Garfield." "Miss Kroust. And she is looking for a job. Smoke crack. She looks in that two?tone running suit and those bulky Adidas like a senior?league bowling champion. I'm sorry I told you half of what I did. "Here's an off duty assistant fire chief hit a motorcycle with his blinkers and siren on ? probably stoned. there is just a single high counter. in the tight brick rows built a century ago when the great mills now abandoned or turned into factory outlet stores still smoked and vibrated.

and what she got out of them was another mystery) and various colorcoded numbers of sunscreen. as simple as plumbing with plastic pipe. "I hate games. "And I don't know. "Let me see if I understand it. Champ. Enthusiasm about shells doesn't last. than they used to? On these TV shows that have British actors." "Never." "Honey. like Cindy Murkett used to slosh around in." Harry begs. "Yeah.

though in fact most everybody behind these doors has contrived something to do in the afternoon. ` Julius?" "That's right. They shouldn't be allowed to go into your heart like that. Judge. Mom. Charlie. it's not addictive. for this firm that Doris Eberhardt's new brother?in?law is one of the partners in. to strive toward. Oh. Turning his head in surprise at the sound of her sweetly impeded voice. and Nelson. a little friendly lean in from a guy who deals with a lot of women in this job.

" Rabbit goes into his bedroom." He leans his head against the bench's headrest and sighs in this new blood?clean weariness of his. The lousy dollar against the yen. And maybe your mother. their advice. and Ronnie sweet Cindy. I'm shit. so her red hair flings forward. She is very busy on the outside; the classes she has to take to be a real?estate salesman have begun to meet. but such houses reminded them unhappily of the house they had in Penn Villas that saw so much marital misery and strangeness before it burned down. to mask the mildew that creeps into every closed space in Florida. Mom. He has heard this before: "Why should I risk my life sleeping with you.

Her face has taken wrinkles from the pillow. haircuts. "Nelson's really been mak-ing the used cars jump. "One good thing about it. He needed to stay where they remembered him when. and a lemon tinge of sky in the west beyond the craggy chimneys of the big clinker?brick house deepens to an incendiary orange and then the crimson of last embers. A lot of hidden stress in the auto business. Like lady ministers. It's not a lisp she has. on this little girl's body ? that Mr. He leads his little party into the vast air?conditioned space. Mom. Cut it out.

Did you lose?" "How'd you guess?" "You always lose. The covers of telephone directories boast The UnCommonwealth of Pennsylvania. though they seem like toys. as it changes styles and costumes and vocabulary. The used sales are down. receipts. remembering those wooden?handled old mowers and that longdead Methodist neighbor of theirs on Jackson Road Mom used to feud with about mowing the two?foot strip of grass between the cement walks that ran along the foundation walls of their houses." "Oh let me." They are hiding something from him. I'm down to a pack a day. "She was the champion in her swimming class at summer camp. I just complain a lot." "Sorry.

and a hair dryer whirring." he tells her. Janice thinks she might go into real estate." Janice finds this rude. "You're too soft on Nelson. and a waiting area with a hard wood settee and a coffee table holding magazines titled Modern Health and Woman's Day and The Watchtower and The Monthly Redeemer. they can only do one artery at a time. as if he was an unmentionable incident in the Springer dynasty. I used to get Jake or Rudy at least. the barn. Don't eat them if you can't. and races off toward Harry and Janice's bedroom. "I get enough sun and wanted to spend a little time with you before you rush back.

Too many pork chops on top of all that hustle on the court when I was a kid. You think you've made a mistake. "Ronnie buys them. now." "Didn't you hate her?" She removes her face from her folded arms and stares up at him with rubbed?looking green eyes. with a Greek name -" "Stavros. that Lyle is dying. Charlie says. for modesty she supposes. "I guess we'll go to dinner when Janice comes back. servicing the millions and billions in money people bring down here along with their decrepit bodies." "How'd Manny go for that?" "Manny? Oh yeah. Now she's got the idea she wants to be a working girl.

" Janice tells him. Downtown Brewer's supposed to be dead and there's nowhere to park. "Don't make allegations. and husbands get wives all confused. I myself am merely the bearer of bad tidings. He answers. And Lancaster is worse ? Amish farmers. stuck fast to Janice and her money? I never tried to take you away from her. Good cars. gazing at her thoughtfully." Janice moves carefully to the bureau. "Your money comes from the lot and the lot's not yours yet; it's mine. 2001.

the way his shoulders sag in his fancy paisley bathrobe. he wonders." "I didn't mean that unkindly. and she a lowly ninth?grader. He feels he's disappointing Charlie. Rabbit. Some say the foreskin is like an eyelid; without it the constantly exposed glans becomes less sensitive. Fort Larson. What did we use to do for fun. "Second's pretty close to champ. Would you gentlemen like some dessert Jennifer has materialized. Women don't mind this kind of prick as much as Harry does. "You asked me what I thought of the '89s.

you know. with street numbers the builders set in stained?glass fanlights above the doors. Feeling apologetic." the dear child scolds. through air dense like tepid water. The Dengler Home in Penn Park. Terry Bradshaw as a matter of fact. "I don't know. 326." His saying this made Harry laugh. The stretched chest of her green jumper lifts as she takes in breath to say. the cr??pey skin under her eyes as dead white as the parting in her hair. it's work to stay alive.