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Had she gotten confused because Percy wasn't there?
Or the Perse? Maybebut if she'd ever had a
china boat, I'd never seen itI thought - not for
the first time - that Perse was a funny wordYou
couldn't trust it
641
Wireman said, "At one point she told me the table
was leaking
"And was it?"
There was a brief pauseThen he said, not very
humorously: "Are we having a little joke at
Wireman's expense, mi amigo?"
"No, I'm curiousWhat did she say? Exactly?"
"Just that'The table is leaking' But her chinas
are on a table-table, as you well know, not a
water-tableDon't lose your good thoughts
"I'm trying not to, but I latest dior bag have to say you seem a
little off your conversational game, Edster
"Don't call me Edster, it sounds like a vintage
FordYou brought her soup, and she waswhat?
Gone again?"
"Pretty much, yeahShe'd broken a couple of her
china figures on the floor - a horse and a rodeo
girl
"Did she say 'It's leaking' before or after you
brought her the food?"
"After, before, what does it matter?"
"I don't know," I said"Which was it?"
642
"BeforeAfterward, she'd
pretty much lost interest in everything, including
chucking the Sweet Owen tin into the pond for the
umpteenth timeI brought the soup in her favorite
mug, but she pushed it chanel j10 watch fake away so hard she slopped
some on her poor old armShe didn't even seem to
feel itEdgar, why are you asking these questions?
What do you know?" He was pacing around with the
cell phone to his earI could see him doing itI'm feeling around in the dark, for
Chrissake
"Yeah? Which arm you doing it with?"
That stopped me for a moment, but we had come too
far and shared too much for lies, even when the
truth was nuts
"All right," he saidI wish I
knew what was going on, that's allBecause
something is
"Maybe something isHow is she now?"
"SleepingAnd I'm interrupting you
"No," I said, and tossed the brush aside"I think
this gucci men wallet is done, and I think I'm also done for awhile
643
Just walking and shelling for me between now and
the show
"Noble aspirations, but I don't think you can do
itNot a workaholic like you
"I think you're wrongWon't be the first timeAre you
going to come down and visit with us tomorrow? I
want you to see it if she lights up againAnd maybe we could hit a few tennis
balls
"Wireman, there's one other thingDid Elizabeth
ever paint?"
He laughed"Who knows? I asked her once and she
said she could hardly draw stick figuresShe said
her interest in the arts wasn't much different
from the interest some wealthy alumni have imitation prada handbags in
football and basketballShe joked about it, said-
"
"If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic
supporterHow'd you know?"
"It's an old one," I said
644
I hung up and stood where I was, watching the long
light of evening fire up a Gulf sunset I had no
urge to paintThey were the same words she'd used
with Gene HadlockAnd I had no doubt that if I
asked others, I'd hear the same anecdote once or
twice or a dozen times: She said I can't even draw
stick figures, she said if you can't be an athlete,
be an athletic supporterAnd why? Because an
honest woman may occasionally goof the truth, but
a good liar never varies her louis vuitton miroir handbags st |
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