@@@@@"But it's not quite right "You have one you 301
@@@@@"But it's not quite right
"You have one you like better, I take it?"
"Yes, I think soI want to call it 'The View from
Duma' What do you think?"
Her response was immediate
ix
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I had sweat through my LOSE IT IN THE VIRGIN
ISLANDS tee-shirt in spite of Big Pink's efficient
air conditioning, and I was more exhausted than a
brisk walk to El Palacio and back left me these
daysMy ear felt hot and throbby from the
telephoneI felt uneasy about Ilse - the way
parents are always uneasy about the problems of
their children, I suppose, once they're too old to
be called home when it starts to get dark and the
baths are being drawn - but I also felt satisfied
with the work I'd put in, the way I used to feel
after a good day on a hard construction job
I didn't feel particularly hungry, but I made
myself slop a few tablespoons of tuna salad onto a
lettuce leaf and washed it down with a glass of
milkWhole milk - bad for the heart, good for the
bonesI guess that one's a wash, Pam would have
saidI turned on the kitchen TV and learned that
Candy Brown's wife was suing the City of Sarasota
over her husband's death, claiming negligence
Good luck on that one, sweetheart, I thoughtThe
local meteorologist said the hurricane season
might start earlier than everAnd the Devil Rays
578
had gotten their low-rent asses kicked by the Red
Sox in an exhibition game - welcome to baseball
reality, boys
I considered dessert (I had Jell-O Pudding,
sometimes known as The Last Resort of the Single
Man), then just put my plate in the sink and
limped off to the bedroom for a napI considered
setting the alarm, then didn't bother; I'd
probably only dozeEven if I actually slept, the
light would wake me up in an hour or so, when it
got over to the western side of the house and came
angling in the bedroom window
So thinking, I lay down and slept until six
o'clock that evening
x
There was no question of supper; I didn't even
consider itBelow me the shells were whispering
paint, paint
I went upstairs to Little Pink like a man in a
dream, wearing only my undershortsI turned on
The Bone, set Girl and Ship No7 against the wall,
and put a fresh canvas - not as big as the one I'd
579
used for Wireman Looks West, but big - on my easel
My missing arm was itching, but this no longer
bothered me the way it had at first; the truth was,
I'd almost come to look forward to it
Shark Puppy was on the radio: "D
