pengqingli

@@@@@I sent a copy of yr e-mail and jpg pictures to Zander Kamen, you remember him I'm sureI thought he would like to see the pix, but mostly I wanted him to see the email and find out if it was cause for concern, because you are doing in yr writing what you used to do in yr speaking: "bequest" for "request," "laugh like a look" for "laugh like a loon At the bottom you wrote "It's just a wind" and I don't know what that means but DrKamen says maybe "whim I'm just thinking of you Pam 195 PS: My father is a little better, came through the operation well (the doctors say they might have "got all of it" but I bet they always say that) He seems to be handling the chemo well and is at home Thanks for yr concern Her PS zinger was a perfect example of my exwife's unlovelier side: lie backthen bite and "make yrself scarce She was right, thoughI should have told her to pass on best wishes from the Commiecrat when she spoke to her old man on the phoneThat asscancer's a bitch The whole e-mail was a symphony of irritation, from the mention of the Mustang that I'd never had time to finish to her concerns about my mistaken word-choicesSaid concerns delivered by a woman who thought Xander came with a Z And with that petty spleen out of my system (spoken to the empty house, and in loud tones, if you must know), I did review the e-mail I'd sent her, and yes, I was worried On the other hand, maybe it was just the wind 196 v The second striped beach chair had become a fixture at the heavyset guy's table, and as I drew closer to it, we sometimes shouted a little conversation back and forthIt was a strange way to strike up an acquaintance, but pleasantThe day after Pam's e-mail, with its surface concerns and buried subtext (You could be as sick as my father, Eddie, maybe even sicker), the fellow down the beach yelled: "How long before you get here, do you think?" "Four days!" I yelled back"Maybe three!" "You that set on making a round trip?" "I am!" I said"What's your name?" His deeply tanned face, although growing fleshy, was still handsomeNow white teeth flashed there, and his incipient jowls disappeared when he grinned"Tell you when you get here! What's yours?" "It's on the mailbox!" I called "The day I stoop to reading mailboxes is the day I start getting my news from talk radio!" 197 I gave him a wave, he gave me one in turn, called "Hasta manana!" and turned to look at the water and the cruising birds once mor