@@@@@ 88 I began to think of changing my will in 535
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88
I began to think of changing my will in favor of
Jack Cantori
Almost sloshing with food, I went back to the
living room, snapped on all the lights, and looked
at HelloBut it was
interestingThe scribbled afterglow had a sullen,
furnacey quality that was startlingThe ship
wasn't the one I'd seen, but mine was interesting
in a spooky sort of wayIt was little more than a
scarecrow ship, and the overlapping scribbles of
yellow and orange had turned it into a ghost-ship,
as well, as if that peculiar sunset were shining
right through it
I propped it atop the TV, against the sign reading
THE OWNER REQUESTS THAT YOU AND YOUR GUESTS DO NOT
SMOKE INDOORSI looked at it a moment longer,
thinking it needed something in the foreground - a
smaller boat, maybe, just to lend the one on the
horizon some perspective - but I no longer wanted
to drawBesides, adding something might fuck up
what little charm the thing hadI tried the
telephone instead, thinking if it wasn't working
yet I could call Ilse on my cell, but Jack had
been on top of that, too
89
I thought I'd probably get her machine - college
girls are busy girls - but she answered on the
first ring"Daddy?" That startled me so much that
at first I couldn't speak and she said it again
"Dad?"
"Yes," I said"How did you know?"
"The callback number's got a 941 area codeThat's
where that Duma place isHow are you,
kiddo?"
"FineThe question is, how are you?"
"I'm all rightBetter than all right, actually
"The fellow you hired - ?"
"He's got gameThe bed's made and the fridge is
fullI got here and took a five-hour nap
There was a pause, and when she spoke again she
sounded more concerned than ever"You're not
hitting those pain pills too hard, are you?
Because Oxycontin's supposed to be sort of a
Trojan horseNot that I'm telling you anything
you didn't already know
"Nope, I stick to the prescribed dosag
