214
"Have I missed the news?" he asked.
"Are you drunk?"
JUDSON JEROME
"I have had very little to drink, but I am breathless from running
downstairs."
"Sorry I made you come downstairs."
"I might have been in the tub."
"How are the children? Watching TV?"
"Probably. I can't keep track of them."
"Save me a martini?"
"Not bloody likely."
They sent kisses squeaking over the wire, then one and then
the other hung up. Everett turned round and round, grinding Turns
under his shoes, looking for the door. He was not a man to
occupy a booth when others might be waiting. Had he not developed
over the years an efficiency, which some mistook for brusqueness or
aggressiveness, in communication, which was not only essential in
his work but a habitual consideration, masked by masculinity, for
others who might be waiting? He patted his palrns on the glass on
every side with growing impatience. Finally, for there are times for
decisive action, he threw his shoulder heavily against the wall.
This, however, dislodged the booth from its precarious position
on the rocks. It tilted slowly, like a falling tower, then toppled, falling
end over end, spattering Everett thoroughly, rattling with Turns,
down, down through the black air to the sea, where
it
splashed and
floated. Even through the glass walls Everett could hear the protest–
ing shrieks of the aroused gulls.
Everett was embarrassed hy the uproar he had caused. In
his
prone position, supporting himself on one elbow, he searched around
for the receiver, which had fallen off the hook, located it, and began
dialing again for his wife, who would have to understand that there
would be a further delay. Moreover, he could very easily become sea–
sick with the rocking of his lighted box, and none of the Turns, by
this
time, were dry.
"Bjorkman here," he told her.
But she merely said he was not at home at the moment and
hung up, leaving him very lonely. All in all she was a good sport,
considering what she had been through and her origins (which term
