370
PARTISAN REVIEW
of late afternoon, were hills, and beyond the hill s a water tower hid in a
clump of trees and low houses.
At the end of the road was a cemetery. He went up the path and
under the iron arch that said
Bethel
in leafy iron letters. He looked back
at me.
We followed a grass-covered lane through tombstones; statues of
angels here and there looked off as if frozen stiff in the middle of doing
something they started long ago. We topped a hill; the cemetery went
on for miles, and I saw the first of the square stone houses. Not far
ahead was a big one, a mausoleum as large as an apartment house, with
barred windows set high in the walls, almost to the slate roof.
He turned off the lane and went straight to the mausoleum. He
turned very slowly and smiled his V smile, his big yellow eyes looking
right at me. "Here we are."
Still looking at me, he reached out the other direction, took the
handle of the big iron door, and it opened smoothly. "It's in there," he
said.
"What is?"
"The thing."
I shook my head.
"You can stand here and see it," he said. He stepped inside. I
waited, then went to the door and looked into the long, empty room.
Gray, distant light spilled down from the high windows . He stood
half-way down the room, gripping the handle of one of the square steel
doors that lined the walls.
"Don't,"
I whispered, but he opened it,
staring at me, and reached inside. There was a screech, then a grumble
{
of rollers as he pulled out
~
casket-it was huge. And all the while he
was looking at me, his face locked in that V grin, his eyes big.
I backed out and pulled the door almost closed, until there was a
crack just wide enough for my face. I glanced behind me-there was
nothing but the tombstones, the angels, the sky going away to night. I
put my face to the crack in the door,
He lifted the casket lid, his head jerked my way and, grinning, he
stepped up onto the side of the casket and unbuckled his belt and
unzipped his pants.
"Don't,"
I whispered. He grinned, dropped his
pants. He didn't wear underwear. He put his arms out straight and
swayed his hips. He kicked up his right foot, then his left, and clasping
his hands behind his head, squatted down, his knees wide apart. Then
he hopped down into the casket, reached down, and hooked big legs,
bent at the knees, over the sides of the casket. He knelt, staring down
seriously.
