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traced Roy through the alumni office and urged his two pupils
to meet. Being young they were good sports about it. They met,
they laughed at how outlandish it was, they laughed some more,
they romanced, they eloped and moved to Hollywood where Roy
was beginning a decade of prominence in the music field.
29. Did this beginning portend of things happy
or
sad?
Sad. The fact that the penis is boneless was crucial to the
decay of their relationship.
30. Are you saying Roy became impotent?
Let's say he did not feel good about himself once his songs
began to dry up. Rita became more beautiful every year, like a
flame that blazes most brightly on its last bit of fuel, if you will.
31. Whom did long-time friends consider to be at fault in the
marriage, Roy
or
Rita?
Nearly everyone believed that Rita was emerging as the
good soul in the marriage, that Roy-with his drinking, his bad–
natured outbursts, his overly large mannerisms-was showing
his true colors. Even people who liked Roy best were surprising
themselves by coming to this conclusion.
One of the on ly persons to know better was the anatomy
professor. He was no longer a "friend" because Roy had taken
offense at something or other long ago, but from what reports he
cou ld get the good professor surmised that Rita was the villain.
In
his view Rita took Roy's penis-bone, she took his backbone,
she took his ribs-she filleted him. And all because life wasn't
working out perfectly, beginning with the hysterectomy and
then the other setbacks, and she had to make bad worse. She
wanted a clean sweep of badness. The professor thought Rita
to
be a powerful and dangerous woman. He was correct. The
wondrous mildness she displayed in times of stress, the inner
calm, the patience, was not that of someone who was bearing up
under terrible odds, but of a sated despoiler. She had collected
nearly all the bad cards and now she cou ld afford to relax.
32.
What did Roy do after Ricky apologized?
He muttered " Ri cky, Ricky, Ricky," and then he addressed
his pregnant niece and said: "It's sti ll worth it-with all the
heartache, and with a ll the ... crap! ... it's still worth it," and
