578
PARTISAN REVIEW
"Wh a t in the hell is going on h ere?" said Roy. "Everybody's
jinxed on account of a few littl e spiders h ave gotten in. G ive it
back if you don ' t like it. I'll trade it for a coupl e of art books or
something. Jesu s Chri st, I'm telling you ." He looked a round for
someon e to tell.
"Wh y did you ma ke me carry it out ?" stammered H enry.
"Oh shit," said Roy.
"Can I see it?" asked Ri cky. Henri etta h anded him the
bo ttl e.
" Dead, my foot," said Roy. "Who's got a cigarette?"
Ri cky p u t the bo ttl e to the li ght and stud ied it with
detachment. "Daddy," he sa id reasonabl y, " it 's second hand."
"Well so are you buddy!"
Ri cky continued studying the bo ttl e.
"Forget tha t," said Roy very qui etl y.
" It
didn ' t mean
an ything. Pl ease stop ," h e said. "Everyone stop thinking."
" It was a mi sta ke," said Rita. " I t didn ' t mean an ything."
"Th at's right," Roy said . " Peopl e say things tha t are stup id
and cru el and meaningless sometimes. And I' m no excep ti on. "
" It's alright," said H enri etta. "Sometimes things pop ou t of
my mouth th a t don ' t mean an ything.
It
happen s to everybody."
"Sill y, dumb things," said Roy. "Th e troubl e is th a t people
don ' t think before th ey spea k."
" It's nothing to remember," said Henry. " It's easil y fo rgo t–
ten ."
" I think so, too," said Roy. "We' ll forget it h ere and now.
No need to spoil the aft ernoon . Whom can I help with ano ther
drink? Rita, some bourbon? Ri cky," h e said, turning
to
hi s son
for the fir st time, "can I get you a glass of something?"
T houghtfull y Ri ck smashed the bo ttl e down so th a t the
crystal shards fl ew u p and about like a shower of ice in the
sunli ght, turning red and blue and green . No on e moved. No
on e spoke.
T he end .
46. Th e end?
T he end .
47. T hey just sat there, frozen?
Frozen . Some more than o th ers.
