LEONARD MICHAELS
"Are you sure?"
"That's what she calls it."
"Nigerian fluke?"
"She thought it might be only an allergy."
551
"Nigerian fluke is fatal in every case. Ask her to be specific. I'm
curious. I've had many students who were diseased. .. ."
"She dropped out."
"See?" Henry stopped, held my elbow, and grinned. He seemed
pleased to think he'd been right, yet also horrified. "She's dead?"
"Dropped out. That's all I know."
"Were you smitten by her?"
I shrugged, instantly reminding myself of how she shrugged
after telling me that her husband hit her. Henry waited for my an–
swer, but, as we left the building, the daylight was so pure there
seemed nothing to talk about. We entered it like creatures sliding
into a lake without disturbing the surface.
"Oh," he said.
Leonard Michaels, author of
The Men's Club
and other works offic–
tion, is Professor of English at the University of California at Berkeley.
