John Hildebidle
.240, LIFETIME
After five or six tries she must have realized she couldn't
reach Kelly, so she called the hotel and got the night clerk to find
somebody . The only one there of course was George the Mormon
kid, who was the last guy in the world to send around to bars, but
she had no choice. It took George a long time, and he got himself
well lost and then found by the cops, who were about to pinch him
until they saw his wide-eyed look and helped him instead . So when
Kelly looked up from the bar where he was trying to show the bar–
maid the difference between a slider and a screwball, George had
two cops in tow and it looked a little like a temperance raid. The cops
hung around figuring maybe somebody would need a ride . George
said to Kelly , "Your wife called," and Kelly waited, since there had to
be more message than that to deserve all this fanfare . 'jesus," Kelly
said (George winced), "she could have waited until morning. You got
a dime ?"
"You took your time," she said. "You mean the little saint took
his time," Kelly said; "I been here having a couple of beers." "A cou–
ple," she said, "you're gonna put on weight again." "It's hot enough
here to sweat it off me . You just wanted to know what brand was I
drinking?" "It's Ricky. He's got those headaches again." "Kid his age
falls down often enough to have a headache full time . You want me
to come home and give him the aspirin? Six hours on the bus?" "But
it hurts him, you know? It's serious, I tell you." "So take him to the
doctor. Jesus. I got things on my mind . Take him to the goddamn
doctor and get him a pill or something. You think you can handle
that Jo-An?" "This is our kid we're talking about and not the car or
the wash machine or something. You know? Maybe he's sick." "And
maybe it's the hot weather and maybe it's somebody chucked a rock
at him in the park and maybe it's just a headache like I'm getting
from all this . You take him in the morning and I'll call just before
game time , o.k.? You take him . And you sleep a little , you hear?"
"I hear."
It only occurred to him later that she hadn't even asked how the
game went. The thought woke him up, and he lay there listening to
Caldwell snoring. It was hard enough without worrying . He'd told
her often enough. A goddamn headache and she calls out the Marines.
