JOYCE CAROL OATES
399
nant.
So
fully
in
control.
For there was the terrible period, several months in all, when for no
reason the Carsons could discover - and they discussed the subject endlessly,
obsessively - the Riegels seemed to have little time for them. Or saw them
with batches of others in which their particular friendship could not be readily
discerned. Paul was a man of quick enthusiasms, and Ceci was a woman of
abrupt shifts of allegiance, thus there was logic of sorts to their cruelty in
elevating for a while a new couple in the area who were both theoretical
mathematicians, and a neighbor's house guest who'd known Paul in college
and was now in the diplomatic service, and a cousin ofCeci's, a male model in
his late twenties who was staying with the Riegels for weeks and weeks and
weeks taking up every spare minute of their time it seemed so when Char–
lotte baffled and hurt called, Ceci murmured in an undertone, "I can't talk
now, can I call you back in the morning?" and failed to call for days, days,
days.
One night when Charlotte would have thought Barry was asleep he
shocked her by saying, "I never liked her, much. Hot shit little Ceci." She had
never heard her husband utter such words before and did not know how to
reply.
They went away on a trip. Three weeks in the Caribbean and only in
the third week did Charlotte scribble a postcard for the Riegels - quick scrib–
bled little note as
if
one of many.
One night she said,
"He's
the dangerous one. He always tries to get
people to drink too much, to keep
him
company."
They came back, and not long afterward Ceci called, and the friendship
was resumed precisely as it had been. The same breathless pace, the same
dazzling intensity, though now Paul had a new book coming out and there
were parties in the city, book signings at book stores, an interview on a
morning news program. The Carsons gave a party for him inviting virtually
everyone they knew locally and the party was a great success and in a cor–
ner of the house Paul Riegel hugged Charlotte Carson so hard she laughed
protesting her ribs would crack but when she drew back to look at her
friend's face she saw it was damp with tears.
Later, Paul told ajoke about Reverend Jesse Jackson that was a mas–
terpiece of mimicry though possibly in questionable taste. In the general hi–
larity no one noticed, or at least objected. In any case there were no blacks
present.
The Riegels were childless but would not have defined their condition in
those terms - as a lack, a loss, a negative. Before marrying they had dis–
cussed the subject of children thoroughly, Paul said, and came to the conclu–
sion no.
