‘The booze,’ Finley added.
‘Flashlights,’ Abilene said. ‘And the lantern. It’ll be dark before long.’
‘If we don’t hurry,’ Vivian said, ‘we’ll be cooking in the dark.’
Leaning against the side of the car, Cora stepped into her panties and shorts. She joined the others at the rear, tossed her socks and bra toward the back seat, and helped with the unloading.
‘Where do we want to make dinner?’ Abilene asked.
‘In the kitchen?’ Finley said.
‘Oh, right.’
‘This kind of stove isn’t safe to use indoors,’ Helen pointed out.
‘Maybe we should cook out front on the driveway,’ Vivian said. ‘The black’s too exposed, you know? And that’s where the kid went.’
‘You and the kid,’ Cora muttered. ‘My God, we just moved the car so it couldn’t be seen from the front, and you want to make supper there?’
‘I don’t think it would hurt to cook inside,’ Abilene said. ‘With so many broken windows, there isn’t much danger of the fumes getting us.’
Finley nodded. ‘Yeah. Let’s do it civilized indoors.’
They carried the boxes and equipment up the slope and entered the lodge by its front door. The faint light from the windows left the lobby in deep gloom. They put down their loads. Cora crouched over the Coleman lantern. Soon, its gas was hissing loudly, its twin mantles glaring behind the glass chimney. By the stark pale brightness of the lantern, they lit the gas stove and prepared a simple dinner of hot dogs.
They sat on the floor in a circle, sipping margaritas as they ate the franks.
‘A good, healthy meal,’ Vivian said.
‘At least it was easy,’ Abilene said. ‘Sometimes, I think I spend half my life cooking.’
‘The other half doing dishes,’ Helen added.
‘Doesn’t Harris help out?’ Cora asked. ‘Tony and I take turns with all the chores.’
‘Both of you work, though,’ Abilene said.
‘Going for a Ph.D. isn’t work?’
‘I’m home a lot. He doesn’t get in till about six. I like to have something nice waiting for him.’
‘I do all the cooking, too,’ Helen said.
‘Whatever happened to women’s lib?’ Cora asked.
‘The guys who go in for it are all a bunch of wooses,’ Finley said.
‘You saying Tony’s a woos?’
‘Hell, you’d probably beat him up if he gave you any crap about sharing chores.’
‘That’s a good one,’ Abilene said. Tony, a physical education teacher and football coach at the same high school where Cora taught girls’ P.E. and coached basketball, outweighed her by at least fifty pounds. As strong as Cora was, a fight between the two would be no contest.
‘He never gives me any trouble,’ Cora said. ‘He likes to cook.’
‘We should’ve brought him along,’ Helen said.
‘If you didn’t want to spend your life cooking,’ Finley told her, ‘you shouldn’t have gotten oiarried.’
‘Don’t you eat?’ Helen asked.
‘Not at home, that’s for sure. Hardly ever, anyway. I usually have a big lunch at the studio or on location - whatever. Then I go somewhere for Happy Hour. The places I go, you get all sorts of free food with your drinks. Potato skins, buffalo wings, meatballs, all that good stuff.’
‘You have that instead of dinner?’ Helen asked, grinning. ‘Hey, it’s great. And I usually go out with guys a few times a week.’
‘Anyone special?’ Abilene asked.
Finley grinned. ‘They’re all special.’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I like variety,’ she said, and chomped down on her hot dog. ‘But wouldn’t you like to settle down and get married, have kids?’
‘Barf,’ she said through her hot dog. ‘Who needs it?’
‘Right on,’ Cora said. ‘The beginning of the end.’
‘Is not,’ Abilene said.
‘Are you telling me you like being tied down?’
‘I’m not “tied down.” ’
‘Yeah, right.’
‘My God, Cora, you’ve got a good job. Tony’s a terrific guy…’
‘He cooks for you,’ Helen pointed out.
‘What’s the problem?’ Abilene asked.
‘It’s all a big bore, that’s the problem. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love Tony. We get along great. We do stuff on our time off.’ She shook her head. ‘It just isn’t enough. Where’s the excitement, you know?’
‘That’s what we’re here for,’ Finley told her.
‘Exactly.’
‘You’ve just got it too good,’ Vivian said. ‘You have everything a woman could want…
‘Except kids,’ Abilene put in.
‘Oh, spare me. That’s just what I’d need. Rug rats.’
‘I’m serious,’ Vivian went on. ‘If you think life’s so boring, it’s only because you don’t have any serious problems.’
‘Or serious ambition,’ Abilene added.
‘Oh, give me a break.’
‘Maybe you need some kind of goal in life,’ Abilene said. ‘What’s yours?’ Helen asked.
‘Yeah, Hickok. Planning to syndicate an advice column?’
‘I’m going to finish my Ph.D. and get a job at a nice university somewhere
‘Like Belmore?’ Helen asked.
‘Anyplace that’ll take me. Harris has already agreed that he’ll go wherever I can find a position. And once I’ve got tenure, I’ll have a kid.’
‘You’ve got it all mapped out,’ Cora said, sounding a little disgusted.
‘I know what I want. And I’m sure not bored with my life.’
‘Well, good for you.’
Vivian sighed. ‘Geez, Cora, you just don’t know how good you’ve got it.’
‘Want to trade?’
‘You betcha.’
‘Tony’d love that.’
Helen stared at Vivian, frowning. ‘Are you kidding? Why on earth would you want to trade with anyone? My God, you’ve gotta be joking.’
‘Oh, yeah. I’ve got the world on a string.’ She set down the uneaten remains of her hot dog, and raised her left hand toward Helen. ‘What do you think of my lovely ring?’
Her hand was bare.
‘What ring?’
‘That’s the point.’
‘You’re upset because you’re not married?’ Helen sounded astonished.
‘Wouldn’t you be? God, I’m twenty-five.’
‘Enjoy your freedom while you’ve got it,’ Cora told her.
‘It isn’t freedom, it’s loneliness.’
‘You could take your pick of men,’ Helen said. ‘I mean, look at you. You’re… stunning.’
‘It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.’
‘I’m gonna start weeping,’ Finley said. ‘It must be so tough on you, being gorgeous.’
‘You’ll never know,’ Abilene told her.
‘You’re no cover girl, yourself, Hickok.’
