friends.
Then the Muslims came. My father was killed-my entire family..
Larry took me with him on the U.N. plane, to NewYorkCity.'
She recounted the tragedy matter-of-factly, as if numbed by repeated insults. I wondered if exposure to suffering would help her deal with her husband's murder when the pain hit full force, or would make matters worse.
She said, 'The children of my village... were slaughtered when the northerners came. TheU.N. did nothing, and Larry became angry and disillusioned with them. When we got to New York he wrote letters and tried to talk to bureaucrats. When they wouldn't receive him, his anger grew and he turned inward. That's when the buying started.'
'To deal with his anger?'
Hard nod. Art became a kind of refuge for him, Dr. Delaware.
He called it the highest place man could go. He would buy a new piece, hang it, stare at it for hours, and talk about the need to surround ourselves with things that couldn't hurt us.'
She looked around the room and shook her head.
bored. Began buying and selling real estate... He was so good at It.... I don't know what to do with all this.'
'Do you have any family here?'
She shook her head and clasped her hands. 'Not here or anywhere. And larry's parents are gone too. It's so... ironic. When the northerners came, shooting women and children, larry looked at 'Now I'm left with all of it, and most of it doesn't mean much to me.' She shook her head again. 'Pictures and the memory of his anger-he was an angry man. He even earned his money angrily.'
She saw my puzzled look. 'Please excuse me-I'm drifting.
What I'm referring to is the way he started. Playing blackjack, craps-other games of chance. Though I guess playing isn't the right word. There was nothing playful about it-when he gambled he was in his own world, didn't stop to eat or sleep.'
'Where did he gamble?'
'Everywhere. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, Lake Tahoe. The money he made there he invested in other schemes-the stock market, bonds.' She waved an arm around the room.
'Did he win most of the time?'
'Nearly always.'
'Did he have some kind of system?'
'He had many. Created them with his computers. He was a mathematical genius, Dr. Delaware. His systems required an extraordinary memory.
He could add columns of numbers in his head, like a human computer. My father thought he was magical. When we took blood from the children, I had him do numbers tricks for them. They watched and were amazed, and didn't feel the sting.
She smiled and covered her mouth.
'He thought he could go on forever,' she said, looking up, 'making a profit at the casinos' expense. But they caught on and told him to leave. This was in Las Vegas. He flew to Reno but the casino there
knew also. Larry was furious. A few months later he returned to the first casino in different clothing and an old man's beard. Played for higher stakes and won even more.
She stayed with that memory for a while, smiling. Talking seemed to be doing her good. That helped me rationalize my presence.
'Then,' she said, 'he just stopped. Gambling. Said he was them in the face and screamed at them, calling them terrible names.
He wasn't a big man.... Did you ever meet him?'
