“Run out of suntan lotion?” he said.
“No. But you’re out of whiskey.”
“I gave it to Beebo. Traded it for your clothes.”
“Take the clothes back and get the whiskey.”
“Later,” he said, and smiled. Then he added, “Was it bad?”
“Very bad,” Laura said and for a moment they both feared she would start crying. But she didn’t.
“Want to tell me?”
“Jack,” she said with an ironic little smile. “You’ll have to write a book about me someday. I tell you everything.”
He grinned. “I’ll leave that to somebody else. But I’m saving my notes, just in case.” He sat down beside her. “Well, it could only be one of three things, seeing that she’s gay,” he said. “She’s a whore.”
“No.”
“A junkie.”
“No.”
“—or she’s married.”
“She’s married.”
He lighted a cigarette with a long sigh, his eyes bright on her.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“I didn’t. But it had to be something that would shock you. And you seem pretty damn nervous about the idea of gay people being married.” He paused and she had to drop her glance. “Does she hate him?” he asked returning to Tris.
“Most of the time. God, Jack, I need a drink.”
“Steady, Mother. My neighbor always has a supply. I’ll fix you up.” He came back in less than three minutes with a bottle of sparkling burgundy.
“Ugh!” Laura said. But she took it gratefully.
“Now,” he said, settling down on the cocktail table with a cup of instant coffee, “begin at the beginning.”
Laura rubbed her forehead and then sipped the prickly drink. “It started…beautifully,” she said. “Like a dream. It was all hot sand and cool water and kisses. We held hands in the movie, we sat up till all hours in front of the fireplace with a bottle of Riesling and sang, and danced. We traded secrets and we made plans. We made a boat trip to the point—”
“Did you make love?”
“You just can’t wait, can you?” she said, half teasing, half irritated.
“My future may depend on it,” he said and shrugged.
There was a long reflective pause and finally Laura said, sadly, “Yes. We made love. Only once.”
“And that was the end?”
“It wasn’t that simple. You see, she—well, she flirted. She flirted with men until I thought I couldn’t stand it. Till I wanted to flirt myself to get even, if only I weren’t so damn awkward with men. She’s not. She’s a genius with them. She didn’t give a damn if they were married or not. She had them all proposing to her.
“After the first couple of days it got intolerable. She had been making me sleep on one bed and she took the other. And after she turned the lights out she made a rule—no bed hopping.”
“And you obeyed her little rule?”
“I had to, Jack,” she defended herself. “We had a sort of agreement before we left the Village…It was supposed to be up to her to choose the time and place.”
“That’s the lousiest agreement you ever made, Mother,” he commented.
“No. She’s sick, you see. Really. She thinks she’s straight. And if you hint she’s not, she gets terrified. Almost hysterical. She can’t accept it.”
“Why do you always fall for these well adjusted ladies?” he asked.
“Beth was well adjusted.”
“Beth is dead. As far as you’re concerned.” Laura glared at him while he smiled slightly, lighting another cigarette from the one he was finishing. “So Tris is a queer queer,” he said. “And she flirts with the opposite sex. Very subversive. So what came next?”
“Well, they followed us home—”
“Who?”
“Men!” she flashed peevishly. “They followed us at the beach, in the bars, in the stores. They followed Tris, I should say. I was cold as hell with them. I tried to keep quiet about it, but after three days of it I blew up. We had a miserable quarrel, and I was ready to pack up and leave right then. But she relented suddenly. I don’t know why. I think she really likes me, Jack. Anyway, she got drunk. Just enough so that she wouldn’t have to watch what I did to her…or hear what I said to her…or care too much…”
“That’s pretty drunk,” Jack said. He knew from the way she spoke that it had hurt her to make love like that, wanting so much herself, and herself so unwanted. “I know, Laura honey, I know the feeling,” he said and the words comforted her.
“Jack, I hope I always love you this much,” she said softly. He looked up from his coffee cup with a little smile. “So do I,” he said. And they looked at each other without speaking for a minute before she went on.
“Well,” she said, “it was torture. I didn’t want it any more than she did if it had to be so cold and sad, and at the same time I had to have her. I was on fire for her. I have to give her credit, Jack, she tried. But it didn’t mean anything to her.”
“It’s a lonesome job,” Jack said. “And it’s never worth it.”
“I cried all night,” Laura said. “Afterwards…I just got in my own bed and cried. And she was awake all night too, but she didn’t come to me or try to comfort me. I think she was embarrassed. I think she just wished she’d never gotten mixed up with me.
“The next night—around dinner time—her husband arrived. I don’t know whether she got sick of me or just scared and called him, or if they got their dates scrambled and he came too soon. You see, it turned
