Mr. X by Peter Straub Read Free Book Online Page A

coat. She gave me a murky glance on her way out of the room. Phil noticed nothing, for which I was grateful. Laura said, “Did you boys stay home all the time we were out?”
    “You bet,” Phil said. “We had a hell of a time kicking out the dancing girls before you got back.”
    My mother drifted into the living room, smiled more in my direction than at me, and glanced at the couch like a cat deciding where to settle down. Phil cleared his throat and challenged her to their annual Christmas chess championship. She grinned at him with what looked to me like relief.
    Before the start of this tradition, I would have said that given two tries at telling a pawn from a rook, my mother would have been right at least once, but she was good enough to beat Phil about one game in four. This time, he was frowning at the board and muttering, “Hold on, I don’t get it,” ten minutes after they started. (It turned out that the lithographer in Cleveland was a demon chess player.)
    I followed Laura into the kitchen, expecting her to share my amusement at her husband’s consternation. “Either she got a lot better since last year, or Phil forgot how to play,” I said.
    Laura moved across the kitchen, leaned against the sink, and permitted my remark to shrivel in the air between us. The look she gave me had nothing to do with amusement. “I thought I knew you pretty well, but now I’m beginning to wonder.” She crossed her arms across her chest.
    “About what?”
    “Did you leave the house while we were gone?”
    I shook my head.
    “You didn’t go downtown. Or to Biegelman’s.”
    “What’s all this about? You and Star have been acting weird ever since you got back.”
    “That’s not an answer.” She was staring fiercely into my eyes.
    “No,” I said, beginning to get irritated. “I didn’t go to Biegelman’s. Biegelman’s is a women’s clothing store. I don’t think I’ve ever been inside it in my whole life.” I made myself calm down. “What’s going on?”
    “A mistake, I guess,” Laura said.
    In the other room, my mother laughed and cried out, “Phil, don’t you know anything about Capablanca?”
    “He’s dead, and so am I,” Phil said.
    “Star’s worried about you.” Laura was still searching my face.
    “There’s nothing to worry about.”
    “Are you getting enough sleep? Do you walk around feeling exhausted all the time?”
    Most of the time, I walked around feeling half-dead. “I’m tired sometimes, but it’s no big deal.”
    “Are you happy at Middlemount? If it’s getting to be too much for you, you can always take a semester off.”
    I began to get angry all over again. “First everybody is pushing me into college, and now everybody wants to push me out. I wish you’d make up your minds.”
    She looked stricken. “Ned, did we push you into college? Is that how it feels to you?”
    I already regretted my words.
    “Think of how much those colleges wanted you. It’s a great opportunity. Besides that, not having a college degree would be a tremendous disadvantage later in life.” She lifted her chin and looked away. “Boy oh boy. Maybe we did push you. But all we wanted was what we thought would be best for you.” She looked back at me. “You’re the only person who can tell me what’s best for you, and you better be honest about it. Don’t worry about Phil, either. He feels the same way.”
    She meant that she would be able to explain a leave of absence to him, if that was what I wanted. The thought of Phil’s disappointment made me feel like a traitor. “I guess I’ll have to get straight As and be elected president of my class before you and Star stop worrying,” I said.
    “Hey, Ned!” Phil shouted from the other room. “Your mother and Bobby Fischer, separated at birth, is that the deal?”
    “Okay,” Laura said. “We’ll see how you feel at semester break. In the meantime, please remember that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, all right?”
    Over