Tags:
Fiction,
General,
Fantasy fiction,
Fiction - Fantasy,
Fantasy,
Magic,
Fantasy - General,
Science Fiction & Fantasy,
supernatural,
Science Fiction And Fantasy,
Ex-convicts,
Epistolary Fiction,
Abandoned houses,
Wolfe; Gene - Prose & Criticism
head.
"You see, that's what happens when a man goes to bars. My postman used to do it, too, that biker bar in Port--I won't tell you where it is."
I explained that I had fought an intruder.
"Did you say he was a boy?"
"Half grown." I shrugged. "He seemed strong for his age. At any rate, he proved more than a match for me."
"Most men would have told me there were two of them."
"As would I," I said, "if there had been. As it was, I was saved from a worse beating by his father."
"You should have called the police."
"I don't have a telephone."
"Still? I'll call them. Get a cell phone."
I nodded and said I suppose I would have to.
"There's this wonderful place that will give you one. Did you know about them?"
I certainly had not known, and said so.
"If you'll sign up for their service, you get a free cell phone. It's bottom of the line, of course."
She waited for my reaction, and I said, "Good."
"If you don't want to take pictures with it, or watch sports or any of that . . ."
"I simply want to call the police," I said. Honesty forced me to add, "And my friends."
The truth, George, was that I was thinking it might be possible for me to obtain assistance from Doris and Martha now and then if I had a telephone.
Nor was that all. During the time I was living at the Riverman, I pretty well gave up my job search; months have elapsed since I stopped looking, and it seems possible that something has opened up. Doris orMartha may know of employment opportunities I would never have discovered for myself, for that matter.
"And your family, of course. You must have a family."
"Hardly any save my brother," I explained. "He's very busy and sometimes becomes angry when I call him." (As you see, I accorded
you
every consideration. Far be it from me to defame a family member, even when strict truth would require it.)
"That's a shame."
I agreed, and mentioned that I would soon be seeking employment.
"Not until your face heals, Mr. Dunn. Nobody will hire somebody who looks like he's been fighting."
I had not thought of that, but she is indubitably correct.
The upshot of all this, George, was that my cuts and bruises were bandaged and salved--"I always wanted to be a nurse"--and that I was Martha's guest at lunch. She spoke at some length about the advantages of selling my house and moving to an urban area in which I might more readily find employment, but I will not give that here.
What surprised me was her evident pleasure when I explained that I would greatly prefer to stay where I was for the time being. "Since you're staying, I hope to see you from time to time, Mr. Dunn. When you have your cell phone--did I give you the address?"
I shook my head, and she wrote it out for me.
"Give me a call when you have it, will you? Before I give it to anyone else, I want to make sure they treat their customers right."
Of course I promised I would.
As matters evolved, I did not actually require the address she had provided. She drove me there, waited while I signed the agreement and received my telephone, and drove me home. "Call me anytime," she said in parting. "I live alone, you know. I'm always glad of company."
Need I say that I returned home in high spirits?
At once I began a search for the means by which the boy had entered my house. I found it (or at least found one way, which may well be the correct one) immediately. Earlier, you see, George, I had searched the house from within; it was by that means that I discovered the broken side door.
Wiser now, I chose to search outside. There are at least eight rooms on the ground floor, and I may well have missed one or even two. Five of these are corner rooms.
I had no sooner reached the back of the house, than my eye fell upon an old-fashioned cellar door greatly in need of paint, the kind that the boys of long ago slid down. There is a hasp on it, but no lock.
My first thought was to nail it shut, as I had the side door. In the end I refrained for three reasons, all of