“The neighbors with the view live at what? Twenty-seven-oh-four?”
“Twenty-seven-oh-six. It used to be Slider Burnett n his fambly, but they moved out just after Halloween. He was a substitute rodeo clown, do you believe it? Who knew there was such a job? Now it’s some fella named Hazzard and his two kids and I think his mother. Rosette won’t play with the kids, says they’re dirty. Which is a newsflash comin from
“I don’t smoke.”
She shrugged. “What the hell. I can afford my own now, can’t I? I’m goddam rich. You ain’t married, are you?”
“No.”
“Got a girlfriend, though. I can smell perfume on this side of the car. The nice stuff.”
That made me smile. “Yes, I’ve got a girlfriend.”
“Good for you. Does she know you’re sneakin around the south side of Fort Worth after dark, doin funny business?”
I said nothing, but sometimes that’s answer enough.
“Nev’ mind. That’s between you n her. I’m warm now, so I’ll go on back. If it’s still rainy n cold like this tomorrow, I don’t know what we’re goan do about Harry in the back of my ma’s truck.” She looked at me, smiling. “When I was a kid I used to think I was gonna grow up to be Kim Novak. Now Rosette, she thinks she’s goan replace Darlene on the Mouseketeers. Hidey-fuckin-ho.”
She started to open the door and I said, “Wait.”
I raked the crap out of my pockets — Life Savers, Kleenex, a book of matches Sadie had tucked in there, notes for a freshman English test I meant to give before the Christmas break — and then gave her the ranch coat. “Take this.”
“I ain’t takin your goddam coat!” She looked shocked.
“I’ve got another one at home.” I didn’t, but I could buy one, and that was more than she could do.
“What’m I gonna tell Harry? That I found it under a goddam cabbage leaf?”
I grinned. “Tell him you rolled the mailman a fuck and bought it with the proceeds. What’s he going to do, chase you down the driveway and beat you up?”
She laughed, a harsh rainbird caw that was strangely charming. And took the coat.
“Regards to Rosette,” I said. “Tell her I’ll see her in her dreams.”
She stopped smiling. “I hope not, mister. That one she had about you was a nightmare. Bout screamed the house down, she did. Woke me out of a dead sleep at two in the morning. She said the man who cotched her ball had a monster in the backseat of his car, and she was afraid it would eat her up. Scared the life out of me, she did, screamin like that.”
“Did the monster have a name?” Of course it did.
“She said it was a jimla. Prob’ly meant a jinny, like in those stories about Aladdin and the Seven Veils. Anyway, I gotta go. You take care of yourself.”
“You too, Ivy. Merry Christmas.”
She cawed her rainbird laugh again. “Almost forgot about that. You have one, too. Don’t forget to give your girl a present.”
She trotted to her old car with my coat — her coat, now — thrown over her shoulders. I never saw her again.
The rain only froze on the bridges, and I knew from my other life — the one in New England — to be careful on those, but it was still a long drive back to Jodie. I had no more than put the water on for a cup of tea when the phone rang. This time it was Sadie.
“I’ve been trying to get you since suppertime to ask you about Coach Borman’s Christmas Eve bash. It starts at three. I’ll go if you want to take me, because then we can get away early. Say we’ve got dinner reservations at The Saddle, or something. I need to RSVP, though.”
I saw my own invitation lying next to my typewriter, and felt a little twinge of guilt. It had been there for three days, and I hadn’t even opened it.
“Do you want to go?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t mind making an appearance.” There was a pause. “Where have you been all this time?”
“Fort Worth.” I almost added,
“Were you shopping?”
Again I had to fight not to lie. “I… Sadie, I really can’t say.”
There was a long, long pause. I found myself wishing I smoked. Probably I had developed a contact addiction. God knew I was smoking by proxy all day, every day. The teachers’ room was a constant blue haze.
“Is it a woman, George? Another woman? Or am I being nosy?”
Well, there was Ivy, but that wasn’t the kind of woman she was talking about.
“In the woman department, there’s only you.”
