| from him. ‘Woody, how could you do this to me?’ ‘Do what? I’m making you tea!’ ‘You’ve got me up here on false pretences! I thought your parents were at home.’ ‘I never said that.’ ‘Why didn’t you tell me they were away!’ ‘You didn’t ask!’ he said indignantly, though there was a grain of truth in her complaint. He would not have lied to her, but he had been hoping he would not have to tell her in advance that the apartment was empty. ‘You got me up here to make a pass! You think I’m a cheap broad.’ ‘I do not! It’s just that we’re never really private. I was hoping for a kiss, that’s all.’ ‘Don’t try to kid me.’ Now she really was being unjust. Yes, he hoped to go to bed with her one day, but no, he had not expected to do so today. ‘We’ll go,’ he said. ‘We’ll get tea somewhere else. The Ritz-Carlton is right down the street, all the British stay there, they must have tea.’ ‘Oh, don’t be stupid, we don’t need to leave. I’m not afraid of you, I can fight you off. I’m just mad at you. I don’t want a man who goes out with me because he thinks I’m easy.’ ‘Easy?’ he said, his voice rising. ‘Hell! I’ve waited six years for you to condescend to go out with me. Even now, all I’m asking for is a kiss. If you’re easy, I’d hate to be |
was a bang that stunned his eardrums. Even with closed eyes he saw the bright flash of exploding gasoline. A wave of heat passed over him. He lifted his head and looked back. The car was ablaze. He jumped to his feet. ‘Mama! Are you okay?’ ‘Miraculously unhurt,’ she said coolly as his father helped her up. He scanned the field and spotted the others. He ran to Eddie, who was sitting upright, clutching his thigh. ‘Are you hit?’ ‘Hurts like fuck,’ Eddie said. ‘But there’s not much blood.’ He managed a grin. ‘Top of my thigh, I think, but no vital organs damaged.’ ‘We’ll get you to hospital.’ At that moment Chuck heard a terrible noise. His brother was crying. Woody was weeping not like a baby but like a lost child: a loud, sobbing noise of utter wretchedness. Chuck knew immediately that it was the sound of a broken heart. He ran to his brother. Woody was on his knees, his chest shaking, his mouth open, his eyes running with tears. There was blood all over his white linen suit, but he was not wounded. Between sobs he moaned: ‘No, no.’ Joanne lay on the ground in front of him, face up. Chuck could see right away that she was dead. Her body was still and her eyes were open, staring at nothing. The front of her gaily striped cotton dress was soaked with bright red arterial blood, already darkening in patches. Chuck could not see the wound |
