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As the alcohol assuhtful place in my bloodstream, it became clear to me that I did not very ent, death was part of the game, and if he was a fraud, sic seot his, or if his royal treasury was lost forever Royal treasuries are fun, but this one looked to be more trouble than it orth, and farther out of reach than any grapes to any fox, as far as that went

Nor, finally, did I really care about theabout Sheena’s annihilation of them was that Plum and I had walked in on its aftermath Had I been in New York at the ti me a whole hell of a lot A missionary, after all, assumes ent or an African dictator There is always the possibility that martyrdom will pave the road to sainthood, anyway

I filled the cup and looked at it like Hamlet at Yorick I sipped, and shuddered at the stuff, which I had perhaps not diluted as ain, and then basked in the floarht an awful clarity of vision I was in Modonoland, I realized now, for no good purpose whatsoever The whole venture was stupidly negative I had come here because I had not liked where I was, and because everything had been getting worse, and because I wanted to go soht have ahter, Minna, and had retaliated by taking a fourteen-year-old one off, I sa, on a particularly witless tangent

And it was tiet back on the main road

My ain but plunging on undaunted First things, I decided, first I would begin setting ical pattern for le and back to civilization, and I would find a place for Plum, and I would return to New York and le that was Manhattan I could picture myself in some clean and neat suburban community in Jersey or Connecticut, say A co over charcoal in the backyard A powerlike laht of Peter Pan If you grew up you couldn’t fly Well, it was ti A house in the suburbs, a wife, a fae trimmer, a dishwasher, a family room, a color television set, a breakfast nook – I closedthe me No more a ratty apartanizations No more chaos, no more anarchy

No more trips to places like this one

After a while I capped both jugs and slipped out of the building without waking Pluht with stars I was just beginning to get used to the southern skies, just beginning to recognize the various constellations I looked up at theined myself inup at the stars and conterass killer

It sounds, I suppose, like a joke, but it was a joke I had given off laughing over long ago, and old jokes tend to become new truths I had alondered why sooner or later everyone packed it in and went to the suburbs Everyone did this because sooner or later everyone realized that it was the only sensible thing to do Sooner or later everyone realized that one had to put points on one’s compass and chart the course of one’s life If it had taken ht even be all to the good; it would give e

My head buzzed with plans Cancel the League for the Restoration of Cilician Armenia; substitute the Parent-Teacher Association Cross out the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and write in the Flat Hills Country Club I could see it all now, and it all looked good Charge accounts, color-coordinated bathroo devices – all the little human touches that separate us from the apes

If any doubts attempted to surface, I was too involved with my vision to pay them mind I went back for the alcohol, cut it with soain and wandered beneath the stars, only to return again for another drink After quite a long while of this, the birds began singing their heads off It was still perfectly dark when they did this, but I guess they knew so, because after about fifteen ht with dawn

Shortly after this happened, Plum woke up with a start That’s not one of my all-time favorite expressions, but it’s what she did Heretofore she had always awakened rather gently and comfortably, I’d usually been on hand when she woke up, and of late I’d often taken an active part in waking her, in which case the s started out very pleasantly for both of us

(And this, I told myself noould have to stop In a sense, it constituted anticipatory infidelity to Kitty, my bride and help carnal knowledge of a fourteen-year-old Welsh-African hybrid did not quite jibe with , as I said, she ith a start There was this sudden thrashing about, accompanied by a volley of ss like, "Easy, easy," and "It’s all right," and the yelps and thrashing eased off and stopped

"It was a drea cut into bits and raped and killed and-"

"It was a dream"

She put her hand between her little breasts "How it pounds! I cannot catch ht?"

"I think so What is that, Evan?"

She was pointing to my cup "Oh," I said "Well, it’s vodka"

"Vodka? In a mission?"

I explained that I had made it out of alcohol and water, a process at least as praiseworthy in her eyes as the transmutation of water to wine She asked if she could have some, and I told her she couldn’t

"But why?"

"You’re too young," I said

"I a to have a drink?"

I considered this carefully "You’re too young to sleep with, too," I said I spoke carefully, too, because ue seemed thicker than usual "But, you see, it’s a case of the smaller boll weevil"

"The smaller-"

"The lesser of teevils," I said triumphantly

"Evan?"

"Hmmm?"

"What is the matter with you?"

"I’m a pillar of the community"

"Are you drunk?"

"I suppose I a so funny"

"Er"

She reached for the cup I drew it away from her A pillar of the coes to minors, I told ht? And you did not get to sleep at all, did you?"

"Well, I had a few hours sleep-"