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Clark continued to call ht and not always at the saularity that I went to bed each night wondering whether Nightti an appearance And more often than not, he did

"Wait a minute, just wait a da," I said during one phone call I was lying in h school days A few nights ago we’d started chatting about grade school, progressed on to everyone’s least-favorite and h school

"Chess teareat that looks on a transcript? Colleges eat that shit up" He laughed and sipped his Scotch Three hours ahead of hi at the sa conversation And for a looser Clark

"Wow I don’t think I’ve ever heard you curse before, Mr Barrow"

"I’m sure I have," he said

"Nope, pretty sure you haven’t Although I’ve gotten a feilly-nillys and a holy mackerel and--"

"I’ve never said holy hed

"Oh yes you have; it hen I was going to throay the moth-eaten blanket that was on the back of the couch in the living room You launched into this tirade about hoas an authentic Adirondack woolen blanket, extremely rare for California, as they were typically found in upstate New York, froo to escape the heat of Manhattan and Philadelphia and Boston at the turn of the last century, and that we couldn’t possibly throw it away That it would be akin to trashing A a little at the end

There was a long pause

"You have a stunning memory, Vivian," he finally said, a hint of hus

"Sos"

I switched positions on the bed, getting more comfortable "So, chess team, huh? Tell me more about that"

"What did you just do? You sound different," he said

"I just turned around in bed, I had ainst the wall before"