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Lionel stuck his head in the door and said, "Hey, son How’re you doing?"

"Fine"

"Could you turn that down, please?"

Jon got up and crossed to the TV set He muted the sound and returned to his seat, his attention still fixed on the screen though he pretended he was listening to his dad

Lionel said, "There’s solanced over as his father stepped aside and there she was She was taller than his father and as vibrantly colored as an illustration in his biology text Black hair, blue eyes, her lips a slash of dark red Her body was divided into two seg hips below, bisected by a narroaist In that moment, he took her measure without conscious intent; she was a wasp, a predator In hiswasps live in societies that arewasps rely on a nest from which they conductof their young

Jon said, "Nice toyou," she said And then to Lionel in a teasing tone of voice, "You bad boy I can see I have ht him to stand up when a lady enters the room"

Sheepishly, Jon set his soft drink aside and rose to his feet, , "Sorry My fault, not his"

He shot a look at Lionel What was going on? Jon knew his father had been dating, but as far as he knew, Lionel wasn’t serious about anyone He’d been carrying on a series of short-terestion of i until the particular coed in question was no longer enrolled in his class

Later that night, after Lionel dropped Mona back at her place, he returned to the den and settled in a nearby chair for the inevitable heart-to-heart It was clear his father felt uncomfortable For two years, he and Jon had functioned as pals, not the father-son duo that was now up for grabs Lionel launched into a discourse about how lonely he’d been and how much he missed Jon’s mother Jon blocked out much of what Lionel said because the words didn’t sound like his Mona had doubtless pri sure he touched on all the relevant points Jon i that no one would ever replace his mom, but that a man needed coh his father’s lips Mona kne hard life must have been for him and now they had an opportunity to share their hohters, who the two families, and he hoped Jon would make the transition as smooth as possible

Lionel and Mona were married in June of 1965 Now that they were a faer place Fortunately, as part of her divorce settlement, Mona had been awarded a house in Beverly Hills, which she sold for big bucks, rolling the money into the new house in Horton Ravine so she wouldn’t have to pay capital gains At the same time, Lionel sold the modest three-bedroom house where Jon had been raised That money was set aside for additions and improvements on the new place, which was situated on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean Jon moved into a newly ree while Lionel, Mona, and the three girls occupied the main house Mona told hi quarters that would allow hio as he pleased Not that he was per His "pad," as she referred to it, was a not-so-subtle reminder that he’d been separated from the rest His wants, needs, and desires were peripheral to hers

Fro revolved around Mona She had her tennis lessons, her golf, and her charities, activities his father didn’t share with her because he was either teaching or secluded in his ho in on a life that had once been his He was miserable, but he knew better than to coo on as though nothing had changed His life had taken on an entirely different cast

The following January, when he turned seventeen, he lobbied for his driver’s license and a car of his own Mona objected, but for once Lionel argued on Jon’s behalf After ave in, perhaps because she realized having a car and driver at her disposal would work to her advantage Lionel bought Jon a used Chevrolet convertible By then, Mona’s three perfect daughters were enrolled at the saht sight of them in the corridors six and seven times a day Of course, he drove them to school and picked them up afterward He also kept an eye on the If he had other plans, if he resisted in any way, Mona would rebuff hih he were invisible This she was clever enough to do without Lionel’s being aware If Jon had brought it to his father’s attention, he’d have been written off as paranoid or oversensitive Lionel would have repeated it all to Mona and she would have doubled the penalties