Page 72 (1/1)

"Maybe she’s ht"

"Not that much She was nowhere near seventy You saw her yourself"

I thought about it briefly "Well, it doesn’t make any difference as far as I can see"

"Of course it does! One way or the other, we’d be off by thirteen years!"

I disconnectedirritated "We don’t have any way to verify the information," I said "At least that I can think of Leave it blank"

"I don’t want to do that," she said stubbornly

I’d seen her in thisshe could be "Do whatever suits It’s your business"

I heard a key in the lock The front door opened and Clyde ca the cardboard carton I’d brought He crossed to the couch, murmured a hello to me, and placed the box on the coffee table Then he leaned over to kiss Irene’s cheek, a ritualistic gesture without visible warmth "This was on the front porch-"

"That’s Irene’s," I said "I found it under Agnes’s trailer and had it shipped up It arrived this " I pulled the box closer and opened the top flaps, reaching down a cups, which were still swaddled in newspaper "I wasn’t sure if this was a good tis the squatters hadn’t ripped off"

I unwrapped one of the teacups and passed it over to Irene The porcelain handle had a hairline crack near the base, but otherwise it was perfect: pale pink roses, hand-painted, on a field of white, scaled down to child-size Irene glanced at it without co flickered in her face A sound see With a sudden cry of revulsion, she flung it away froh me in reaction to hers Clyde and I both jumped and I uttered an autoh the air in a spiraling melody of terror As if in slow e of the coffee table and cracked as neatly in two as if it’d been cut with a knife

Irene rose to her feet, her eyes enor that couldn’t possibly be delivering enough oxygen to her systein to topple, eyes focused onforward in a convulsion that rocked her fro faster than I thought possible He eased her back onto the couch and elevated her feet

Jer room, a dish towel in her hand Her eyes ith alar? Oh my God…"

Irene’s eyes had rolled back in her head and she jerked repeatedly, wracked by soh her small frame The acrid scent of urine permeated he air Clyde peeled his jacket off and went down on his knees beside her, trying to restrain her so she wouldn’t hurt herself Jer dark hands,anxious sounds at the back of her throat

Gradually, the spasht unproductive sound that h-pitched wheeze that helped tohand under Irene’s right arht It’llposition, a surprisingly aard hed more than a hundred pounds, but she was li from face to face without comprehension It was clear she had no idea where she was or as going on

"You want I should call eency, Mr Clyde?" Jermaine asked

"Not yet Let’s hold off on that She see around," he said

A fine layer of perspiration broke out on Irene’s face She reached for me blindly Her hands had that clammy feel to them, like a still-animated fish in the bottom of a boat

Jermaine disappeared and returnedthat she passed wordlessly to Clyde He wiped Irene’s face She’d begun to , hopeless and childlike, as if she aking fro impact "There were spiders I could smell the dust…"

Clyde looked at me "She’s always been phobic about spiders…"

I picked up the two halves of the teacup auto in the botto on its back, legs curled in against its belly like a blosso Meanwhile, Irene was inconsolable "The paint ran down the wall in horrible streaks The violets were ruined and I was so scared… I didn’t mean to be bad…"