Well, we’re off to a good start, she said, cursing at the zipper of her windbreaker. She’s lost the key to her baggage locker.
What do you mean, lost.
How should I know, ask her. I’m in a rush.
She left, slamming the door behind her in a whirlwind of snowflakes. He took the opportunity to wash his hands. With pale pink liquid soap, not entirely to his taste. Pressing on the dispenser pump, Dan accidentally sent a spurt straight to his chest. He stood there a second, nonplussed.
I did that too, said a voice behind him. Stupid piece of junk.
Marlene was wearing the same glasses as in the photo. During the day, she wore contacts, but they were packed away in the suitcase she had to retrieve from the station. Actually, she alternated. She hadn’t counted on snow. She didn’t know the area. She hoped she’d like it here, that Nath would take the time to show her around. She couldn’t understand how she’d managed to misplace that goddam key. She was sorry to bother him with this nonsense. It’s very kind of you. It’s really awfully nice of you, she said. It looks like a quiet little town, she said, wiping the mist off the windows. Quiet is important. He slowed down, pointing out the main shops while trying to avoid looking at her. The snow never lasts very long around here, he said. In a few hours, it’ll pretty much be gone.
He handed her off to a station employee he knew, an old regular at the bowling alley—the guy had an impressive record for making some really tough splits—and he killed time in the cafeteria with a white beer while Marlene dealt with her key problem.
Outside, the sky was clearing. He lowered his eyes to the still viscous soap stain forming a halo on his sweatshirt. He touched it with his fingertip. It was gummy and made a faint unpleasant sucking sound. He forced himself to think about something else. That woman, Marlene—she seemed kind of flaky.
When she reappeared, visibly relieved, she handed him a partially eaten bag of fries. I know, I shouldn’t, she said with a shrug.
There was a suitcase and a travel trunk. She looked around for a cart, but he grabbed the trunk with one hand, the suitcase with the other, and she gazed after him for a moment with a blank face while he headed briskly toward the exit.
RESTROOM
Picking up a 7-10 split wasn’t an everyday thing. To knock off the two pins left standing, the two farthest apart, is practically a miracle. Professional players only manage it about once in a hundred and fifty tries—diddly-squat. Dan had finished his workday and was watching a player at the edge of the lane scratching his head and making a face.
Night was falling. Dan always had a drink at the bar before going home. The music wasn’t great and the atmosphere was pretty noisy—the smack of bowling balls, pins flying in all directions, the hubbub of voices—but it was his haven of peace, his no-man’s land, his sensory deprivation tank. Sometimes a guy would ask him how’s it going or a woman would climb onto the stool next to him, but he had a knack for keeping people at bay—exchanging a few brief words now and then was the limit of his sociability.
Nath knew this. She knew all she needed to know. Which didn’t keep her from saddling him with Marlene, not troubled for a second about yanking away his one moment of relaxation and calm. It wouldn’t kill him, according to her. Not only wouldn’t it kill him, it would do him good.
What are you talking about, he’d answered. I don’t even know her. What are we supposed to say to each other. You’re really something.
Oh, come on, be a pal. Just do this little thing for me. I’m putting her in a cab. I have to go now. Wait, don’t hang up.
It was no use, she already had. Then Marlene had appeared, and now she still wasn’t back from the restroom. After a good ten minutes. It was a long time. He tried using it to think of something they might do, but no ideas came to him, not the least inspiration; his mind was spinning on empty, a complete blank. He no longer knew what it meant to take a woman out. The fellow who was getting ready to try his 7-10 split also seemed short of ideas.
Dan waited for him to make up his mind—to blow it by sending his ball into the gutter—before standing up to see what was going on with Marlene.
He hesitated at the door of the women’s restroom and made sure no one was watching before he entered. Inside hovered a sickly sweet aroma, of cheap quality and tepidly floral, in a faux-cozy decor, with sinks shaped like scallop shells. Having called her name a few times to no avail, he pulled himself up to glance over the door of the stall and saw Marlene sitting on the toilet, inert, slumped against the wall like a rag doll, eyes closed, glasses askew, a few sheets of pale pink toilet paper still in her hand.
That was all he needed to see: he dropped back to his feet and undid the lock with his passkey. She opened her eyes, gave him a distraught stare, her skin ashen. Not moving a hair, cheek crushed against the wallpaper, neck twisted, panties around her knees. Without a word, he leaned over and scooped her up, lifting her from the bowl and taking her out of the stall.
She couldn’t stand; her legs wouldn’t hold. It was as if her bones were made of rubber. He rested her as best he could against the row of sinks and quickly pulled up her panties while averting his gaze.
For a moment, he had to hold her close to keep her from crumpling to the floor. He swore between his teeth, then noticed she was coming out of her fog.
Oh. Oh, forgive me. I’m so sorry, she finally stammered. It’s nothing, he said in a dark voice, immediately moving away from her. No harm done.
MILLSTONE
Marlene claimed the evening had gone well. She added with a distant smile, well but nothing more. Nath remained puzzled for a moment, holding the coffeepot, while her sister sat at the table in the sun-drenched kitchen. I wouldn’t exactly call him a chatterbox, Marlene continued, then expressed her delight in the beautiful day outside.
Conversation isn’t their strong suit, Nath sighed, shaking her head. Just gotta make do. Richard’s no better. She felt slightly bad about ditching Marlene the day after her arrival, but she had no regrets. She’d gotten what she desired. She wouldn’t burn in hell for it.
To make it up, and because she felt more relaxed, lighter than the day before, she took Marlene for a drive around the area, from the precisely delineated residential suburb to the wooded hills, still covered in snow, just north of the city; then to the reservoir where people went swimming in summer, the army base, passing by the shopping center, the drive-in movie theater, the disco, the service stations; after which came a long stretch without relief or vegetation, just a wide, straight road that seemed to go on forever.
You have to enjoy small-town life, Nath said as she braked in the bowling alley parking lot. Have to not mind being bored.
She glanced at her sister as they headed for the entrance and thought to herself that the battle wasn’t over yet. Night was falling and the giant tenpins on the lit rooftop sign were already blinking in the misty twilight.