Hide and Seek

"I don't know how it works, actually. But I think I'm the glue in all

this, somehow. And to answer your next question, yes, sometimes it is

a big pain in the ass. But not usually."

I decided to throw her a curve ball, as long as she was in the mood to

put up with my curiosity. I made it very casual-sounding.

"So where does your brother fit in?"

"My brother?"

Whatever it was, it came up fast and mean. I felt I knew how the rat

feels when the trap snaps shut it was such a tiny piece of cheese in

the first place. There was suddenly something dangerous scuttling

around in the car with us.

"Who the hell mentioned my brother? Daddy?"

"I just saw his picture, that's all. In the living room. So I

wondered."

She stared at me a moment, and I knew how cold those eyes could be. She

twisted the key in the ignition and the car sprang obediently to life.

She pulled away. The tires screeched at us.

"Let's just forget about my fucking brother," she said.

I made a mental note to damn well try.

There was a local band at the Caribou that night. It was pretty bad.

Two guitarists, a fat lazy drummer, and a girl lead singer I vaguely

remembered from high school. She was small and blond and squeaky, with

no breasts at all and the stage presence of a plate of peach preserves.

Their repertoire was entirely cribbed from Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb

records. You dreamed wistfully of bad Top 40. We drank our beers and

when the boys in front stood up and applauded "Waltz Across Texas" we

got the hell out of there.

She wanted to drive around some.

I talked and she listened. There was the urge to tell her everything,

to give her the complete thumbnail Clan Thomas. But I held back here

and there, wanting to keep it light. I avoided mention of my own

brother. I didn't want her to think I was leading back to hers. What

I wanted was just to amuse her, but there wasn't much I could think of

that was very amusing. And as I talked I realized just how depressing

Dead River was, compared to what she was used to in Boston. Compared

to anything. But it was all I had.