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341
What
had
followed
that
interview
in
Crommert
s
office
had
been
the
darkest
,
most
dreadful
night
of
his
life
.
The
wanting
,
the
needing
to
get
drunk
had
never
been
so
bad
.
His
hands
shook
.
He
knocked
things
over
.
And
he
kept
wanting
to
take
it
out
on
Wendy
and
Danny
.
His
temper
was
like
a
vicious
animal
on
a
frayed
leash
.
He
had
left
the
house
in
terror
that
he
might
strike
them
.
Had
ended
up
outside
a
bar
,
and
the
only
thing
that
had
kept
him
from
going
in
was
the
knowledge
that
if
he
did
,
Wendy
would
leave
him
at
last
,
and
take
Danny
with
her
.
He
would
be
dead
from
the
day
they
left
.
342
Instead
of
going
into
the
bar
,
where
dark
shadows
sat
sampling
the
tasty
waters
of
oblivion
,
he
had
gone
to
Al
Shockley
s
house
.
The
Board
s
vote
had
been
six
to
one
.
Al
had
been
the
one
.
343
Now
he
dialed
the
operator
and
she
told
him
that
for
a
dollar
eighty
-
five
he
could
be
put
in
touch
with
Al
two
thousand
miles
away
for
three
minutes
.
Time
is
relative
,
baby
,
he
thought
,
and
stuck
in
eight
quarters
.
Faintly
he
could
hear
the
electronic
boops
and
beeps
of
his
connection
sniffing
its
way
eastward
.
Отключить рекламу
344
Al
s
father
had
been
Arthur
Longley
Shockley
,
the
steel
baron
.
He
had
left
his
only
son
,
Albert
,
a
fortune
and
a
huge
range
of
investments
and
directorships
and
chairs
on
various
boards
.
345
One
of
these
had
been
on
the
Board
of
Directors
for
Stovington
Preparatory
Academy
,
the
old
man
s
favorite
charity
.
Both
Arthur
and
Albert
Shockley
were
alumni
and
Al
lived
in
Barre
,
close
enough
to
take
a
personal
interest
in
the
school
s
affairs
.
For
several
years
Al
had
been
Stovington
s
tennis
coach
.
346
Jack
and
Al
had
become
friends
in
a
completely
natural
and
uncoincidental
way
:
at
the
many
school
and
faculty
functions
they
attended
together
,
they
were
always
the
two
drunkest
people
there
.
Shockley
was
separated
from
his
wife
,
and
Jack
s
own
marriage
was
skidding
slowly
downhill
,
although
he
still
loved
Wendy
and
had
promised
sincerely
(
and
frequently
)
to
reform
,
for
her
sake
and
for
baby
Danny
s
.
347
The
two
of
them
went
on
from
many
faculty
parties
,
hitting
the
bars
until
they
closed
,
then
stopping
at
some
mom
n
pot
)
store
for
a
case
of
beer
they
would
drink
parked
at
the
end
of
some
back
road
.
There
were
mornings
when
Jack
would
stumble
into
their
leased
house
with
dawn
seeping
into
the
sky
and
find
Wendy
and
the
baby
asleep
on
the
couch
,
Danny
always
on
the
inside
,
a
tiny
fist
curled
under
the
shelf
of
Wendy
s
jaw
.
He
would
look
at
them
and
the
self
-
loathing
would
back
up
his
throat
in
a
bitter
wave
,
even
stronger
than
the
taste
of
beer
and
cigarettes
and
martinis
-
martians
,
as
Al
called
them
.
Those
were
the
times
that
his
mind
would
turn
thoughtfully
and
sanely
to
the
gun
or
the
rope
or
the
razor
blade
.
Отключить рекламу
348
If
the
bender
had
occurred
on
a
weeknight
,
he
would
sleep
for
three
hours
,
get
up
,
dress
,
chew
four
Excedrins
,
and
go
off
to
teach
his
nine
o
clock
American
Poets
still
drunk
.
Good
morning
,
kids
,
today
the
Red
-
Eyed
Wonder
is
going
to
tell
you
about
how
Longfellow
lost
his
wife
in
the
big
fire
.
349
He
hadn
t
believed
he
was
an
alcoholic
,
Jack
thought
as
Al
s
telephone
began
ringing
in
his
ear
.
The
classes
he
had
missed
or
taught
unshaven
,
still
reeking
of
last
night
s
martians
.
Not
me
,
I
can
stop
anytime
.
The
nights
he
and
Wendy
had
passed
in
separate
beds
.
Listen
,
I
m
fine
.
Mashed
fenders
.
Sure
I
m
okay
to
drive
.
The
tears
she
always
shed
in
the
bathroom
.
Cautious
looks
from
his
colleagues
at
any
party
where
alcohol
was
served
,
even
wine
.
The
slowly
dawning
realization
that
he
was
being
talked
about
.
The
knowledge
that
he
was
producing
nothing
at
his
Underwood
but
balls
of
mostly
blank
paper
that
ended
up
in
the
wastebasket
.
He
had
been
something
of
a
catch
for
Stovington
,
a
slowly
blooming
American
writer
perhaps
,
and
certainly
a
man
well
qualified
to
teach
that
great
mystery
,
creative
writing
.
He
had
published
two
dozen
short
stories
.
He
was
working
on
a
play
,
and
thought
there
might
be
a
novel
incubating
in
some
mental
back
room
.
But
now
he
was
not
producing
and
his
teaching
had
become
erratic
.
350
It
had
finally
ended
one
night
less
than
a
month
after
Jack
had
broken
his
son
s
arm
.
That
,
it
seemed
to
him
,
had
ended
his
marriage
.