Чужак в чужой стране

           "Pattycakedarling,whattimedoyouhavetobebackatthelot?"

           "Ohdear!Ishouldbebackthisblessedminute!"

           "Why?Theshowdoesn’trolluntilnine-thirty."

           "Well?HoneyBunmissesme?andshe’sjealousifIstayoutlate."

           "Can’tyoutellherthatit’saHappinessmeetingnight?"

           "Uh?TheolderwomangatheredJillinherarms."Itis!Itcertainlyis!"

           "Good.ThenI’mgoingtogetacertainamountofsleep–Jillisbushed,believeme.Whattimedoyouhavetobeup,then?"

           "Uh,ifI’mbackonthelotbyeight,IcangetSamtoteardownmylivingtopandhavetimetomakesurethatmybabiesareloadedsafely."

           "Breakfast?"

           "Idon’teatbreakfastrightaway,I’llgetitonthetrain.JustcoffeewhenIwakeup,usually."

           "Wecanmakethatrighthereintheroom.I’llseethatyou’reup.Nowyoudearsstayupandtalkreligionaslongasyoulike;Iwon’tletyouoversleep–ifyousleep.Mikedoesn’tsleep."

           "Notatall?"

           "Never.Hesortofcurlsupandthinksawhile,ifhe’sgotsomethingtothinkabout–buthedoesn’tsleep."

           Mrs.Paiwonskinoddedsolemnly."Anothersign.Iknowit–and,Michael,somedayyouwillknow.Yourcallwillcome."

           "Maybe,"agreedJill."Mike,I’mfallingasleep.Popmeintobed.Please?"Shewaslifted,waftedintothebedroom,thecoversrolledbackbyinvisiblehands–shewasasleepbeforehecoveredher.

           Jillwokeup,asshehadplanned,exactlyatseven.