Сумерки

           "You’veneverseenmeinGym,Iguess,butIwouldhavethoughtyouwouldunderstand."

           "Areyoureferringtothefactthatyoucan’twalkacrossaflat,stablesurfacewithoutfindingsomethingtotripover?"

           "Obviously."

           "Thatwouldn’tbeaproblem."Hewasveryconfident."It’sallintheleading."HecouldseethatIwasabouttoprotest,andhecutmeoff."Butyounevertoldme-areyouresolvedongoingtoSeattle,ordoyoumindifwedosomethingdifferent?"

           Aslongasthe"we"partwasin,Ididn’tcareaboutanythingelse.

           "I’mopentoalternatives,"Iallowed."ButIdohaveafavortoask."

           Helookedwary,ashealwaysdidwhenIaskedanopen-endedquestion."What?"

           "CanIdrive?"

           Hefrowned."Why?"

           "Well,mostlybecausewhenItoldCharlieIwasgoingtoSeattle,hespecificallyaskedifIwasgoingaloneand,atthetime,Iwas.Ifheaskedagain,Iprobablywouldn’tlie,butIdon’tthinkhewillaskagain,andleavingmytruckathomewouldjustbringupthesubjectunnecessarily.Andalso,becauseyourdrivingfrightensme."

           Herolledhiseyes."Ofallthethingsaboutmethatcouldfrightenyou,youworryaboutmydriving."Heshookhisheadindisgust,butthenhiseyeswereseriousagain."Won’tyouwanttotellyourfatherthatyou’respendingthedaywithme?"TherewasanundercurrenttohisquestionthatIdidn’tunderstand.

           "WithCharlie,lessisalwaysmore."Iwasdefiniteaboutthat."Wherearewegoing,anyway?"

           "Theweatherwillbenice,soI’llbestayingoutofthepubliceye...