You dont have to convince me, Keller.
I tried to make it quick, he said, but he had a couple of seconds to see it coming, and I cant say he looked surprised. I dont think he expected to get out of it alive.
Its a hard old world, all right.
I guess. He didnt want us to leave him where his wife would find him, and we didnt. And his dogs alive.
And Taggert lasted a good half hour longer than he would have if he hadnt come through for us. Maybe longer, maybe a full hour. And just think how much that is in dog years.
After three plane rides, after ten hours in an airport motel in Albany and a ride to Latham, the two of them managed to get the stamp albums loaded into the trunk of Kellers latest rental car, a Toyota Camry. The car was comfortable, and held the road even better with the extra weight in the trunk.
Youve got a long ride ahead of you, Dot said, but I guess youre not keen on sending the stamps home by UPS and flying home yourself. No? I didnt think so. Well, have a good trip, Keller. Im glad you got your stamps back.
Im glad youre alive.
Im glad were both alive, she said, and Im glad theyre not. If you ever get to Sedona
Or if you get to New Orleans.
There you go. Or pick up the phone, if you get the urge. And if you lose the number, just check the White Pages. Im listed.
Wilma Corder.
Known to her friends as Dot. So long, Keller. Take care.
The drive to New Orleans took three full days. He could have driven faster, or put in longer hours behind the wheel, but he made himself take his time.
He spent the first night in a Red Roof Inn off I-81. He left the stamps in the trunk of the Camry, and after hed been in the room for half an hour he went to the desk and switched his room for one on the first floor. Then he moved the car and brought all ten stamp albums into the room.
The second night, he specified a ground-floor room when he checked in. The third night he parked in their driveway. He used his key and found Julia in the kitchen, and one thing led to another. A couple of hours later, he went out for his stamps.
Donny was happy to see
him, glad to have him back. The fiction Keller and Julia had cooked up was a family emergency, a health crisis for a favorite uncle, and Donny asked a few polite questions that Keller couldnt answer, but he managed to slip and slide his way through the conversation. Then the subject shifted to a house Donny thought had real possibilities, and Keller was on firmer ground.
Over coffee Julia said, According to Linns , kids today arent interested in collecting stamps.
Theyve got Internet porn sites, he said, and a hundred channels of cable TV, and lots more things to do than when I was a kid.
More homework, too, she said, so we can keep up with the Chinese.
You think itll work?
No, she said. I suppose a little boy would be a lot more likely to take up philately did I say that right?
No one ever said it better.
More likely to take up philately if his father introduced him to it.
Billy, Id like you to meet Philately. Philately, this is Billy.
Dont you think that would make a difference?
I suppose it might. I didnt have a father around the house.
I know.
But if I had, and if he collected stamps but, see, I got there on my own.
So its hard to say what might have happened, because it happened anyway.
Right.
Well, she said, maybe youll get to find out.
He looked at her.
Maybe itll be a boy, she said, and you can teach him all about stamps. And where Griqualand West is, and useful stuff like that. Not right away, I suppose you have to wait until he can walk and talk, but eventually.
He said, Did you tell me something earlier, and I wasnt paying attention?
No.
But youre telling me something now.
Uh-huh.
And were going to have a boy?
Not necessarily. Id say its about fifty-fifty. I havent gone for the ultrasound yet. Do you think I should? I always used to think Id rather wait, but just about everybody finds out ahead of time nowadays, and maybe its just goofy not to. What do you think?
I think Id like some more coffee, he said, and went to refill his cup. He brought it back to the table and said, There was something you were going to say before I left for Des Moines, and then you decided it would keep. Was that it?
Uh-huh. And I was right, it kept.
I might not have gone.
Thats one reason I decided it would keep.
Because you wanted me to go?
Because I didnt want to stop you from going.
He thought that over, then nodded. Thats one reason. Whats the other?
I didnt know how youd feel.
How could you? Im not sure how I feel myself. Excited, of course, and happy, but
Really? Excited and happy?
Sure. How did you think Id feel?
Well, thats just it. I didnt know. I was afraid you might want me to, you know.
To what?
To do something. You know.
You mean like an abortion?
And I knew I didnt want to do that.
I should hope not, he said.
But I was afraid you might want me to.
No.
It might be a girl, she said. Can girls collect stamps?
I dont see why not, he said. Theyve probably got more time for it, because they spend so much less of it at Internet porn sites. You know, this is a lot to take in.