Lotsa women, Jack said, emptying his beer. Just like streetcars.
Sure, I said. I looked around. The furniture was a bit kidscarred, and the TV set was small and fluttered a lot, but it was someplace. I hadnt had any place for so long that Id forgotten how it felt. From where I was sitting, I could see a mirror hanging at a slant on the wall of the little passage leading back to the bedrooms. The angle was just right, and I could see the rumpled, unmade bed where I assumed he and his wife slept. I thought of telling him that he might be making a public spectacle of his love life, but I decided that was his business.
Whatd you take in college anyway? Jack demanded. I never could get the straight of it out of the Old Lady.
English, mostly, I said. Literature.
English, for Chrissake! Nouns and verbs and all that shit?
Literature, Stud, I corrected him. Shakespeare and Hemingway, and all that shit. I figured this would be the issue that would blow the whole reunion bit. As soon as he gave me the What the hell good is that shit? routine, he and I would part company, fast. Id about had a gutful of that reaction in the Army.
He surprised me. Oh, he said, thats different. You always did read a loteven when you were a kid.
It gives me a substitute for my own slightly screwed-up life.
You gonna teach?
Not right away. Im going back to school first.
I thought the Old Lady told me you graduated.
Yeah, I said, but Im going on to graduate school.
No shit? He looked impressed. I hear thats pretty rough.
I think I can hack it.
You always were the smart one in the connection.
Hows your beer holding out? I asked him, shaking my empty can. I was starting to relax. Wed gotten past all the touchy issues. I lit another cigarette.
No sweat, he said, getting up to get two more. If I run out, the gal next door has a case stashed away. Well have to replace it before her old man gets home, but Marg ought to be here before long, and then Ill have wheels.
Hey, I called after him. I meant to ask you about that. I thought your wifes name was Bonnie.
Bonnie? Hell, I dumped her three years ago.
Didnt you have a little girl there, too?
Yeah. Joanne. He came back with the beer. I noticed that the trailer swayed a little when anyone walked round. But Bonnie married some goof over at the Navy Yard, and he adopted Joanne. They moved down to L.A.
And before that it was
Bernice. She was just a kid, and she got homesick for Mommie.
You use up wives at a helluva rate, old buddy.
Just want to spread all that happiness around as much as I can. He laughed.
I decided that I liked my brother. Thats a helluva thing to discover all of a sudden.
3
A car pulled up outside, and Jack turned his head to listen. I think thats the Mama Cat, he said. Sounds like my old bucket. He got up and looked out the window. Yeah, its her. He scooped up the empty beer cans from the coffee table and dumped them in the garbage sack under the sink. Then he hustled outside.
They came in a minute or so later, Jack rather ostentatiously carrying two bags of groceries. I got the impression that if I hadnt been there, he wouldnt have bothered. My current sister-in-law was a girl of average height with pale brown hair and a slightly sullen look on her face. I imagine all Jacks women got that look sooner or later. At any rate Margaret didnt seem just exactly wild about having a strange GI brother-in-law turn up.
Well, sweetie, Jack said with an overdone joviality, what do you think of him?
I stood up. Hello, Margaret, I said, smiling at her as winningly as I could.
Im very happy to meet you, Dan, she said, a brief, automatic smile flickering over her face. She was sizing me up carefully. I dont imagine the pint and the half-full beer can on the coffee table made very many points. Are you stationed out here at the Fort now? I could tell that she had visions of my moving in on them as a semipermanent houseguest.
Well, I said, not really what youd call stationed here. Im being discharged here is all. As soon as they cut me loose, Ill be moving back up to Seattle. I wanted to reassure her without being too obvious.
She got the message. Well, let me get this stuff put away and then we can talk. She pulled off the light coat she was wearing and draped it over one of the kitchen chairs.
I blinked. She had the largest pair of breasts Ive ever seen. I knew Jack liked his women that way, but Margaret was simply unbelievable.
Isnt she something? Jack said, leering at me as he wrapped a proprietary arm about her shoulders. The remark sounded innocent enough, but all three of us knew what he meant.
Come on, Jack, she said, pushing him off. I want to get all this put away so I can sit down. She began bustling around the kitchen, opening cupboards and drawers. The kitchen area was separated from the living room by a waist-high divider, so we could talk without yelling.
Dan just got back today, Jack said, coming back and plunking himself on the couch. Hes been in Germany for a couple of years.
Oh? she said. Ill bet that was interesting, wasnt it, Dan?
Its got Southeast Asia beat all to heck, I said.
Did they let you travel around anyI mean visit any of the other countries over there?
Oh, yeah. I visited a few places.
Did you get to London at all? Id sure like to go there. Her voice sounded a little wistful.
I was there for about ten days on leave, I told her.
I never made it up there, Jack said. When I was with the Sixth Fleet, we stayed pretty much in the Mediterranean.
Did you get to see any of the groups while you were in London? Margaret persisted. She really wanted to know; she wasnt just asking to have something to say.
No, I said. I didnt want to tell her that groups werent particularly my thing. She might think I was trying to put her down.
My wifes a group-nut, Jack said tolerantly. That one cabinet there is stacked full of albums. Must be twenty of the damn things in there.
I dig them, she said without apologizing. Oh, Jack, did you get the kids to bed OK?
All fed, bathed, and tucked in, he told her. You know you can trust me to take care of things.
Patsys been getting a little stubborn about going to bed, she said. Shes at that age, I guess.
I didnt have no problems, Jack said.
Are you guys hungry? she asked suddenly. Womans eternal answer to any social situationfeed em. Its in the blood, I guess.
I could eat, Jack said. How about you, Dan?
Well
Sure you can, he insisted. Why dont you whip up a pizza, Mama Cat? One of those big ones.
Itll take a while, she said, opening herself a beer. She turned on the overhead light in the kitchen. She looked tired.
Thats OK, he said. Well, Dan, what are you going to do with yourself now that youre out? He said it as if he expected me to say something important, something that would impress hell out of Margaret.