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------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- “Morris!” ------- ------- Terry poked him awake. ------- ------- “What?” ------- ------- “I heard something.” ------- ------- He was on his feet in an instant. He walked barefoot down the hallway to the kitchen. From the kitchen window he could see the driveway and the garage and the tall shapes of three men. They’d found him. He’d have to wait until they broke into the house before he shot them. If he could just keep his picture out of the paper... ------- But what the hell were they doing in the garage? A shovel to bury the bodies? The weed-whacker! ------- One of them turned toward the house. It was a kid! High-school kids stealing a stupid weed-whacker that didn’t even work. Suddenly the gun felt heavy in his hand. ------- It was five minutes before he stopped shaking and went back to the bedroom. Terry was asleep. ------- ------- “You okay, Morrie?” ------- They were drinking coffee. Morris was staring out the window, not really seeing the goldfinches and chickadees battle for a perch at the feeder. ------- “Couldn’t sleep,” he said. She’d forgotten last night. ------- “You look kind of down.” ------- “Who me? Hey, what do you say we walk at Audubon this morning? Haven’t been there for a while.” ------- Suddenly he glimpsed something small and black darting behind the couch so fast he couldn’t see the legs or tail. Terrry didn’t see it. ------- ------- They walked at the Audubon sanctuary and saw a green heron and a four foot long blacksnake. After Terry left for work Morris read the paper. He met her in town for lunch. Then he spent the afternoon cleaning the garage and rearranging the garden tools he never used. He kept thinking about the night before. ------- He was still restless and decided to walk to the bay by a road he seldom used. Most of the cottages were empty in early June, but he heard the familiar thump of a basketball in the distance. He’d been good once, when six-two was tall. ------- He saw three boys practicing lay-ups. He recognized them from the way they moved. ------- They stopped playing and were staring as he approached. He saw the weed-whacker on a workbench in the garage. ------- Two of the kids hung back, but the tallest one looked him in the eye, daring him to say something. Suddenly, he passed the ball hard to Morris. Morris caught it without flinching. The kid motioned with his head. Let’s see you put it in, old man. It was an easy shot, but he hadn’t played for years. Then they’d be buddies? Nice shot, mister? We couldn’t fix your crappy weed-whacker, so you can take it back? ------- Morris looked at the ball. It was old and cracked. Some long shots were worth taking. He began to squeeze it with arms that could still bench press nearly three hundred pounds. He was starting to think he’d made a mistake when the ball popped with a bang. He tossed the flattened thing back to the boy. ------- He stared at them coldly, the way he’d made a lot of men have second thoughts. Then he smiled and aimed a finger at the big kid. Pow! ------- ------- He had supper ready when Terry got home at 6:15, fresh salmon with soy and ginger. Terry always had stories to tell. Nobody else could get so much out of a whole day selling chocolate bunnies. People told her things and she listened. She never repeated them except to him. -------After supper he turned on the radio. Terry swore she liked classical music and he pretended to believe her. He picked up his book and read a few pages. ------- He saw it again. Small and black, running along the floor and behind the sofa almost too fast to believe. ------- Terry was skimming through the Times before she started her homework. He was going nuts. He shouldn’t have dragged her into his crappy life. Suddenly he was covered with sweat. ------- ------- It was dark when he woke and checked the clock. Six a.m. The feeling was still there. Mornings should be his best time, a fresh start every day, the only way he’d made it all these years. Twenty-seven punks he put away. Ought to give him a medal. He got up and made coffee and watched TV until Terry woke. They ate bacon and eggs. ------- “Jesus!” ------- “Morrie, what?” Terry was looking at him, her mouth open. ------- “I keep seeing things. Black specks out of the corner of my eye. Losing my marbles.” ------- “You mean the mouse?” ------- “You saw it?” -------“Sure. It’s been running behind the sofa all week. I was afraid to tell you. Because... you know.” ------- “Because I’d want to kill it.” ------- “They got these traps now, Morrie. Hav-a-Heart. You let ‘em go outside. Maybe in the Miller’s yard?” She laughed. “I was afraid you’d think it was dumb.” ------- “Nothing you want is dumb, Terry. We’ll get Hav-a-Hearts. We’ll get a dozen. God, you were afraid I’d kill a mouse.” He started to laugh, and then he was crying, sobbing uncontrollably. ------- “Morris! What’s wrong? Tell me!” ------- “You’ll leave me.” ------- “No, Morrie. I couldn’t leave you now no matter what. Tell me. It’s not right you carrying something like this.” ------- “It’s bad, Terry. I was a criminal. It’s over now, but.... ------- “Morris, just tell me.” ------- He closed his eyes and said a prayer. Then he told her. ------- ------- |