"I think you're a bundle of nerves.Pour alcohol on a bundle of nerves and it generally turns into a can of worms.While I'm making suggestions you might as well get rid of those chips you'rewearing on both shoulders. Somebody's liable to knock them off and take a pieceof you with them."

He sat for a while with his head down. Hisface had an almost fluorescent pallor, and a faint humming tremor went throughhim.

"I'm not my usual self, I admit that. I didn'tknow things like this could happen to people."

"It's about time you told me what did happen. Whynot start at the beginning?"

"You mean when she left the hotel?"

"All right. Start with the hotel."

"We were staying at the SurfHouse," he said, "right here in Pacific Point. I couldn't reallyafford it but Dolly wanted the experience of staying there—she never had. Ifigured a threeday weekend wouldn't break me. It was the Labor Day weekend. I'dalready used my vacation time, and we got married that Saturday so that wecould have at least a three-day honeymoon."

"Where were you married?"

"In Long Beach, by a judge."

"It sounds like one of these spur-of-the-momentweddings."

"I suppose it was, in a way. Wehadn't known each other too long. Dolly was the one, really, who wanted to getmarried right now. Don't think I wasn't eager. I was. But my parents thought weshould wait a bit, until we could find a house and have it furnished and so on.They would have liked a church wedding. But Dolly wanted to be married by ajudge."

"What about her parents?"

"They're dead. She has no living relatives."He turned his head slowly and met my eyes. "Or so she claims."

"You seem to have your doubts aboutit."

"Not really. It's just that she gotso upset when I asked her about her parents. I naturally wanted to meet them,but she treated my request as though I was prying. Finally she told me herentire family was dead, wiped out in an auto accident."

"Where?"

"I don't know where. When it comesright down to it, I don't know too much about my wife. Except that she's awonderful girl," he added in a rush of loyal feeling slightly flavoredwith whisky. "She's beautiful and intelligent and good and I know sheloves me." He was almost chanting, as though by wishful thinking or sheerincantation he could bend reality back into shape around him.

"What was her maiden name?"

"Dolly McGee. Her name is reallyDorothy. She was working in the university library and I was taking a summercourse in Business Ad—"

"Just this summer?"

"That's correct." He swallowed,and his adam's apple throbbed like a grief in his throat. "We only kneweach other for six weeks—six-and-a-half weeks—before we were married. But wesaw each other every day of those six-and-a-half weeks."

"What did you do together?"

"I don't see that it matters."

"It could. I'm trying to get a line on her personalhabits."

"She had nobadhabits, if that's whatyou're looking for. She never let me drink when we were out together. Shewasn't very keen on the coffee houses, either, or the movies. She was—she's avery serious girl. Most of our time we talked—we talked and walked. We musthave covered most of West Los Angeles."

"What did you talk about?"

"The meaning of life," he said,as if this went without saying. "We were trying to work out a plan to liveby, a set of rules for our marriage and our children. The main thing for Dollywas the children. She wanted to bring them up to be real people. She thought itwas more important to be an honest individual than to have security and worldlypossessions and so on. I don't want to bore you with all this."

"You're not. I take it she was completely sincerer'

"Nobody was ever more sincere. I meanit. She actually wanted me to give up my job and go back and finish my M.A. Shedidn't think I should take money from my family. She was willing to go onworking to help me through. But we decided against that plan, when we made upour minds to get married."

"It wasn't a forced marriage?"

He looked at me stonily. "There wasnothing like that between us. As a matter of fact we didn't even—I mean, Ididn't touch her on our wedding night. The Surf House and Pacific Point seemedto get on her nerves, even though she was the one who wanted to come here. Sowe decided to postpone the physical bit. A lot of couples do thatnowadays."

"How does Dolly feel about sex?"

"Fine. We talked about it veryfrankly. If you think she left me because she's afraid of it, you're way offthe beam. She's a warm person."

"Why did she leave you, Alex?"

His eyes clouded with pain, which hadscarcely left them. "I haven't been able to figure it out. It wasn't anythingbetween me and Dolly, I'm sure of that. The man with the beard must have hadsomething to do with it."

"How does he get into thepicture?"

"He came to the hotel thatafternoon—the day she left. I was down on the beach having a swim, andafterward I went to sleep in the sun. I must have been away from the room for a

© Alexander Sviyash, 2009