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Maimonides. My ancestors were expelled from Spain
in 1492, along with all the Jews. They settled in
Holland, were expelled from there, went to England,
Palestine, Australia, America. Five hundred
years of wandering gets into the blood, makes one
reluctant to think in terms of permanence.
“Two years ago, a member of the Ku Klux Klan
was nominated for state assembly from this district.
Part of it was subterfuge–the man concealed
his membership–but too many people knew who
he was to make the nomination an accident. He lost
the election but shortly afterward there were cross-burnings,
anti-Semitic leafleting, an epidemic of
racist graffiti and harassment of Mexican-Americans
along the border.
“I’m not telling you this because I think La Vista
is a hotbed of racism. On the contrary, I’ve found it
an extremely tolerant town, as witnessed by the
smooth integration of the Touch. But attitudes can
change rather quickly–my forebears were court
physicians to the Spanish royal family one week,
refugees the next.” He warmed both hands on his
cup. S’Being an outsider means exercising discretion.”
“I know how to keep a secret,” I said. “Anything
you tell me will be kept confidential unless lives
are at stake.”
He engaged in another bout of silent contemplation,
the delicate features solemn and still. We locked
eyes for a moment.
“There was some kind of trouble,” he said. “Exactly
what kind was never publicized. Knowing the
girl, it had to be of a sexual nature.”
“Why’s that?”
“She had a reputation for plomiscuity. I don’t
seek out gossip, but in a small town one overhears
254 jonathan. Keilcnnan
things. There!s always been something libiglinous
about the girl. Even at twelve or thirteen when she
walked through town every male head would turn.
She exuded–physicality. I’d always thought it
strange that she sprang from such a withdrawn,
isolated familymas if somehow she’d sucked the
sexual energy from the others and ended up with
more than she could handle.”
“Do you have any idea what happened at the
Retreat?” I asked, though from Doug Carmichael’s
story, I had a strong hypothesis.
“Only that her job was terminated abruptly and
snickers and whispers circulated around town for
the next few days.”
“And the Touch never hired town kids again.”
“Correct.”
The waitress brought the check. I put down my
credit card. Maimon thanked me and called for
another pot of tea.
“What was she like as a little girl?” I asked.
“I have only vague memoriesmshe was’a pretty
little thing–that red hair always stood out. Used to
pass by my place and say hello, always very friendly.
I don’t think the problems started until she was
twelve or so.”
“What kinds of problems ?”
“What I told you. Promiscuity. Wild behavior.
She started running with a bunch of older kids—the
ones with fast cars and moiorcycles. I suppose
things got out of hand because they sent her away
to boarding school, That I remember vividly because
on the morning she left Garland’s car broke
down on the way to the train station. Just gave out
in the middle of the road, .a few yards from my
nursery. I offered to give them a lift but of course
.BLOOD TEST 255
he refused. Left ‘her sitting there with-her suitcase
until he came back with a truck. She looked like a
sad little child, though I suppose she must have
been at least fourteen. As if all the mischief had
been knocked out of her.”
“How long was she away?”
“A year. She was different when she returned
quieter, more subdued. But still sexually preco-
cious, in an angry kind of way.”
“What do you .mean?”
He flushed and drank tepid tea.
‘Predatory. One day she walked into my nursery
wearing shorts and a halter top. Out of the blue.
Said she’d heard I had a new kind of banana and
she wanted to see it. It was true–I’d brought in
several fifteen-gallon Dwarf Cavendish plants from
Florida and had taken a lovely bunch of fruit to the
town market for. display. I wondered why she’d be
interested in something like that, but showed her
the plants anyway. She looked them over in a cursory