Obviously, though, it hadn’t occurred to her that exposing her crotch was either immodest or discourteous. He considered, very briefly, reverting to the full Holtzer pattern and commenting in shocked terms, then decided he should risk not doing so to secure an opening for some inquiries about Danty.
While he was casting around for the correct turn of phrase to lead into the subject, however, she saved him
the trouble. “Don, what do you think of Danty?” she de-‘ manded suddenly.
“Ali . . .” Careful! “As a matter of fact, I found h’ quite an interesting young man. I was astonished when he claimed to be a reb, because he’s not at all what you’d: imagine. I got the idea he was putting people on.”
“You mean like needling Rev. Powell?”
“Oh, that-yes! I’ve seen Powell on TV now and then,; of course, but last night was the first time I’d met him.° And I was not impressed.” Good; that came out in th~ proper tone of stufy disapproval.
“Exactly right for Peter,” Lora muttered. “Christ, they make a lovely pair …. Say, Don-1 Oh, never mind.”
“What?”
She made a vague gesture, staring disconsolately at herdelicately-fingered harms., “Oh . . . oh, I was just going to ask if you’d like tG sleep with me for the rest of your stay,. So I could get ~~of Peter’s company. I think you’re nic
You sm’;e a lot, as though you mean it, and somewhere• und-ineath there’s something-well-something real about you. If you see what I mean. So I just thought . . .”
Another gesture like the former.
Startled, Sheklov said after a pause, “Well, I’m flattered -I guess. But . . . well, your parents, for one thing . . .” The words tailed away.
Flattered isn’t it. I’m flabbergasted!
“Oh, them!” Lora said. “Think they give a fart what Ido? They never have done. That’s why I do all these crazy= things. They call it `tolerance,’ or `freedom from inhibitions,’ or some shit like that. What it means really is, theyhave an excuse for not bothering about their kids. .
Still, I guess it might foul up your business deal with Dad,;
hm?” –
“Well-uh-it might,” Sheklov said. “And in any case. you won’t have to share with Peter much longer. I expect.` to leave in a day or two. And if you’ll forgive my saying. so, I had the impression you’re involved with Danty.” –
“Oh, I’m such a reeky fool!” Her eyes were staring into: infinity. “I got so mad this morning, over at his place: About something that doesn’t matter at all. I mean, I’ve= done much worse things to people-do them all the time. I think sometimes I’ll go crazy, right out of my skull crazy.: Maybe cut my throat in a fit of the blues.”
She sounded as though she meant it. Sheklov’s spine crawled.
“Well, surely you haven’t done anything you can’t put right by apologising,” Sheklov ventured. “I certainly hope you didn’t. Like I said, I found Danty kind of interesting, and I hoped I might see him again, talk some more.”
“Really?” She sat up sharply and her eyes lost their glazed look.
“Why not? You know, I must admit I don’t like this attitude you find down here, about young people-as though they had to be sort of quarantined. Hell, I’m not so old myself, I’m thirty-five, and back home I have friends from-”
But she wasn’t listening. “You mean if I went looking for him I could-well, I could say you wanted me to, not just have to crawl to him and eat dirt?” She jumped to her feet.
“If that would help, sure you can.” –Aod Sheklov thought: I’m going to be a long time figuring oudthe mores herel
“Oh, Donl” Lora exclaimed, clasping her hands. “I love youl”
She rushed forward, jumped on his lap, and thrust her tongue into his mouth.
. xv
The melodramatic-yet in a sense very real-self-directed? threat he had uttered to Sheklov had had a curious stabilising effect on Turpin’s mind. It couldn’t just be the tram-l’ quilliser; during his twenty-five-year balancing act, he had’, faced all kinds of crises from the risk of divorce to full-‘,, scale investigations of Energetics General by a House’, committee, and he had relied on drugs time and again to tide him over. He knew, what they could and couldn’t do.