“And Frog is president of Aladdin. That’s America, old man.”
She led Howard over the floor, his shoes like an anchor that kept her from flying into some glass. She’d been suicidal since she was ten. Was she born with that need to hurt herself? Is that what Howard adored? Suicide in the way she danced.
“Sid can’t have her,” he said.
Judith stopped dancing. The trombones were caught in the middle of a cry. The waiters hovered close, in case Howard happened to fall.
“I’ll leave you, old man. This is the last dance we’ll ever have.”
“I’ll cut you off without a cent.”
“I’m glad. I’ll go to Chappaquiddick. I’ll sponge off Ethan. I’ll live with Ethan Cardinale.”
“Ethan? I’ll break his neck. You can’t win.” Then he started to wail. “Dance with me, Judith. I’m getting cold.”
His whole body was shaking, and she gathered up Howard in her arms, like a bag of bones dressed in green. She’d devoted half a century to this old man.
“I won’t have Sid as my son-in-law.”
“Yes you will.”
And they went round and round the floor. She could almost see a rooster in the chandeliers. The horns crowed at her. It felt like midnight. She was dancing with Howard Phipps.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1991 by Jerome Charyn
cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
978-1-4532-5157-7
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