Robert Hinckley\u2019s face spread wider than his younger brother Paul\u2019s and was poked through with a denser, stubborn stubble, but they shared the same shape and color of eyes.\u00a0 Their lips fitted in identical ways around words, and their noses were each similarly round-tipped and speckled.\u00a0 But Robert\u2019s face was the original and Paul always got the hand-me-down collection of laugh lines, crow\u2019s feet, and lost follicles five years later.\u00a0 Now, though, as Paul looked up from his horizontal position on the sofa at the deeper crags he would inherit lit by the single yellow lamp in the corner, the face seemed farther off than ever before, as if an extra distance of age and wisdom had been inserted between the two of them.<\/p>\n
Paul licked his lips while Robert pursed his.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look stern.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPaul, what are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was watching some Carson.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert toed the ice bucket, sloshing the water inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I had a few.\u00a0 It was a long day.\u00a0 Hey, what\u2019s the time?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEight-thirty.\u00a0 I just came by to check things out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJeesum.\u00a0 Hey, you remember that time George Gobel was on with Dean Martin?\u00a0 And he asks Johnny, \u2018You ever get the feeling the rest of the world is a tuxedo and you\u2019re a pair of brown shoes?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Paul chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cYou remember?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Paul, I remember.\u00a0 What\u2019s this I hear about Remo?\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul put his fists into the cushions and pushed himself up, dipped his fingers into the ice bucket and carefully daubed little circles under his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, talk about a brown pair of shoes, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJeez, you too?\u00a0 I thought Mr. Lebreton was gonna throw me out the window downtown today cause of all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, Robby!\u00a0 I was in the Mayfair last night and this kid comes up with an invitation or something.\u00a0 A request.\u00a0 All\u2019s I\u2019m doing is meeting Remo tomorrow at the house.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, keep it short and sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAw, we\u2019ll see.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen him since the storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert humphed.\u00a0 \u201cMy point.\u00a0 Look, Remo was always eccentric.\u00a0 But we were fraternity brothers, and he could throw a hell of a party.\u00a0 I overlooked a lot.\u00a0 But now\u2014Paulie, look at me\u2014now, he\u2019s dead unbalanced.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe, maybe.\u00a0 But we\u2019re all on our own recovery timeline here, right?\u00a0 And he stayed<\/em>.\u00a0 He was in the thick of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou heard the stories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat, about him standing on his front porch, nude save a gun holster?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRemo MacQuincy shooting at rescue choppers?\u00a0 Come on, Robby.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lotta people that don\u2019t like him and what he does.\u00a0 And a lot of people who like to talk.\u00a0 But Pop took a shine to him, didn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo a point.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t get mixed up in anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul looked down and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cNo, no.\u00a0 I won\u2019t.\u00a0 A couple drinks and some stories.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure that\u2019s all it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert leaned forward and patted Paul on the shoulder then sat down in a studded leather armchair.\u00a0 \u201cThe place looks good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it does.\u00a0 You gonna take it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI figured you\u2019d have first choice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat, are you crazy?\u00a0 Do you know what the insurance and upkeep are costing now?\u00a0 The assessors hit us for a sixty percent increase in value last year!\u00a0 Me and Sheila are gonna take all that and move into this place on our own?\u00a0 No thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt might be a nice place for your kids to come home to.\u00a0 You know, on the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got retirement plans that don\u2019t include this house or my kids.\u00a0 But, come on, leave all that out.\u00a0 There\u2019s plenty of time for us to talk about the estate afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, you\u2019re right.\u201d\u00a0 Paul looked around.\u00a0 The estate still hung on the walls and cluttered the corners.\u00a0 His heart rate rose as he considered for a moment the possibility that none of them would want the house.\u00a0 Noel was abroad for life, and Joseph would never give up his hand-crafted home or his neighborhood.\u00a0 What if he had to move in?\u00a0 It was a bright thought but could be a heavy responsibility.\u00a0 Maybe Robert was wrong about the upkeep.\u00a0 Maybe he<\/em> could swing it.<\/p>\n \u201cLiza must be going crazy.\u00a0 I got to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cListen, tomorrow can you do us a favor?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTake Rosehannah or Kendra or somebody out to the airport tomorrow and park Noel\u2019s Beamer in short term.\u00a0 She\u2019s flying in late.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure, sure.\u00a0 They don\u2019t make them like ours anymore, huh, Robby?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBig families.\u00a0 The kind that kept this city occupied.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I guess they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n They walked side by side down the hallway to the foyer, Robert looking forward and Paul scanning the hardwood.\u00a0 When they passed the wide doorway that led into the front parlor, Paul glanced in.\u00a0 It was already set up for the visitation.\u00a0 The air was clean scented but heavy, as if it would have to be forcibly displaced when the coffin and crowd arrived.\u00a0 Robert set the security code and told Paul to be still while it armed.\u00a0 He closed his eyes and tried to remember how many more months he had on his lease.<\/p>\n *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n Paul found he had slept through a hard thunderstorm.\u00a0 The air was cooler and less oppressive than it had been all day, and the pavement was slick and slightly steamy.\u00a0 Liza had opened her windows to let in the rare, cool breeze, and outside on the stoop he could hear her stereo playing the Beatles.\u00a0 She answered her door in light cotton pants and a solid black top with a boat neck.\u00a0 Paul expected the blotches of red skin that accompanied her frustration or anger to already be exposed below her collarbone, but instead a solitaire diamond pendant hung against a smooth, tan surface.\u00a0 She smelled recently showered.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me just get a head start and tell you it\u2019s been a long day,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I have been waiting and waiting for you to get back, but I\u2019m not upset.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside he picked up the real estate listings off of the couch, placed it in a basket she had reserved for old papers, and sat down.\u00a0 Liza\u2019s house was low lit throughout.\u00a0 All the bulbs had been removed from the overhead fixtures in deference to a collection of trendy lamps and candleholders.\u00a0 The entire living room was done up in white and powder blue to match the coat and eyes of her long-haired cat, Genevieve, who usually, at Paul\u2019s entrance, lifted herself from off the arm of the couch, jumped surface by surface to the floor, and exited the room.\u00a0 Now, though, Liza picked the cat up and cradled it to her before it could get away.<\/p>\n \u201cLook,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry for missing brunch.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not mad at you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was braced for another lashing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going through something here, Paul.\u00a0 I realized today that I\u2019ve got to be supportive.\u00a0 Let me make you a martini.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure.\u00a0 Thanks.\u00a0 Did you eat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI picked some things up for us from Chez Nous that I just need to heat up.\u201d<\/p>\n She took the cat with her into the kitchen.\u00a0 Paul sat for a long moment to sigh a few times then followed her.<\/p>\n Two dishes were bubbling up in the microwave, and Liza was rattling a martini in a chrome shaker.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, come on, don\u2019t shake it so hard!\u201d<\/p>\n Liza turned away from him and filled two glasses.\u00a0 Into her own glass she spooned three measures of olive juice before handing Paul his.<\/p>\n \u201cYou shake it too hard or too long, all the ice melts.\u00a0 Everything gets watered down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI honestly don\u2019t think you could tell the difference in a blind taste test between mine and a bartender\u2019s,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Paul sipped.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, that\u2019s exactly too much water.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you make your next one, then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLook, we\u2019re starting up.\u201d<\/p>\n Liza pulled the dishes from the microwave and set them on the table.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n They ate in silence for awhile before Paul told her about Kendra, his mother, and his ouster at his father\u2019s office.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t talk about his brothers.\u00a0 The cat sniffed at the legs of their chairs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know I keep thinking like I\u2019m forgetting something,\u201d Paul said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s kind of funny: if Pop was here, he would know exactly what to do.\u00a0 He could handle something like this the best of all of us, guide us through.\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of funny, right?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t feel this apprehensive when Uncle Gerard died.\u00a0 It\u2019s all up to us, now, the sons and daughters.\u00a0 And I never paid attention to how it\u2019s done.\u00a0 What if we don\u2019t do it right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we\u2019re getting to that age.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to have a lot of practice from here on out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAw, don\u2019t say it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s kind of true.\u00a0 Death is going to become a kind of occasional routine in our lives.\u00a0 All these older people we know, I\u2019m thinking that\u2019s a lot of deviled egg platters I\u2019m going to have to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a nice sentiment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n He waved his hands and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWell, all right, all right.\u00a0 I guess I\u2019m just a little touchy.\u00a0 This is a nice meal here, and I appreciate it.\u00a0 No one else is going out of their way to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n Liza watched the top of Paul\u2019s head as he bent forward to finish off the last of his food.\u00a0 She felt briefly nervous.\u00a0 He was one of the most predictable men she\u2019d ever known, but she was about to enter one of those rare territories of an unforeseeable response.<\/p>\n \u201cPaul, would you do something for me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to right now, but soon, after all this is over with and we\u2019re\u2026at ease<\/em> again\u2014I\u2019d like you to think about us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUs?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m seeing, now, with your father\u2019s passing, how important family is to you.\u00a0 Not just your brothers or your nieces and all that, not the people<\/em>, but the\u2026what am I trying to say?\u00a0 All the intangible parts of a family.\u00a0 The customs, the movements.\u00a0 The shared ownership.\u00a0 Not the titles, necessarily, but the duties.\u00a0 And I feel like I\u2019ve denied you that for too long, now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know what you\u2019re going to say, Liza.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut let me say it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, make me another drink first.\u201d\u00a0 Liza took the plates away.\u00a0 \u201cPlease, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n She shook the vodka in the canister curtly this time, making a show of it.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it\u2019s time for us to think about getting married,\u201d she said as she refilled his glass.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes I feel like we missed that window,\u201d Paul said.\u00a0 \u201cAt a time when all our friends are getting divorced or watching their kids move out you really want to get married?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere only wrong time to get married, we all know now, is when you\u2019re young.\u00a0 Now, at least, there won\u2019t be any surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you remember what it was like when we were under the same roof before?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBygones,\u201d she said, and reached out for his hand.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, it was a small roof.\u00a0 What we need is a nice big place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m exhausted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThink about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, okay.\u00a0 Just let me get through this weekend, first, all right?\u00a0 Don\u2019t bring it up again.\u201d<\/p>\n They slipped off their shoes in Liza\u2019s bedroom and lay on top of the covers.\u00a0 Paul held his martini on his belly.\u00a0 They watched an episode of a reality hospital show on her small television.\u00a0 At some point the lights were turned off.\u00a0 Paul lost track of the three separate patients being featured and what disease each one had.\u00a0 He closed his eyes and listened to Liza brush her teeth.\u00a0 She came back in and turned off the television.\u00a0 He realized she was standing there, waiting for something or seeking some kind of permission to get into her own bed.\u00a0 In the dark he unbuttoned his shirt, unlatched his belt, and slid his shorts off.\u00a0 He rolled down the bedspread and sheets and turned onto his side.\u00a0 When she got alongside him, Paul realized Liza was naked.\u00a0 He knew the feel of her body well by now, though he hadn\u2019t seen it in true light for years.\u00a0 This never struck him as odd, just as a concession.<\/p>\n They grunted, sometimes in unison.<\/p>\n Liza came and twisted under him and then unexpectedly came again ten minutes later.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen for me,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cStress.\u00a0 Write me a rain check.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGoodnight, Paul.\u201d\u00a0 She kissed him one more time.\u00a0 After he started to snore, she got up to draw a nightgown back over her head and turned the television back on.\u00a0 Sleep was impossible, for now.\u00a0 Her body always took at least an hour to settle back down and stop vibrating.\u00a0 She\u2019d been with voracious men before, men who didn\u2019t like to stop not because of their lust but because they liked to show off, pleased with the pleasure they gave.\u00a0 They were exhausting, needy men, and she never slept then.\u00a0 She wondered idly for a moment in what kinds of beds those men were sleeping in now and if they\u2019d ever found their matches, too.<\/p>\n [url=”http:\/\/www.greatsociety.org\/?p=296″]Continue reading Chapter Seven: Enter Remo [\/url]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robert Hinckley\u2019s face spread wider than his younger brother Paul\u2019s and was poked through with a denser, stubborn stubble, but they shared the same shape and color of eyes.\u00a0 Their lips fitted in identical ways around words, and their noses …<\/p>\n