"Whachoo makin? harden oranges sit down," she mumbled, then turned on her side and was silent again. Through the wide window over the bed he saw a grid of fluorescently lit parkways with occasional speeding headlights. Far in the distance he could see an elliptical string of lights, the curved contours of the cables of the George Washington Bridge. He reached for another cigarette in his chest pocket, decided against it, achingly slipped his shirt from his shoulders, stood up to drop his pants, quietly slid under the warm covers and fell into a mercifully dreamless sleep.

***

"Chub!"

Chubby bolted upright in bed.

"Chub, it's nine o'clock. You're late."

Phyllis' warm hand lay on his naked shoulder. Chubby swallowed. His throat felt like sandpaper. He rubbed his fingers briefly and fell back down on his pillow.

"I'm not goin' in today, hon. Do me a favor an' call for me."

"Whassamatter?" She frowned. Her scent drifted over to him as she rearranged her bathrobe. A familiar smell.

"My back hurts."

"Ya back?"

"Yeah, I pulled somethin'."

"Tommy called last night."

"What for?" Chubby reached for his cigarettes in the pile of clothing on the floor.

"He didn't say, he just wanted to know if you were home. He sounded nuts."

Suddenly Chubby remembered last night. He moaned, throwing an arm across his face.

"Whassamatter!" Phyllis got scared and leaned across him. "Ya back?" She reached out gingerly, afraid to touch him, tentatively bringing her fingers to her lips. "Ya back?"

With his forearm across his eyes, Chubby exhaled from his mouth long and low.

"Phyll? Do you love me?"

"Is it ya back?"

"Do you love me, Phyll?"

"A course I love you, what hurts, Chubby?"

"Get under the covers." His face still hidden, he pulled back the covers on Phyllis' side of the bed.

"Chubby, stop foolin' aroun'. I got a lotta things to do today. Tell me what hurts."

"Everything hurts. Will you get under the goddamn covers?"

Confused, Phyllis crawled into bed, pulling the blankets around her. Chubby hugged her to him. She folded her arms in front of her, her hands between her chest and Chubby's.

"You're my wife, Phyllis, and I love you." Phyllis blinked nervously. Her hands were curled toward her.

"Chub, does anything hurt?"

"Nothin', nothin' hurts."

23

TOMMY STAYED home to comfort his brother, so Friday Stony went in alone. At lunch, instead of sitting on the traffic island, the guys decided to do lunch in Tooky's Tavern and have a few. Stony sat at the bar with Eddie, Vinny and Jimmy O'Day in a crowd of construction workers and businessmen.

"I heard that creep got another kid over in Parkchester." Jimmy O'Day tapped his cigarette on his wrist before hanging it from the corner of his mouth.

"I can't understand somebody like that," Vinny said, tapping his money on the bar to catch Tooky's eye. "A guy like that ... a guy like that ain't human."

"He's a fuckin' animal," offered Eddie. Tooky brought another bourbon and water to Vinny and picked up the dollar. "I tell you somethin', that guy should have his dick cut off an' then they should make him walk down the street an' give all the mothers guns and knives."