"Yeah, but it's your brother!" Harris countered. "Look, let me be more blunt than that, if I can. The only thing that keeps your brother alive is you. Your mother's out to get him and your father could give two shits. Now, Albert knows that, not in so many words, but we all have that instinct for survival. You're more than a brother to him—you're a lifeline. Do you know what anorexia's all about? Terror. Pure, simple shit-eating terror. There's not a goddamn thing wrong with that kid physically. But that mother of yours has got him hopping and jumping so bad he just can't eat. Now look, I wanted him in some kind of therapy. I don't know what your opinion of shrinks is, and frankly I don't give a damn, but it really doesn't make a difference now anyway. Your mother wouldn't grant permission, so there's nothing I can do about it"—Harris laid down his pipe—"except talk to you. Now you can't be Albert's shrink, but you can be his protector. Now, I'm telling you that your mother's out to do him in, and I'm telling you to slug her any time she starts in on him." He chuckled. "And you're looking at me as if to say, 'This bearded bastard's a doctor?' Well you're goddamn right. I'm a doctor and what's more I'm a goddamn good doctor, and I'll bet you a round-trip ticket to the ends of the universe that after your little outburst last week it'll be a long, long time before your mother tries any stuff on Albert with you around. All I'm saying is, we have to get her to feel that way, even when you're not around. Even if she thinks you might hear about it, you follow?"

"I dunno, Doctor Harris, you're talkin' some crazy stuff." Stony started to sweat.

"Stony, do you have a black suit?"

"No, what for?"

"Well, I suggest you get one, because you're gonna need it sometime in the next two years."

"What the hell for?"

"Albert's funeral."

Stony sank down in the chair. His eyes began to itch. "You just said there's nothin' wrong with him." His voice cracked.

"There will be." Harris relit his pipe. "I wonder what happened to those Valiums I gave your mother for Albert?" he asked innocently.

"They probably got ditched," Stony muttered.

"By your mother?" Harris asked with mock incredulity.

Stony glared at him. "O.K., O.K., I'll be King Kong, awright?"

Harris laughed. "Look, any time she starts in on him, if you can give her half the look you're giving me now, that'll put her on ice for six months."

"Oh yeah? How come you ain't scared?"

Harris sucked on his pipe. "Because I can wrap your ass three times around a doorknob before you could ever figure out where the door is, but I would be scared if I couldn't."

"You're crazy." Stony laughed nervously.

"Who isn't?" Harris stood up. "Let's get some lunch."

***

"Nice day." Harris munched on a hot dog as he scanned the park. Stony sat next to him on a graffiti-scarred bench. "You jog?"