“That’s what I thought too. Didn’t Conrad clue you in?” I told him about the Hulk jumping me, and his hideous death under the Stevenson. At the end of the recital, after Mr. Contreras had gone over events enough to allay the worst of his worries, I said I thought our troubles were over.

“The only thing to worry about now is subpoenas, and they’ll be hitting us thick and fast. But you can relax your watchdogging. And give me back my keys, please.”

“So you can give them to Conrad?” His tone was jeering, but there was real pain in his face.

“You’re the only guy who’s ever had the keys to my place. I don’t go handing them around randomly.”

He refused to let me lighten the conversation. “Yeah, but … seemed like he was holding you awful close last night. This morning. And he didn’t leave here until noon.”

“I know you don’t like it when I date anyone.” I kept my voice gentle. “I’m sorry about that—sorry because I love you, you know, and I hate to hurt you.”

He knotted his hands together. “It’s just … Face it, doll: he’s black. African, if you like that better. They’d burn both of you in your bed back in my old neighborhood.”

I smiled sadly. “I’m glad we’re not on the South Side, then.”

“Don’t make a joke of it, Victoria. It’s not funny. Maybe I’ve got some prejudice. Heck, probably I do, I’m seventy-seven, you don’t change how you was raised, and I grew up in a different time. But I don’t like seeing you with him, it makes me uncomfortable. And if I don’t … Well, you just can’t picture how ugly people can be in this town. I don’t want you buying yourself a lot of grief, doll.”

“I just got through seeing with my own eyes how ugly people in this town can be.” I leaned forward and patted his leg. “Look, I know it’s hard—to be black and white together. But we’re not that far down the road yet. We’re two people who’ve always liked and respected each other, and now we’re trying to see whether, well, our attraction is just bad old jungle fever, or has something more substantial to it. Anyway, Conrad isn’t black. He’s kind of copper.”

Mr. Contreras clutched his ears. “I can tell just by you saying that that you like the guy.”

“Sure, I like him. But don’t crowd me into making any other declarations. I’m not ready for them yet.”

He wordlessly handed me my keys and got to his feet.