“I love that. I love to hear you say it.”

“What time is it?” She looked down at her dainty little platinum watch and told me the time. “I’m going to sleep,” I said. “I’m going to sleep until we get there.” Then I closed my eyes and went into a dream of Almitra standing before the assembled people of some ancient village. The people moved their heads and swayed back and forth to the wisdom of his language.

Fifty-seven minutes later Irise woke me and handed me a piece of chewing gum. “We’re almost there,” she said. “You can see the city.” The plane lurched toward the ground. We stuck the gum in our mouths, chewed furiously. A baby screamed. Our ears popped, the motors roared. We slammed into the ground and rolled down the runway.

“There they are,” she said. “They’re waiting for us.” The plane came to a stop near the end of a board-floored covered walkway. Charles William and a tall boy in a blue shirt stood at the very edge of the walkway. Charles William was waving his hands in the air.

“What do you think?” Irise asked. “How do you think he looks?”

We climbed down the stairway from the plane and the young men walked out to meet us. Then we walked back down the boardwalk four abreast. I had barely glanced at Malcolm. I was having a hard time remembering his name. “Oh, God,” I said. “You should have seen this baby on the plane. It screamed all the time. I wouldn’t have a baby for all the tea in China. If I had a baby, I’d give it away.”

“When’s the Wreck Parade?” Irise asked. “Are we going to be on time?”

“It’s in the morning,” Charles William answered. “All we have to do this afternoon is get you settled and go eat dinner. Oh, Dee, there’s this fabulous record shop I want to take you to. Then we’re going to dinner at Cotton’s Gin. Then there’s a party at the house.”

“Oh, God. I can’t wait. Where are we going to stay?”

“At Putty LaValle’s apartment. She’s from Dunleith. She’s gone for the weekend. She’s letting you have the place.”

“Oh, God. I can’t wait.” I stepped in a crack between the boards and caught my heel. “Well, goddammit.” I threw my pocketbook down and tried to extricate my foot. Malcolm knelt down beside me and took hold of my ankle and pulled it out of my shoe. Then he pulled the shoe up from the crack and put it on my foot. He kept his hand on my calf. I stood very still. Charles William and Irise faded into the background. I looked down into his face. He stood up beside me. “I’m glad you could come,” he said. “I’m really glad you’re here.”