“You’ve got it, pal. Keep clear from that woman. Man, she’s bad. She’s gonna drive you crazy.”

“I steer clear.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, now as I count back from seven to one, you will emerge from the dank basement of your subconscious mind and step into the glorious sunshine of life unbound from the snarls and tangles of that evil black magic web the nasty spider has ensnared you with. Seven…six…five—stop smiling, Window! Four…three…two…one—bingo. How do you feel, Window?”

“I have pain in my head.”

“Ooh, this is so ree-diculous!” Meldrick said. “Take two aspirin and I’ll see you tomorrow. You can go.”

Meldrick liked to sit in the laundry room with a cup of coffee and a thick book, listening to the comforting sound of the dryer while Window managed all of his jobs. Window had a bubble butt and short feet, and when he ran back and forth into the laundry room to get supplies with short mincing steps, Meldrick was reminded of Kirby Puckett legging out a triple for the Minnesota Twins and would have to chuckle. He knew Window was hustling so that he would have time to find Catherine and steal a kiss or two from his beloved, the love of his life. Meldrick was aware of these shenanigans but ignored them as long as Window performed.

Catherine did not especially like Window. She was still pining over a guy who knocked her up her junior year and then moved off to Spokane, leaving her and her parents to cope with the abortion. She did not like Window because he was such a square and because he had ambitions of graduating from high school and becoming a full-time custodian. But Catherine’s parents liked Window and encouraged his visits to their trailer home out on the Hoquiam Indian Reservation even if he was a blue-eyed, fair-skinned ultra-white boy. Window was so white he was almost translucent—you could almost see through him, thus the nickname. His real name was Albert Thomas. Albert Thomas or Window—it didn’t matter to Catherine’s parents—he was a “prospect” and they felt he would calm Catherine down. She had a wild streak in her and she needed taming. Maybe, even, Window would be their savior and marry Catherine. For this reason they looked the other way when Catherine took Window into her room, where the two lovers soon had the whole trailer rocking like a small boat on the high seas. It was almost impossible to watch television, especially during the sexual climaxes, but the parents quickly accommodated themselves to these sessions and even laughed about them.