He glared at Ronny, who took a couple of steps away, conscious that Jamal was waiting. But Ronny was angry, too, at the unfairness of this, at the way Ben was acting.

“Say hello to Jennifer,” Ronny said. “I have to go.”

Ben looked as if he were going to slap Ronny for a second. “Why the fuck did you bring her up?”

“All you want is to tease me like you always do,” Ronny said. “If you want to study, we can meet at the library to do that.”

“You knew damn well I’d have helped you move whenever you wanted. I’ve got a car.”

“Please, Ben.”

“Are you coming back to the dorm at all?”

“Yes. This fall.”

Ben was wearing an old baseball jersey stretched over his broad shoulders. His neck was brightening more; he was making a fist and relaxing it over and over.

The door to the elevator lobby opened and Jamal stuck his head out. Seeing Ben, he stayed at the door and said, “The car’s loaded.”

“All right.” Ronny took a step toward the lobby. He could still feel how angry Ben was. Ronny felt tired and wanted to leave, to let it all go. “I’ll call you. Ben?” No answer. “Okay. See you when I see you, I guess.” He walked past the guy and stepped into the elevator with Jamal.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said. His heart was sinking now. He felt a little sick to his stomach.

After Dark

MRS. DELACY STOOD ON THE PORCH with such an air of calm she might have been there for hours, smiling as Jamal and Ronny hauled boxes up the steps. Frail as she appeared, she stood steady and held the door open. The twilight was still, bats in the air, darting from treetop to treetop, sounds of loud music drifting down the street from the Chi Psi house. Spring lent everything a fresh richness, along with the glee of the end of semester; he felt it in spite of the scene with Ben. Somehow Mrs. Delacy formed part of his sense of possibility, and in the late light she had a more vital look than earlier. She waited until the boys were making their last trip. “So is that all of it?” she asked.

“Sí, Miss Dee,” said Jamal. “That didn’t take long, did it?”

“No.”

“I told you I didn’t have much stuff,” Ronny said, waiting at the bottom of the steps.

“Well, that’s fine, it’s not but a little room anyway.”

Ronny looked up at the house, the rectangular plainness of it, tidy and solid. Such a good feeling that he had a place now, though it was not so much of a change, a room in a house instead of a room in a dorm. But it made a difference for some reason. He had paid the rent, it was his own. “A little room will suit me just fine.”

“Welcome,” she said, speaking deliberately, her voice lilting. She handed him keys tied to a scrap of black thread. “This is your key to the front door and this is your key to the room. We keep that front door locked at night. If you lose the key you have to buy another one from me and I’ll overcharge you for it something awful. I don’t share the kitchen and you can’t use my telephone. Other than that you are welcome to sit out there in the parlor or on the porch and come and go at all hours like you boys do. Now you be right at home and let me know if you need anything.” She appeared relieved and blinked when she finished her speech, smiled at him mildly, walked deeper into the shadowed house, passed through an archway, and disappeared.