. i sat on the sofa and stared down 39th street in the direction of hudson . the air conditioning in ottavia's apartment seemed to have two speeds - too low or too high . i like to sleep in cold rooms ; at night i chose too high . to ward off the maufactureed chill i wrapped myself in the comfortable from ottavia 's bed . it smelled of her .
i continued to like that smell .
new york didn't begimn to get sleepy until after three .
i did the quick time-zone arithmetic and phoned lauren and grac in the netherlands .
" alan ?" lauren said ." can't sleep ?"
"something like that . woke up , wanted to hear your voice ."
" that's sweet . jonas is okay ?" she was trypign to keep alarm out of her voice .
"fine , good . you know , it's going better with him and his aunt and uncle than we could have hoped .i'm calling him more than he's calling me . i think my being in new york may prove to be unnecessary . his aunt kim is a good person ."
"better safe than sorry ," lauren said .
we were a lot of cliches's and plattitudes with each other , trying our best not to argue . it's hard to queerl with moldy wisdom .
"any progress for you ?" i asked . lauren was tryping to track down the adoptive parents of the daughter she's given up after getting pregnant while she was doing a year abroad in amsterdam in college . she was hoping to arrange a first-ever meeting with her child , now a teenager .
"it's slow going ," she said ."lots of bureaucracy . may things are easier in the netherlands , but bureaucracy is the same every where . even if i reach her family , hey may refus to let her see her , or she may choose not to meet me . it's hard , the waiting , we're tryping to stay busy . gracie and i are inline at the anne frank house right now . she is really excited to see it . we;ve beeen reading the diaties . say hi ?"
i said ." of course ."gracie was helium for my moods . she and i chatted until the line started moving and it was time for them to buy tickets . she said good-bye to me in dutch .
that's what she told me she said anyway .
i made the first call for merideth around eleven 'clock the next morning . wallce poteet and i spoke a few times a year , so my call wasn't a complete surprise . we spent a few minutes catching up .he asked hoe jonas was doing , and what grace's reaction was to having a new brother . i asked about his three kids .
his eldest , mason , was a funeral director in coral gables . the youngest , irene , was in her second year at wake forest . carmel , the middle cild , had finished school at occidrental and stayed in california . she was doign set design for a soap .
" i can't believe i have a kid in the bussiness ." wallace said .
"which bussiness ?" i asked ." movies or funerals ?"
he laughed ." either . both ." he said . his tone changed ." you're calling for a reason , aln . what's up ?"
"you're good , wallace ."
"that and a dime ," he said . he waited . a conversation with one shrink always involves some dead time .
"i'd like to talk to carmel . i was hoping you could give me her number in LA ."
"YEAH ? why do you need to talk to my daughter ? wait , wait . let me take my pateral temperature . is this any of my bussiness ? one , two ....nooo, it' not .definitely not . is my daughter a grown-up ? yes , she is . so ....sure . give me a second to find the number . cassandra keeps a list , or at least she used to . as i get older , i 've become addicted to speed dial . cara's five , that 's her lucky number . doesn't do you much good to know that , but ...god , 'm hopeless ." he laughed at himself .
wallace's personal process was rarely disguised , and he was never apologetic about putting it out there . it was one of the things i found so attrative about him as colleague , and a friend .
i continued to like that smell .
new york didn't begimn to get sleepy until after three .
i did the quick time-zone arithmetic and phoned lauren and grac in the netherlands .
" alan ?" lauren said ." can't sleep ?"
"something like that . woke up , wanted to hear your voice ."
" that's sweet . jonas is okay ?" she was trypign to keep alarm out of her voice .
"fine , good . you know , it's going better with him and his aunt and uncle than we could have hoped .i'm calling him more than he's calling me . i think my being in new york may prove to be unnecessary . his aunt kim is a good person ."
"better safe than sorry ," lauren said .
we were a lot of cliches's and plattitudes with each other , trying our best not to argue . it's hard to queerl with moldy wisdom .
"any progress for you ?" i asked . lauren was tryping to track down the adoptive parents of the daughter she's given up after getting pregnant while she was doing a year abroad in amsterdam in college . she was hoping to arrange a first-ever meeting with her child , now a teenager .
"it's slow going ," she said ."lots of bureaucracy . may things are easier in the netherlands , but bureaucracy is the same every where . even if i reach her family , hey may refus to let her see her , or she may choose not to meet me . it's hard , the waiting , we're tryping to stay busy . gracie and i are inline at the anne frank house right now . she is really excited to see it . we;ve beeen reading the diaties . say hi ?"
i said ." of course ."gracie was helium for my moods . she and i chatted until the line started moving and it was time for them to buy tickets . she said good-bye to me in dutch .
that's what she told me she said anyway .
i made the first call for merideth around eleven 'clock the next morning . wallce poteet and i spoke a few times a year , so my call wasn't a complete surprise . we spent a few minutes catching up .he asked hoe jonas was doing , and what grace's reaction was to having a new brother . i asked about his three kids .
his eldest , mason , was a funeral director in coral gables . the youngest , irene , was in her second year at wake forest . carmel , the middle cild , had finished school at occidrental and stayed in california . she was doign set design for a soap .
" i can't believe i have a kid in the bussiness ." wallace said .
"which bussiness ?" i asked ." movies or funerals ?"
he laughed ." either . both ." he said . his tone changed ." you're calling for a reason , aln . what's up ?"
"you're good , wallace ."
"that and a dime ," he said . he waited . a conversation with one shrink always involves some dead time .
"i'd like to talk to carmel . i was hoping you could give me her number in LA ."
"YEAH ? why do you need to talk to my daughter ? wait , wait . let me take my pateral temperature . is this any of my bussiness ? one , two ....nooo, it' not .definitely not . is my daughter a grown-up ? yes , she is . so ....sure . give me a second to find the number . cassandra keeps a list , or at least she used to . as i get older , i 've become addicted to speed dial . cara's five , that 's her lucky number . doesn't do you much good to know that , but ...god , 'm hopeless ." he laughed at himself .
wallace's personal process was rarely disguised , and he was never apologetic about putting it out there . it was one of the things i found so attrative about him as colleague , and a friend .
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