Mim phones. He takes a moment to recognize her voice, it is so dry and twangy, so whisky?and?cigarette?cracked. "What are they doing to you now?" she asks. She has always taken the attitude that he is a lamb among wolves in Diamond County and he should have gotten out like she did.
"They've got me in the hospital," he tells her. He could almost cry, like a boy. "They stuck a balloon up through my leg into my heart and pumped it full of saltwater to open up an artery1 that was plugged up with old grease I've been eating. Then afterwards they put a sandbag on the incision2 down at my thigh3 and told me not to move my leg for six hours or I'd bleed to death. That's how hospitals are; they tell you what they're going to do is about as simple as having a haircut and then midway through they tell you you might bleed to death. And then this morning the doctor comes around and tells me it was a Mickey Mouse operation and hardly worth bothering with. He wants me to go for broke and have a multiple bypass. Mim, they split you right open like a coconut4 and rip veins5 out of your legs."
"Yeah, I know," she says. "You gonna do it?"
Rabbit says, "I suppose they'll talk me into it eventually. I mean, they've got you by the balls. You're scared, and what else is there?"
"Guys I know out here have had open?heart and swear by it. I can't see it made that much difference, they still spend all day sitting on their fat asses6 getting manicures and talking on the phone, but then they weren't such dynamite7 before either. When you get to our age, Harry8, it's work to stay alive."
"Come on, Mim. You're only fifty."
"For a woman out here, that's ancient. That's cow pasture. That's hang?it?up time, if you're a woman. You don't get the stares any more, it's like you've gone invisible."
"Boy, you did use to get the stares," he says proudly. He remembers her when she was nineteen ? dyed?in blonde streak9, big red cinch?in belt, sexy soft sweaters, skinny arms ending in a clash of bangle bracelets10, buck11 teeth she couldn't help revealing when she smiled, lips smeared12 with lipstick13 like she had eaten a jam sandwich, a leggy colt of a girl dying to break out of Brewer14, to kick or fuck her way through the fence. She made it, too. Rabbit never could have made it out there. He was too soft. Even Florida bakes the spirit out of him. He needed to stay where they remembered him when. "So when are you coming east?" he asks Mim.
"Well, how bad are you, Harry?"
"Not that bad. I just complain a lot. All I have to do is stay away from animal fats and salt and don't get aggravated16."
"The usual," he says. "Nellie's been having some problems. Hey, you'll never guess who's back on the scene squiring Janice around while I'm laid up. Your old boyfriend, Charlie Stavros."
"Chas was not what I'd ever call a boyfriend. I took him on that time to get him off your wife's back. Around here you're not a boyfriend until you at least set the girl up in a condo."
He is striving to keep her interested. People who've made it like she has, they get bored easily. "How the hell is Vegas?" he asks. "Is it hot there yet? How about you coming east to get away from the heat for a couple of weeks? We'll put you up in the guest room above the den17 and you'll get to know your great?niece and ?nephew. Judy's a real little lady now. She's gonna be a looker not like you, but a looker."
"Harry, the last time I came to Pennsylvania I nearly died from the humidity. I don't know how you people do it, day after day; it was like being wrapped in warm washcloths. It's that heavy climate is doing you in. That pollen18 is off the scale."
"Yeah," he weakly agrees. The phone receiver feels soggy in his hand. His own capacity to be interested isn't what it should be. He's free to wander the halls now, and you see amazing things: less than an hour ago, an amazing visitor, a young Brewer girl, she couldn't have been more than fifteen, all in black, black jacket, tight black pants, pointed19 black boots, and her hair dyed yellowy white and cut short and mussed every which way so her skull20 reminded him of a wet Easter chick, plus a little flowery cruciform tattoo21 pricked22 right beside her eye. But his heart couldn't quite rise to it, he felt he'd seen even this before, girls doing wicked things to themselves believing their youth would shine through and all would heal.
"Maybe l'll come in the fall if you can last it out," Mim tells him.
"Oh I can last," he says. "You aren't going to get rid of big brother so easy." But the connection feels strained, and he can sense Mim groping, in the little pauses, for what to say next. "Hey, Mim," he says. "Do you remember if Pop complained of chest pains?"
"He had emphysema, Harry. Because he wouldn't stop smoking. You stopped. You were smart. Me, I'm down to a pack a day. But I don't think I ever really inhaled23."
"I seem to remember him complaining of feeling full in the chest. He'd sneak24 his hand inside his shirt and rub his chest."
"Maybe he itched25. Harry, Pop died because he couldn't breathe. Mom died because of her Parkinson's. I suppose their hearts failed in the end but so does everybody's, because that's what life is, a strain on the heart."
His little sister has become so dogmatic, everything cut and dried. She's mad at something, too. Just like little Roy. "Hey," he says, not wanting to let go however, "and another thing I was wondering about. Remember how you used to always sing, `Shoo?fly pie and apple pan dowdy26?"'
"Yeah. Kind of."
"What's the line that comes after `Makes your eyes light up, your tummy say "howdy" '?"
In the silence he can hear chatter27 in the background, beautyparlor chatter, and a hair dryer28 whirring. "I have no fucking idea," she says finally. "Are you sure I used to sing this song?"
"Well, I was, but never mind. How's your life?" he asks. "Any new irons in the fire? When're we going to marry you off?"
"Harry, come off it. The only reason anybody out here'd marry an old bag like me would be as some kind of cover. Or a tax dodge29, if the accountant could figure one."
"Speaking of accountants," he begins, and he might have told her all about Nelson and Lyle and Janice, and the voices on the phone, but she doesn't want to hear him; she says hurriedly, in a lowered voice, "Harry, a real special customer has just come in, even you've heard of her, and I got to hang up. You take care of yourself, now. You sound on the mend. Any time they get to be too much for you, you can come on out here for some sun and fun."
What sort of fun, he would have liked to ask ? in the old days she was always offering to get a girl for him if he came out alone, though he never did ? and he would have liked to have heard more of why she thinks he is on the mend. But Mim has hung up. She has a life to get on with. His arm hurts in its crook30 from holding the phone. Ever since they invaded his arteries31 with dyes and balloons, he has aches and pains in remote and random32 joints33, as if his blood is no longer purely34 his own. Once you break the cap on a ginger35?ale bottle, there is never again as much fizz.
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artery
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| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
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incision
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| n．切口，切开 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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coconut
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| n.椰子 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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lipstick
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| n.口红，唇膏 | |
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brewer
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| n. 啤酒制造者 | |
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aggravate
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| vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火 | |
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aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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pollen
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| n.[植]花粉 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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itched
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| v.发痒( itch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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dryer
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| n.干衣机，干燥剂 | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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arteries
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| n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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