Zeus, pissed off, took it away. But Prometheus saw his pride and joy shivering and unable to cook. He lit atorch from the sun and brought it to man again. To punish Prometheus, Zeus had him chained to a rock,where an eagle fed on his liver. To punish man, Zeus created the first woman—Pandora—and gave her a gift,a box she was forbidden to open.
Pandora’s curiosity got the best of her, and one day she opened that box. Out came plagues and misery1 andmischief. She managed to shut the lid tight before hope escaped. It’s the only weapon we have left to fightthe others.
Ask any fireman; he’ll tell you it’s true. Hell. Ask any father.
“Come on up,” I say to Campbell Alexander, when he arrives with Anna. “There’s fresh coffee.” He followsme up the stairs, his German shepherd trailing. I pour two cups. “What’s the dog for?”
“He’s a chick magnet,” the lawyer says. “Got any milk?”
I pass him the carton from the fridge, then sit down with my own mug. It’s quiet up here; the boys aredownstairs washing the engines and doing their daily maintenance.
“So.” Alexander takes a sip2 of his coffee. “Anna tells me that you’ve both moved out.”
“Yeah. I sort of figured you might want to ask me about that.”
“You do realize that your wife is opposing counsel,” he says carefully.
I meet his eye. “I suppose by that you mean do I realize that I shouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.”
“That only becomes an issue if your wife is still representing you.”
“I never asked Sara to represent me.”
Alexander frowns. “I’m not sure she’s aware of that.”
“Look, with all due respect, this may seem like an incredibly big deal, and it is, but we have anotherincredibly big deal going on at the same time. Our older daughter’s been hospitalized and…well, Sara’sfighting on two fronts.”
“I know. And I’m sorry about Kate, Mr. Fitzgerald,” he says.
“Call me Brian.” I cup my hands around my mug. “And I would like to speak to you…without Sara around.”
He leans back in the folding chair. “How about right now?”
It’s not a good time, but it will never be a good time for this. “Okay.” I take a deep breath. “I think Anna’sright.”
At first I’m not sure Campbell Alexander’s even heard me. Then he asks, “Are you willing to tell that to thejudge at a hearing?”
I look down at my coffee. “I think I have to.”
By the time Paulie and I responded to this morning’s ambulance call, the boyfriend already had the girl in ashower. She sat on the bottom, her legs splayed around the drain, fully3 dressed. Her hair was matted to thefront of her face, but even if it wasn’t, I’d have known that she was unconscious.
Paulie got right inside and started to drag her out. “Her name’s Magda,” the boyfriend said. “She’s gonna beokay, right?”
“Is she diabetic?”
“What does that matter?”
For Christ’s sake. “Tell me what you were using,” I demanded.
“We were just getting drunk,” the boyfriend said. “Tequila.”
He was no more than seventeen. Old enough to have heard the myth that a shower will bring someone out ofa heroin4 overdose. “Let me explain this to you. My buddy5 and I want to help Magda, to save her life. But ifyou tell me that she’s got alcohol in her system and it turns out that it’s a drug instead, whatever we give hercould backfire and make her even worse. You get that?”
By then, just outside the shower stall, Paulie had wrestled6 Magda out of her shirt. There were tracks up anddown her arms. “If it’s tequila, then they’ve been shooting it up. Coma7 cocktail8?”
I took the Narcan out of the paramedic bag and handed Paulie the equipment for a microdrip. “So, um,” theboy said, “you’re not going to tell the cops, are you?”
In one quick move, I grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pushed him up against the wall. “Are you thatfucking stupid?”
“It’s just that my parents will kill me.”
“You didn’t seem to care much if you killed yourself. Or her.” I jerked his head toward the girl, who by thenwas vomiting9 all over the floor. “You think life is something you can throw out like a piece of trash? Youthink you OD, and get a second chance?”
I was yelling hard into his face. I felt a hand on my shoulder—Paulie. “Step down, Cap,” he said under hisbreath.
Slowly I realized that the kid was trembling in front of me, that he really had nothing to do with the reason Iwas yelling. I walked away to clear my head. Paulie finished up with the patient and then came back to me.
“You know, if it’s too much, we can cover for you,” he offered. “The chief’ll give you as much time off asyou want.”
“I need to work.” Over his shoulder I could see the girl pinking up; the boy sobbing10 into his hands beside her.
I looked Paulie in the eye. “When I’m not here,” I explained, “I have to be there.”
spaceThe lawyer and I finish up our coffee. “Second cup?” I offer.
“I’d better not. I have to get back to the office.”
We nod at each other, but there is really nothing left to say. “Don’t worry about Anna,” I add. “I’ll make sureshe gets whatever she needs.”
“You might want to check in at home, too,” Alexander says. “I just got your son released on PR bail11 forstealing a judge’s Humvee.”
He puts his coffee cup in the sink and leaves me holding this information, knowing sooner or later, it willforce me to my knees.
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收听单词发音
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1
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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2
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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3
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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4
heroin
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| n.海洛因 | |
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5
buddy
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| n.（美口）密友，伙伴 | |
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6
wrestled
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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7
coma
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| n.昏迷，昏迷状态 | |
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8
cocktail
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| n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物 | |
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9
vomiting
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| 吐 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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11
bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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