Tales of the City 01 - Tales of the City

apologize for serving instant coffee. Do you know what I like about Cleveland? People in Cleveland aren’t into’ anything!”
    “Boring, in other words.”
    “I don’t care what you call it. I need it. I need it badly.”
    “Why go home? We have boring people here. Haven’t you ever been to Paoli’s at lunchtime?”
    “There’s no point …”
    The phone rang. Michael jumped up and grabbed it. “The boring residence of Mary Ann Singleton.”
    “Michael!” Mary Ann jerked the phone away from him. “Hello.”
    “Mary Ann?”
    “Mom?”
    “We’ve been worried sick.”
    “What else is new?”
    “Don’t talk to me like that. We haven’t heard from you in weeks .”
    “I’m sorry. It’s been hectic, Mom.”
    “Who was that man?”
    “What man? Oh … Michael. Just a friend.”
    “Michael what?”
    Mary Ann covered the receiver. “What’s your last name, Michael?”
    “De Sade.”
    “Michael!”
    “Tolliver.”
    “Michael Tolliver, Mom. He’s a real nice guy. He lives downstairs.”
    “Your daddy and I have been talking, Mary Ann … so hear me out on this. We both agree that you deserved a chance to … try your wings in San Francisco … but the time has come now … well, we can’t just sit by and watch you throw your life away.”
    “It’s my life to throw away, Mom.”
    “Not when you apparently don’t have the maturity
    to …”
    “How would you know?”
    “Mary Ann … a strange man answered your phone.”
    “He’s not a strange man, Mom.”
    “Who says?” grinned Michael.
    “You don’t even know his last name.”
    “We’re more informal out here.”
    “Apparently … if you have no more judgment than to invite some perfectly …”
    “Mom, Michael is a homosexual.”
    Silence.
    “He likes boys, got it? I know you’ve heard of it. They’ve got it on TV now.”
    “I think you’ve completely lost your …”
    “Not completely. Gimme another week or two.”
    “I can’t believe I’m …”
    “Mom, I’ll call you in a few days, O.K.? Everything is fine. Night-night.”
    She hung up.
    Michael beamed at her from the sofa.
    Mona was the second assault wave.
    “Christ, Mary Ann! No wonder you’re miserable. You sit around on your butt all day expecting life to be one great big Hallmark card. Well, I’ve got news for you. There’s not a single goddamn soul out there who cares enough to send the very best.”
    “So what point is there in …?”
    “You’ve got to make things work for you, Mary Ann. When you’re down to the seeds and stems, get out there and grab life by the … Get a pencil. Take down this address….”

War and Peace
    A PLATOON OF SANDPIPERS PATROLLED THE BEACH at Point Bonita, pecking at the poptops in the shiny black sand. The water was sometimes blue, sometimes gray.
    Edgar slipped his arm around Anna’s waist. “I’ll take her back, you know.”
    “Who?”
    “Mona … If you tell me to, Anna, I will.”
    Anna shook her head. “I wouldn’t do that. Furthermore, she wouldn’t come back, even if you did change your mind.”
    “I’m a horse’s ass, then?”
    “No. Your son-in-law.”
    “She told you that?”
    Anna nodded. “Is she right?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “I thought she might be.”
    “Have you told her, Anna?”
    “About you?”
    “Yes.”
    Anna shook her head. “This is us, Edgar. Just us.”
    “I know, but …”
    “What?”
    “She’s like a daughter to you, isn’t she?”
    “Yes.”
    “Isn’t it hard not to tell her?”
    “Yes.”
    “I want to tell the whole goddamn world.”
    Anna smiled. “Not so much as a memo to your secretary.”
    “She’ll figure it out before Mona does.”
    “I hope not.”
    “Why? I have more to lose than you do.”
    Anna gazed at him for a moment. “C’mon. Let’s get the blanket out of the car. It’s colder than a witch’s titty out here.”
    Edgar chuckled. “I didn’t know nice girls knew that expression.”
    “They don’t.”
    “We used to say that in France. During the war.”
    “That’s when I learned it.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I was in the Fort Ord campaign.”
    “You were a WAC?”
    “I typed munitions requests for a colonel who was drunk most of the time. Hey, are we gonna get that blanket or not?”
    They huddled together behind a sand dune, out of the wind. “What was it like growing up in a whorehouse?” Edgar asked.
    Anna pursed her lips. “What was it like growing up in Hillsborough?”
    “I didn’t grow up in