Tales of the City 01 - Tales of the City

“Alexandra … this is Mary Ann Singleton. We live in the same building … right up there on that big hill.” He winked at Mary Ann. “She belongs to some friends of mine in San Leandro. Sometimes I give them a breather on Sundays.”
    “That’s sweet.”
    Norman shrugged. “I don’t mind. I get the best of both worlds.” He tugged playfully on one of the child’s braids. “Isn’t that right, Lexy?”
    “What?”
    “Never mind. Tell ya later.”
    “Can I feed the pigeons, Norman?”
    “After breakfast, O.K.?”
    Mary Ann knelt down in front of the child. “That’s a beautiful dress, Alexandra!”
    The child stared at her, then giggled.
    “Do you know what it’s called, Alexandra?”
    “What?”
    “Your dress. It’s called a Heidi dress. Can you say that?” Alexandra looked slightly put out. “This is a dirndl, “ she said flatly.
    “Oh, well …” Mary Ann stood up, grinning at Norman. “I asked for that, didn’t I?”
    The trio dined on omelets at Mama’s. Alexandra ate in silence, studying Mary Ann.
    Afterwards, in Washington Square, the grownups talked, while Alexandra chased pigeons in the sunshine.
    “She’s very bright, isn’t she?”
    Norman nodded. “She gives me a complex sometimes.”
    “Have you known her parents long?”
    “About … oh, five years. Her father and I were in Vietnam together.”
    “Oh … I’m sorry.”
    “Why?”
    “Well … Vietnam … It must have been awful.”
    He smiled, holding up his arms. “No wounds, see? I was a chief yeoman in Saigon. Office job. Navy intelligence.”
    “How did you get interested in vitamins?”
    He shrugged. “I got interested in making a living.”
    “I see.”
    “I’m afraid there’s nothing very interesting about me, Mary Ann.”
    “Oh, no … I think you’re very …”
    “There’s a movie I’d like you to see tonight, if you haven ‘t already….”
    “What is it?”
    “An oldie. Detective Story. Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker.”
    “I’d love to,” she said.

What Are Friends For?
    e AUCHAMP AND DEDE SPENT A LEISURELY SUNDAY morning in Sausalito, brunching at the Altamira.
    They were a pair again, a matched set—bronzed and blooded and beautiful. People looked at them with hungry eyes, whispering speculations over Ramos fizzes in the brilliant sunlight of the hotel terrace. And DeDe loved every minute of it. “Beauchamp?”
    “Mmm?” His eyes were exactly the color of the bay. “Last night was … better than our wedding night.”
    “I know.”
    “Was it …? Is it me that’s changed, or you?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “It does to me. A little.”
    Beauchamp shrugged. “I guess I’ve … sorted out my priorities.”
    “It confuses me a little, Beauchamp.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. Things are … working now and … well, I just wanna know what I’m doing right, so I can keep on doing it.”
    He rubbed his knee against hers. “Just keep being yourself, O.K.?”
    “O.K.,” she smiled.
    Back at Montgomery Street, Beauchamp clipped a leash on the corgi. “I think I’ll take Caesar up to the Tower. Feel like a walk?”
    “Thanks. I should catch up on my letters.”
    As soon as he had gone she called Binky Gruen.
    “Bink?”
    “DeDe?”
    “I’m back.”
    “Well?”
    “Well, what?”
    “How much, dummy? How much did you lose?”
    “Oh … eighteen pounds.”
    Binky whistled. “That sounds like anorexia to me!”
    “Binky, I need …”
    “I am convinced, by the way, that Shugie Sussman has anorexia. I mean, there’s no doubt in my mind. She’s wasting away to nothing, and nobody can persuade her that she isn’t obese. It’s too tragic, DeDe. We may have to ship the poor thing off to the Menninger Clinic in a Manila envelope!”
    “Binky, as much as I’d like to hear about Shugie Sussman …”
    “Sorry, darling. Did you have a marvelous time? I mean, aside from those godawful Leonardo da Vinci exer …?”
    “I need your help, Binky.”
    “Sure.”
    “I … need a doctor.”
    “Oh, God! You are sick! Jesus, I am such a …”
    “No, not sick. I just need a doctor.”
    “Oh.”
    “I was thinking about the one you saw last spring.”
    “Uh oh.”
    “It isn’t an item yet. I’m not sure. I’d just feel better if …”
    “It may have been the exercise, DeDe. Sometimes a physical change like that can screw up your cycle.”
    “I’ve considered that.”
    “Hell, it could even be anorexia.”
    “Will you stop? It could be almost anything. I