Tales of the City 01 - Tales of the City

you do.” Helen Stonecypher was busying herself with a wet napkin, removing a chunk of Geminesse lipstick from her front tooth.
    “Am I being maudlin?”
    “Not at all.”
    “I thought I might have his dish bronzed … as a kind of … memorial.”
    “Sweet.”
    “You know how I abhor women who get hysterical about their dogs … but Faust was … is …” Her voice trailed off.
    Helen patted her hand, jangling their bangle bracelets in unison. “Darling, do whatever makes you feel best. You remember Choy, don’t you? My grandmother’s cook in the big house on Pacific?”
    Frannie nodded, blinking back the tears.
    “Well, ol’ Choy was Nana’s dearest friend in the world … and when he died …”
    “I remember that. Wasn’t he wheeling her around the fair at Treasure Island?”
    Helen nodded. “When he died, Nana had his queue cut off and made into a choker.”
    “A …?”
    “A necklace, darling … with three or four very understated little ivory beads worked into the strands. It was quite lovely, actually, and Nana adored it. As a matter of fact, she was wearing it when she died in our box in 1947.”
    “I remember,” said Frannie, smiling bravely. “Götterdämmerung .”
    Helen dropped her compact back in her purse. “C’mon, darling. Let’s go pour a stiff one at Jean’s.”
    “Helen … not just yet.”
    “Darling, you are down!”
    “I’ll be all right in a …”
    “He was an old, old pooch, Frannie.”
    “Is.”
    “Is … Frannie, look at it this way. He’s had a full, rich life. No dog’s had it as good as he has.”
    “That’s true,” said Frannie, brightening somewhat. “That’s very, very true.”

The Tollivers Invade
    A LL THINGS CONSIDERED, HALLOWEEN WEEKEND had gone quite well.
    So far.
    Michael’s parents had rented a Dodge Aspen upon their arrival in the city, so it was easy enough to fill up their time with Muir Woods and Sausalito, The Crooked Street and Fisherman’s Wharf.
    But now it was Sunday. The Witches’ Sabbath was upon them.
    If he was careful, very careful, he could ease them through it, protect their fragile, Reader’s Digest sensibilities from the horror of The Love That Dares Not Speak Its Name.
    Maybe.
    In this town, he thought, The Love That Dares Not Speak Its Name almost never shuts up.
    His father chuckled when he saw the apartment for the first time. “Took you all weekend to clean it up, huh?”
    “I’m neater than I used to be,” Michael grinned.
    “Looks like a lady’s neatness, if you ask me.” He winked at his son.
    Michael’s mother frowned. “Herb, I told you not …”
    “Aw, it’s O.K., Alice. Christ, we’re not a couple of old fuddy-duddies. I remember what I was like at Mike’s age. Hell, son … I hope you didn’t move her out on our account.”
    “Herb!”
    “Your mother’s too old-fashioned, Mike. Go snoop around the kitchen, Alice. I’m surprised you could hold off this long.”
    Michael’s mother pushed out her lower lip and trudged out of the room.
    “Now,” said his father. “What the hell’s going on? Your mother and I thought you’d like to introduce us to … what’s her name?”
    “Mona … Papa, she’s only …”
    “I don’t give a damn what she is, Mike. Frankly, I’m a little disappointed you felt you had to hide the poor little thing. I’ve seen Hustler, son. I know a thing or two about 1976.”
    “Papa … she moved out. She wanted to.”
    “Because of us?”
    “No. She just wanted to. She found another roommate. There’s no hard feelings.”
    “You’re a damned idiot, then! She just up and left you and there’s no hard feelings? Jesus, Mike …”
    He stopped talking when he heard his wife return. She was standing in the kitchen doorway with a small brown bottle in her hand.
    “What’s this stuff, Mikey?”
    Michael went white. “Uh … Mama, that’s something … my roommate left behind.”
    “In the freezer?”
    “She used it to clean her paintbrushes.”
    “Oh.” She looked at the bottle again and returned it to the refrigerator. “You need to scrub your vegetable bin, Mikey.”
    “I know, Mama.”
    “Where do you keep your Ajax?”
    “Mama, can’t we just …?”
    “It’s disgusting, Mikey. It won’t take me a second.”
    “Alice, for God’s sake! Leave the boy alone! We didn’t come three thousand miles to scrub his goddamn vegetable bin! Look, son, your mama and I want to take you out to dinner tonight. Why don’t you show us one of your