Tales of the City 05 - Significant Others

away. And we could visit him all the time.”
    “But he couldn’t visit us. He’d feel excluded.”
    “How do you know, hon? He doesn’t wanna go to the concerts. He told us so himself.”
    This was true enough, DeDe decided. Or were they just rationalizing their way out of a difficult situation? What if Edgar didn’t understand? What if this marred him for life?
    “Tell you what,” said D’or. “Let’s you and me go see this Laurie person at the boys’ camp. If the place is the pits, we’ll scrap the whole thing … pack our gear and find a good public campground somewhere in the area.”
    DeDe nodded tentatively. D’or was at her very best when building bridges over troubled waters.
    Brother Sun turned out to be far nicer than DeDe had imagined. There were at least a dozen boys, and most of them were Edgar’s age. Wasn’t this what she had always wanted for her son? Edgar, after all, was the sole male in a household of women. For the time being, at least, an all-boy environment would probably do him a world of good.
    Laurie, the boys’ overseer, was fiftyish and warmhearted, with an apparent devotion to her mission at Wimminwood. She referred to her charges as “the little hellions,” but it was obvious that the boys liked her. The camp itself was a semicircle of redwood lean-tos, only yards away from a boys-only swimming hole.
    In the end the decision was left up to Edgar. He took to the idea almost instantly, banishing any vestige of guilt DeDe might have felt. Only Anna put up a mild protest, faintly envious of this “special place for boys,” but D’or assured her that there was plenty here for girls to do too.
    Leaving Edgar at the compound, they set out across the land to get their bearings. They found women laughing around campfires and perched in trees along the river, women playing bridge and chopping wood and drinking beer with other women.
    When they reached the central stage, a square dance was in progress. A hundred sun-flushed women, clad only in boots and bandannas, were do-si-doing to the music of a string band. Amused yet riveted by the sight, DeDe turned and caught her lover’s eye.
    “Well?” said D’or. “It’s something, huh?”
    DeDe nodded. It was something, all right.

Historical Interest
    A T 28 BARBARY LANE, MICHAEL WAS PACKING HIS suitcase when the phone rang.
    “Michael?” said the voice on the other end.
    “Yeah.”
    “It’s Thack Sweeney. The guy you met in solitary.”
    “Oh, hi.” Didn’t it figure? Didn’t it just figure he would call now?
    “I told you I’d call.”
    “Yeah, you did.”
    “Listen, what’s your schedule like tomorrow?”
    Shitfuckpiss, thought Michael. “Well, actually, I’m going to the river with a friend.”
    “Oh, yeah? Sounds like fun.” If he was devastated, he didn’t show it.
    “What did you have in mind?” asked Michael.
    “Oh … nothing much. Just hanging out.”
    Hanging out had never sounded so good. “This trip is kind of set,” said Michael. “Otherwise …”
    “I understand,” said Thack.
    Michael wavered, then asked: “What are you doing tonight?”
    Thack laughed. “Lurking outside your door at the local mom-and-pop.”
    “Huh?”
    “Well, not technically, but pretty close. The grocer says you’re a block or two away. I was walking up Union Street and just decided to call. It’s the wildest coincidence.”
    Michael wanted more than coincidence. “You’re at the Searchlight?”
    “That’s the one.”
    “You … uh … want to come over?”
    “Well … you must be packing.”
    “No. I mean, I’m finished. Come on over, if you want.”
    “How do I get there?”
    “Uh … walk over the crest of Union, take a left on Leavenworth. Barbary Lane is on the left, halfway down the hill. There’s a stairway you can see from the street.”
    “Got it,” said Thack.
    Michael hung up, sat down, smiled uncontrollably, stood up again and did a little jig around the room. Then he finished washing the dishes, gave the bathroom a quick onceover, and plucked the dead blossoms off his potted azalea.
    When Thack arrived, ten minutes later, his cheeks had been pinched pink by the fog. “Boy,” he said, coming into the apartment. “You didn’t warn me about those steps.”
    “Oh, no,” said Michael. “Did one break?”
    Thack nodded. “I bailed out just in time.”
    “Where was it?”
    “Up near the top … just before you reach the part with the killer stones. Get many