Tales of the City 06 - Sure of You

concerned when I told him Michael was positive.” She paused. “Actually, we spent most of the time talking about that.”
    “They were close, huh?”
    “Well, fairly. He asked if we could all get together sometime this week.”
    “Oh, yeah? With Michael, you mean?”
    She nodded. “If you don’t want to, of course…”
    “No. That’s fine.”
    “I think you’d get along with him great.”
    “I thought you said he was prosaic.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I meant…about his work. Is Wednesday a good night?”
    “I dunno,” he said. “I haven’t checked the book lately.” By this he meant their book, of course, as opposed to his or hers. For years now, at her instigation, they had maintained three appointment books at home. It had saved them a world of trouble.
    “We’re free,” she said. “Nguyet’s available too.” Moments later she added: “Probably.”
    Hauling in the maid sounded a little too grand to him. “We can do it without her, can’t we?”
    “We could,” she said. “But it’s five for dinner…six counting Puppy…and somebody’s gotta dish it out. I just thought it would be more convenient.”
    “I’ll cook, then. I’ll make my paella.”
    “That’s sweet, but…”
    “Hey,” he said. “It was a big hit last time.”
    “I know that, but I want us all to be together. What’s the point in doing this if you’re holed up in the kitchen with the clams?”
    “O.K.,” he said.
    “You wanna ask Michael, or shall I?”
    “Why don’t you?” he said. “He sees me all day. I think it would mean more. He hasn’t heard from you for a while.”
    She nodded and lifted the receiver of the wall phone.
    His paranoia raged away in silence.

Dance with Me
    M ICHAEL HUNG UP THE PHONE AND WENT TO THE bathroom, where Thack sat naked in the empty tub, shampooing Harry. Sleek as a sewer rat in his coat of lather, Harry crooned softly in protest as Thack turned on the hand spray and rinsed the poodle’s rump.
    “Yes,” said Michael, talking to Harry. “You’re a good boy. What a good boy you are!”
    “You should see the fleas,” said Thack.
    “I bet.”
    “We’ll have to bomb the house, I’m afraid.”
    Michael had expected this. As much as he pretended otherwise, Thack loved nothing better than “bombing the house.” This adamant antimilitarist turned into Rambo incarnate when there were fleas to be annihilated.
    “Who was that on the phone?”
    “Mary Ann.”
    Predictably, Thack winced.
    Michael lowered the toilet seat cover and sat down. “We’re invited to dinner on Wednesday.”
    Thack lifted Harry’s head and sprayed around his neck. “What brought this on?”
    The implication was that Mary Ann had been keeping her distance lately. Fearing the truth of this, Michael didn’t bother to argue. “An old boyfriend’s back in town. I think she thinks it might get heavy if it was just the three of them.”
    “Which old boyfriend is this?”
    “The one she met on the Pacific Princess . Who broke the story about the cannibal cult at Grace Cathedral.”
    “Oh, yeah.”
    “He’s O.K., actually. I mean, he was ten years ago.”
    “He’d have to be,” said Thack. “He got the hell away from her.”
    Michael was tired of this kind of sniping. “He didn’t get away from her. He got a job offer in New York. He asked her to come with him, but she didn’t want to leave San Francisco.”
    Thack nodded. “Too busy conquering it, no doubt.”
    Michael stood up. “I’ll call her and cancel.”
    “No.”
    “If there’s gonna be a scene…”
    Thack flicked water at him. “Sit down. Don’t be such a prima donna.”
    Michael sat down.
    “Can’t I just piss and moan a little?”
    “If you pick a fight…”
    “Who says I’m gonna pick a fight? Brian’ll be there. I like him.”
    Harry made a scramble for the side of the tub, his nails clicking frantically against the porcelain. Thack scooped him up and resumed rinsing.
    “He doesn’t like it too warm,” said Michael.
    “I know.”
    “And don’t hit his balls with the spray. He hates that.”
    Thack laughed. “Yes, Alice.”
    Michael gave him a dirty look.
    “Well, you sounded like her,” said his lover. “Just for a minute there.”
    “Great.”
    “Everybody’s gotta sound like somebody.”
    “Well, tell me what I’m doing, so I can fix it.”
    Thack smiled. “That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”
    The hell it wouldn’t. Homebody or not, he was damned if he was going to