The Thanatos Syndrome

something to me. She whispers the way children whisper, cupping my ear with her hand and not gauging her breath correctly. “They play it wrong. When you come to hobbledehoy you’re not supposed to take off your panties, are you? That’s dumb.”
    â€œYes, it is. Did you do that?”
    â€œNo way, José!”
    â€œWho wanted to play treat-a-treat that way?”
    â€œCoach, Mr. Brunette, Mrs. Cheney.”
    â€œI see.” After a moment I ask her, “Meg, where did you get your water when you wanted a drink?”
    â€œOh, Belle Ame has a deep well, Tom,” says Lucy, quite herself now.
    â€œI know that, but I was still wondering.”
    â€œYou just get it out of the faucets, except in the rec room,” says Margaret, losing interest.
    â€œWhere do you get it in the rec room?”
    â€œThey have a big upside-down bottle we have to drink from.”
    â€œWhy do you have to drink from that bottle?”
    â€œIt’s not from the bottle. The bottle is upside down and there is a little faucet.”
    â€œI understand, but why do you have to drink that water?”
    â€œTo get our Olympic vitamins.”
    â€œSure,” says Margaret, little Miss Smart. “The concentrated vitamins are up on the second floor with a little tube coming down. I’ve seen them change the bottles and put in a little from the tube.”
    â€œI see.” I feel Lucy’s eyes on my face.
    We’re at Popeyes. I back in under the live oak next to my Caprice.
    Lucy and I look at each other. “Well?” says Lucy.
    â€œLet’s do this,” I tell her. “Would you take the kids in and feed them. They’re hungry. Meanwhile, may I use your cellular phone right here? I want to call Chandra to come pick up Tommy and Margaret.”
    â€œYay!” says Margaret.
    â€œSure,” says Lucy briskly. “Then we’ve got to get back to Pantherburn, remember?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI think you better get Claude as soon as you can,” says Lucy.
    â€œI will.”
    â€œI mean it. It is serious, I think.”
    â€œI will.”

13. AFTER MAKING THE phone call, I wait in my car for Chandra. I can see a stretch of highway. It is getting on to early dusk. Lucy and the children take a long time in Popeyes. There are some tiny yellow birds high in the live oak. The last of the sunlight catches them. They blaze like fireflies in the dark rooms of the oak.
    Lucy comes out at the same time Chandra drives up in her WOW-TV car. Tommy and Margaret are glad to see Chandra and like the idea of getting in a TV car.
    Chandra relays my medical calls, briskly, efficiently. I thank her and tell her I will call her later. She looks at me round-eyed and alert. There’s something going on, isn’t there, she seems to say, head cocked, but I’ll go along with it.
    I can count on her.
    Lucy is waiting for me in the Caprice. I get in front at the wheel.
    Lucy looks at her watch. “Let’s get over to Pantherburn right away. I’ll leave the truck.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI want a word with you on the way.”
    â€œMaybe you’d better take the truck. I’ll be there later.”
    She sits up and turns around to face me. “What do you mean, later?”
    â€œI have a call to make. Then I’ll come over.”
    â€œA call! What do you mean a call?”
    â€œIt’s a medical emergency. There is something wrong with Father Smith. His friend Milton Guidry has been calling me all day. Chandra took the message. He thinks Father Smith is dying. I have no choice.”
    â€œFor God’s sake. I mean, my stars, what can you—Look, Tom, I—I’m afraid. Don’t go. Look, wouldn’t it be better for Father Smith if we called an ambulance and got him to the emergency room?”
    â€œI’ll be going along.” The shaft of sunlight turns off in the oak like a light in a room. “This won’t take long. I’ll call you in an hour.”
    Lucy peers at me. “What’s the matter with you? Are you sleepy?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDon’t you know they can’t afford to have you on the loose?”
    â€œWho? Oh yes. Don’t worry.”
    Silence. There’s a clatter of pots from Popeyes. Lucy sinks back, hands shoved into the pockets of her lab coat, into the already sunken Chevy seat. It would be difficult for anyone to see us, or even the car, from the