did better climbing UP-Mile Hill then he had expected, and crossed the X-shaped intersection of Witchm and Jackson thinking, There, that wasn't so bad, was He suddenly realized that his ears were ringing and his legs had begun to tremble beneath him. He stopped on the front side of Witcham and placed one hand against his shirt. He could feel his heart beating just beneath It, PumPing away with a ragged fierceness that was scary. He heard a papery rustle, and saw an advertising supplement slip out of the Boston Globe and go seesawing down into the gutter. He started to bend over and get it, then stopped.
Not a good idea, Ralph-if you bend over, You're more than likely going to fall over. I suggest you leave that for the sweeper.
"Yeah, okay, good idea," he muttered, and straightened up. Black dots surged across his vision like a surreal flock of crows, and for a moment Ralph was almost positive he was going to wind up lying on top of the ad supplement no matter what he did or didn't do.
"Ralph? You all right?"
He looked up cautiously and saw Lois Chasse, who lived on the other side of Harris Avenue and half a block down from the house he shared with Bill McGovern. She was sitting on one of the benches just outside Strawford Park, probably waiting for the Canal Street bus to come along and take her downtown.
Sure, fine," besides, and made his legs move. He felt as if he were walking through syrup, but he thought he got over to the bench without looking too bad. He could not, however, suppress a grateful little gasp as he sat down next to her.
Lois Chasse had large dark eyes-the kind that had been called Spanish eyes when Ralph was a kid-and he bet they had dancej through the minds of dozens of boys during Lois's high-school years They were still her best feature, worry he saw in them now. It was... what? A little too neighborly but Ralph didn't much care for the for comfort was the first thought to occur to him, but he wasn't sure it was the right thought.
"Fine," Lois echoed.
"You betcha." He took his handkerchief from his back pocket, checked to make sure it was clean, and then wiped his brow with it.
"I hope you don't mind me saying it, Ralph, but you don't look fine."
Ralph did mind her saying it, but didn't know how to say so.
"You're pale, you're sweating, and you're a litterbug."
Ralph looked at her, startled.
"Something fell out of your paper. I think it was an ad circular."
"Did it?"
"You know perfectly well it did. Excuse me a second." She got up, crossed the sidewalk, bent (Ralph noticed that, while her. woman who had to be sixty-eight), and picked up the circular. She hips were fairly broad, her legs were still admirably trim for a came back to the bench with it and sat down. There," she said. "Now you're not a litterbug anymore."
He smiled in spite of himself. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I can use the Maxwell House coupon, also the Hamburger Helper and the Diet Coke. I've gotten so fat since Mr. Chasse died."
"You're not fat, Lois."
"Thank you, Ralph, you're a perfect gentleman, but let's not change the subject. You had a dizzy spell, didn't you? In fact, you almost passed out."
"I was just catching my breath," he said stiffly, and turned to watch a bunch of kids playing scrub baseball just inside the park. envied the efficiency of them They were going at it hard, laughing and grab-assing round. Ralph r air-conditioning systems. "Catching your breath, were you? "Yes." 'Just catching your breath."
"Lois, You're starting to sound like a broken record."
"Well, the broken record's going to tell YOU something, okay? You're nuts to be trying UP-Mile Hill in this heat. If You want to walk, why not go out the Extension, where it's flat, like you used to?), "Because it makes me think Of Carolyn," he said, not liking the stiff, almost rude way that sounded but unable to help it.
"Oh shit," she said, and touched his hand briefly. "Sorry."
"It's okay."
"No, it's not. I should have known better. But the way you looked just now, that's not okay, either. You're not twenty anymore, Ralph. Not even forty, I don't mean you're not in good shape-anyone can see you're in great shape for a guy your age-but you ought to take better care of yourself. Carolyn would want YOU to take care of