Yes, he decided. Maybe that was just what Ed wanted. Why? Who knew? Maybe to muddy the waters up a little bit, maybe just because he was crazy.
"Cut the shit," he said, dropping his voice almost to a whisper.
He was gratified to see Ed's attention snap back to him in a hurry, and even more pleased to see Ed's pleasantly vague expression of rueful amusement disappear. It was replaced by a narrow, watchful expression.
It was, Ralph thought, the look of a dangerous animal with its wind up.
Ralph hunkered down so he could look directly at Ed, "Vlas it Susan Day?" he asked in the same soft voice. "Susan Day and the abortion business? Something about dead babies? Is that why you unloaded on Helen?"
There was another question on his mind-who are you really, Ed?-but before he could ask it, Ed reached out, placed a hand in the center of Ralph's chest, and pushed. Ralph fell backward onto the damp grass, catching himself on his elbows and shoulders. He lay there with his feet flat on the ground and his knees up, watching as Ed suddenly sprang out of his lawn-chair.
"Ralph, don't mess with him!" McGovern called from his place of relative safety on the sidewalk.
Ralph paid no attention. He simply remained where he was, propped on his elbows and looking attentively up at Ed. He was still angry and afraid, but these emotions had begun to be overshadowed by a strange, chilly fascination. This was madness he was looking at-the genuine article-no comichook super-villain here, no Norman Bates, no Captain Ahab. It was just Ed Deepneau who worked down the coast at Hawking Labs-one of those eggheads, the old guys who played chess at the picnic area out on the extension would have said, but still a nice enough fella for a Democrat.
Now the nice enough fella had gone totally bonkers, and it hadn't just happened this afternoon, when Ed had seen his wife's name on a petition hanging from the Community Bulletin Board in the Shop) n Save. Ralph now understood that Ed's madness was at least a year old, and that made him wonder what secrets Helen had been keep and what is behind her normal cheery demeanor and sunny sen'e, small, desperate signals-besides the bruises, that was-he might have missed.
And then there's Natalie, he thought. What's she seen? What's she experienced? Besides, of course, being carried across Harris Avenue and the Red Apple parking lot on her staggering, bleeding mother's hip?
Ralph's arms broke out in goosebumps.
Ed had begun to pace, meanwhile, crossing and recrossing the cement path, trampling the zinnias Helen had planted along it as a border. He had returned to the Ed Ralph had encountered out by the airport the year before, right down to the fierce little pokes of the head and the sharp, jabbing glances at nothing, This is what the gee-whiz act was supposed to hide, Ralph thought.
He looks the same now as he did when he took after the guy driving that pick up truck. Like a barnyard, rooster protecting his little piece of the flock.
"None of this is strictly her fault, I admit that." Ed spoke rapidly, pounding his right fist into his open left palm as he walked through the cloud of spray thrown by the sprinkler. Ralph realized he could see every rib in Ed's chest; the man looked as if he hadn't had a decent meal in months.
"Still, once stupidity reaches a certain level, it becomes hard to live with," Ed went on. "She's like the Magi, actually coming to King Herod for information. I mean, how dumb can you get? Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" To Herod they say this. I mean, Wise Men my ass! Right, Ralph?"
Ralph nodded. Sure, Ed. Whatever you say, Ed.
Ed returned the nod and went on tramping back and forth through the spray and the ghostly interlocking rainbows, smacking his fist into his palm. "It's like that Rolling Stones song-'Look at that, look at that, look at that stupid girl." You probably don't remember that one, do you?" Ed laughed, a jagged little sound that made Ralph think of rats dancing on broken glass.
McGovern knelt beside him. "Let's get out of here, he muttered.
Ralph shook his head, and when Ed swung back in their direction, McGovern quickly got up and retreated to the sidewalk again.
"She thought she could fool you, is that it?" Ralph asked. He was still