that’s what’s got you so worried.”
“Up yours,” Charlie told him.
“Always nice talking with you, little brother,” Bob said with a faint smile. Then he glanced at his watch. “Oops,” he said. “Running late.” He stood up.
“Say hi to Eleanor and the kids for me,” Charlie said.
“Right. Stop by once in a while, huh?”
“I’ll make a point of it,” Charlie promised.
CHAPTER FIVE
I volunteered to drive Twink to Lake Stevens on Friday of that week, since I was free. All my scurrying around to get settled in for fall quarter might have been too efficient. Everything was in place, and I didn’t really have anything important left up in the air.
Oddly enough, Friday was all bright and sunny, and I didn’t even have to turn on my windshield wipers as Twink and I went north on Interstate 5.
Dr. Fallon spent the customary hour with Twink, and he seemed to be fairly satisfied with her progress. At least he didn’t put her in a padded cell.
After the session, Twink and I went back to Everett for dinner with Les and Inga. It seemed to me that those weekly visits might not be a bad idea, and since Twink had to go north every Friday anyway, it fit together smoothly.
The following week
really
dragged on.
I
was ready to start classes, but the university wasn’t quite up to it yet. I did a lot of puttering around with my bookshelf project and hit the library several times, but I didn’t accomplish much.
The fall quarter began on Monday, September 29th, and I finally had to come face-to-face with John Milton. You don’t walk into the Ph.D. exams in English unless you’ve got graduate seminars in Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton under your belt. Shakespeare and I get along fairly well, and Chaucer’s a good buddy, but Milton seems a little silly to me. “How soon hath time, the subtle thief of youth, stol’n away my three and twentieth year,” seems ridiculous coming from a guy who didn’t shave regularly yet. Besides, Milton was wall-to-wall puritan, and puritans set my teeth on edge.
The Milton seminar was one of those early-morning things—seven-thirty to nine-thirty—and the first session was largely taken up with bookkeeping. Full professors generally prefer to ease themselves into harness. After class I drove back to Wallingford to have a word with Twink.
I didn’t want to wake Mary, so I went around to the back door and tapped on the window. Renata opened the door, touching one finger to her lips. “She’s still asleep, Markie,” she whispered.
“No kidding? Gee, the day’s half-over.”
“Quit trying to be funny. Do you want some coffee?”
“Thanks, Twink, but I’ve had four cups of Erika’s already, and that’ll probably keep me wired until about midnight.”
“Is her coffee that strong?”
“Industrial-strength. I just came by to tell you that I’ll pick you up about twelve-thirty. Our class starts at one-thirty, and that’ll give us plenty of time to get there.”
“You don’t have to do that, Markie. I’ve got my bike.”
“Yes, Twink, I know all about the bike. This is the first day of class, though, and I want to show you exactly where Padelford Hall’s located, where my office is, and how to find the classroom. After you’ve got the lay of the land, you can pedal around in the rain all you want.”
“Oh, all right.” She sounded peevish about it.
“What
is
your problem, Twink?”
“Everybody’s treating me like a baby. I’m a big girl now.”
“Save the declaration of independence, Twinkie-poo. I just want to make sure you’ve got the lay of the land before I turn you loose to roam around campus by yourself.”
“Twinkie-poo?” she said. “Are we going back to baby talk?”
“Just kidding, Twink. I know most of the trees on campus by their first names, so I can save you a lot of time by showing you shortcuts and places where the traffic piles up at certain times of day. Let’s just call this ‘show Twinkie the ropes day.’ I’m
“Up yours,” Charlie told him.
“Always nice talking with you, little brother,” Bob said with a faint smile. Then he glanced at his watch. “Oops,” he said. “Running late.” He stood up.
“Say hi to Eleanor and the kids for me,” Charlie said.
“Right. Stop by once in a while, huh?”
“I’ll make a point of it,” Charlie promised.
CHAPTER FIVE
I volunteered to drive Twink to Lake Stevens on Friday of that week, since I was free. All my scurrying around to get settled in for fall quarter might have been too efficient. Everything was in place, and I didn’t really have anything important left up in the air.
Oddly enough, Friday was all bright and sunny, and I didn’t even have to turn on my windshield wipers as Twink and I went north on Interstate 5.
Dr. Fallon spent the customary hour with Twink, and he seemed to be fairly satisfied with her progress. At least he didn’t put her in a padded cell.
After the session, Twink and I went back to Everett for dinner with Les and Inga. It seemed to me that those weekly visits might not be a bad idea, and since Twink had to go north every Friday anyway, it fit together smoothly.
The following week
really
dragged on.
I
was ready to start classes, but the university wasn’t quite up to it yet. I did a lot of puttering around with my bookshelf project and hit the library several times, but I didn’t accomplish much.
The fall quarter began on Monday, September 29th, and I finally had to come face-to-face with John Milton. You don’t walk into the Ph.D. exams in English unless you’ve got graduate seminars in Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton under your belt. Shakespeare and I get along fairly well, and Chaucer’s a good buddy, but Milton seems a little silly to me. “How soon hath time, the subtle thief of youth, stol’n away my three and twentieth year,” seems ridiculous coming from a guy who didn’t shave regularly yet. Besides, Milton was wall-to-wall puritan, and puritans set my teeth on edge.
The Milton seminar was one of those early-morning things—seven-thirty to nine-thirty—and the first session was largely taken up with bookkeeping. Full professors generally prefer to ease themselves into harness. After class I drove back to Wallingford to have a word with Twink.
I didn’t want to wake Mary, so I went around to the back door and tapped on the window. Renata opened the door, touching one finger to her lips. “She’s still asleep, Markie,” she whispered.
“No kidding? Gee, the day’s half-over.”
“Quit trying to be funny. Do you want some coffee?”
“Thanks, Twink, but I’ve had four cups of Erika’s already, and that’ll probably keep me wired until about midnight.”
“Is her coffee that strong?”
“Industrial-strength. I just came by to tell you that I’ll pick you up about twelve-thirty. Our class starts at one-thirty, and that’ll give us plenty of time to get there.”
“You don’t have to do that, Markie. I’ve got my bike.”
“Yes, Twink, I know all about the bike. This is the first day of class, though, and I want to show you exactly where Padelford Hall’s located, where my office is, and how to find the classroom. After you’ve got the lay of the land, you can pedal around in the rain all you want.”
“Oh, all right.” She sounded peevish about it.
“What
is
your problem, Twink?”
“Everybody’s treating me like a baby. I’m a big girl now.”
“Save the declaration of independence, Twinkie-poo. I just want to make sure you’ve got the lay of the land before I turn you loose to roam around campus by yourself.”
“Twinkie-poo?” she said. “Are we going back to baby talk?”
“Just kidding, Twink. I know most of the trees on campus by their first names, so I can save you a lot of time by showing you shortcuts and places where the traffic piles up at certain times of day. Let’s just call this ‘show Twinkie the ropes day.’ I’m
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