agreed with him. Math and poetry. I mean, who but Drew? I’m afraid he’ll end up in a rubber room if he goes on talking like that.”
“But Drew is right,” Edmund said. “I know not what a calc is, but I do know he was right. The lion stands for valor, the hive of bees for a well-run country. Fire for the passion.ate temper. These are simple things that everyone knows. But they are not so simple. For they all express the great truths that underlie everything else. And no matter how ‘calc’ a thing may become, still it must sing its part in the great song of being.”
“That’s so interesting,” Vivian said. “I understand it now that you explain it.”
“They are but common thoughts,” Edmund said.
“Common? Excuse me, I don’t think so,” Vivian said. “Where did you go to school, anyway?”
“In Stratford. At the grammar school. But I was no hand as a scholar. My Latin was odious.”
“Oh, my God, you know Latin?” Vivian squeaked. “That’s unheard of. But grammar school. That’s so cute. It must mean something different over there than it does here, right? Grammar school’s for little kids. Nobody learns Latin.”
Edmund had realized that he was starting to give too much away. “Yes, it does…. But I couldn’t tell ye—you— the difference.”
I jumped in. “I like Drew’s car,” I said. “It looks weird but it makes complete sense if you know what’s behind it. Did you know it’s designed to carry a basket of eggs across a plowed field without cracking a shell?”
Vivian laughed. “That’s probably why Drew bought it.”
“Anyway, I’m glad you invited him.”
“Oh, I didn’t,” Vivian said. “I invited Bobby. You in.vite Bobby, you get Drew. But it’s all right. Drew’s low-maintenance.”
“Like his 2CV,” I said.
“You see?” Edmund said from the back. “Drew is like his car and his car is like him. Everything is a metaphor for something else.”
Vivian laughed. “So cute.”
Chapter Twelve
Vivian’s house had a pool, but it was too cold to go swim.ming. Or that’s what I thought. But it turned out that Viv must have given some people enough heads-up time about tonight that they had suits with them. Bobby was in the water in a Speedo and a set of pecs that glistened like a pair of basking whales, and a couple of guys were batting a ball around with him, trying to act like seals. There were five or six girls in the kind of suits that get more expensive the smaller they are, and there was Vivian in her bikini.
Vivian in her bikini and Miri in her T-shirt and jeans. I had a pretty good idea why she hadn’t mentioned this party to us earlier.
And Vivian in her bikini was a sight to behold. And Ed.ward beheld. In fact, he couldn’t stop beholding. I’d thought he was concentrating at rehearsal. That had been nothing compared to what he was doing now.
Please, Edmund’s God, I thought. Pneumonia. For Vivian. Please. Terminal pneumonia. Now, God, now.
But before God could answer my prayers, Edmund dragged me off to a corner of the yard where he could whisper to me and still keep his eyes on Vivian.
“Miri, do all girls disport themselves so?” he asked me. “Is it common to wear so little before the eyes of men?”
Damn it, Edmund, if I could get you to look at me like that, I’d wear nothing but a smile.
But what I said was, “Some of us, Edmund. But don’t think too much of it. It doesn’t mean anything. Especially to somebody like Viv.”
“What does it mean?” he demanded.
It means you’re an idiot, you idiot.
“I’d say it means she wants to go swimming.”
“Would it be wrong for me to take off my shoes and get into the water with her?”
“Totally,” I said. “Everybody would know why you were doing it and you’d be the biggest dork on the planet. Besides, your clothes would be soaked.”
“How about if I were naked?” Edmund said.
“Worse. So worse. You know what’s the best thing you can do
“But Drew is right,” Edmund said. “I know not what a calc is, but I do know he was right. The lion stands for valor, the hive of bees for a well-run country. Fire for the passion.ate temper. These are simple things that everyone knows. But they are not so simple. For they all express the great truths that underlie everything else. And no matter how ‘calc’ a thing may become, still it must sing its part in the great song of being.”
“That’s so interesting,” Vivian said. “I understand it now that you explain it.”
“They are but common thoughts,” Edmund said.
“Common? Excuse me, I don’t think so,” Vivian said. “Where did you go to school, anyway?”
“In Stratford. At the grammar school. But I was no hand as a scholar. My Latin was odious.”
“Oh, my God, you know Latin?” Vivian squeaked. “That’s unheard of. But grammar school. That’s so cute. It must mean something different over there than it does here, right? Grammar school’s for little kids. Nobody learns Latin.”
Edmund had realized that he was starting to give too much away. “Yes, it does…. But I couldn’t tell ye—you— the difference.”
I jumped in. “I like Drew’s car,” I said. “It looks weird but it makes complete sense if you know what’s behind it. Did you know it’s designed to carry a basket of eggs across a plowed field without cracking a shell?”
Vivian laughed. “That’s probably why Drew bought it.”
“Anyway, I’m glad you invited him.”
“Oh, I didn’t,” Vivian said. “I invited Bobby. You in.vite Bobby, you get Drew. But it’s all right. Drew’s low-maintenance.”
“Like his 2CV,” I said.
“You see?” Edmund said from the back. “Drew is like his car and his car is like him. Everything is a metaphor for something else.”
Vivian laughed. “So cute.”
Chapter Twelve
Vivian’s house had a pool, but it was too cold to go swim.ming. Or that’s what I thought. But it turned out that Viv must have given some people enough heads-up time about tonight that they had suits with them. Bobby was in the water in a Speedo and a set of pecs that glistened like a pair of basking whales, and a couple of guys were batting a ball around with him, trying to act like seals. There were five or six girls in the kind of suits that get more expensive the smaller they are, and there was Vivian in her bikini.
Vivian in her bikini and Miri in her T-shirt and jeans. I had a pretty good idea why she hadn’t mentioned this party to us earlier.
And Vivian in her bikini was a sight to behold. And Ed.ward beheld. In fact, he couldn’t stop beholding. I’d thought he was concentrating at rehearsal. That had been nothing compared to what he was doing now.
Please, Edmund’s God, I thought. Pneumonia. For Vivian. Please. Terminal pneumonia. Now, God, now.
But before God could answer my prayers, Edmund dragged me off to a corner of the yard where he could whisper to me and still keep his eyes on Vivian.
“Miri, do all girls disport themselves so?” he asked me. “Is it common to wear so little before the eyes of men?”
Damn it, Edmund, if I could get you to look at me like that, I’d wear nothing but a smile.
But what I said was, “Some of us, Edmund. But don’t think too much of it. It doesn’t mean anything. Especially to somebody like Viv.”
“What does it mean?” he demanded.
It means you’re an idiot, you idiot.
“I’d say it means she wants to go swimming.”
“Would it be wrong for me to take off my shoes and get into the water with her?”
“Totally,” I said. “Everybody would know why you were doing it and you’d be the biggest dork on the planet. Besides, your clothes would be soaked.”
“How about if I were naked?” Edmund said.
“Worse. So worse. You know what’s the best thing you can do
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