surprise you."
"Yeah? Some surprise." I tried to march away but my legs felt like hot rubber bands. "I'm old!
What the hell am I doing old?"
"You should be happy! Now you know you're going to live a long time.
That's what you get for punching Astopel."
"The guy stole my watch!"
"Yeah but you weren't exactly diplomatic taking it back."
I shook my head. "You would've done the same thing! What about the guy you hit at the Schiavo house?"
"That was different." He crossed his arms to indicate _that _discussion was finished.
"My grandson! If I had a grandson like you I'd move to Sumatra."
"If you were my grandfather I'd buy you the ticket."
"So are you fellas catching up on family business?" Droopy came up and was all smiles again.
"What's your name?" I had to start somewhere and knowing who he was might lead to something.
"August Gould, Gus to my friends; pleased to make your acquaintance. _Again. _You want to shake hands now and make it official?"
"Gus Gould."
"That's right, sir." He was smiling like a carved Halloween pumpkin.
"Gus, my memory is a sieve today. Tell me exactly where we are and what we're doing here."
"We're in Vienna, Austria, Fran. This is a two-week tour of Europe and we got one more week to po. After here we go to Venice, Florence, Rome, Athens, and then home."
"Where's home?" I almost didn't want to ask for fear he'd say some place like Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
"Yours is New York. Mine is St. Louis."
Page 57
"Crane's View, New York?"
"No, the city. Manhattan."
The kid looked at me. "That's cool. I wouldn't mind living in the city. But what happened to Crane's View?"
I shrugged and turned back to Gus. "And you say my wife's name is Susan? Not Magda?"
"Come on, Fran, now you are pulling my leg! You can't not know who your wife is, for crying out loud. If your memory was _that _bad she'd have to lead you around on a leash." He sighed like my little game with him had gone on too long. "Susan Ginnety. That's her name as far as I know. Although I don't think
I'd be so happy having a wife that didn't want my last name when we got married."
Both the kid and I yelped in disbelief the instant we heard her full name spoken. Susan Ginnety? I had married Susan Gin-nety? The kid was so overwhelmed by the news that he jumped away from me, grabbed his head, and did an agony dance right diere on the spot.
"Susan Ginnety?! Eeyow! You married that spaz? First Magda Ostrova out of tenth grade and then Susan Ginnety? What happened to your brain?
No, what happened to _my _brain? You killed it!"
"Cut it out! I know as much about this as you do. Susan's already married!
She's--Uh-oh." I suddenly remembered right before all this happened she and her husband had separated. "We gotta find her. We gotta talk to her. Gus, where is she? Do you know where Susan is now?"
He glanced at his watch. It was a strange-looking thing. Appeared to be more a black rubber bracelet than a watch. And from what I could see, the numbers on it made no sense, watch-wise.
He brought it close to his mouth and said, "Call Susan Ginnety."
The kid let fly a low whistle. "That's a _phone?'_
Gus raised his eyebrows but said nothing, obviously waiting for some kind of response from his phone. Suddenly he began talking. "Susan?
Hi, it's Gus Gould. Yeah, I'm keepin' an eye on him and that grandson of yours. What? Yeah, your grandson. No wait, wait. I got Frannie right here.
Says he wants to talk to you about something." He smiled at me. I frowned.
"Well, Fran, go ahead, talk to her."
"What do you mean?"
He pointed to my wrist and for the first time I saw/realized I was wearing one of those bracelets; the kid too. Hesitantly I brought it up toward my face but didn't know how far away I was supposed to keep it when I spoke. From afar it must have looked like I was afraid the bracelet was going to bite me.
"Susan?"
Page 58
"Hi, Frannie. What's up?"
Her voice was crystal-clear, but how the hell was I
"Yeah? Some surprise." I tried to march away but my legs felt like hot rubber bands. "I'm old!
What the hell am I doing old?"
"You should be happy! Now you know you're going to live a long time.
That's what you get for punching Astopel."
"The guy stole my watch!"
"Yeah but you weren't exactly diplomatic taking it back."
I shook my head. "You would've done the same thing! What about the guy you hit at the Schiavo house?"
"That was different." He crossed his arms to indicate _that _discussion was finished.
"My grandson! If I had a grandson like you I'd move to Sumatra."
"If you were my grandfather I'd buy you the ticket."
"So are you fellas catching up on family business?" Droopy came up and was all smiles again.
"What's your name?" I had to start somewhere and knowing who he was might lead to something.
"August Gould, Gus to my friends; pleased to make your acquaintance. _Again. _You want to shake hands now and make it official?"
"Gus Gould."
"That's right, sir." He was smiling like a carved Halloween pumpkin.
"Gus, my memory is a sieve today. Tell me exactly where we are and what we're doing here."
"We're in Vienna, Austria, Fran. This is a two-week tour of Europe and we got one more week to po. After here we go to Venice, Florence, Rome, Athens, and then home."
"Where's home?" I almost didn't want to ask for fear he'd say some place like Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
"Yours is New York. Mine is St. Louis."
Page 57
"Crane's View, New York?"
"No, the city. Manhattan."
The kid looked at me. "That's cool. I wouldn't mind living in the city. But what happened to Crane's View?"
I shrugged and turned back to Gus. "And you say my wife's name is Susan? Not Magda?"
"Come on, Fran, now you are pulling my leg! You can't not know who your wife is, for crying out loud. If your memory was _that _bad she'd have to lead you around on a leash." He sighed like my little game with him had gone on too long. "Susan Ginnety. That's her name as far as I know. Although I don't think
I'd be so happy having a wife that didn't want my last name when we got married."
Both the kid and I yelped in disbelief the instant we heard her full name spoken. Susan Ginnety? I had married Susan Gin-nety? The kid was so overwhelmed by the news that he jumped away from me, grabbed his head, and did an agony dance right diere on the spot.
"Susan Ginnety?! Eeyow! You married that spaz? First Magda Ostrova out of tenth grade and then Susan Ginnety? What happened to your brain?
No, what happened to _my _brain? You killed it!"
"Cut it out! I know as much about this as you do. Susan's already married!
She's--Uh-oh." I suddenly remembered right before all this happened she and her husband had separated. "We gotta find her. We gotta talk to her. Gus, where is she? Do you know where Susan is now?"
He glanced at his watch. It was a strange-looking thing. Appeared to be more a black rubber bracelet than a watch. And from what I could see, the numbers on it made no sense, watch-wise.
He brought it close to his mouth and said, "Call Susan Ginnety."
The kid let fly a low whistle. "That's a _phone?'_
Gus raised his eyebrows but said nothing, obviously waiting for some kind of response from his phone. Suddenly he began talking. "Susan?
Hi, it's Gus Gould. Yeah, I'm keepin' an eye on him and that grandson of yours. What? Yeah, your grandson. No wait, wait. I got Frannie right here.
Says he wants to talk to you about something." He smiled at me. I frowned.
"Well, Fran, go ahead, talk to her."
"What do you mean?"
He pointed to my wrist and for the first time I saw/realized I was wearing one of those bracelets; the kid too. Hesitantly I brought it up toward my face but didn't know how far away I was supposed to keep it when I spoke. From afar it must have looked like I was afraid the bracelet was going to bite me.
"Susan?"
Page 58
"Hi, Frannie. What's up?"
Her voice was crystal-clear, but how the hell was I
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