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Bob, I dont want to play g-

Pick!

She pointed to his right hand, just to get it over with. He laughed. You read my mind but you always could, couldnt you?

He turned his fist over and opened it. On his palm lay a single coin, tails-side up, so she could see it was a wheat penny. Not uncirculated by any means, but still in great shape. Assuming there were no scratches on the Lincoln side, she thought it was either F or VF. She reached for it, then paused. He nodded for her to go ahead. She turned it over, quite sure of what she would see. Nothing else could adequately explain his excitement. It was what she expected: a 1955 double-date. A double- die, in numismatic terms.

Holy God, Bobby! Where? Did you buy it? An uncirculated 55 double-die had recently sold at an auction in Miami for over eight thousand dollars, setting a new record. This one wasnt in that kind of shape, but no coin dealer with half a brain would have let it go for under four.

God no! Some of the other fellows invited me to lunch at that Thai place, Eastern Promises, and I almost went, but I was working the goddarn Vision Associates account-you know, the private bank I told you about?-and so I gave Monica ten bucks and told her to get me a sandwich and a Fruitopia at Subway. She brought it back with the change in the bag. I shook it out and there it was! He plucked the penny from her hand and held it over his head, laughing up at it.

She laughed with him, then thought (as these days she often did): HE DID NOT SUFFER!

Isnt it great, honey?

Yes, she said. Im happy for you. And, odd or not (perverse or not), she really was. He had brokered sales of several over the years and could have bought one for himself any old time, but that wasnt the same as just coming across one. He had even forbidden her to give him one for Christmas or his birthday. The great accidental find was a collectors most joyous moment, he had said so during their first real conversation, and now he had what he had been checking handfuls of change for all his life. His hearts desire had come spilling out of a white sandwich-shop paper bag along with a turkey-bacon wrap.

He enveloped her in a hug. She hugged him back, then pushed him gently away. What are you going to do with it, Bobby? Put it in a Lucite cube?

This was a tease, and he knew it. He cocked a finger-gun and shot her in the head. Which was all right, because when you were shot with a finger-gun, you did not suffer.

She continued to smile at him, but now saw him again (after that brief, loving lapse) for what he was: the Darker Husband. Gollum, with his precious.

You know better. Im going to photo it, hang the photo on the wall, then tuck the penny away in our safe deposit box. What would you say it is, F or VF?

She examined it again, then looked at him with a rueful smile. Id love to say VF, but-

Yeah, I know, I know-and I shouldnt care. Youre not supposed to count the teeth when someone gives you a horse, but its hard to resist. Better than VG, though, right? Honest opinion, Darce.

My honest opinion is that youll do it again.

Better than VG, definitely.

His smile faded. For a moment she was sure he had guessed what she was thinking, but she should have known better; on this side of the mirror, she could keep secrets, too.

Its not about the quality, anyway. Its about the finding. Not getting it from a dealer or picking it out of a catalogue, but actually finding one when you least expect it.

I know. She smiled. If my dad was here right now, hed be cracking a bottle of champagne.

Ill take care of that little detail at dinner tonight, he said. Not in Yarmouth, either. Were going to Portland. Pearl of the Shore. What do you say?

Oh, honey, I dont know-

He took her lightly by the shoulders as he always did when he wanted her to understand that he was really serious about a thing. Come on-its going to be mild enough tonight for your prettiest summer dress. I heard it on the weather when I was driving back. And Ill buy you all the champagne you can drink. How can you say no to a deal like that?

Well She considered. Then smiled. I guess I cant. 15 -

They had not just one bottle of very pricey Mo?t et Chandon but two, and Bob drank most of it. Consequently it was Darcy who drove home in his quietly humming little Prius while Bob sat in the passenger seat, singing Pennies from Heaven in his on-key but not particularly melodious voice. He was drunk, she realized. Not just high, but actually drunk. It was the first time she had seen him that way in ten years. Ordinarily he watched his booze intake like a hawk, and sometimes, when someone at a party asked him why he wasnt drinking, hed quote a line from True Grit: I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my mind. Tonight, high on his discovery of the double-date, he had allowed his mind to be stolen, and she knew what she intended to do as soon as he ordered that second bottle of bubbly. In the restaurant, she wasnt sure she could carry it through, but listening to him sing on the way home, she knew. Of course she could do it. She was the Darker Wife now, and the Darker Wife knew that what he thought of as his good luck had really been her own. 16 -

Inside the house he whirled his sport coat onto the tree by the door and pulled her into his arms for a long kiss. She could taste champagne and sweet cr?me br?l?e on his breath. It was not a bad combination, although she knew if things happened as they might, she would never want either again. His hand went to her breast. She let it linger there, feeling him against her, and then pushed him away. He looked disappointed, but brightened when she smiled.

Im going upstairs and getting out of this dress, she said. Theres Perrier in the refrigerator. If you bring me a glass-with a wedge of lime-you might get lucky, mister.

He broke into a grin at that-his old, well-loved grin. Because there was one long-established habit of marriage they had not resumed since the night he had smelled her discovery (yes, smelled it, just as a wise old wolf may smell a poisoned bait) and come rushing home from Montpelier. Day by day they had walled up what he was-yes, as surely as Montresor had walled up his old pal Fortunato-and sex in the connubial bed would be the last brick.

He clicked his heels and threw her a British-style salute, fingers to forehead, palm out. Yes, maam.

Dont be long, she said pleasantly. Mama wants what Mama wants.

Going up the stairs, she thought: This will never work. The only thing youll succeed in doing is getting yourself killed. He may not think hes capable of it, but I think he is.

Maybe that would be all right, though. Assuming he didnt hurt her first, as hed hurt those women. Maybe any sort of resolution would be all right. She couldnt spend the rest of her life looking in mirrors. She wasnt a kid anymore, and couldnt get away with a kids craziness.

She went into the bedroom, but only long enough to toss her purse onto the table beside the hand mirror. Then she went out again and called, Are you coming, Bobby? I could really use those bubbles!

On my way, maam, just pouring it over ice!

And here he came out of the living room and into the hall, holding one of their good crystal glasses up before him at eye level like a comic-opera waiter, weaving slightly as he crossed to the foot of the stairs. He continued to hold the glass up as he mounted them, the wedge of lime bobbing around on top. His free hand trailed lightly along the banister; his face shone with happiness and good cheer. For a moment she almost weakened, and then the image of Helen and Robert Shaverstone filled her mind, hellishly clear: the son and his molested, mutilated mother floating together in a Massachusetts creek that had begun to grow lacings of ice at its sides.

One glass of Perrier for the lady, coming right uh-

She saw the knowledge leap into his eyes at the very last second, something old and yellow and ancient. It was more than surprise; it was shocked fury. In that moment her understanding of him was complete. He loved nothing, least of all her. Every kindness, caress, boyish grin, and thoughtful gesture-all were nothing but camouflage. He was a shell. There was nothing inside but howling emptiness.

She pushed him.

It was a hard push and he made a three-quarters somersault above the stairs before coming down on them, first on his knees, then on his arm, then full on his face. She heard his arm break. The heavy Waterford glass shattered on one of the uncarpeted risers. He rolled over again and she heard something else inside him snap. He screamed in pain and somersaulted one final time before landing on the hardwood hall floor in a heap, the broken arm (not broken in just one place but in several) cocked back over his head at an angle nature had never intended. His head was twisted, one cheek on the floor.

Darcy hurried down the stairs. At one point she stepped on an ice cube, slipped, and had to grab the banister to save herself. At the bottom she saw a huge knob now poking out of the skin on the nape of his neck, turning it white, and said: Dont move, Bob, I think your neck is broken.

His eye rolled up to look at her. Blood was trickling from his nose-that looked broken, too-and a lot more was coming out of his mouth. Almost gushing out. You pushed me, he said. Oh Darcy, why did you push me?

I dont know, she said, thinking we both know. She began to cry. Crying came naturally; he was her husband, and he was badly hurt. Oh God, I dont know. Something came over me. Im sorry. Dont move, Ill call 911 and tell them to send an ambulance.

His foot scraped across the floor. Im not paralyzed, he said. Thank God for that. But it hurts.

I know, honey.

Call the ambulance! Hurry!

She went into the kitchen, spared a brief glance for the phone in its charger-cradle, then opened the cabinet under the sink. Hello? Hello? Is this 911? She took out the box of plastic GLAD bags, the storage-size ones she used for the leftovers when they had chicken or roast beef, and pulled one from the box. This is Darcellen Anderson, Im calling from 24 Sugar Mill Lane, in Yarmouth! Have you got that?

From another drawer, she took a dishwiper from the top of the pile. She was still crying. Nose like a firehose, theyd said when they were kids. Crying was good. She needed to cry, and not just because it would look better for her later on. He was her husband, he was hurt, she needed to cry. She remembered when he still had a full head of hair. She remembered his flashy breakaway move when they danced to Footloose. He brought her roses every year on her birthday. He never forgot. They had gone to Bermuda, where they rode bikes in the morning and made love in the afternoon. They had built a life together and now that life was over and she needed to cry. She wrapped the dishwiper around her hand and then stuffed her hand into the plastic bag.

I need an ambulance, my husband fell down the stairs. I think his neck might be broken. Yes! Yes! Right away!

She walked back into the hall with her right hand behind her back. She saw he had pulled himself away from the foot of the stairs a little, and it looked like hed tried to turn over on his back, but at that he hadnt been successful. She knelt down beside him.

I didnt fall, he said. You pushed me. Why did you push me?

I guess for the Shaverstone boy, she said, and brought her hand out from behind her back. She was crying harder than ever. He saw the plastic bag. He saw the hand inside clutching the wad of toweling. He understood what she meant to do. Perhaps he had done something like it himself. Probably he had.

He began screaming only the screams werent really screams at all. His mouth was filled with blood, something had broken inside of his throat, and the sounds he produced were more guttural growls than screams. She jammed the plastic bag between his lips and deep inside his mouth. He had broken a number of teeth in the fall, and she could feel the jagged stumps. If they tore into her skin, she might have some serious explaining to do.

She yanked her hand free before he could bite, leaving the plastic bag and the dishwiper behind. She grabbed his jaw and chin. The other hand she put on top of his balding head. The flesh there was very warm. She could feel it throbbing with blood. She jammed his mouth shut on the wad of plastic and cloth. He tried to beat her off, but he only had one arm free, and that was the one that had been broken in the fall. The other was twisted beneath him. His feet paddled jerkily back and forth on the hardwood floor. One of his shoes came off. He was gurgling. She yanked her dress up to her waist, freeing her legs, then lunged forward, trying to straddle him. If she could do that, maybe she could pinch his nostrils shut.

But before she could try, his chest began to heave beneath her, and the gurgles became a deep grunting in his throat. It reminded her of how, when she was learning to drive, she would sometimes grind the transmission trying to find second gear, which was elusive on her fathers old Chevrolet standard. Bob jerked, the one eye she could see bulging and cowlike in its socket. His face, which had been a bright crimson, now began to turn purple. He settled back onto the floor. She waited, gasping for breath, her face lathered with snot and tears. The eye was no longer rolling, and no longer bright with panic. She thought he was d Bob gave one final, titanic jerk and flung her off. He sat up, and she saw his top half no longer exactly matched his bottom half; he had broken his back as well as his neck, it seemed. His plastic-lined mouth yawned. His eyes met hers in a stare she knew she would never forget but one she could live with, should she get through this.

Dar! Arrrrrr!

He fell backward. His head made an egglike cracking sound on the floor. Darcy crawled closer to him, but not close enough to be in the mess. She had his blood on her, of course, and that was all right-she had tried to help him, it was only natural-but that didnt mean she wanted to bathe in it. She sat up, propped on one hand, and watched him while she waited for her breath to come back. She watched to see if he would move. He didnt. When five minutes had gone by according to the little jeweled Michele on her wrist-the one she always wore when they went out-she reached a hand to the side of his neck and felt for a pulse there. She kept her fingers against his skin until she had counted all the way to thirty, and there was nothing. She lowered her ear to his chest, knowing this was the moment where he would come back to life and grab her. He didnt come back to life because there was no life left in him: no beating heart, no breathing lungs. It was over. She felt no satisfaction (let alone triumph) but only a focused determination to finish this and do it right. Partly for herself, but mostly for Donnie and Pets.