第38章缘,妙不可言(8)
"Ja;Icalledtoher,"IthinkthatMartel'smadeamistake。Theysentusabillfor175dollars。I'msureitshouldbe17dollars50ts。Willyouorrow,soIdthecheque?"Jaa;Ja;Icalledagain,"didyouhear?IsaidMartel'smadeamistake。"Sheloweredthemagazineslowly,lyingitacrossherchest。Icouldtellshewastryingtobecalm。"Ididnotwantyoutoseethat,"shesaidslowly。"IthoughtIhadhiddenitfromtheotherletters。"
IflushedwhehatJahadspentthemoeve!Iwentfromthelivingroomtositohebed,watgherclosely。Wemightaswellgetitallouti。"Doyoumean,"Ibegan,"thatyouspent175dollarswithoutdisgitwithme?Andwhynot?"Jaosmile。"Iamw,too。I'mgoingtopayforit。"
"That'swhatIwanttok。Payforwhat?Ihaven'tseenanythingnewarou;Jaloweredhereyes。"I—Idon'twanttotellyou,Bar's—justsomethiobuy。"IkeptlookiwashardtobelievewhatIhadheard。Jahadspentthemoedit,andnowdidtotellmewhatitwasfor。Ijustotuhatatall。Therewashegattopaythisbill。Itwouldhavetobetakenfrsat。Thatmeah'sdelayinbuyingthehouse。Itwasnotfair。Itviolatedourplansa,andworstofall,Iwouldotrustheragain。Whyhadshedoome?Iwasbeingangrier,andIdecidedIwasgoihebottomsofitall。"Look,Ja;Isaidsharply。"Let'snotplaygames。Iwanttoknowwhatthatbillisfor?Ihavearighttoknow。"Jaouchedmyarm。"Don'tbeangrywithme,Barney?You'vebeenwmuchtoohardtheselastfewmonths。You'resojumpyandnervous。"Shewastryingtoesthesituationahatmademeangrier。Ipulledawayroughly,displeased。"Look,"Irepeated,"Iaskedyouaquestion。Doyourefusetogivemea;Jame,puzzled,asifshewasstrugglingroblem。Whenshefinallyanswered,Ididshesaid。"You'lljusthavetoacceptthematterasitis,"shesaidquickly。"JustbecauseImarriedyoudoesnotmeatoafewprivateaffairs。Yes,Irefusetoa;Withthat,shelookedmeintheeyesagain。Thatturhedevillooseinmybrain。Istoodupaowalkbadforth,urolmyboiliooppeddeadstill。Ikhihavetotellme。Shehadboughtadamnedminkfurscarf。HerfriendCarolhadjustgottehbefore,andIhadseenthatlooki'seyes,thatlookofgreelikeautonherbackcamefirst。
"Youlittlecheat!"Isaid,lookingdown,thewsl。"Iknowwhatyoubought,ahomereallydoesn'tmeananythingtoyou。Allyouileoffahoughtyouwerethekied,butyouhadmefooled。You'relikealotofothers,aloosespe'sendthrift。"Ja'seyessandherfaceshowedhorrora,andIe。ItwasexactlywhatIwaoseehersufferalittle,too。Shegotoutofbedandstoodbeforeme。"Isthatwhatyouthi;Herowmineuphigher。"You'redam,itis!"Iexploded。"IjustwishIhadknow;Nerwasashotasmioodonequalground。
"Youpoorfool!"shesaid。"Youdon'tevenknowwhatyabout。Youdon'tevenknowwhatmarriageis。You'llfindout。Youhaveaimetofindout,alone。I'mgoiomother's,anddon'ttroublegme。Ioseeyouagain。"Ikionwasreallyseriousnow,butIhadnothoughtofgivihergo。She'llsoonrealizeIwasrightandegback。
&mattheoffice,Ikepttomyself,buryingmyselfinwork。omaurnedfromlundBillbesidemydesk,showiofgolfclubstotheotherfellows。"Bestbuyintown!"hesaidproudly。Heturhasmile。"Say,Barney,youusedtoplay,didn'tyou?"Iforcedasmileandsaid"Suredid,"Thatgavemeaartplayingagain。IfIboughtsomegolfclubs,thatwouldeventhingsupwithJaafternoon,IboughttheclubsIwaartedtoswihefloor。Oneball,IhitharderthatImeantto,andtheballrolledacrossthelivingrhthebedroomandi'shalf-ope。