"Bradley Denton - We Love Lydia Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Denton Bradley)

her eyes, and whatтАЩs left is a puzzled fear.

тАЬChristopher?тАЭ she says. Her voice quavers. Her ribs strain against her skin as
she breathes.

She is looking at my crotch.

What did I tell you?

This was the one area I hoped the surgeons wouldnтАЩt touch, and to my relief
they decided that it was close enough as it was. Christopher had an average body
with average parts, and so do I. So they didnтАЩt change much besides my face and
voice.

But the surgeons couldnтАЩt see me with LydiaтАЩs eyes. And now sheтАЩs looking
close for the first time. SheтАЩs realizing that IтАЩm someone else.

No. SheтАЩs only confused because weтАЩre not excited.

Lydia stops at the foot of the bed and shifts her weight from one hip to the
other. Her tangled hair is draped over her left shoulder. Her lips are even more
swollen than usual.

тАЬIтАЩm sorry,тАЭ she whispers.

Oh. Well.
 Maybe IтАЩm more like Christopher than I thought.

You are Christopher.

Shut up. I can do this myself now. Whoever I am.


LATER I take ChristopherтАЩs beat-up white Chevy pickup truck and head for the
H.E.B. in Kerrville. Lydia worries over me as I leave the house, but she doesnтАЩt pitch
another fit. She gives me a cash card with ten thousand bucks on it, kisses me, and
tells me to come home safe, goddamn it. As I let the truck coast down the
switchbacked driveway, I glance into the rearview mirror and see that both Lydia and
the stained-glass eye are watching me. Then the trees obscure them, but I know
theyтАЩre still there.

As I reach Texas 27, a guy in a lawn chair under the trees on the far side of
the highway points a camcorder at me. HeтАЩs probably only a tabloid тАШrazzi, but I
wait until the drivewayтАЩs automatic gate closes behind me before I turn toward
Kerrville. After all, Lydia Love has more than her share of obsessive fans. That
hasnтАЩt changed even though she hasnтАЩt recorded and has hardly performed in the
three years since Christopher Jennings came into her life. But I guess her fans know
as well as I do that the phoenix will rise again.

And it will rise thanks to me. To Willie.