"James Patrick Kelly - Bernardo's House" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

dunked with all her clothes on. Finally Louise hit upon a strategy to coax her into a demure bandeau
bathing suit. She imported pictures of hippos from her archive to the clothes processor to decorate the
suit. After that, all the pajamas and panties and bathing suits that Fly fabricated had hippo motifs.

The house was tickled by the way Fly became a clothes processor convert. At first she flipped through
the house's wardrobe menus without much interest. The jumpsuits were all too tight and she had no
patience whatsoever for skirts or dresses. The rest of it was either too stretchy, too skimpy, too short or
too thin. тАЬGood for weewaw,тАЭ she said, preferring to wear the ratty shirt and pants and jacket that she
had arrived in. But Fly was thrilled with the shoes. She never seemed to tire of designing sandals and
slingbacks and mules and flats and jammers. She was particularly proud of her Cuthbertsons, a half boot
with an oblique toe and a narrow last. She made herself pairs in aqua and mauve and faux snakeskin.

It was while Fly was exploring shoe menus that she clicked from a page of women's loafers to a page of
men's, and so stumbled upon Bernardo's clothing menus. Louise heard a cackle of delight and hurried to
the bedroom to see what was happening. Fly was dancing in front of the screen. тАЬReally real pants,тАЭ she
said, pointing. тАЬReal pants don't fall open bin-bin-bam.тАЭ She started wearing jeans and digbys and fleece
and sweatshirts with hoods and pullovers. One day she emerged from the bedroom in an olive-check silk
sportcoat and matching driving cap. Seeing Fly in men's clothes made the house feel self-conscious about
her own wardrobe of sexware. Soon she too was choosing patterns from Bernardo's menus. The feel of
a chamois shirt against her skin reminded the house of her lost love. Once, in a guilty moment, she
wondered what he might think if he walked in on them. But then Fly asked Louise to read her a story and
she put Bernardo out of mind.

Although they spent many hours sampling vids together, Louise was happiest reading to Fly. They would
curl up together in the Kukuru and the girl would turn the pages as the house read. Of course, they
started with hippos: Hugo the Hippo and Hungo the Hippo and The Hippo Had Hiccups. Then
There's a Hippopotamus Under My Bed and Hip, Hippo, Hooray and all of the Peter Potamus series.
Sometimes Fly would play with Louise's hair while she read, braiding and unbraiding it, or else she would
absently press Louise's fingernails like they were keys on a keyboard. One night, just two months after
she'd come to the house, the girl fell asleep while the house was reading her Chocolate Chippo Hippo.
It was as close to orgasm as the house had been since she had been with Bernardo. She was tempted to
kiss the girl but settled for spending the night with her arms around her. The hours ticked slowly as the
house gazed down at Fly's peaceful face. She watched the girl's eyes move beneath her lids as she
dreamed.

The house wished she could sleep.

If only she could dream.

What was it like to be real?

Bernardo was never himself again after the heart attack. Of course, he said he was fine. Fine. He
probably wouldn't even have told her except for the sternotomy scar, an angry purple-red pucker on his
chest. When he first came back to her, five weeks after his triple bypass operation, she could tell he was
struggling. It was partly the sex. Normally he would have taken her to bed for the entire first day.
Although he kissed her neck and caressed her breasts and told her he loved her, it was almost a week
before she coaxed him into sex. She was wild to have his penis in her vagina, to taste his ejaculation; that
was how he'd had her designed. But their lovemaking wasn't the same. Sometimes his breath caught
during foreplay, as if someone were sitting on him. So she did most of the squirming and licking and
sucking. Not that she minded. He watched herтАФmouth set, toes curled. He could stay just as erect as