"Richard Wadholm - From Here You Can See The Sunquists" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wadholm Richard)

late to her own birthday party. Late, and sunburned and sweaty and very guilty.



Mr. Sunquist thought of Piecziznski, the chess master. Well, they were here now.
Whatever he had intended could wait until after. Mrs. Sunquist smiled, though she
plainly was embarrassed. "William, I don't know about this."



"What are you worried about? You know how it turns out."



"I don't want to see this."



"You were asking if you were beautiful." He nodded toward their younger reflections.
"Look at how young we are in this place."



"It's a world of ghosts," Mrs. Sunquist said to the car window. "I don't care how young
they are."



Mr. Sunquist did not blame his wife for being negative. He ascribed her unease to Bobby
Shelbourne's oppressive aura. Understandable, certainly. Bobby Shelbourne was a
vegetarian and pathological spoilsport, one of those people who savored his slights. No
wonder Mrs. Sunquist quailed at the memory of this night. He studied the girl standing
under the real-estate sign. Look at how frantic she is to make her story, he thought.
"The only way out is through," he told Mrs. Sunquist. And then: "Don't be scared." It
was the sort of patronizing admonishment a six-year-old uses on a younger sibling.



Mrs. Sunquist pursed her lips with a moment's thought; then she nodded at an open
curb down the block.



They pulled up in front of a shaded courtyard between two bungalows. Bill and Melanie
had disappeared. Mr. Sunquist heard whispers and laughter though a screen of
rust-colored bougainvillea. Up ahead was the ocean, and a small yard inside a rusted
fence that separated the apartment from the beach. He heard flapping above his head. A
banner cut from bed sheets stretched between a pair of upstairs windows. It read:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELANIE. I LOVE YOU.