"Kate Wilhelm - April Fools' Day Forever" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

standing there quietly. Not moving at all until she screamed. The
ubiquitous needle to quiet her hysterical sobbing.
"Honey, they woke you up when they opened the hall door. They
didn't say anything for fear of startling her, making her fall before
they could get to her."
"Where is she?"
"Down the hall. I saw her myself. I looked through the observation
window and saw her, sleeping now. She's a manic-depressive, and
losing the baby put her in a tailspin. They're going to take care of
her."
Julia shook her head. She had let him convince her, but it was a lie.
They hadn't been moving at all. They had stood there waiting for the
girl to jump. Watching her quietly, just waiting for the end. If Julia
hadn't awakened and screamed, the girl would be dead now. She
shivered and went to the kitchen to make coffee. The baby was
howling louder.
She lighted a cigarette. Martie would be smoking continuously

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Wilhelm, Kate - April Fools' Day Forever.htm


during the taping. She had sat through several tapings and knew the
routine. The staff members watching, making notes, the director
making notes. Hilary Boyle walked from the blue velvet hangings,
waved at the camera, took his seat behind a massive desk, taking his
time, getting comfortable. She liked Hilary Boyle, in spite of all the
things about his life, about him personally, that she usually didn't
like in people. His self-assurance that bordered on egomania, his
women. She felt that he had assigned her a number and when it
came up he would come to claim her as innocently as a child
demanding his lollipop. She wondered if he would kick and scream
when she said no. The cameras moved in close, he picked up his
clipboard and glanced at the first sheet of paper, then looked into
the camera. And the magic would work again, as it always worked
for him. The X factor.
A TV personality, radiating over wires, through air, from emptiness,
to people everywhere who saw him. How did it work? She didn't
know, neither did anyone else. She stubbed out her cigarette.
She closed her eyes, seeing the scene, Hilary leaving the desk,
turning to wave once, then going through the curtains. Another
successful special. A huddle of three men, or four, comparing notes,
a rough spot here, another there. They could be taken care of with
scissors, Martie, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, mooching
along to his desk.


"Martie, you going home tonight?" Boyle stood in his doorway,
filling it.