Acceptable Losses by Irwin Shaw

Author:Irwin Shaw [Shaw, Irwin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3, pdf
ISBN: 9781480412330
Publisher: Open Road
Published: 2013-02-27T19:52:00+00:00

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

WHEN SHE GOT BACK to the school after lunch Sheila found a telegram waiting for her. It was from her mother’s doctor in Vermont. Her mother was in serious condition. She had had a stroke and was in the hospital in Burlington.

Sheila called Damon’s office, but Miss Walton said that Mr. Damon hadn’t come back from lunch yet, but Mr. Gabrielsen was just coming through the door, did Mrs. Damon want to talk to him.

“Yes,” Sheila said. Then when Oliver was on the line she explained about the telegram and asked Oliver to tell Roger to call her at the apartment, where she was going to pack a bag before leaving for Vermont on an Allegheny Airlines plane. If he didn’t get in before going to the airport she would leave a note for him at home. “Oliver,” she said, her voice troubled, “I don’t like to impose on you, but I hate to leave Roger alone at a time like this. I don’t know how long I’ll be away, but do you think you could take him in at your place for a few days? I don’t want him alone in the apartment, especially at night, and I know he’ll refuse to go to a hotel.”

“Of course, Sheila,” Oliver said. “I’ll try. But I can’t guarantee anything. He doesn’t seem even to hear what I’m saying these days. But I’ll do my best.

I’ll ask him to stay with us or I’ll offer to stay with him till you come back or anything you suggest.”

“You’re a dear friend, Oliver,” Sheila said.

“I hope everything goes all right up in Vermont.”

“Thanks.” She hung up and took a taxi to the apartment and before doing anything else turned on the answering machine. There were no messages. She unplugged the machine and started throwing things into a suitcase. She waited as long as she could, then wrote a hasty note for Roger and left it on the little table opposite the front door in the foyer, ran down the steps and hailed a passing taxi to take her to the airport.

Damon had his lunch alone in a restaurant where he was not known. He didn’t want to see anybody he would have to talk to this afternoon. He had had another puzzling dream the night before and he wanted to try to figure out what it meant undisturbed. In the dream he was at a big party with Sheila, surrounded by a great many people, none of whom he recognized. Dinner was served from a buffet and people were wandering around with plates of food. The food was elaborate and rich, but very good. Suddenly his father came in, but it was not the smiling, rosy man in Damon’s recurrent dream, nor the young, careless man who had called to his brother Davey, who had somehow grown into Lieutenant Schulter, “Give him some money, Davey.” Now his father was of an age somewhere between the young man of that dream and the older man of the other.

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