The Marine Corpse by William G. Tapply

Author:William G. Tapply [Tapply, William G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784088613
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd
Published: 2013-06-28T21:55:00+00:00

TWELVE

JOEY, MY YOUNGER SON, answered the phone. “Hullo?”

“You shouldn’t talk with your mouth full,” I said.

“Oh, hi there, Pop. Eatin’ a piece of pie. Sorry.”

“Your mother’s chocolate cream, I’ll bet.”

“Lemon meringue.”

“Yum. So. What else are you up to?”

“Just watching the tube, pigging out. The usual.”

“School?”

“Senior slump time. You wanna talk to Mom?”

“Please. But listen. It’s been great engaging in meaningful discourse with you. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

“Sure. Hang on a sec.”

I heard him yell, “Hey, Ma. It’s the old man.”

A moment later Gloria picked up the extension. “You can hang up now, dear,” she said.

Joey said, “Okay. Bye, Pop.”

“The old man,” I said.

She chuckled. “And I’ve become the old lady. So what do you expect?”

“Whatever happened to honoring thy father and thy mother? What about civility?”

“We never did give them much religious training.”

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“They’re teenagers. That’s it.” She sighed. “Anyway, how are you, Brady?”

“I’m okay. Returning your call. What’s up?”

“Why does something have to be up?”

“You called.”

“Can’t I call you without something being up?”

“How long do you want to do this, Gloria?”

“Do what?”

“Sparring. Thrusting and parrying. Come on. When you do that, it’s because there’s something unpleasant you have to say to me, and you’re afraid I’ll be angry or upset, but you know you have to say it anyway. So out with it.”

“Well,” she said. Then she hesitated. “Well, okay.” She paused again. “You really do know me, don’t you?”

“All too well. Come on, Gloria. What’s wrong?”

“It’s Billy.”

“That’s no surprise.”

She sighed. “He wants to quit school.”

“And?”

“And? What do you mean, ‘and’? That’s it. Our number one son, the kid with that one-hundred-forty-something IQ who could’ve gone to Harvard or any place but decided to go to UMass because he didn’t want his friends to think he was a snob, and who refused to apply for scholarships because his old man was loaded, and who started growing a beard and used his first shot at the franchise to vote Socialist Labor—he says college isn’t real. That’s what he’s saying, Brady. ‘College isn’t real.’ Actually, if you can believe it, he said, ‘College ain’t real.’” Gloria took a deep breath. “I thought you’d be furious,” she finished in a small voice.

“Hmm,” I observed.

“You think I’m overreacting?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you do, don’t you?”

“Come on, Gloria.”

“You think I should say to him, ‘Well, that’s just fine, dear. That’s your decision, and we respect your decision. You’re a big boy. It’s your life.’ You think I should say that?”

“Exactly,” I said.

I heard her snort, an abrupt, mirthless laugh. “Well, it’s too late.”

“That’s not what you said to him.”

“No.”

“Funny, but that doesn’t surprise me. So what did you say to him?”

“I said, ‘Your father will be furious.’”

I laughed. “You are truly a piece of work, Gloria.”

“We make a good pair, don’t we?”

“We did.”

“We still do, you know.”

I found myself smiling and nodding as I sat there in my apartment staring out into the night. “Okay, Gloria. I’ll talk to him.”

“What will you say?”

“I’ll be furious.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Hey, I’ll give it my best shot.

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