Fault Lines by Kate Wilhelm

Author:Kate Wilhelm [Wilhelm, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780671424251
Goodreads: 890489
Publisher: Pocket
Published: 1977-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“With what?” I had turned away and wouldn’t look at him.

“Got a refund of part of our rent. Come on.” He pulled me up and pushed me inside the building, up the six flights of stairs.

“What are you doing? Where are you going? When are we going to move?” My mother watched me yank off my clothes and pull on a black skirt and blue blouse, both old, shabby, but the best I had, the clothes I kept for important occasions, like dancing all night with Jason.

“I’ll tell you later,” I said. “Don’t wait up.” I dabbed on lipstick, ran the comb through my hair, and ran out to the hallway where Jason was waiting.

We danced in dimly lighted supper clubs and in a large ballroom where a revolving light cast out different colors through red, blue, yellow, green colored glass. We danced in Central Park where shanty town had been, and people threw pennies to a three-piece band playing jazz, and we danced in a speakeasy near the university where we drank bad gin and smoked bad dope. And we danced on the street on our way home at dawn. Jason had become more and more excited throughout the night, and I had caught his excitement. We laughed and giggled and danced like children at a party, and didn’t know we were ready to faint from exhaustion.

“I want to dance out of this life to somewhere else!” Jason shouted once, and I wanted that too. It was frenetic, wild, crazy, and we both knew it and yielded to the craziness out of despair. Be crazy or... or nothing.

We danced up the stairs to my apartment and I threw the pillows off the sofa for him to sleep on on the floor, and I felt myself falling, falling. He sat on the floor smiling at me. “This has been the happiest time of my life,” he said.

“Emily!” I tried not to hear the voice, but it came again, “Emily!” My mother stood in the doorway to her room, her face tight with shock and anger.

Jason sat crosslegged bn the floor where I had last seen

FAULT LINES 97

him, staring at me. The pillows were as I had thrown them. A flood of terror snapped me wide awake.

“Jason? What’s wrong?” He didn’t move.

“Emily, what is the meaning of this? I won’t live like this! I would rather see you dead and in your grave than living like this!”

“Mother, shut up! Jason, look at me.” I touched his hand. He didn’t move, didn’t even blink. There was the smell of urine. The floor was wet.

“Jason, please! Look at me!” I touched his cheek. It was hot, feverish. He stared straight ahead.

“He’s drunk! You went out and got drunk, both of you! You’re living a whore’s life and I won’t tolerate it! You hear me?”

“Shut your goddamn mouth! Get out of here and call a

doctor!”

I heard a door slam. She had gone back into her room. I was afraid to leave him, but I had to have help, and finally I went.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.