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relieved, "
'cause I've had my fill of doctors. And I'd just as soon nobody else
heard about . . . last night."
    I could see a problem coming up. But there was no way
around it, except to lie to him. And that would only create more
problems. I decided to give it to him straight. "I did make one
call, Lonnie. Earlier today I called University City, trying to track
down someone who knew you. You know it has been eighteen years, old
buddy."
    "Aw, fuck," Lonnie said, with a bloodless,
horrified look. "You called my old lady, didn't you?"
    "Yeah, I did."
    "Aw, fuck!" he said again, loudly. He
jumped up from the chair and began to pace the room. "God damn
it, man! I wish you hadn't done that."
    "I didn't know, Lonnie," I said, feeling
bad for him.
    "God damn it!" he said. "Is she the
one you're going to pick up at the airport?"
    I nodded reluctantly.
    "I don't want to see her, man," Lonnie
almost shouted. "I don't want her to see me."
    "She wanted to come," I said, even though
it wasn't true.
    "Sure," he said contemptuously. "So
she can see what a fuck-up I am." He stopped pacing and glared
at me angrily.
    "Just keep her away from me, man. I'm asking
you. She took my kids, man. She broke my fucking heart."
    "All right," I said. "I'll keep her
away."
    "Send her back home."
    "I'll try," I said.
    He sat back down heavily on the easy chair. "That
bitch, Karen. She's the whole reason why I'm here."
    I looked him over carefully, wondering if he was
going to lose it again. "Are you going to be all right while I'm
gone?" I asked.
    "Yes," he said angrily. "Sure. I'm not
a kid, you know."
    "You're not going to do anything stupid, right?"
    "For chrissake, Harry," Lonnie said. "I
told you I wouldn't do that to you twice. I'll be all right. I'll
catch some z's. Okay?"
    I said okay. But I wasn't sure.
 

    7
    All the way out to the airport, I worried about
leaving Lonnie alone. I even thought of turning back a couple of
times, but managed to talk myself out of it. After all, I told
mvself, he was a grown man. And there was a limit to what anyone can
do for anyone else. I couldn't play big brother to him for the rest
of his life, like it was 1968 again. Still, I worried.
    By the time I made it through the snow and rain to
Cincinnati International, it was well past eleven. I parked in the
short-term lot and bulled my way through the wind to the Delta
terminal, one of three huge hangar-shaped buildings flanking the
runways.
    The ground floor of the terminal had the eerie,
untenanted look of a building under construction. The ticket
counters, rent-a-car booths, and luggage carousels were unmanned and
dimly lit. The only signs of life were the ubiquitous TV monitors,
flashing their endless stream of flight information. I checked one of
the screens, hoping that Karen Jackowski's flight had been late. I
was late; her plane had arrived on schedule.
    I took the elevator up to the arrival and departure
gates on the second floor. It was deserted too, except for a few
groggy attendants behind the counters. I checked the coffee shop on
my way to the arrival gates--in case Karen had gotten tired of
waiting. Aside from a rent-a-cop hunched over a racing form and one
lorn waitress sitting on a stool, the place was deserted.
    I headed down the broad, fluorescent walkway that led
to the gates. About halfway down the hall, I spotted Karen Jackowski,
sitting alone in one of the arrival bays, a canvas duck travel bag at
her feet. She spotted me, too, and waved a hand. It wasn't until that
moment that I asked myself what I was going to do with her. I knew
what I wanted to do--put her and Lonnie together again and see if
they couldn't lend each other some support. But I didn't think Lonnie
would sit for that. And from the way she had sounded on the phone, I
figured that Karen Jackowski wouldn't either.
    "Are you Harry Stoner?" she called out.
    "I'm Harry," I said, walking up to her.
"Sorry I'm late. The weather slowed me down."
    She smiled at me. "I figured."
    I