Night Work Read Online Free PDF Page B

to play for you?” Her Yamaha keyboard stood waiting in the corner, by one of the front windows.
    “Anything.”
    “We have to be quiet,” she said as she sat down behind it. “Mrs. Hornbeck, the lady who lives downstairs—she’s a light sleeper.”
    I wasn’t sure where to sit. I could have pulled up a chair next to her and watched her play, but somehow that didn’t seem right to me. Too much like a scene out of a movie. So I sat down on the wide ledge below the other front window. She looked at me over the keyboard and started to play. It didn’t take me more than four or five notes to recognize “There WillNever Be Another You,” one of Harry Warren’s old classics.
    “You told me you didn’t play jazz,” I said.
    “It’s not that hard a song. And I’m playing it pretty straight.”
    “Well, it sounds great.”
    She played with the volume turned low. If I had been tired, if I had closed my eyes … Her music would have been hypnotic. But I was still way too wired for that. I kept asking myself if this was really happening.
    When she was done she got up from the keyboard and came over to me. I stood up and kissed her. We moved together, one step toward the bedroom maybe, or somewhere. Then I hit my head on the ceiling again. I lost my balance and was about to pull us both down on the floor. When I reached out to grab something, I knocked a container of jewelry beads to the floor.
    “Oh God,” I said, bending down to pick them up. I managed to grab three or four of them, leaving just a few hundred more to roll all over the place. “I’m sorry, Marlene.”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “No, really. I’m kind of hopeless tonight. You must think I’m a real headcase.”
    “Joe, come on.”
    I stayed down on one knee. I picked up another few beads, shaking my head.
    “I’ve knocked things over a million times,” shesaid. “I have a little vacuum that picks everything up. Seriously, it won’t take me more than a few minutes. Just leave it.”
    “I should go,” I said, still bent over on the floor. “Before I burn the house down or something.”
    She took my hand and pulled me up to my feet. I hit my head on the ceiling again.
    “You’ve been a wreck all evening,” she said. “You haven’t relaxed for one second. Am I that scary?”
    “I wouldn’t say scary, no.”
    “You could pick me up and throw me over your shoulder without breaking a sweat.” She put her hands on my chest. I was sure she could feel my heart beating.
    “Maybe …” I said. Maybe what, genius? What are you going to say next? “Maybe you want to do something else sometime. I can show you more of Kingston.”
    “Yeah, that would be nice.” She moved her hands lightly across my shirt.
    “Good. We’ll do that.”
    “This thing really messed you up, didn’t it.”
    I closed my eyes. What was I going to say? How could I begin to explain it?
    “You said it’s been two years, right? That’s a long time to be broken.”
    “Marlene …”
    She put one finger to my lips. “Don’t talk anymore, okay?”
    She took me by the hand again, this time to lead me into her bedroom. If what she said was right, if Iwas really broken … Well, one night wasn’t going to fix me.
    But she gave it a shot.
    I was putting my clothes back on while she was in the bathroom, a few hundred different things going through my head. I couldn’t spend the night there. That was the only thing I knew for sure. She didn’t seem to expect it, so at least I didn’t have to do some kind of awkward dance out the door, hopping back into my pants on the way.
    I did have to step on all the jewelry beads on the floor, though, nearly landing on my ass. When I had regained my balance, she gave me a quick kiss and opened the door for me.
    When I was safely out of the place, I squeezed my way down the spiral staircase, made it to the ground, and turned around to look back at her. She was leaning over the balcony.
    “Good night, Joe,” she