Quicksand Read Online Free PDF Page B

the more.
    â€œYou must be crazy!”
    â€œI’ve never known anyone so cold ! Didn’t we promise not to hide anything from each other? Liar!”
    At that moment I’m sure I did seem possessed. As Mitsuko told me later, I was glaring at her, deathly pale and trembling as if I had actually gone mad. And Mitsuko herself trembled as she stared silently into my eyes. She had abandoned the noble pose of the Willow Kannon and was standing there with one knee bent, the tips of her feet touching, her arms crossed shyly before her, looking pathetically beautiful. I felt a stab of pity for her, but when I glimpsed her plump white shoulders through the torn sheet I wanted to rip it off violently. Now I was really frantic and started stripping the sheet from her body. Faced with my determination, Mitsuko seemed to quail. She said nothing and let me do as I pleased. We stared unwaveringly into each other’s eyes with an almost hateful intensity. Then a smile at having finally had my way—a cool, malicious smile of triumph—came to my lips as I peeled off the remnants of the sheet. At last the sculptural form of a divine maiden was fully revealed, and my exultation changed to astonishment.
    â€œAh, how maddening!” I cried, tears flowing down my cheeks. “Such a beautiful body! I could kill you!” As I spoke I grasped her trembling wrist tight with one hand and with the other drew her face near as I brought my lips toward it.
    Suddenly I heard Mitsuko cry out wildly. “Go ahead and kill me! I want you to!”
    I felt her hot breath on my face and saw tears streaming down her own cheeks. Locking our arms around each other, we swallowed our mingled tears.

    That day, though without meaning to hide it from him, I’d said nothing to my husband about bringing Mitsuko home with me, and he had waited in his office, thinking I would stop in on my way back from school. As time went on and I still hadn’t turned up, he telephoned home. “You might have let me know. I’ve been waiting all afternoon.”
    â€œI’m sorry, it slipped my mind—we came here on an impulse.”
    â€œIs Mitsuko still with you?”
    â€œYes, but I expect she’ll be leaving any minute.”
    â€œWell, ask her to stay on a little while. I’ll be right along.”
    â€œThen hurry up, please.”
    That’s what I said, but in my heart I didn’t like the thought of his coming home. After what had happened in the bedroom that afternoon, a joyous feeling had welled up within me. What a wonderful day this had been! I was walking on air; the slightest thing was enough to set my heart beating like a drum. I felt that having my husband return would spoil that precious feeling. All I wanted was to be alone with Mitsuko, to go on being together. We needn’t even talk; I could simply gaze at her in silence. . . . Just to be there beside her gave me boundless happiness.
    â€œListen, Mitsuko,” I said. “That phone call was from my husband. He says he’s coming home. What are you going to do?”
    â€œOh dear, what should I do?”
    Mitsuko hastily began putting on her clothes. It was already five o’clock, two or three hours since she had draped herself in that sheet. “Is it all right for me to leave without seeing him?”
    â€œHe’s been saying he wants to meet you. . . . Do you mind waiting a little longer?”
    Although I asked her to stay, the truth was that I hoped she would leave before he came home. I wanted the whole day to be a happy one; I didn’t want its beautiful memory marred by a third person. That was how I felt, so naturally I was out of sorts when my husband arrived. I must have seemed in a bad mood. Even Mitsuko had hardly anything to say, partly because of my attitude, partly because she was meeting him for the first time. Maybe she felt guilty too. All three of us seemed distracted and ill at ease,