Six

Excerpt

At the first sound of someone climbing the stairs, Ralph sprang from the bed and slipped hastily into his bathrobe. Thrusting the billfold under his pillow, he managed, just in the nick of time, to be casually lighting a cigarette.

Ralph’s younger cousin George burst into the room, but stopped in his tracks. A comical expression of mingled surprise and embarrassment formed on his countenance. George’s face reddened and he backed out just as quickly as he had come in, stammering profuse apologies. Glancing down, Ralph saw what was the matter and laughed aloud, but quietly. In his haste he had neglected to secure his robe in front, and it had parted, revealing him down the middle. George had unmistakably learned what Ralph did in private sometimes.

Funny about George. He was so easily embarrassed. Ralph shrugged his shoulders and wandered toward the window, troubled by the yearning thoughts that often plague young men in the spring. Soon there came a tentative knock at the door.

“Come in.”

“I’m sorry if I kept you from getting your shower,” George said, trying to ignore his discovery. He stopped just inside the door. “I’ll take just a second of your time. But I just—”

“If that’s what I was going to do,” smiled Ralph, “it can wait. Come on in—and shut the door, if you don’t mind. What’s up?”

George did as he was told, but he placed his chair as near the door as he could. His feet moved continuously in a nervous syncopation, tapping on the floor. Ralph sat on the bed just opposite his youthful, rosycheeked cousin, and the old bathrobe, its owner having gotten a little too tall for it, drew up slightly above his knees. George found his eyes embarrassingly drawn to look into the dark enclosure between Ralph’s thighs, and he managed to glance elsewhere only occasionally. “What do you want?” repeated Ralph.