"But Wireman, will you see how much you can find...
"But Wireman, will you see
how much you can find out about the Eastlake
family in general and those two girls in
particular? If you can read again, then maybe you
could dig around on the Internet-"
He gripped my arm"I'll dig like a motherfucker
Maybe you could do some good in that direction, as
wellYou're going to do an interview with Mary
Ire, right?"
"YesThey've scheduled it for the week after my
so-called lecture
535
"Ask her about the EastlakesMaybe you'll hit the
jackpotMiss Eastlake was a big patron of the
arts in her time
He grasped the handles of the sleeping old woman's
wheelchair and turned it around so it faced the
orange roofs of the estate house again"Now let's
go cheap prada handbags look at my portraitI want to see what I
looked like back when I still thought Jerry Garcia
could save the world
ii
I'd parked my car in the courtyard, beside
Elizabeth Eastlake's silver Vietnam War-era
Mercedes-BenzI slid the portrait from my much
humbler Chevrolet, set it on end, and held it up
for Wireman to look atAs he stood there silently
regarding it, a strange thought occurred to me: I
was like a tailor standing beside a mirror in a
men's clothing storeSoon my customer would
either tell me he liked the suit I'd made for him,
or shake his head regretfully and say it wouldn't
do
536
Far off to the south, in what I was coming to
think of as the Duma Jungle, that bird took up chanel purses and handbags its
warning "Oh-oh!" cry again
Finally I couldn't take it anymore"Say something,
Wireman
But when he looked up from the portrait, I
realized it was trueHe looked like someone had
walloped him on the head with a hammerI
understood by then that what I was doing affected
people, but none of those reactions were quite
like Wireman's on that March morning
What finally woke him up was a sharp knocking
soundShe was awake and rapping
on her tray"Smoke! Smoke!"
Some things survived even the fog of Alzheimer's,
it seemedThe part of her brain that craved
nicotine never decayedShe'd smoke until the end
Wireman took a pack of American Spirits from the
pocket of his shorts, shook one out, put it see by chloe bag in his
mouth, and lit itThen he held it out to her"If
I let you handle this yourself, are you going to
light yourself on fire, Miss Eastlake?"
537
"Smoke!"
"That's not very encouraging, dear
But he gave it to her, and Alzheimer's or no
Alzheimer's, she handled it like a pro, drawing in
a deep drag and jetting it out through her
nostrilsThen she settled back in her chair,
looking for the moment not like Captain Bligh on
the poop deck but FDR on the reviewing standAll
she needed was a cigarette-holder to clamp between
her teethAnd, of course, some teeth
Wireman returned his gaze to the portrait"You
don't seriously mean to just give this away, do
you? You can'tIt's incredible paddington chloe handbag work
"It's yours," I said
"You have to put it in your show
"I don't know if that's such a good idea-"
"You yourself said once they're done, any effect
on the subject's probably over-"
"Yeah, probably
"Probably's good enough for me, and the Scoto's
safer than this houseEdgar, this deserves to be
seenHell, it needs to be seen
"Is it you, Wireman?" I was honestly curious He stood looking at it a moment longer
Then he turned to me"It's how I wanted to be
Maybe it's how I was, on the few best days of my
best year He added, almost reluctantly: "My most
idealistic year
For a little while we said nothing, only looked at
the portrait while Elizabeth puffed like a choochoo
trainAn old choo-choo fendi spy bag replica t