“TINA TALKED me into letting her drive me to the place,” she said. “She thought I’d make a better entrance. So, she drove her car, and I sat in the back. I don’t know what the hell we thought we were supposed to look like. When we got there, I got out of the car and stood beside it for a minute just to get my breath before I walked onto the grounds—and it was just blazing daylight—one of those spring days that’s like summer—and here I am in this long white nylon dress. Wow. Let me tell you. You couldn’t miss me. I told Tina to take off, not to wait for me. She wanted to wait, but I told her, ‘No, you go home. I’ll tell you all about it as soon as it’s over.’ To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to run like hell as soon as she was out of sight, or whether I just wanted this all to myself. I was of two minds—very much of two minds. Well, she drove off, and I walked across the street and started along the planks that made a walkway through the wet sand. You have to picture the place still under construction. A mess. Dried blobs of concrete here and there, patches of gray like islands in the sand. Puddles. Junk—you know—cement blocks, that kind of thing. I’m in this slinky dress and stepping gingerly and trying to walk these planks so that I won’t arrive with sand on my shoes. All of this made for some very eye-catching hip action, let me tell you. There were no workmen around, since I had had the good sense to wait until their workday was over and they’d all gone off to the bar across the road. I didn’t want my arrival announced by their whistles. Good planning. I had watched enough to know the way it usually worked. The boss stayed behind. He liked to walk around when he had the place to himself, checking the work.”
[to be continued]
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