Read The Great Man for Free Online Page B

Not for me, thanks. I’ll take a sapling.”
    â€œSpeaking of which…” said Lila coyly.
    â€œSpeaking of what? You’re simpering. Cough it up.”
    â€œI am not
simpering
! No one simpers anymore.”
    â€œWell what?”
    â€œI met a nice man…. There he was with his big black dog upon Manhattan Avenue, and I stopped to pet him, the dog, and we started talking, the man and I. His name is Rex. He lives way over on Devoe Street. He asked me to dinner.”
    Teddy said through a flash of something she hoped wasn’t envy, “When are you going?”
    â€œTonight,” said Lila with apprehension.
    â€œAnd you’re just telling me this now?”
    â€œIt didn’t seem as important as all these biographers.”
    â€œRex…he’s Italian?”
    â€œNo, he’s not any ethnicity I could guess. He’s a graphic artist.”
    â€œHow old is he?”
    â€œI would guess early to mid-sixties,” said Lila.
    â€œA nubile young thing…”
    â€œHe’s actually pretty youthful, come to think of it. I don’t know why he’s single. He has the look of a confirmed bachelor, though—you know what I mean, the collector type with stuff like boxes of valuable old blues records or a model train with a whole town built around it.”
    â€œStill,” said Teddy. “A nice, eligible, interesting younger man. So? Is he picking you up, or are you meeting him somewhere?”
    â€œHe’s coming by to get me at seven…. I’m a little nervous. What will I wear? What will I do when he eventually catches sight of my fat old naked body? He won’t want me; he can’t possibly…”
    â€œLila, you’re hyperventilating. It’ll be okay….”
    â€œI am not hyperventilating. God, you make me sound like a swooning old maid. I’ve had two husbands, Teddy. I know how to—”
    â€œTake a deep breath.”
    Lila sighed deeply, then asked, “Do you have spider veins on your thighs?”
    â€œOf course I have spider veins on my thighs; I’m seventy-four years old.”
    â€œBut, Teddy…are you getting bald…down there?”
    â€œWe all are. Stop obsessing. He won’t be looking at every detail; men never do. All they see are lips, boobs, and cunt. As long as there aren’t too many negatives, you’re fine.”
    â€œA balding snatch isn’t a negative?”
    â€œA balding snatch could be a fetish.”
    They both laughed.
    â€œHonestly, Teddy, tell me you wouldn’t be nervous, too.”
    â€œHave a couple of drinks before he picks you up. Two glasses of sherry and you’ll be relaxed and confident as a twenty-year-old.”
    â€œGod, if only I still were.”
    â€œWe were so incredibly beautiful,” said Teddy. “Well, at least we knew it. At least we enjoyed ourselves.”
    â€œThat gets me through many a night.”
    Teddy leaned back in her chair and looked out at her friend’s yard. “The male cardinal is back,” she said. “That’s good luck. Where’s his mate?”
    â€œShe’s around here somewhere. She likes to keep a low profile, unlike him.”
    â€œLike me and Oscar. Anyway, I made a soup for Ralph Washington. Something to disappoint him initially and woo him eventually. Like the saffron chicken stew I made for Henry. What a funny question about the spider veins. Haven’t you had them for decades now?”
    â€œI only got them recently.”
    â€œYour skin is so much younger than mine.”
    â€œThat’s because I’m fat,” said Lila. “All that adipose is holding my face up.”
    â€œMy wrinkles used to bother me in my early fifties,” said Teddy, “but I don’t mind them anymore now that I’ve had time to get used to them. Now I feel like a well-worn old leather handbag with all sorts of intriguing bobby pins and sticks of gum