Comfort Zone

(continued)

By Marta Palos

To have a few minutes alone with her, he helped her with the dishes after dinner.

"It's not much, but Hoffman says a family named Feheregyhazy might be living in California."

Lily scraped the plates in silence.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

She glanced over her shoulder at Frank still at the dinner table. "Forget it, David," she said.

"What do you mean, forget it? What happened?"

"Nothing happened." She wiped a tear from her face with the back of her hand. "I need my comfort zone, that's all. And Frank is my comfort zone."

"Fine with me, but--"

"I said, forget it. Let me put the kitchen in order."

She began to pile the plates into the dishwasher. Solicitous to help, Frank appeared in the kitchen doorway. David thanked them for dinner, waved a hand and walked out of the house.

On the way home he took a detour for the park and sat down on Lily's fa-vorite bench. The absence of people and the descending darkness lent a fairy tale feel to the place, reminding him of a picture in a story book he and Lily used to fight over. The tale was about a papa and a mama bear and their unruly cub. One day they went too far with the shoving and pushing and torn the book in half. Lily got away with the part where the cub, defying her parents' warning, danced off into the misty woods.

He lit his pipe. He watched the smoke curl into graceful little rings, linger in the air for a second, then vanish the next.

"This is for you, Samantha," he said out loud, blowing a ring. "And this is for you, Andor Feheregyhazy."

Should he blow one for Carmen? Why would he? She seemed to like him. Besides, he also enjoyed a poem now and then, and cats didn't bother him at all. Perhaps in time the woman with the dreamy eyes would open up. Perhaps behind her quiet ways lay the possibility of a tranquil life. Wasn't that what he needed at forty-six?

Stars began to appear on the sky, night would soon swallow up the park of fairy tales. He emptied his pipe into the dust and put out the smoldering tobacco with the heel of his shoe. By the time the last spark was gone, he decided to give Carmen a call.

Better yet, why not look her up while he knew where to find her? He rose from the bench and headed for Prospect Street.