of jail, so that maybe Mom's little joke had a barb to it just like Father'sdid, only she knew how to do it subtly, so that even the victims had to laugh.But most likely nobody in this scrupulously correct family had ever been in aposition where either a shrink or a bail bondsman was required.

Paulie ate as quickly as possible and excused himself and went to the room thathad Deckie's stuff in it too, piled on the other twin bed, but mercifully Deckiehimself was off somewhere else being perfect and Paulie had some peace. Hismother made him bring some books so when he was off by himself she could tellthe others he was reading, and Paulie was smart enough to have packed books healready read at school so that when the adults asked him what he was reading hecould tell them what the story was about, as if they cared. But the truth wasthat Paulie didn't like to read, it all seemed pretty thin to him, he couldthink up better stuff just lying around with his eyes closed.

They must have thought he was asleep, must have peered in the door and decidedhe was dead to the world, or they probably wouldn't have held their littleconfab out in the hall, Mother and her brothers and sister. The subject wasNana. "She's already got all her money in a trust that we administer," Motherwas saying, "and she can afford a round-the-clock nurse, so what's the problem?"

But the others had all kinds of other arguments; which in Paulie's mind allboiled down to one: Nana was an embarrassment and as long as she remained in theBride mansion in Richmond their family could never return to their rightfulplace among the finest families of Virginia. Paulie wanted to speak up and askthem why they didn't just put her in a bag, weight it down with rocks, and dropit into the James River, but he didn't. He just listened as every one of Nana'sgrandchildren except Mother made it plain that they had less filial affection