Chapter 9

Marvin walked into Pat Saxon's office and slumped down into a chair. "I'm tired," he muttered, staring through the window at the bright Mexican morning sunshine.

Pat Saxon took out a cigarette then threw the pack to Marvin. "What time did you get here last night?" he asked.

"Late." He lit a cigarette, blew out smoke and said, "It musta been close to midnight." He smoked silently for a moment, then added, "She's in number nineteen." He looked thoughtful, "A sweet looking kid."

"I haven't seen her yet," said Pat. "How did she take everything? Bitter? Resigned?"

"Pretty good," said Marvin thoughtfully. "She hates her mother. Said her mother's getting married to some young guy twenty-five or so. Much younger than her."

"I know," said Pat. "That's the main problem, I imagine."

"Says her mother's a bitch," Marvin said.

"You saw her," prompted Pat, "what's she like?"

"A sweet bitch," said Marvin softly.

"I see," Pat said slowly. He swung his chair around to the window, stared at the distant mountains, then changed the subject. "I never had a chance to ask you, Marv, how did everything go in Washington?"

Marvin had just gotten back to Hillside from a four-day trip to the capital when he had received the urgent call to pick up the Norden girl. "I saw Bancroft," he said. "He's coming out here with a couple of diplomats."

"What the hell for?" asked Pat, irritably.

"The usual thing," said Marvin smoothly, "to observe research."

"Research my ass," said Pat with unusual vehemence, "he's just a goddamn peeping tom!"

Marvin grinned. "And you're not?" He laughed out loud.

"You know damned well that it's scientific research as far as I'm concerned," snapped the Doctor.

"Oh, sure," Marvin was still grinning, "Some research! Some science. Watching a dame being screwed!"

Pat Saxon stared at Marvin, unsmilingly. He took his work very seriously.

Marvin stopped grinning. "Anyway, Pat, no matter what you think you've got to go along with Bancroft!"

"Give me one good reason why," Pat muttered.

"I can give you several thousand reasons why," Marvin said quietly. "One reason for each dollar that Bancroft will see is allocated to Hillside if you're nice to him and if you play ball with him."

"I'm no good at playing ball," Pat said flatly.

"The money-" Marvin began.

"I don't worry about the money."

"You're goddamn right you don't!" Marvin sounded angry, "I have to worry about it. You don't know how much you spend here. What everything costs."

"I leave that all to you," said Pat, his voice soothing and conciliating.

"Sure," Marvin breathed deeply. He seemed about to say something, then grinned instead. "You never change," he murmured.

"Neither do you," Pat smiled at his friend. "It's a pretty good partnership."

Marvin sighed. "I guess so," he looked at Pat, affectionately. "How's everything with you? I mean everything."

Pat moved uncomfortably. "Fine," he said, "fine."

Marvin stared at him.

"Last night," he said, hesitantly, "Marianne was-was-acting up again."

Marvin looked at Pat's face, keenly. "How'd you mean?" he asked, "In what way?"

Pat turned so that his back was to his friend. He stared at the mountains as he said, "She wanted to be loved ... to be loved up." He was silent for a moment, then he shot the words out like hard, sharp pebbles: "She wanted to be fucked!"

Marvin looked at the back of his friend's head. "And?" he asked quietly.

Pat stared at the mountains, not answering.

"Did you fuck her?" Marvin asked.

Doctor Saxon scraped his chair on the floor. "Sort of," he answered.

"Don't you like her?" Marvin's voice was curious.

Pat swung around. "As a secretary, yes. As a person, yes but not anything else!"

Marvin considered his friend in silence for a long minute. "You never go for girls, do you, Pat? I mean really go?" he said thoughtfully.

"I've been out with girls often enough," Pat spoke querulously, peevishly almost, "You know that! We've been out together with girls."

"Yeah," Marvin spoke slowly, "but it never means a damned thing to you. You just go through the motions."

Pat Saxon stared heatedly at his friend. "If you think that everyone has to be a randy stud like you ..."

Marvin laughed out loud. "I'm not so bad," he stopped and his voice was only half-serious when he said, "I know you're not queer. At least in the five years I've known you I've never noticed it, but ..."

"But you're full of bull today, Marv, I don't know what the hell's got into you, but ..."

"Don't get mad, Pat. Don't get mad," Marvin raised his hand placatingly, "I'm just thinking out loud." He grinned at Pat, "A dangerous habit, I know." He was quiet again, then, "D'you know that in all the years I've known you ... even when we lived in rooms together-right at the beginning-I've never seen you nude! I've never seen your cock, Pat, d'you know that?"

Pat flushed. His voice was sneering when he spoke. "D'you make a habit of examining a guy's cock, Marv?" He smiled coldly, "Are you going gay?"

Marvin answered seriously. "If I'd been going gay," he said very quietly, "I'd have flipped when I first knew you."

"Why do you say that?" Pat's voice was almost a whisper.

Marvin moved uncomfortably. "I felt so-so damned attracted to you! Hell, I don't know why. I've never been interested in any guy. I'm not made that way. But I felt kind of neurotic about you," he breathed deeply. "S'funny, this is the first time I told you after all these years. But I got over it. Guess that's why we've got on okay for so long."

Pat Saxon's face was pale, then he answered, "Yes, I guess-guess we were mutually attracted." He tried to make his words cool, medically cool. "That's why it's such a good partnership," his voice trailed off. How did they get on this subject? he asked himself. "Marianne would be the right girl for you," he was startled by his own words. What had possessed him to say that? Pat wondered wildly.

Marvin stared at him. "Marianne!" he repeated foolishly. "What about Phoebe?"

Phoebe! Marvin and Phoebe were-well, sort of a twosome but just how serious, how sincere, how deep their relationship was Pat didn't know! "Phoebe was asking about you yesterday," he said casually.

Marvin looked up, then rose to his feet. "I haven't seen her since I got back from Washington," he said. "Is she around?"

Doctor Saxon shrugged. "Probably. She has to make at least one analysis this morning. She could be with a guest right now."

Marvin moved to the door. "I'll see you, Pat," he grinned. "Thanks for the unilluminating conversation! I wanna talk to Phoebe. Maybe I'll run into her someplace."

Pat stared at the closed door after Marvin had left. Phoebe, he thought. Somehow, he had the feeling that Marianne would be much more suitable for Marv. He wrinkled his brow, trying to pin down the elusive reason for the random thought and then he remembered on one of the double-dates that he'd shared with Marvin when they first knew each other. Marv and his girl had been in the adjacent room and he'd heard Marvin's husky six-foot body rolling on the bed, then his voice had rumbled to his giggling girl, "I'm gonna fuck, fuck, fuck you until my cock goes out of your ass." And the girl had squealed with delight.

And last night, Marianne and her slick, sultry voice spewing into his ear, "Fuck me 'til your cock spurts through my ass ..."

They'd make a good pair. But Phoebe? He just couldn't imagine Phoebe talking like that. It wouldn't seem natural, it wouldn't seem right! Phoebe wouldn't talk like that anymore than I would, Pat concluded soundlessly, we don't think or feel that way at all!