Chapter 10

Maybe Margaret had been too busy to meet me for lunch, but by 3 p.m., she was relaxed and, apparently, unrushed. I, however, had a ballgame that night and a duty to report between 4 and 5 p.m. The game didn't start until 7:05, and being a little late wouldn't have been a major disaster, but I didn't like messing around with the club rules. The way I saw it, they were paying me all that money to play a kid's game. I was getting all kinds of ego-points from the fans, people were stopping me on street corners to shake my hand and wish me well, and I was doing something, and paid awfully well for it, that thousands -- maybe millions -- of men my age would give their left nut to do, if only they could.

So the least I could do is show up between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., if that's what the club wanted me to do. I think it was Woody Allen who once said, "95% of life is just showing up."

Anyway, at 3 o'clock sharp Margaret handed me a cardboard cup filled with aging black coffee from the nurses' lounge on the third floor, and we sat down in two plastic waiting-room chairs to discuss Alice Winslow.

"First of all," Margaret said, "she's not gay. At least, she's never had any girl-girl experiences, and she doesn't seem overly curious about trying it."

"Yeah, I've gotten that much from her already, directly. Gee, I hope she didn't think you were making her an offer," I said, grinning.

"No. Hey, give me a little credit. I'm more subtle than that. We talked about you, mostly. The stuff I'm telling you is distilled from two nice girl-talk sessions we had during the past week."

"Do you think she picked up on why you were asking so many questions?"

"You mean, does she know I'm your spy?... I doubt it. I like to think I'm too clever for that. Alice knows I have met you, but she doesn't know we're big chums, conspiring against her. And, like I said, I didn't plaster her with questions like a cop giving her the third degree. All this came out slowly and gradually, over two sessions."

"But my name came up?"

"Yes. Your name came up a lot. The woman likes you, Zeke. That much is extremely clear."

"But. How does she like me? As a ballplayer? As a stalwart supporter of Little League? Or as a guy?"

"She wasn't very subtle. She likes you all three ways, but mostly, as a guy. There's no doubt about it at all!"

"That's great! I guess you gathered that I was... interested in her, too."

"No kidding? I never would have guessed it."

"Well, maybe you were subtle with her, but, hey, I wasn't trying to be subtle -- with you or with Alice."

"Here's the deal, though, Zeke. You've gotta be patient with her. Alice is like -- 30-something. Older than you, I guess, by a year or three. But she's... inexperienced."

"Yeah, I know. I know about the religious order, and the fact that she's only been a civilian for -- what? Three years or so?"

"More than three years, Zeke. But during those three-plus years, when maybe you'd have thought she would be making up for lost time in the romance department? She wasn't."

"Hasn't dated much, then?"

"Zeke, she hasn't dated at all! Don't you see? That's why even I -- I think I'm her best friend -- even I wasn't certain what to say to you when you asked me whether she was gay. I didn't think she was gay, but I had no clue what her sexuality was all about, because she hadn't ever displayed... any."

"She certainly seems to be friendly with everybody."

"Sure she is. She's positive, and outgoing, and... and warm, even. But she's been kind of... asexual. Even after she left the religious order, and took this new job. There hasn't been any hint of a man in her life. Or a woman, either."

"How old was she when she -- went into the religious thing?" I asked.

"You're thinking maybe she at least had some experience as a kid? Maybe got a little high school action? Nope. She got involved with those nuns very early in her life -- too early, as it turned out, because in the final analysis, it didn't take."

"So no high school romances, even?"

"Her parents were evidently very religious, and extremely strict. Alice was a dutiful daughter who tried to do everything they asked of her. I gather there was little or no teen-aged rebellion. No questioning of parental authority. At least, not until three-four years ago, when she just threw out the whole business and started over."