I have to turn the bacon. She slid away from him and hurried back to the kitchen.
Following after her, still carrying the book, Joe went on, And the U.S. comes in. After it licks the Japs. And after the war, the U.S. and Britain divide the world. Exactly like Germany and Japan did in reality.
Juliana said, Germany, Japan, and Italy. He stared at her.
You left out Italy. She faced him calmly. Did you forget, too? she said to herself. Like everybody else? The little empire in the Middle East. . . the musical-comedy New Rome.
Presently she served him a platter of bacon and eggs, toast and marmalade, coffee. He ate readily.
What did they serve you in North Africa? she asked as she, too, seated herself.
Joe said, Dead donkey.
That's hideous.
With a twisted grin, Joe said, Asino Morte. The bully beef cans had the initials AM stamped on them. The Germans called it Alter Mann. Old Man. He resumed his rapid eating.
I would like to read this, Juliana thought as she reached to take the book from under Joe's arm. Will he be here that long? The book had grease on it; pages were torn. Finger marks all over it. Read by truck drivers on the long haul, she thought. In the one-arm beaneries late at night. . . I'll bet you're a slow reader, she thought. I'll bet you've been poring over this book for weeks, if not months.
Opening the book at random, she read:
. . .now in his old age he viewed tranquillity, domain such as the ancients would have coveted but not comprehended, ships from the Crimea to Madrid, and all the Empire, all with the same coin, speech, flag. The great old Union Jack dipping from sunrise to sunset: it had been fulfilled at last, that about the sun and the flag.
The only book I carry around, Juliana said, isn't actually a book; it's the oracle, the I Ching -- Frank got me hooked on it and I use it all the time to decide. I never let it out of my sight. Ever. She closed the copy of The Grasshopper. Want to see it? Want to use it?
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Resting her chin on her folded arms on the table surface and gazing at him sideways, she said, Have you moved in here permanently? And what are you up to? Brooding over the insults, the slanders. You petrify me, she thought, with your hatred of life. But -- you have something. You're like a little animal, not important but smart. Studying his limited, clever dark face she thought, How could I ever have imagined you as younger than me? But even that's true, your childishness; you are still the baby brother, worshiping your two older brothers and your Major Pardi and General Rommel, panting and sweating to break loose and get the Tommies. Did they actually garrote your brothers with loops of wire? We heard that, the atrocity stories and photos released after the war. . . She shuddered. But the British commandos were brought to trial and punished long ago.
The radio had ceased playing music; there seemed to be a news program, racket of shortwave from Europe. The voice faded and became garbled. A long pause, nothing at all. Just silence. Then the Denver announcer, very clear, close by. She reached to turn the dial, but Joe stopped her hand.
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