Sacrament Read Free Page B

sat down on the beaten-up sofa, flinging aside a pillow and blanket to do so.
'He kept you talking for quite a while,' she said. 'What was the old fuck like?'
    'No more crazy than anybody'd be, living in a shack in the middle of nowhere.'
    'On his own?'
    'He had a dog. Lucy.'
    'Hey...' Cornelius cooed. 'Does that sound like a man with a supply or what?' He grinned, his eyes popping.
'Only a guy with a habit would name his dog Lucy.'
    'Christ!' Adrianna shouted. 'I am so thoroughly sick of hearing you talk about getting high.'
    Cornelius shrugged. 'Whatever,' he said.
    'We came here to do a job of work.'
    'And we've done it,' Cornelius said. 'Every damn undignified, pitiful thing a polar bear can do we've got on film.
Bears playing around the broken sewage pipes. Bears trying fucky-fucky in the middle of the dump.'
    'Okay, okay,' Adrianna said, 'we did good.' She turned to Will. 'I still want you to see my bear,' she said.
    'Your bear now, is it?' Cornelius said.
    She ignored him. 'Just one last shoot,' she implored Will. 'You won't be disappointed.'
    'Jeez,' Cornelius remarked, putting his legs up on the table. 'Leave the man alone. He doesn't want to see the
fucking bear. Haven't you got the message?'
    'Keep out of this,' Adrianna snapped.
    'You're so fucking pushy,' Cornelius replied. 'It's just a bear.'
    Adrianna was up from the couch and over to Cornelius in two strides. 'I told you: keep out of this,' she said, and
shoved Cornelius' shoulder just hard enough to tip him over. Down he went, clearing half of the doomed Pentax
from the table with his boot-heel as he went.
    'Come on,' Will said, setting down his omelette in case there was an escalation in hostilities. If there was, it
wouldn't be the first time. Nine days out of every ten Cornelius and Adrianna worked side by side like brother
and sister. And on the tenth they fought, like brother and sister. Today, however, Cornelius wasn't in the mood
for insults or fisticuffs. He got to his feet, brushing his hippie-length hair back out of his eyes, and stumbled to
the door, picking up his anorak on his way. 'See you later,' he said to Will. 'I'm going to go look at the water.'
    'Sorry about that,' Adrianna said when he'd gone. 'It was my fault. I'll make peace when he gets back.'
    'Whatever.'
    Adrianna went to the stove and poured herself a cup of coffee. 'So what did Guthrie have to say?'
    'Not a lot.'
    'Why did you even go see him?'
    Will shrugged. 'Just ... some stuff from my childhood...' he said.
    'Big secret?'
    Will offered her a slow smile. 'Huge.'
    'So you're not going to tell me?'
    'It's nothing to do with us being here. Well, it is and it isn't. I knew Guthrie lived on the Bay, so I kind of killed
two birds...' the words grew soft '... with one stone.'
    'Are you going to photograph him?' she said, crossing to the window. The Tegelstrom children, who lived
across the street, were out playing in the snow, their laughter loud. She peered out at them.
    'No,' Will said. 'I already invaded his privacy.'
    'Like I'm invading yours?'
    'I didn't mean that.'
    'That's right though, isn't it?' she said gently. 'I never get to hear what life was like for little Willy Rabjohns.
That's because you don't want to tell me.' She was warming to her thesis now. 'You know ... this is how you
used to be with Patrick.'
    'Unfair.'
    'You used to drive him crazy. He'd call me up sometimes and vent these streams of abuse-'
    'He is a melodramatic queen,' Will said, fondly.
    'He said you were cryptic. You are. He said you were secretive. You're that too.'
    'Isn't that the same thing?'
    'Don't get intellectual. It pisses me off.'
    'Have you spoken to him recently?'
    'Now you're changing the subject.'
    'I am not. You were talking about Patrick and now I'm talking about Patrick.'
    'I was talking about you.'
    'I'm bored with me. Have you talked to Patrick recently.'
    'Sure.'
    'And how is he?'
    'Up and down. He tried to sell the apartment but he couldn't get the price he wanted so