Read Online The Sniper's Wife by Archer Mayor - Free Book Online

“Yeah, I guess this isn’t too appetizing. I can only eat the stuff when Junie’s not around. She gives me hell otherwise. I’ll buy you something else, though. What would you like?”
    Two minutes into the conversation, and Willy was already getting restless. “Give it a rest. I’m not hungry.”
    Bob looked crestfallen. “Okay. Sorry. Well, let’s sit down, at least.”
    He led the way into the park, giving his hot dog a tentative bite and dropping a glob of fluorescent mustard onto the sidewalk. Willy walked around it in disgust. As with Ward Ogden earlier, he was going to have to mind his manners to get what he was after, but with Bob, he wasn’t so sure he’d be able to pull it off. The older brother’s impulse to slap the younger one down was going to be hard to resist. He’d had so many years of practice before leaving home—something Bob should have remembered and resented, as Willy would have in his place, but never had.
    Bob took them through the playground nearest the street, filled with screaming, running kids, past several benches lining the curving walkway, and up a flight of steps onto a broad, paved observation platform at the back of the park. This had been built expressly for its commanding view of the George Washington Bridge, which spanned at an oblique angle the width of the Hudson River into New Jersey.
    Bob settled onto a bench facing the view, patting the seat next to him as if inviting a pet to jump up. Willy remained standing, slightly off to one side, so they were looking at the same scenery.
    Bob was now holding his meal as if wondering how it had appeared in his hand. He glanced quickly at Willy. “I was really surprised to hear your voice on the phone. I couldn’t believe you were back in town.”
    “In town, or that I called you up?”
    Bob looked away. “Both, I guess. It’s been a while.”
    Willy snorted. “No shit.”
    “You been okay?”
    “Yeah. Terrific. You been seeing Mary?”
    Bob’s head jerked up. “What?”
    “Mary. You know. I was married to her.”
    “No. I mean, yeah. I was just surprised is all. I mean, you and Mary. That was so long ago.”
    “So, you’ve been seeing her?”
    “Talking to her, really. Junie, too. She’d call up, just to chat. Didn’t seem to matter which one of us answered the phone. Why? What’s up?”
    Willy ignored the question. “What did she talk about?”
    “I don’t know. Nothing in particular. She asked about you a few times. She was happy you were doing better.”
    “Not a drunk, you mean?”
    “Yeah. Well, that and getting the new job.”
    “You told her about that?”
    “Sure. It wasn’t a secret, was it?”
    “How did she seem? Up, down? What?”
    Bob thought a moment. “Pretty much up, I’d say. Junie told me that wasn’t always true. Maybe she was more honest woman-to-woman. But it seemed like her biggest trouble was money. Things were tight. She was getting along otherwise, though. She liked her job, she’d kicked her habit, she was talking about finding a new place to live when she’d saved up enough.”
    “Tell me about the job.”
    Bob hesitated. “What’s going on, Willy?”
    “Later. The job.”
    As if in protest, Bob took a large bite of his hot dog instead of answering, forcing his older brother to stew in silence for several minutes.
    “It was at a place called the Re-Coop,” he finally said. “A drug rehab center run by some nonprofit setup. I don’t know who. Anyhow, she’d gone there to straighten up, and did well enough that they offered her a job. Nothing fancy, but she was pretty proud of it.”
    “She ever talk about her social life? A boyfriend, maybe?”
    Bob shook his head. “Not to me. At least not recently. Last boyfriend I knew about was Andy, but that was a few years ago.”
    “Andy Liptak?”
    “Sure. You keep up with him?”
    Willy didn’t answer. Andy Liptak and he had been in ’Nam together. Both from New York, both from workingclass families. Liptak had done