“Okay. Fine.”
Ben leaned into me, nuzzling my neck. “Don’t be hurt, honey. It was a noble effort.” He threaded his fingers through mine as we gazed up at the perfect cerulean sky. “Hey…the nipple toys have arrived from eBay.”
“And the swallows have come back to Capistrano.”
He laughed. “You’re gonna love ’em.”
“They’re from eBay? They’re used nipple toys?”
“C’mon.” Ben tugged my nipple through my polo shirt. “That would run you a whole lot more.”
I chuckled. “You’re right. There’s probably heavy bidding on celebrity nipple toys.”
“Speaking of which,” said Ben. “Shawna’s gonna be on The Daily Show next week.”
I laughed sourly. “Nice segue.”
“Isn’t that great, though? She called all excited while you were in the shower. From a bar in Chelsea. She’s asked Mary Ann to be in the audience.”
I felt a tinge of jealousy, I have to admit. “Has she even seen Shawna’s website?”
“I would presume. Or she’s boning up on it as we speak.”
“It’s her husband who’s boning up on it.”
Ben scolded me with a smile. “Don’t be a fussy old uncle.”
We lay there silently, watching a pair of ravens circle the old cypress in a neighbor’s yard. Ben says that ravens mate for life, so it’s always nice when they offer us their blessing. Looking at them, Ben gave my belly a Buddha rub, a gesture that still makes me self-conscious, as much as I love being loved in my entirety.
“You know what I’d like to do today?” he said.
“What?”
“I’d like you to take me to Barbary Lane.”
“There’s nothing to see, sweetie. There must be three planks left from the old house.”
“I just wanna see the lane. It’s a perfect day for it, and I’ve never even climbed those steps.”
“Okay, then…sure. We can eat lunch in North Beach.”
“Should we take Anna with us?”
I shook my head. “The steps are too much for her. And she says she’d rather remember it the way it was.”
Ben took that in for a moment. “They’re the same steps, though, right?”
“Actually, no. They replaced them just after I left.”
“Oh.”
“They look the same, though. They’re almost as rickety now.”
As I spoke these words I was gazing at the old cypress. It was over a century old and its limbs were elaborately trussed with steel cables to keep them from snapping in a high wind. Like a lot of the cypresses in Golden Gate Park, this one was nearing the end of its cycle. (I confess that I sometimes make bets with it as to which one of us will outlast the other, which one will remain king of the hill.)
I looked over at my husband and reminded myself for the umpteenth time that his youth was not contagious. It would certainly make the journey more pleasant, but it wouldn’t save me from my destination. He had once offered me thirty years, but I’d happily settle for twenty. Hell, this day alone was enough for now.
And more than I’d ever expected.
Acknowledgments
For good company and wise counsel during the writing of this novel, I’m especially grateful to Don Bachardy, Karen Barbour, Steven Barclay, Alison Barrow, Joanna Barton, Sara Bixler, Curt Branom, Charles Busch, Alison Callahan, Jimmie Clark, Andrew Coile, Kirk Dalrymple, Gregg De Meza, Lou DiMattei, Mike Fulton, Patrick Gale, Todd Hargis, Jake Heggie, Nick Hongola, Peggy Knickerbocker, Jerry Lasley, James Lecesne, Mark Leno, Pam Ling, Laura Linney, Jean Maupin, Tony Maupin, Ian McKellen, John Cameron Mitchell, Stuart Myers, Davia Nelson, Luke Parker Bowles, Jeanette Perez, Alan Poul, Joshua Robison, Marc Schauer, Bill Scott-Kerr, David Sheff, Jim Simmons, Patrick Stettner, Amy Tan, Michael Tilson Thomas, Alicia Turner, Binky Urban, Darryl Vance, Louise Vance, Rob Waring, Colton Weeks, Mark Weigle, Judd Winick, Stephen Winter, and Jane Yates.
About the Author
Armistead Maupin is the author of Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, Maybe the Moon, and The Night Listener. Three television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. The Night Listener became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette. Maupin lives in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner.
www.ArmisteadMaupin.com
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ALSO BY ARMISTEAD MAUPIN
NOVELS
Tales of the City
More Tales of the City
Further Tales of the City
Babycakes
Significant Others
Sure of You
Maybe the Moon
The Night Listener
COLLECTIONS
28 Barbary Lane
Back to Barbary Lane
Credits
Jacket design by Will Staehle
Jacket illustration by Paul Catherall/The Art Market
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
MICHAEL TOLLIVER LIVES. Copyright © 2007 by Armistead Maupin. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © MAY 2007 ISBN: 9780061809750
06 07 08 09 10
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Contents
1: Confederacy of Survivors
2: Hugs, Ben
3: Far Beyond Saving
4: Our Little Grrrl
5: The Family Circle
6: A Guy Without Trying
7: Footnotes to a Feeling
8: Darn Straight
9: Uppity
10: A Little Bit Blue
11: The War at Home
12: Camouflage
13: The Chances of This
14: Her Raggedy Soul
15: Word One
16: Practical Considerations
17: The Cave
18: Close Enough
19: The Burning Question
20: Here and Now
21: Memory Foam
22: Keep Me Company
23: Terms of Abasement
24: What
Husbands Do
25: Red-Eye
26: Remembered Perfume
27: Gibberish
28: This Day Alone
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also By Armistead Maupin
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher