“Skating?” George said. “Jesus, I didn’t ride a bus for 30 hours just to go skating.”
Edward said, “I want to sleep.”
Frederick said, “I want dinner.”
Perfect, Alan thought. “Perfect. We’ll all be equally displeased with this, then. The skating’s out in front of City Hall. There are lots of people there, and we can take the subway down. We’ll have dinner afterward on Queen Street, then turn in early and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll negotiate something else. Maybe Chinatown and the zoo.”
They are stared at him.
“This is a limited-time offer,” Alan said. “I had other plans tonight, you know. Going once, going twice—”
“Let’s go,” George said. He went and took his brothers’ hands. “Let’s go, okay?”
They had a really good time.
George’s body was propped up at the foot of the bed. He was white and wrinkled as a big toe in a bathtub, skin pulled tight in his face so that his hairline and eyebrows and cheeks seemed raised in surprise.