Myra came over and clutched at me. I put my arm around her. “Take it easy,” I said. “We’ll wake up in a minute and find this is just another nightmare.”
“Oh no, you won’t,” Arym said. “Why don’t you get wise? I’m just part of you and I’ve decided to leave you.”
Myra looked at her fixedly. “You’re bad,” she said quietly. “I can see you’re bad.”
“What of it?” Arym said, shrugging. “We can’t all be good, besides no one would be interesting if they didn’t have a little bad in them. Think how prissy you’re going to be now that I’ve left you.”
“So you’re the one who’s been making a mess of my life,” Myra said, stepping away from me and confronting Arym.
“It’s been mighty hard work. I tell you, it’s quite a relief to get away from you for a while.”
“You’ll never get back again,” Myra said. “So don’t you think you will.”
“If I want to, I shall,” Arym returned, wandering over to the bed and sitting down. “You can’t get along without me.”
“Yes, I can… and I’m going to.”
“How do you think you’ll live?” Arym scoffed. “I made all your money by stealing it. Remember Joe Krum? What a time I bad to get you to break the ice!”