"No time," I said. "We're due at the school at nine-thirty."
"It won't hurt to be a few minutes late. This is important, Bart."
We have a good marriage, and I don't quarrel with Celia's wishes. But this meant another delay, and I could already see half the morning shot, what with the meeting in the principal's office, and afterwards perhaps taking Freddie out for a soda or something to make him feel secure and loved. What a lot of trouble that boy was getting into lately.
I wheeled out of traffic and feathered down to the roof of the 1st National. A conveyer belt carried our ship toward the teller's window.
Celia opened her purse and withdrew a bank form. "Here, I think you'll have to sign this, darling."
I voiced my irritation. "Withdraw it in your own name. It's a joint account. Personally, I don't understand how you can need more money when I just gave you four hundred yesterday."
"This is a very large amount," said Celia softly. "Bank requires it."
"How much?" I asked suspiciously.
"Ten thousand." She was staring at me intently with her almond-shaded eyes. Her full red lips were parted in the faintest trace of a smile, as her neat brown-pencilled eyebrows arched slightly in amused defiance.
She was daring me to ask the obvious question. Hell, I thought, I can afford it. I signed the form and passed it back to her.