here. I love to have people see us, but I don’t want to see anybody.”
“The box with the negro in it is on top of the cash register.”
“I know. I’ve seen it for sometime.”
The bar-tender came, with the two drinks, frost cold from the chilled coldness of the glasses, and he brought the glass of water.
“Give me that small packet that came in my name and is on top of the cash register,” the Colonel said to him. “Tell Cipriani I will send him a check for it.”
He had made another decision.
“Do you want your drink, daughter?”
“Yes. If you don’t mind me changing my mind too.”
They drank, after touching the glasses very lightly, so lightly that the contact was almost imperceptible.
“You were right,” she said feeling its warmth and its momentary destruction of sorrow.
“You were right too,” he said and palmed the two tablets.
He thought taking them with the water now was in bad taste. So, when the girl turned her head a moment to watch a morning drinker go out the door, he swallowed them with the Martini.
“Should we go, Daughter?”
“Yes. By all means.”
“Bar-tender,” the Colonel said. “How much are these drinks? And do not forget to tell Cipriani I am sending him a check for this nonsense.”
