Don Winslow - A Long Walk Up the Waterslide

“Oh.” Graham found the switch and the flow of water stopped.

Graham yanked the tape off Watanabe’s mouth.

Karen pulled Neal up.

“Ready to go home?” Neal huffed.

“I think so,” answered Karen.

“I am,” Neal said.

“By the way, I forgot to tell you that you’re fired,” Graham said.

“That’s good,” Neal answered as he put his arm around Karen. “That’s very good, Dad.”

Then he and Karen walked down the water slide.

Neal lined up the putt perfectly, gave it a gentle stroke, and bounced the ball off King Herod’s lip for the third time.

“You’re awful at golf,” Karen said.

“The only thing that could improve golf,” Neal said, “are snipers.”

“Not funny.”

It was a beautiful spring day in San Antonio. Both the bluebells and Candyland were in full bloom, and Neal and Karen had flown down for a long weekend.

Brogan snored away on a chaise lounge as Brezhnev watched the one-sided match and wagged his tail when Karen hit her shot. The old bartender and the dog had a free lifetime condo at Candyland and used it frequently.

“You want to go on the water slide?” Polly asked Neal. She held six-week-old Karrie Landis-the reason for Neal and Karen’s visit-in her arms.

“No thank you,” Neal said. He lined up the ball again and this time got it past Herod’s molars. A moment later, Herod’s tongue spat it back out.

“Where’s Graham?” he asked.

“Three holes ahead,” Karen answered. “With one arm.”

Graham loved miniature golf. It was so tidy.

A lot had happened over the fall and winter.

Marc Merolla cashed in his marker with Ethan Kitteredge and ended up with 50 percent of the Family Cable Network in his own name. His grandfather died in prison shortly afterward.

Ed Levine bought a house down the street from Marc Merolla and became the managing director of Friends of the Family. Ethan Kitteredge stayed on as director emeritus but spent most of his time on his boat. One of Ed’s first official acts was to confirm the termination of Neal Carey with the brusque message: Get a life.

“The Polly and Candy Family Hour” became a huge hit on FCN, barely skipping a beat. They gained a lot of new viewers, lost some old ones, but most of the audience stayed for the recipes. And the show took a slightly new direction-it still stressed family but broadened the definition to include just about any combination of people living together and caring for one another, including the big house that Candy, Polly, and Karrie shared. The day that Candy endorsed gay adoptions cost her a few thousand viewers and half a dozen sponsors, but most of the audience still stayed for the recipes and new advertisers signed on.

Karrie Landis’s first appearance on the show became the highest-rated hour in the history of cable television.

Chuck Whiting stayed on as head of security, stayed married to his wife, and stayed distantly in love with Candy Landis.

Harold opened a dry-cleaning business in Chalmette Oaks.

Joey Foglio was never heard from again.

Once a month, cemetery workers in Queens would see a one-armed man sit beside a headstone marked WALTER WITHERS-HE PLAYED THE GAME, turn on a cassette of Blossom Dearie, and let it run for an hour or so.

Neal transferred his credits from Columbia to Nevada and rented a small apartment in Reno, where he stayed a couple of nights a week. The severance pay, pension check, and disability (mental) that Ed sent were more than enough to cover expenses. Neal’s thesis title, “Tobias Smollett: The Image of the Outsider In the Eighteenth-Century English Novel,” was accepted by a suspicious but tolerant faculty.

Karen went back to teaching school and was also a frequent guest on “The Polly and Candy Family Hour” to talk about kids. On the nights Neal was in Reno, she’d usually go out with Evelyn or Peggy Mills, have a few drinks, and talk about men. On the nights Neal was home, she liked to go to bed early.

“I can’t wait any longer,” Neal said. He set the golf club down. “I have to find Graham.”

“You’re hopelessly behind, anyway,” Karen said, and kissed him on the lips.

“What’s going on?” Polly asked.

Karen shrugged.

Neal stalked off. He wound his way through the Red Sea, across the Sinai Desert, and over the Mount of Olives. He just couldn’t wait any longer to ask Graham to be his best man.