Чарльз Кроуфорд - Three-Legged Race

The picture showed the three of them in muted colors. They were held together by a tangle of greenery and the swirling brown of Amy's hair. Brent liked the effect, and the likenesses were pretty good. He hadn't wanted to show it to Kirk and Amy until he left. He had been working on it in secret.

Maybe I can finish it tonight before they get back, he thought. Then I'll keep it tucked away until I have to leave.

He dipped the brush in water and began to paint.

Amy pushed Kirk's wheelchair to the elevator. The doors opened and they went inside. There were two people standing against the back wall, one of them a resident in his white uniform.

"It sure is good to see Johnny looking better," Kirk said. "It looks like he'll be back at the swim club in another week or so."

"I hope so," replied Amy. "It's so good to see color back in his cheeks. That operation must not have been much fun, I'll tell you that."

"A brain transplant," Kirk said to the resident.

The resident smiled at them.

They left the elevator on the ground floor and maneuvered casually to the main exit. Out the front doors they went, and down the hospital driveway to the street.

"God, I don't believe it," Kirk shouted. "We're free at last!" He spun his chair around three times.

The hospital was just a block from the center of town. The night air was warm and smelled delicious. Amy pushed Kirk along the sidewalk. He spun the wheels of the chair to help out. They passed the old houses around the hospital grounds that had been converted into doctors' offices. They passed a school and a library and a small park.

The light from the streetlamps sifted through the leaves of the overhanging trees and made small pools on the sidewalk. The air was soft, and dust particles drifted in the lamplight. Fireflies blinked and glittered above their heads. Moths fluttered and clustered about the streetlights. Amy's shoes made soft tapping sounds on the pavement. Kirk's wheelchair hummed in the summer air.

When they reached the main intersection of the suburban town, they wheeled left down the shopping street. Just half a block away was a movie theater. It generally showed art films and catered to the two colleges nearby.

The marquee said: The Ravished .

"It's not what I might have chosen if I'd had the choice," Kirk said.

"I don't care a bit. A movie's a movie and I'm starved for one. Besides, Time said it was great. It's the only one in wheeling distance, so to speak."

"What's it about?" Kirk asked.

"I don't know. It's foreign."

"Just my luck. Let's go."

They arrived at the box office and Kirk paid the three dollars apiece for the tickets out of the money his father had left him.

"What's the deal?" he asked the ticket seller who sat in her glass booth snapping her gum. "Is the popcorn gold or something?"

The movie had already started.

"You can't be too picky when you're escaping," Amy said. "We can sit through the beginning later if we want. It's freezing in here. Why do they always have the air conditioning down to below thirty in movie theaters in the summer?"

"Would you like some popcorn or candy?" Kirk asked.

"Oh, I'd love some. I haven't tasted popcorn in weeks. Make mine with butter if you don't mind."

"Right," Kirk said. He wheeled himself to the refreshment stand. The woman behind the counter was immense. The maroon blazer didn't help.

"Two popcorns," he said. "Lots of butter. Pretend you're a cow."

The woman snorted, and scooped the popcorn into the tall wax-covered cups with a practiced hand. She splashed butter across the top and handed them to Kirk without saying a word.

Kirk paid for the popcorn, and he and Amy pushed through the lobby doors into the theater itself. The darkness and the cool air flooded over them. The screen flickered with colored images, pastels and greens.

Amy and Kirk went down the aisle. About halfway down, Amy asked, "How's this?"

"Fine."

Amy sat in the seat next to the aisle. Kirk parked the wheelchair next to her and put the brake on. They began to munch on their popcorn.

The movie was a love story. Kirk enjoyed the parts where the girl took off her clothes. Amy cried at the end, when the girl was hit by a train in slow motion.

They moved out into the warm summer night among the crowd of quietly talking moviegoers. They remained outside the movie theater until the street emptied. There were very few cars. The sidewalk was deserted.

"That was a lovely movie," Amy said.

"Yeah. It was okay. A little mushy for my taste, and you needed a speed-reading course to keep up with the subtitles."

"I'm glad we came."

"So am I."

"I hope we can get back to the hospital without being caught, though," Amy said.

"It would probably be safer to wait until later, when things really slow down there, after lights-out. Want something to eat?"

"Sure. While we're on the loose, we might as well take advantage of all that the outside world has to offer. I wonder what Brent is doing?"

"He's fine. Probably reading."

"I wish he could have come."

"Yeah," Kirk said.

They started down the sidewalk to the right. Three stores down was a small restaurant called La CrИperie.

"How about here?" Kirk asked.

"Wonderful. I love crИpes."

"I'd rather have a Gino's Giant, but what can you do?"

"You've got no couth, Kirk. You'll like it."

They went into the restaurant. It was almost empty. Kirk wheeled up to a table for two and Amy sat down. A waitress came with menus and quickly left. Kirk lit a cigarette.

They both looked over the menu.

"What kind of a place is this anyway? No pizza crИpe?"

"Funny boy," Amy said. "I think I'll just have a dessert one. How about a CrИpe Grand Marnier?"

"Fine. Me too. It better be good or I'll break your leg."

"Just try it. Why can't you be romantic like the guy in the movie?"

"I'm not your lover. If you put out for me, I'd bring you candy."

"My, aren't we suave tonight? It's not part of the game, I'm sorry to say."

They ordered the two CrИpes Grand Marnier and ate them with delight. They tasted the sweet powdered sugar, the thin crisp crИpe and the sharp flavor of the liqueur. The dim candlelight and quiet music were the backdrop, and they sat for a long while after they had finished eating.

"It's so nice to be away from the hospital for a night. Sometimes it gets to seem like it's the only world there is," Amy said.

"I know what you mean, although sometimes I wonder if it's such a bad world compared to the real one."

"I liked the movie tonight. But it was so sad. I wished the girl hadn't died in the end."

"They always die in the movies. You know that. It's tough, but so what? It's only a movie."

"Have you ever cried in the movies?" Amy asked. "I cry all the time. It's silly, I guess, but I can't help it."

"Yeah, I cried once. I was five years old and I was taken to see Bambi . I cried when the mother died. I was just a little kid then."

"I guess I shouldn't let movies get to me so much. They are just movies after all."

"I had to leave my seat once when I was six," Kirk said. "It was during The Wizard of Oz . I took a dollar from my mother's purse. I sneaked out of the house one Sunday and went by myself. Well, when those flying monkeys came swooping down and picked up Dorothy, I almost wet my pants I was scared. I ran up the aisle and watched the whole rest of the movie from the lobby."

"You're funny," Amy said. "It's cold in here too. Let's get going. I guess I should have brought a sweater after all. We should be heading back soon anyway." She coughed quietly.

"Yeah, I guess so. Brent must be wondering where we are."

They paid the bill and went back to the deserted sidewalk. They passed by store windows on the quiet street.