Because he was afraid sometimes that he could use up his memories of their faces, that they could fade from his mind like a picture that was handled too much, he had turned more and more to daydreams of an interceding stranger. So that was why, when the woman in the restaurant used his name, his real name, he knew already that he was leaving with her. There was a burst of fear and daylight in his chest. But there was nothing else to do. He went back to the kitchen, found Paulie talking to the chef, said, ‘I have to go.’
‘The hell do you mean, you have to go?’ the chef said.
‘I don’t feel good,’ he said.
‘Who was that woman?’ Paulie said.
‘I have to go,’ he said, taking off the apron. He was smiling and terrified. Paulie and the chef looked at each other.
‘What’s the matter with you?’
