AppliancesTHE NEW ELECTRIC fan blew Ruben’s girlfriend right out of bed.
Her startled squeal woke him, but he only managed to catch hold of the trailing edge of the blanket, dangling from her purple-painted toes, and even that slipped quickly, easily, frictionlessly free of his sleep-feeble grasp, as she sailed right out the open window.
She was too thin, that was the problem. He’d told her and told her that he liked a little meat on a woman—nice, juicy curves—but she’d persisted in her determined pursuit of the fashion magazine ideal, doing no more than nibbling on salads, crackers, sugar-free candies, while he’d chowed down, feeling like some kind of ravenous beast beside or across from her at restaurants, movie theaters, dining tables.
Cursing and stumbling, he wrenched the balcony d
