CHAPTER 31In the package was one of the fruits of Eric's business; Hubert could feel it through the soft red paper it was wrapped in. When he had peeled the paper off, he held in his hand an almost weightless leprous-looking head: black spots marring a dark-green sculpture of a head with high cheekbones and wide-set eyes. Its skin was shriveled and rough. The thing looked as though an overgrown, overripe avocado had come to life. He felt his heart beat as he stared at the morbid apparition: he realized that he was looking at a disintegrating version of his own face. There was a letter at the bottom of the package, consisting of a single page. From the date, it was clear Eric had not gotten the last letter Hubert had sent. Hubert opened it with unsteady hands and read:
Dear Hubert:
So goo
