Stopping at the corner of Aimée and Morris’ street before making the right turn that would take him, in a few short blocks, to his own house, Rennie realized that he didn’t much want to go home. He hesitated, spontaneously turned left and, just as suddenly, jogged right onto a little cul-de-sac. He pulled the car over beside a small overgrown parkette, gave the key in the ignition a half turn, and switched on the CD player. Sinatra crooned,
Some day, when I’m awfully low,
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you….
Rennie drank some flat coke from an opened bottle that he had left in the car, glanced at himself in the rearview mirror, checked his cell phone (it had been turned off during Pierrot’s lesson) for messages, then shut his eyes.
