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'Tell Couth I'm sorry, but I have to get back to New York,' he said. 'Ralph's all hot to trot with a new film.'
Biggie looked at the ground. 'Who's the main character?' she asked, and when Bogus stared at her - a How Did You Know? stare - she said, 'Ralph's been up. He flew up one weekend and talked to me and Couth.' She shrugged. 'I don't mind, Bogus,' she said. 'But I can't understand why you would have anything to do with a film about ... about what?' she said angrily. 'That's what I'd like to know.'
'You know Ralph, Big. I don't think he knows what the movie's about.'
'Do you know he tried to sleep with me?' she asked. 'Again and again,' she said, working herself into a rage. 'Jesus, even when he came for the weekend, he even tried then, with Couth around and all.'
Trumper just shuffled. 'That girl,' said Biggie, and Trumper looked up. 'Tulpen?' Biggie asked.
'Right,' said Colm. 'Tulpen ...'
They moved around to the other side of the car. Colm was absorbed in unwrapping the fishbowl, which was covered with tinfoil and tied with a ribbon.
'What about her?' Trumper asked.
'Well, Ralph says she's nice,' Biggie said. 'I mean, really nice.'
'Yes, she really is.'
'Well, he wants to sleep with her too,' Biggie said. 'You should know ...'
Trumper wanted to tell Biggie that Ralph had already slept with Tulpen, and that he might still be sore that he couldn't any more, but that there really wasn't anything else to it, but he didn't say anything; he just looked as if he was going to try.
'Bogus,' Biggie said. 'Please don't say you're sorry. Just this once, don't say something like that. You always say it.'
'But I am sorry, Big.'
'Don't be,' she told him. 'I'm very happy, and so is Colm.'
He believed her, but why did it make him so angry?
'Are you?' she asked.
'What?'
'Are you happy?'
He guessed he was, sort of, but he evaded an answer. 'We had a nice time, Colm and I,' he told her. 'We went to the zoo and a puppet show ...'
'And a museum!' said Colm. By now he had the fishbowl unwrapped and was holding it up to show Biggie. But the fish was floating on top of the water.
'Oh, it's lovely,' Biggie said.
'It's dead,' said Colm, but he didn't seem very surprised.
'We'll get you another one,' Trumper said. 'You can come down again,' he added, not looking at Biggie. 'Would you like that?'
'Sure.'
'Or your father can come and see us,' Biggie said.
'Sure, and I could bring a fish with me,' Bogus said.
'There was a yellow one and a red one, too,' Colm told Biggie. 'And all kinds of turtles. Maybe a turtle wouldn't have died so easy.'
A small plane took off nearby, and Colm watched it. 'I wish I could have taken the plane back,' he complained. 'It doesn't take so long on the plane, and maybe the fish wouldn't have died.'
Fish-killer Trumper felt like saying, Maybe the great Couth can revive it. But he didn't really feel like saying that at all; in fact, he felt like a shit for even thinking it.
