The Broken Window

Lincoln and Arthur had spent much of the evening playing pool downstairs and talking about plans for the next fall and college. Lincoln’s heart was set on M.I.T. Arthur, too, planned to go there. They were both confident of admission and that night were debating rooming together in a dorm or finding an off-campus apartment (male camaraderie versus a babe lair).

The family then assembled at the massive table in his uncle’s dining room, Lake Michigan churning nearby, the wind hissing through bare, gray branches in the backyard. Henry presided over the table the way he presided over his class, in charge and aware, a faint smile below quick eyes taking in all the conversations around him. He’d tell jokes and anecdotes and ask about his guests’ lives. He was interested, curious-and sometimes manipulative. “So, Marie, now that we’re all here, tell us about that fellowship at Georgetown. I think we agreed it’d be excellent for you. And Jerry can come visit on weekends in that fancy new car of his. By the way, when’s the deadline for the application? Coming up, I seem to recall.”

And his wispy-haired daughter avoided his eyes and said what with Christmas and final exams, she hadn’t quite finished the paperwork. But she would. Definitely.

Henry’s mission, of course, was to get his daughter to commit in front of witnesses, no matter that she’d be separated from her fiancé for another six months.

Rhyme had always believed that his uncle would have made an excellent trial lawyer or politician.

After the remnants of the turkey and mincemeat pie were cleared away and the Grand Marnier, coffee and tea had appeared, Henry ushered everyone into the living room, dominated by a massive tree, busy fireplace flames and a stern painting of Lincoln’s grandfather-a triple doctorate and a professor at Harvard.

It was time for the competition.

Henry would throw out a science question and the first to answer it would win a point. The top three players would receive prizes picked by Henry and meticulously wrapped by Paula.

Tensions were palpable-they always were when Henry was in charge-and people competed seriously. Lincoln’s father could be counted on to nail more than a few chemistry questions. If the topic involved numbers his mother, a part-time math teacher, answered some before Henry had even finished asking. The front runners throughout the contest, though, were the cousins-Robert, Marie, Lincoln and Arthur-and Marie’s fiancé.

Toward the end, nearly 8 P.M., the contestants were literally on the edge of their chairs. The rankings changed with every question. Palms were sweaty. With only minutes remaining on timekeeper Paula’s clock, Lincoln answered three questions in a row and nosed ahead for the first-place win. Marie was second, Arthur third.

Amid the clapping, Lincoln took a theatrical bow and accepted the top prize from his uncle. He still remembered his surprise as he unwrapped the dark green paper: a clear plastic box containing a one-inch cube of concrete. It wasn’t a joke prize, though. What Lincoln held was a piece of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, where the first atomic chain reaction had occurred, under the direction of his cousin’s namesake, Arthur Compton, and Enrico Fermi. Henry had apparently acquired one of the pieces when the stadium was torn down in the 1950s. Lincoln had been very touched by the historic prize and suddenly glad he’d played seriously. He still had the rock somewhere, tucked away in a cardboard box in the basement.

But Lincoln had no time to admire his award.

Because that night he had a late date with Adrianna.

Like his family, unexpectedly thrust into his thoughts today, the beautiful, red-haired gymnast had figured in his memories too.

Adrianna Waleska-pronounced with a soft V, echoing her second-generation Gdansk roots-worked in the college counselor’s office in Lincoln’s high school. Early in his senior year, delivering some applications to her, he’d spotted Stranger in a Strange Land on her desk, the Heinlein novel well-thumbed. They’d spent the next hour discussing the book, agreeing often, arguing some, with the result that Lincoln realized he’d missed his chemistry class. No matter. Priorities were priorities.

She was tall, lean, had invisible braces and an appealing figure under her fuzzy sweaters and flared jeans. Her smile ranged from ebullient to seductive. They were soon dating, the first foray into serious romance for both of them. They’d attend each other’s sports meets, go to the Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute, the jazz clubs in Old Town and, occasionally, visit the backseat of her Chevy Monza, which was hardly any backseat at all and therefore just the ticket. Adrianna lived a short run from his house, by Lincoln’s track-and-field standards, but that would never do-can’t show up sweaty-so he’d borrow the family car when he could and head over to see her.

They’d spend hours talking. As with Uncle Henry, he and Adie engaged.