“i g l o o his name was Eddie and he had abig white dogwith a curly taila huskielike one of those that pulled sleighsup near the north poleIgloo he called himand Eddie had a bow and arrowand every week or twohe'd send an arrowinto the dog's sidethen run into his mother's housethrough the yelpingsaying that Igloo had fallen onthe arrow.that dog took quite a few arrows andmanaged tosurvivebut I saw what really happened and didn'tlike Eddie very much.so when I broke Eddie's legin a sandlot football gamethat was my way of getting evenfor Igloo.his parents threatened to sue myparentsclaiming I did it on purpose becausethat's what Eddietold them.well, nobody had any money anyhowand when Eddie's father got a jobin San Diegothey moved away and left thedog.we took him in.Igloo turned out to be rather dumbdid not respond to very muchhad no life or joy in himjust stuck out his tonguepantedslept most of the timewhen he wasn't eatingand although he wiped his assup and down the lawn afterdefecatinghe usually had a large fragrant smear ofbrownunder his tailwhen he was run over by anicecream truck3 or 4 months laterand died in a stream of scarletI didn't feel more than theusual amount of griefand lossand I was still glad that Ihad managed tobreak Eddie's leg.”

“Your father was no longer a young man. he was already in his fifties.'Fifty-six,' Eddie said blankly.Fifty-six,' the old woman repeated. 'His body had been weakened, the ocean had left him vulnerable, pneumonia took hold of him, and in time, he died.'Because of Mickey?' Eddie said.Because of loyalty,' she said.People don’t die because of loyalty.'They don’t?' she smiled. 'Religion? government? Are we not loyal to such things, sometimes to the death?'Eddie shrugged.Better,' she said, 'To be loyal to one another.”

“You may be running short of create juice because you mind isn't interested. Eddie isn't naping because he's tired; he's napping because he's bored out of his mind. Drool is running down his chin. So wake him up. BAM! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM, EDDIE?! THERE'S A BODY ON THE KITCHEN TABLE?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!Eddie will jump out of his recliner in a panic. WHAT? A BODY?! AN EXPLOSION? WHY WOULD THE HOUSE EXPLODE? WHAT'S GOIND ON?!”

“Sometimes the children asked Eddie to lift them over his head, and when Eddie complied, he saw the mothers' sad smiles: He guessed it was the right lift but the wrong pair of arms.”

“You're going to, Clay? She whispered before he could leave. You're really going to read to me? Sure. The smile that lit Jackie's face was the first Clayton had seen from her in more than a year. It did funny things in the region of his chest. He moved toward the door but ran into the doorpost because he was staring behind him watching her. Eddie who was headed that way laughed when she witnessed it. Are you in a hurry Eddie asked noticing that he looked a little dazed. She smiled He said his voice bemused. I saw her smile. Eddie's gaze became very tender. If Jackie could see him now she'd know in an instant how much he still loved her.”

“His father, who for years had refused to speak to Eddie, now lacked the strength to even try. He watched his son with heavy-lidded eyes. Eddie, after struggling to find even one sentence to say, did the only thing he could think of to do: He held up his hands and showed his father his grease-stained fingertips.”