“You know, Mom, Uncle Buck is a lot like Zorro.”
“You mean the Spanish bandit?”
“Zorro isn’t a bandit, he robs the evil government officials and distributes the money to poor people.”
“Buck isn’t a Spaniard.”
“No, but he looks like one. He’s handsome like Zorro, he has a thin mustache and black hair and knows how to fence. Remember when he taught Johnny McLaughlin and me how to fence in the backyard? His foils and masks are in the black steamer trunk he keeps in our garage.”
“My brother is a dashing guy. He loves you and I’m glad he teaches you things your father didn’t have time to do.”
“Could Dad fence?”
Kitty laughed. “No, of course not. But he could do lots of other things. It’s too bad he died before he had a chance to show you. Buck likes doing things with you.”
“He wants me to go to Cuba with him.”
“You and your dad had good times there. I miss it, too.”
“I’d rather live in Havana than here in Chicago. Chico Fernandez and I used to fence with fishing rods.”
Kitty thought sometimes that she should get married again. Her brother lived in Florida now, so Roy didn’t see him often. A boy needs a father, her mother said. Maybe, but she didn’t need a husband. Not yet, anyway. What if Roy and whomever she married didn’t get along? She didn’t want to think about it.
“How about him?” June DeLisa said to Kitty while they were sipping champagne at Marva Gillespie’s cocktail party.
“What about who?”
“Burt Phillips. He and Diane Cortez are on the outs now.”
“So?”
“He’s always gone for you. And he’s loaded.”
“When Marva introduced him to me, he asked where I bought my clothes. I thought that was weird.”
“What did you say?”
“I asked him where he bought his.”
June DeLisa laughed.
“And he doesn’t in the least resemble Tyrone Power. I didn’t like him.”
“Why Tyrone Power?”
“He plays Zorro, Roy’s favorite.”
“Your brother looks a little like Tyrone Power. Uh oh, here comes Burt Phillips.”
“June,” he said, “you’re looking dangerous, as usual.”
“Hello, Burt. You know Kitty, of course.”
Before he could say anything, Kitty asked him, “What distinguishes a foil from an épée?”
Phillips stared at Kitty for a few seconds, then walked away.
“Kitty,” said June, “you’re too cruel.”
Kitty took a sip of champagne, then said, “Roy wouldn’t like him, either.”
