She said you need to eat well

In addition, he offered a traditional Vietnamese clay cooking pot full of his mother’s com tay cam, a chicken-and-rice dish of which Ethan was fond. “Mom’s been reading candle drippings again,” Benny said. “She lit a candle in your name, read it, says you need to be fortified.” “For what? The most strenuous thing I do these days is get up in the morning.” “She didn’t say for what. But not just for Christmas shopping. She had that temple-dragon look when she talked about it.” “The one that makes pit bulls bare their bellies?” “That one. She said you need to eat well, say prayers without fail each morning and night, and avoid drinking strong spirits.” “One problem. Drinking strong spirits is how I pray.” “I’ll just tell Mom you poured your whiskey down the drain, and when I left, you were on your knees thanking God for making chickens so she could cook com tay cam.” “Never knew your mom to take no for an answer,” Ethan said. Benny smiled. “She won’t take yes for an answer, either. She doesn’t expect an answer at all. Only dutiful obedience.” Now, an hour later, Ethan stood at a window, gazing at the thin rain, like threads of seed pearls, accessorizing the hills of Bel Air. Watching weather clarified his thinking. [5] Sometimes only nature felt real, while all human monuments and actions seemed to be the settings and the plots of dreams. From his uniform days through his plainclothes career, friends on the force had said that he did too much thinking. Some of them were dead. The apple had come in the sixth black box received in ten days. The contents of the previous five had been disturbing.