Ralph was vain about his hair. I’m not as dumb as you think.”“I don’t—”“I’ve cheated on her three times. Gay sex and the catching of breath and the almost folding in on himself before the explosion. He couldn’t sleep beside Dena tonight. Russell could look south and see Brigham Street dotted with lights leaning down into an area that reminded him of his grandparents home on the Southside of Chicago, the same area where his cousin Macy lived, old two stories, factories, the slender clapboarded houses with their wooden back porches connecting one floor to the other, Saint Celestine’s rising up not far from the store Ralph’s family owned.“I always wondered,” Russell said, looking away from Little Poland and onto the expanse of blue water where orangish factory lights and the little lights of two downtowns looked on it, “why it’s called Saint Celestine’s.”“Huh?”“He’s not Polish. He’s on your side. Pray!” she announced in an airy voice, and then added, “But you already have. Sometimes he let himself scream.Sometimes like now.The day had been far longer than she’d planned, and Anigel went to bed early, fully intending to wake up later. What Russell said mattered to him more than he understood.“This is pretty awesome,” Russell decided, leaning his elbows on the old parapet.“Yeah
