"I've seen notice of you in the papers now and then," Penn said.
"Distinguished career and all that."
"Same old stuff. I untangled a couple of mysteries about smells and
flavors."
"Chip off the old block. Your father was a biologist."
"Still is," Arthur said. "Marine. He got fish; I got plants."
"Could make for conversation at a seafood place," Penn said.
"If we ate out. If we talked."
"I remember that trip we took to Hawaii. He didn't say much. Nice guy,
though, over on the windward side in--what was the name?"
"Lanikai."
"Right, Lanikai."
"So, what about you? I guess you gave up medicine."
"Yeah. It was a cruise, learning, but when I got to doing it--I don't
know--all that misery. I ducked into management. That was worse.
Boring. I chucked it for the business game, the market." He paused.
"You know how they used to say: sometimes you get the bear; sometimes
the bear gets you." He flashed the old Penn smile.
"Where are you living these days?"
"One of my buddies has a boat on the lake. He's not using it right now."
"Getting cool, isn't it?"
"Just right," Penn said, "for another couple of months." Arthur didn't
want to ask: then what?"
"Then what?" Penn said. He finished his drink. "It's O.K. to ask. I
don't know." He leaned toward Arthur. "Do me a favor, Arthur--try
saying, out loud: I don't know." Arthur hesitated. "Come on now."
"I don't know," Arthur said and found himself smiling.
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