Boys & Girls Together (114 page)

Aaron struggled to his knees.

“And now, Aaron, we come to the pertinent part, the part that tells your future. Because I’m certain you’ve noted the parallel, so I assume you’re more than a little interested in what happens to the boys.”

Aaron licked his lips. “Tell me.”

“They disappear! They get
used
and
used
and
used
until they are
all used up
. Then they simply disappear.”

“And that’s gonna happen to me?”

Stagpole lifted him roughly. “By the time that I am done with you, there will be nothing left. I ... will ... use ... you ... up, believe me, trust me, trust my skill.
I am a master
. Do you believe that?”

“I ... I believe ...”

Stagpole smiled, then, gently, he patted Aaron’s face. “Prepare to live in splendor,” he said, leading Aaron to the cashmere-covered bed. “For a while. Now go anoint your body. I must make ready.”

“What do you mean, ‘make ready’?”

Stagpole shrugged. “Nothing, really. You’ll get used to it. Costumes, apparatus, various bits of paraphernalia. Here, a final gift for you,” and he opened a suitcase, removed a monogrammed silk robe. “Now go. Beautify yourself.” He escorted Aaron to the bathroom door. “I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

As the door closed behind him, Aaron felt a momentary urge to scream for help, so he ran to the tiny porthole, fought it open, peered out. But the robe was purest silk and soft to the touch. Aaron closed the porthole and slowly undressed.

The great ship began to move.

Aaron opened the medicine chest. Stagpole had filled it with oils, and Aaron almost enjoyed bathing as he covered his gaunt body with first one sweet-smelling liquid, then another. He took a long time, but still there was no word from Stagpole, and as he waited Aaron felt the screaming urge again, and he ran back to the tiny porthole, throwing it open, staring out as the borough of Manhattan glided by. A young girl stood staring at the giant buildings as they glistened in the noonday sun.

“You—” Aaron said. “You—listen.”

She said, “
Je ne parle pas
.”

“Of course you don’t,” Aaron said, and he thought, son of a bitch, I’m gonna disappear, it’s enough to make you believe in God.

The girl pointed to the glistening city. “
Belle
,
oui?
”

“
Oui
,” Aaron agreed. “And the streets,
les boulevardes
, they are paved with shit.”

“
Oui?
” the girl said.

Aaron nodded. “
Oui
.”

The girl smiled and was gone.

“If you ask me you’re a lousy place to visit!” Aaron shouted.

“I’m ready, Aaron,” Stagpole said from beyond, his voice different and strange.

Aaron closed his eyes.

“
Aaron. I’m ready
.”

Aaron entered into agony.

William Goldman (b. 1931) is an acclaimed American novelist, nonfiction author, playwright, and two-time Academy Award–winning screenwriter whose works include the novels
The Princess Bride
and
Marathon Man
, both of which he also adapted for film.

Goldman was born on August 12, 1931, in Highland Park, Illinois, to Marion Goldman (née Weil) and Maurice Clarence Goldman, a businessman. Goldman’s older brother, James, also went on to become a successful author, playwright, and scriptwriter; his works include
The Lion in Winter
(1966) and
Follies
(1971). At eighteen, Goldman moved to Ohio to attend Oberlin College. His interest in writing was born at Oberlin, where he decided to take a creative-writing course, though his grades were poor initially. Goldman’s primary interests were poetry, short stories, and novels. He eventually became an editor of Oberlin’s literary magazine where, he later admitted, he would anonymously submit short stories that his peers unknowingly rejected. He attained his bachelor of arts in English in 1952 and went on to earn a master of arts degree in 1956 from Columbia University, where he completed his thesis on the comedy of manners in America.

Goldman began his career as a novelist with
The Temple of Gold
(1957), an account of a young man’s rite of passage, which he wrote in less than three weeks. By that point, Goldman had also found success on Broadway, having numerous plays produced. In 1960, Goldman married Ilene Jones, and the couple went on to have two daughters, Jenny (b. 1962) and Susanna (b. 1965).

In 1962, Goldman wrote his first screenplay,
Masquerade
, followed by a series of acclaimed screenplays including
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
(1969)
,
which sold for a record-breaking $400,000. Other notable scripts include
The Stepford Wives
(1975),
All the President's Men
(1976), and the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel
Misery
. In 1985, Goldman won a lifetime achievement Laurel Award for screenwriting from the Writers Guild of America.

Despite his success in Hollywood, Goldman continued to write novels, many of which he would use as the foundations for his screenplays.
The Princess Bride
(1973), which he wrote under the pseudonym Simon Morgenstern, remains a classic both as a book and a film. Goldman’s first thriller,
Marathon Man
(1974), was also made into a film of the same name in 1976, starring Dustin Hoffman.

In addition to his novels, plays, and screenplays, Goldman also wrote a series of memoirs, including
Adventures in the Screen Trade
(1983), about his experiences as an author and screenwriter in Hollywood and on Broadway, and
Hype and Glory
(1990), which documents his stints judging the Cannes Film Festival and the Miss America Pageant following the dissolution of his twenty-seven-year marriage.

Goldman has received numerous awards and accolades in addition to his two Academy Awards (Best Original Screenplay for
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
and Best Adapted Screenplay for
All the President’s Men
). Three of his scripts are in the Writers Guild of America hall of fame, and
Harper
(1967) and
Magic
(1979) garnered Edgar Awards in the screenplay category from the Mystery Writers of America.

Goldman works and resides in New York City.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1964 by William Goldman

Copyright renewed 1992 by William Goldman

Foreword copyright © 2001 by William Goldman

cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa

978-1-4532-9201-3

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