Michael Malone - Weebly

"That relationship, with Jimmy Poe's sons,
exhausted itself, Mrs. Haig." Smalter slid his letters into
the pocket of his three-piece-suit jacket. It was striped
blue seersucker, as it always was in June. "I got a little
rancorous and then they got a little rancorous and so it
seemed best to call it quits on my birthday. Forty-two!"
He opened his hand in apology or resignation at that
figure.
"Forty-two? So am I," she heard herself say. This
conversation was the longest Judith had ever had with a
man whom she had seen several times a day, through
her bars, for close to a decade. It must be, she thought,
because of our hearts that we can talk now.
"Our prime, they say," said Mr. Smalter after
another pause.
"They do?"
"Don't they say life begins at forty? Let's not give up
hope. No, James Poe and I have parted company. You
know, you've never even asked me why I have some
letters sent to this box and others sent to Elizabeth
Circle."
"I don't like to pry."