Myra-Breckinridge-Gore-Vidal

"Exactly," I said, ready now to begin to shake hisselfconfidence. I took a small bottle. "That means a urinespecimen." The look of surprise was exquisite as he tookthe bottle. "Go behind that screen." I indicated a whitescreen in one corner of the room. "But..."he began. "But?" Irepeated pleasantly. Without a word, he went behind thescreen which was waist-high. He turned and faced the wall;he fumbled with his trousers. Then there was a longmoment of complete silence. "What's the matter?" I asked."I... don't know. I guess I'm what they call peeshy." "Don'tbe. Just relax. We've got plenty of time." The thought of"plenty of time" had a most releasing effect. Water passedinto the bottle with a surging sound. He then rearranged hisclothes and brought me the specimen which I took(marveling at the warmth of the glass: we are furnacesinside!) and carefully placed on it a white sticker inscribedwith his name. The entire affair was conducted without afalse note. "Now then we'll just do a drawing of the spine.Loosen your belt and lie face down on the table." For thefirst time he seemed aware that history might repeat itself.He stalled. "Maybe we better wait till I see the doctor.""Rusty," I was patient but firm. "I'm just following doctor'sorders and you are going to follow my orders, or else. Isthat understood?" "Well, yes, but... "There are no 'buts' forsomeone on probation." "Yes, ma'am!" He got the point.Quickly he undid the belt buckle; then he unfastened thecatch to his trousers and, holding them firmly in place, layface-down on the table. It was a delicious sight, that slendermuscular body stretched full length as sacrifice to some