"He takes his clothes off," Chester said. "How many non-addicts take their clothes off?"
"Moi," Adam thought.
"He means acting out," the woman responded impatiently. "Get the clothes, Chester, now."
"What is your name, how 'bout it?" Adam asked the woman.
"Beverly," she answered.
Adam saw for the first time that, despite her summary manner, Beverly possessed an almost exotic beauty, not unlike that of the unlamented but hardly undesireable half-wife Ganya.
"I used to think I was addicted to sex," he said calmly. "But it turned out to be just a stage."
"Look," Beverly said. "Chester and I work for the County. We are social workers. We don't claim to understand everything. What did you say your name was?"
"Adam Panflick. I live here now. I was sitting over there when this gentleman walked in. He asked me to join him."
"I see. Ah, here's Chester. Warren, get up. Go with Chester to the men's room. Hurry.”
Chester and Warren did as they were told.. But they did not hurry. Adam had time to establishe a rather more intimate relationship with Beverly than either had dreamed of minutes before.
It turned out that she was in the process of extricating herself from an abusive relationship. She was more than amenable to Adam's suggestion that she try out an $85 a week room in the annex of the Vale Motel in beautiful Boulder City. There was a vacancy next to his Annex room.
She’d have to commute into Vegas to continue working at the Addict Unit of the Clark County Health Department. But that idea appealed to her.
She was likewise amenable when Adam explained he liked nothing better than to spend the night in the company of wise women he could talk to, and take or leave whatever else might happen.
”Sounds better than getting knocked around night and day by a bozo back on Paradise,” she said.
Adam felt some serious twinges generated by his sense of her body.
Born in NYC, attended Oberlin & Trinity Schools, then Exeter and Williams (Phi Beta Kappa 1958). Worked with the Reverend James Robinson, finished Union Theological Seminary in NYC (1961). Joined Student Interracial Ministry in Nashville. Founded Renewal Magazine in Chicago, served The Christian Century and Christianity Crisis magazines. Covered civil rights in Oxford, Birmingham and Selma. Interviewed Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X. My book The Grass Roots Church had impact on the ecumenical movement. Have authored some 15 books, been a house-husband and father of three wonderful (grown) children. I have written published music choral and popular. Most recently I served in UN agencies including UNICEF in NYC and edited CHOICES which was the flagship magazine of UNDP.
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