Hubert smiled up at his neighbor. "Don't mind them," he said. "They've had a little too much to drink. I'm taking them home."
"You'd better or I'll call a cop." The man angrily slammed the window shut. He was not impressed by Hubert's friendly smile and assurance.
Lillian tucked her arm under Billy's and led him toward the garage. Hubert followed in back with Louise. The idea was to separate the two and beguile them with meaningless pleasantries. The plan, however, was a fiasco, as Louise and Billy now had to shout at each other, and to Hubert and Lillian the garage seemed very far away.
When the Fishers had been left safely behind in their own vestibule Hubert asked, "Where now?"
"I don't know," Lillian returned. "When I spoke up in the apartment I really meant to give Anna and Cliff the place for the night. I thought you and I could go to a hotel, but it don't seem so simple now. It's a question of what hotel, and we haven't any baggage. I was thinking we could go back and sleep on the couch. Do you think they'd mind?"
"Oh, I don't suppose so. They're good kids."
"Well, we'll go back then. We'll be quiet about it. Don't let the couch bang when you open it."
"I won't."
"And listen, I wanted to talk to you about something. It's about Anna. Cliff don't know about Fred. Be careful not to mention anything about him, will you?"
"Say, what do you take me for?"
"Oh, I know you wouldn't say anything on purpose,
