The familiar sounds of cardboard cartons toppling emanated from his daughter's room. Mr. Robinson knew she has arrived to give his nurse her day off. Iki had a way of producing these noises. Mr. Robinson was never able to figure out how she manages to topple cardboard cartons every time she enters her room. Soon she appeared in person.
"Morning Dad."
"A very good morning to you Iki." Her mother named her Ikeba after the Japanese art of flower arrangement to which she was much addicted at the time of her daughter's birth. Later mother went on to appreciation of other things, but that is another story.
Daughter stood at the door and then slowly went round her Dad rather like a dog in strange territory. She did not sniff though. Dad lay on a large orthopaedic cot gleaming with stainless steel scaffolding. Both arms of Dad were in layers of bandage and hung on the frame balanced on weights over pulleys. One leg lay stretched on a stand. The other lower limb was free.
"Poor Dad," said daughter, "do you feel pain?"
"Pain is over but the itching is intolerable."
"That's not itching Dad. If you are constrained you always feel itchy somewhere or the other."
"Yes, in the barber shop it always happens. But that does not make it any less a misery."
"Now that I am here I will scratch. Where do I start?"
"That's the problem; it is always under the bandages. Instead of one free leg that is of no use I wish I had a free arm. I could then reach for the itch with knitting needles."
"Truck driver should plan their accidents so that at least an arm of their victim is free," said Iki.
"Enough about me. Tell me about yourself."
"I am OK."
"How is Charles?"
"Why always Charles and not Charlie? Anyway it doesn't matter. He is well."
"You seem happily married. That's good."
"No complaints. We get on very well together. We have found the formula for marital happiness."
"I wish I had known your formula."
"I wish you had. Like all great formulae this is simple, but I am not sure your mental make up would have taken to it."
"What's wrong with my mental make up?"
"You cannot accept change. You lack vision. To apply my formula you have to make a quantum leap."
"Tell me about your formula and I would tell you if it comes within my range of vision, or is narrow enough for me to leap across. Might have saved me the lonely life I now lead."
"You are not alone Dad. Please take that into your head. And no self pitying."
"I thought your mother and I were OK, not great but OK. Then she suddenly left me. It shook me at my very foundation. I just did not see it coming."
"There should have been plenty of indications. You were blind to it, blind as a mole."
"Blind as a bat."
"No Dad, bats are not blind, but many moles are."
"Well let that be. You said there should have been indications, want indications?
"Indications that she was bored to death."
"I don't understand. Are you bored?"
"No."
"What's this bored; bored of what?"
"The same man, the same foreplay, the same cock, the same everything. Who wouldn't be bored?"
"What do you mean; that I should have allowed her to have other men?"
"Yes, and you have other women."
"The marriage will go to pieces."
"It won't. The bonds will get stronger."
"Arrant nonsense."
"The exact words I expected you to employ. I am talking sense. I'll explain. I was getting bored of Charlie too. I could see that he was getting bored of me. One day after supper I took up the matter with him. I of course had done my home work before that.
'Charlie,' I said, 'would you like to have sex with other women from time to time?'
'Iki, what a silly question, which man wouldn't?'
'Would you mind if I have sex with other men?'
'If I have you should too.'
'Then why not?' I said. He smiled. He is a perceptive man."
"Unlike me," said Mr. Robinson.
"Yes unlike you," agreed daughter.
'What's the plan?' he asked.
'Read this.' I had circled an item in the newspaper. 'Read aloud.'
'Couple -- early thirties -- want companionship with other couples same age -- physical intimacy not excluded.'
'What do you say?'
'Why not? We will follow it up."
"You did Iki?"
"We did Dad. Emails, then letters with photographs, then we met in a restaurant. We rather liked each other. Then we went to a beach, a clothes optional one. We were comfortable showing our bodies. That evening we swapped."
"You had sex with the man and Charles had sex with that woman."
"Yes."
"Different rooms?"
"Does that matter? In the same room and before you ask more questions on the same bed, and just a queen sized one."
"Lots of touching?"
"That's what we had come for. After that I had sex with Charlie, and they had sex, again on the same bed with lots of touching. Shall I tell you something Dad, Charles and I were never closer to each other than in that fuck."