那年夏初,德拉和我坐在岩石嶙峋的瑶兹火山顶上,窥探她的妈妈。在距离我们一百英尺远的暗礁附近,德拉的妈妈正和一名叫查尔斯的研究生一起潜水。查尔斯在圣约翰大学做自己的研究项目,是关于伪珊瑚的,但有时候他也帮教授们收集数据。德拉猜想查尔斯和她妈之间没准儿有一腿。德拉问我爸爸是不是也和他的学生约会。“有几次,”我说,“不过那是在他遇见比佛丽之前。”“她们很风骚吗?”德拉问。我说有一个是。 Early that summer, Della and I were sitting on top of the rocky Yaotuz volcano, spying on her mother. Near the reef a hundred feet away, Della’s mother was diving with a graduate student named Charles. Charles did his research project at St. John’s University on pseudo-coral, but sometimes he also helped professors collect data. Della suspects that there may be a leg between Charles and her mother. Della asks if my dad is dating his student. “A few times,” I said, “but it was before he met Beverly.” “Are they very pretentious?” Della asked. I said one is.