'I'm a hundred and eighty-four,' I said. 'What's three pounds among friends?'
There was a pause, Jerry was looking out through the french windows on to the terrace where my wife, Mary, was standing. Mary was still talking to Bob Swain and the evening sun was shining in her hair. She was a dark pretty girl with a bosom. I watched Jerry. I saw his tongue come out and go sliding along the surface of his lower lip.
'I guess you're right,' Jerry said, still looking at Mary. 'I guess we are about the same size, you and me.' When he turned back and faced me again, there was a little red rose high up on each cheek. 'Go on about these two men,' he said. 'What about some of the other differences?'
'You mean faces?' I said. 'No one's going to see faces in the dark.'
'I'm not talking about faces,' Jerry said.
'What are you talking about, then?'
'I'm talking about their cocks,' Jerry said. 'That's what it's all about, isn't it? And you're not going to tell me...'
'Oh yes, I am,' I said. 'Just so long as both men were either circumcised or uncircumcised, then there was really no problem.'
'Are you seriously suggesting that all men have the same size in cocks?' Jerry said. 'Because they don't.'
'I know they don't,' I said.
'Some are enormous,' Jerry said. 'And some are titchy.'
'There are always exceptions,' I told him. 'But you'd be surprised at the number of men whose measurements are virtually the same, give or take a centimetre. According to my friend, ninety per cent are normal. Only ten per cent are notably large or small.'
'I don't believe that,' Jerry said.
'Check on it sometime,' I said. 'Ask some well-travelled girl.'
Jerry took a long slow sip of his whisky, and his eyes over the top of his glass were looking again at Mary on the terrace. 'What about the rest of it?' he said.
'No problem,' I said.
'No problem, my arse,' he said. 'Shall I tell you why this is a phony story?'
'Go ahead.'
'Everybody knows that a wife and husband who have been married for some years develop a kind of routine. It's inevitable. My God, a new operator would be spotted instantly. You know damn well he would. You can't suddenly wade in with a totally different style and expect the woman not to notice it, and I don't care how randy she was. She'd smell a rat in the first minute!'
'A routine can be duplicated,' I said. 'Just so long as every detail of that routine is described beforehand.'
'A bit personal, that,' Jerry said.
'The whole thing's personal,' I said. 'So each man tells his story. He tells precisely what he usually does. He tells everything. The lot. The works. The whole routine from beginning to end.'
'Jesus,' Jerry said.
'Each of these men,' I said, 'had to learn a new part. He had, in effect, to become an actor. He was impersonating another character.'
'Not so easy, that,' Jerry said.
'No problem at all, according to my friend. The only thing one had to watch out for was not to get carried away and start improvising. One had to follow the stage directions very carefully and stick to them.'
Jerry took another pull at his drink. He also took another look at Mary on the terrace. Then he leaned back against the sofa, glass in hand.
'These two characters,' he said. 'You mean they actually pulled it off?'
'I'm damn sure they did,' I said. 'They're still doing it. About once every three weeks.'
'Fantastic story,' Jerry said. 'And a damn crazy dangerous thing to do. Just imagine the sort of hell that would break loose if you were caught. Instant divorce. Two divorces, in fact. One on each side of the street. Not worth it.'