Charlotte nc dating‘Ah fuck off ya smart arse. You always were such a smart arse. Sit back and chillax there for a minute. Sure, in the good old days we’d of been down here all night. Drinking until dawn. Best days a me life.’ Autumn wasn’t a time for traveling then. It’s become so now. CHAPTER SIX The rivers of the wasteland are trimmed with robust rims of moss. “Hey, Deb. How are you, hon?” Well, I’ll just sit back down in this deep chair, which could be the star of a nightmare, a bottomless hell into which one sinks and sinks, no solid ground beneath. Then I’ll dip my face into the creamy foam of my hot chocolate, and shovel it up shamelessly with my tongue. Such a respectable woman, not giving a thought to using a teaspoon whenthe truth comes out, belatedly, after suffering and pondering morning, afternoon, and evening. Something that doesn’t add up. Harpa Eir isn’t who she’s said to be. He asked the man why he was still at it so late. ‘Nah, he’s just gee-eyed. Look at the cut of him. Stocious, so he is.’ Jenna took another mug from the cupboard, filled it with coffee, and handed it to me.“That mascot shit means a lot of things to a lot of people,” she said, “so I understand why you’re interested in it. But for me, the mascot means someone else told him their version of his own story, and he bought it. He dressed up in their version of his story. You know? The difference between having the power to tell your own story and allowing other people that power is the difference between scuba diving and having your head held under water. Putthat in your notes.” At the age of six, I am already alone. My mother has just died. My father deposits me, like a millstone, at the house of my aunts, and leaves immediately for an America from which he will never return. An orphan… ever since then, this word has always paralysed me with fear; even now I cannot go past a girls’ boarding school and hear people saying “they are orphans”, without tears coming to my eyes. Half-a-century has passed, but in the midst of the luxury and happiness enjoyed by the last happy people in a miserable world, I am alone, still alone. She straightened up, went into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “I can send messages, Duncan,” Woolford said over his shoulder. ‘That was another Tristram St Lawrence.’ Damn, she snorted, I’m lucky I don’t have brothers or sisters. So far he hadn’t said a word; now, however, he began to accompany every word with a suppressed expletive. Under the blows Winifred’s thin evening dress immediately tore into shreds and red welts began to appear on her naked back. At first, when she had got her mouth free, she began to yell; however, the blows came down so thick and fast that she immediately found herself short of breath. She hid her face in her arms, stopped turning around and just groaned. The man continued to whip her. That was the first one. The other buses, the newer five, didn’t have the same accidental backstories. These were simply purchased here and there through classified ads Phil and Jim started keeping their eyes on. Always fixer-projects, never running. Dirt-cheap, each of them. In fact, one of the orange ones was given away for free. All the buses, one after the other, towed into the unused gravel lot adjacent to one of the trailer parks over on Avenue I, where they both lived rent-free. Jim had convinced my uncle to shave off the rent and fence in the lot, all in exchange for working odd jobs around the place, including their big-duty, park security during the nights: Jim on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays; Phil on the in-betweens. “You know me, Coco,” Jude said in a soothing tone. “I’m a fair guy. I don’t push people around. I mind my own business. But Theon was my friend and Deb here is too. You have no reason to make her pay for an act of God; neither does Dick Ness.” “Maybe,” I said.. |