Thursday, July 07, 2005
The last first and the first when it is done (fixed)
Yeah, it's rough, but they all are.
The coffee cake served as a grim reminder of a breakfast that was not to be, warm on its tabletop perch. Peaceful and whole, it mocked the swaths of chaos in content cinnimonitude. It entranced Joseph, he couldn’t remove his eyes from this visitor from the past, this baked encapsulation of mere minutes before, benevolent sweetness in buddhist simplicity. And so they stared each other down, Mama Priyaveda’s Oblivious Coffeecake and the Sideways Walker for some unbreathing moments, until, plate and all, the violator was ejected from the apartment. “Of course it would have done you a bit of good to open the window first.” Rose smiled at him from the empty doorframe. “Next time I mean. Feel better?” Joseph smiled back, or tried to, an attempt that faded quickly. “This shit is getting old, you know.” “Old? Yeah, I might have an idea.” There was the edge of humor, in Rose’s voice as she attempted to scrape some flame out of a gas station lighter. After a half-minute of this futility, Joseph tossed her his matches and she lit them off her scarred boots. In return she passed him the first of the lit cigarettes, while she contented herself with the second. “These things will kill…no, on second thought, probably they won’t” he tried, as he accepted the offering. “Nah, got other plans” and sucked down about half of its length in one strong pull. “Of course, on the flip side,” she said, focusing on the ash, “after a couple decades of these, most of the buzz is gone, long gone, leaving only a pit in their absence. A lot of things get that way. So, what do you want to do about her?” “Well, she’s got a sister who works with her, for her actually at the diner. She should know. And she’s got some family in Conneticut, I think.” Joseph was distant, talking in the direction of his smoke. “She’ll be taken care of. Other than that, find the bastard, which might take some doing, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. She was a friend, she’s owed that much. Hell, don’t have that many, and one less now.” “Figured, well not about the sister, but most of the rest,” replied Rose, still hinting at a smile through her knot of hair which cascaded in every direction. “The other one.” “Don’t know, really don’t know, you said yourself there’s probably not much of a chance for her now.” Looking away from the waltzing whisps of grey, he saw her, staring at him with her odd eyes, gold edged in green, oddly bright in the twilight of the apartment. “Not quite sure what I am supposed to do against a force that once sandblasted cities off of maps and can turn people into saltlicks. Maybe see if he’s interested in working for the Beef Industry. They need some grazing lands, you know.” Her face didn’t change, so his topic had to. “Anyway, he’s ancient beyond words, from before we had words even. How is a man supposed to fight something like that? There’s not supposed to be any of them left. Sure, I’ve kept clean what I can, hunted the errant who crossed the line. And that’s been a lot, a lot of them strong, but, screw beat them, how am I supposed to save her?” “Maybe you don’t have to,” Rose spoke, and as she did, even as that air of good humor surrounded her, Joseph noticed it was not in her eyes. “Maybe she’ll save herself, but I doubt she can do it all by herself, if that makes any sense. She’s got a small hope and we both know you are it. Sorry. He’ll smell me a mile away, and after all, me against him, it’s apples and apple, a mere matter of subtraction. Your kind, even still, he doesn’t get. It ain’t much of a chance, but at least it’s a chance.” “Is that supposed to be a peptalk?” Joseph almost sat down, but thought better of it, the police would be through here soon enough. His legs were weary, it’d been a long day, at least what he remembered of it, and the corralling of his wandering focus were starting to hurt his head. As he leaned against the wall, she actually broke into a Cheshire grin. “No. Be a shitty peptalk if it was though, wouldn’t it? So, are you going to do it or do I have to go off and get myself destroyed alone?” Looking at her, smiling there, something clicked. “Why are you so worried about her?” “You wouldn’t understand…trust me on this one. Either you’re in or out.” “Alright, in, but we’re going to regret it” he said with a wan smile. “You already do. I do too, but yes, it’ll get worse. I’ll buy you a drink when this is all done.” Joseph just sighed, shook his head, and walked toward the door, stopping by the open door to the bedroom. Inside, the pool of blood had grown and kept him from walking too close to the doorway. “We should at least put her in the bed and cover her up. She deserves that much ” “I know, but the cops wouldn’t quite understand, I think. C’mon, it’s time to get going. I’ll help you find them later. They’ll probably find us soon enough.” And not for the first time, Joseph found himself missing Sellars.
The coffee cake served as a grim reminder of a breakfast that was not to be, warm on its tabletop perch. Peaceful and whole, it mocked the swaths of chaos in content cinnimonitude. It entranced Joseph, he couldn’t remove his eyes from this visitor from the past, this baked encapsulation of mere minutes before, benevolent sweetness in buddhist simplicity. And so they stared each other down, Mama Priyaveda’s Oblivious Coffeecake and the Sideways Walker for some unbreathing moments, until, plate and all, the violator was ejected from the apartment. “Of course it would have done you a bit of good to open the window first.” Rose smiled at him from the empty doorframe. “Next time I mean. Feel better?” Joseph smiled back, or tried to, an attempt that faded quickly. “This shit is getting old, you know.” “Old? Yeah, I might have an idea.” There was the edge of humor, in Rose’s voice as she attempted to scrape some flame out of a gas station lighter. After a half-minute of this futility, Joseph tossed her his matches and she lit them off her scarred boots. In return she passed him the first of the lit cigarettes, while she contented herself with the second. “These things will kill…no, on second thought, probably they won’t” he tried, as he accepted the offering. “Nah, got other plans” and sucked down about half of its length in one strong pull. “Of course, on the flip side,” she said, focusing on the ash, “after a couple decades of these, most of the buzz is gone, long gone, leaving only a pit in their absence. A lot of things get that way. So, what do you want to do about her?” “Well, she’s got a sister who works with her, for her actually at the diner. She should know. And she’s got some family in Conneticut, I think.” Joseph was distant, talking in the direction of his smoke. “She’ll be taken care of. Other than that, find the bastard, which might take some doing, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. She was a friend, she’s owed that much. Hell, don’t have that many, and one less now.” “Figured, well not about the sister, but most of the rest,” replied Rose, still hinting at a smile through her knot of hair which cascaded in every direction. “The other one.” “Don’t know, really don’t know, you said yourself there’s probably not much of a chance for her now.” Looking away from the waltzing whisps of grey, he saw her, staring at him with her odd eyes, gold edged in green, oddly bright in the twilight of the apartment. “Not quite sure what I am supposed to do against a force that once sandblasted cities off of maps and can turn people into saltlicks. Maybe see if he’s interested in working for the Beef Industry. They need some grazing lands, you know.” Her face didn’t change, so his topic had to. “Anyway, he’s ancient beyond words, from before we had words even. How is a man supposed to fight something like that? There’s not supposed to be any of them left. Sure, I’ve kept clean what I can, hunted the errant who crossed the line. And that’s been a lot, a lot of them strong, but, screw beat them, how am I supposed to save her?” “Maybe you don’t have to,” Rose spoke, and as she did, even as that air of good humor surrounded her, Joseph noticed it was not in her eyes. “Maybe she’ll save herself, but I doubt she can do it all by herself, if that makes any sense. She’s got a small hope and we both know you are it. Sorry. He’ll smell me a mile away, and after all, me against him, it’s apples and apple, a mere matter of subtraction. Your kind, even still, he doesn’t get. It ain’t much of a chance, but at least it’s a chance.” “Is that supposed to be a peptalk?” Joseph almost sat down, but thought better of it, the police would be through here soon enough. His legs were weary, it’d been a long day, at least what he remembered of it, and the corralling of his wandering focus were starting to hurt his head. As he leaned against the wall, she actually broke into a Cheshire grin. “No. Be a shitty peptalk if it was though, wouldn’t it? So, are you going to do it or do I have to go off and get myself destroyed alone?” Looking at her, smiling there, something clicked. “Why are you so worried about her?” “You wouldn’t understand…trust me on this one. Either you’re in or out.” “Alright, in, but we’re going to regret it” he said with a wan smile. “You already do. I do too, but yes, it’ll get worse. I’ll buy you a drink when this is all done.” Joseph just sighed, shook his head, and walked toward the door, stopping by the open door to the bedroom. Inside, the pool of blood had grown and kept him from walking too close to the doorway. “We should at least put her in the bed and cover her up. She deserves that much ” “I know, but the cops wouldn’t quite understand, I think. C’mon, it’s time to get going. I’ll help you find them later. They’ll probably find us soon enough.” And not for the first time, Joseph found himself missing Sellars.
# posted by Drunkilluminati : 1:03 PM
