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"Maybe I haven’t made myself clear I love the life I lead I’m fond of my own ass I don’t want to die I’o doithout a fight"
"Then you better co That’s the best I can do"
30
Wednesday evening, April 20, 1988
When I got home from work, I tossed the hts, and sat down at ation in tatters, it see the details to index cards There had to be a pattern, an overview into which all the little pieces would fit Like an optical illusion, I aiting for the shift, one ih and high school, I had trouble staying focused in classes where I was doing poorly, ht" problem, my rasped the setup on sight Not only could they divine the crux of thetheir pencil points and scribble the solution while I was still squir in my seat I wasn’t stupid by any stretch I was easily distracted and my attention would shift to details that turned out to be irrelevant
A train leaves Chicago for Boston traveling sixtytoward Chicago at eighty miles an hour A bird flies back and forth between the two
And that’s as far as I’d get I’d start wondering why the bird was behaving so erratically, positing a virus affecting the bird’s internal gyroscope I’d daydrea fro in Boston that residents had crowded into the fastest train out I’d never been to Boston and noas forced to scratch it offdown et" the big picture I couldn’t grasp as going on, so I foundto do with anything For instance, I wondered what they’d added to Rain’s lemonade that knocked her out Probably soe ht about the kidnapper dressed as Saint Nick, curious how he’d co in a departing a Salvation Army bell, it couldn’t be an easy outfit to rent in thelocal costu back that far I could do it, but after twenty-one years, I’d be spinningbusy for the sake of it instead of canvassing with any hope of success
I tossed my pen aside This was pointless Usually I surrender to the process, letting hts idle whilethe analytical side ofdistinctly unpleasant about pondering the sa in I could fiddle the story any way I liked and the botto He’dthat rested on his basic preathered the cards, secured theh of this I needed Henry’s company and his counsel I opened the front door and peered across to Henry’s kitchen All his lights were out I picked up , locked my front door, and made a beeline for Rosie’s I spotted him theat the plate Rosie had just put in front of him
To her, he said, "Thank you, dear It looks lovely" He s her depart
"Is that the special of the day?"
He shook his head "Oh no, you’ll want to steer clear of that" He peered over his shoulder to e By then she was at the bar chatting with William while she kept a close eye on us
Henry put a hand to his mouth, in case she’d recently learned to read lips "She’s serving calf’s-liver pudding with anchovy sauce It comes with a cup of souse’s soup, made with sauerkraut" He paused for a moment while he crossed his eyes and then pointed to his plate "This dish is stuffed cabbage and it’s not half bad"
"Got it," I said