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Nutty Neddie, aka Special Ed, continued on Broadway and hooked a left onto Powell, following it up to the top of Nob Hill, until one of his favorite flight paths was in view

The cable car tracks turned from Jackson onto Powell, and Neddie waited for the car to rattle to a stop He grabbed the bar and swung himself up, handed his Muni pass to the conductor

The conductor looked at Neddie’s pass, not his face He orking, and this was one of six hundred tickets and passes he would check that night Neddie was onboard, ready for takeoff He worked his way to the front of the car and ed the car to the crest of the hill—and then the car dropped over the top

He loved this gliding feeling as the car plunged doard Union Square was on the left, the Macy’s sign was across the way, and the monument to Admiral Dewey stood centered in the square

Moments later, too soon, the car squealed to a halt, and Neddie jus of sha

He had est mistakes

Notably, there was the “crime” that had turned his life into this

Blazing light poured through the entrance of the Admiral Dewey Hotel A taxi pulled up, and a doorala The doorlass doors and opened theht of a wo alone forty feet away from the front of the hotel

She looked to be in her late thirties, with light-brown hair in a long braid She had a bland face that ree Woman

He would give her a test

He walked toward her and heard himself say, “Hi, I’m Neddie”

Her gaze passed over hi

Her disrespect, her disgust, sent a shiver through Neddie, and he saw that this was hoould rectify his earlier mistake He turned toward the wall and loaded his sharp

The wo off into the distance when Neddie jabbed her in the buttock, delivered the payload, pulled out the syringe, and sidestepped out into the street

He heard a short bark and turned to see the dead wo out as she silently mouthed, “HELP”