he didnt dance
but he wouldnt mind walking
she gave him an elbow in the
ribs
-- You dance
-- Occasionally with music with the right incentive(he oogled her and
smiled) and the right amount of liquor
-- Thats not true you . . .
-- Stop
he interrupted It is true if youd think about it
Just please think about it
-- I dont think youre being fair to yourself
-- I am
Worse Im being true to myself
-- Youre a hard sell
-- The hardest
so taking advantage of the day
that wanted them to they walked down to the redwoods on the mall before the
city hall and crossed the towns main artery to a local brewery beside a ravine
and its creek thirsty for rain
coming from below they could hear wood limbs cracking pitch
splitting thin branches
triage
it made them that much more
thirsty
they entered the pubs air-conditioned
clime and ordered a couple of Imperial IPAs
then grabbed a bowl of pretzels
and fled outofdoors
she was keeping her phone near to
finalise some plans with her brother for his visit from out of state and
since theyd entered the time slot he told her hed likely be free to talk she smiled huge and tapped at its keys utilising the wifi
and casually
very casually mentioned to him NASAs discovery of a planet perhaps
in deep space it was being touted
as Earths doppelganger
-- Kepler-452b * she said
-- What
I havent heard of it
How
do you know this stuff
-- You know me
Im the geek of this crewe
Im
always following space news You know how
much I love space
-- I do though Id prefer you ran with freak rather than a geek
You
know we have chickens in the neighborhood
Dont wanna upset the neighbors
he tried always to appreciate
what a good thing he had in her this wasnt
the first time she caught him flatfooted and utterly clueless
or
maybe he was trying desperately to hang onto his laurels
at the beginning of their walk he
mentioned to her a Truman quote he read in Flags of Our Fathers -- they
naturally seemed to take turns informing the other -- which
he read while she briefly touched up her face
The only thing new in the world is the
history you dont know
though he could suppose she confirmed
Truman exactly with her Kepler news
maybe let him enjoy a little bit longer the taste of his passing glory
then bitterly shelled him out of
existence
after Kepler-452b
he committed it
to memory
she might forget the numbers in a
couple days she wasnt particularly good
with figures
and since he discovered 36-24-36
he
was spectacular with figures
and if she did forget he
would be able to sweep in like a heroic white knight on a steed and save his
damsel from distress(hmm maybe he had a
draumatic flair after all)
they talked about
dinner preparations
he was the prep cook to her witch
she managed the nuances of herbs and spices and eyes of newt
unless
it was barbecue
he
was just a grateful satiated cog in the machinery of eating
they were walking back home when
her brothers call came in
she told him to remember where
they were in their conversation so when she got off the phone they could pick
it back up
-- Its interesting she said
before she answered he told
her
-- Our conversations are always interesting but the IPA is ten per cent alcohol
she didnt hear him
the wahwahwahwahwah began the wind killing most of her brothers words
beyond her ear at the phone while it was on speaker
-- Im sorry
she said its hard to hear
you Were walking
Excuse me
Why are we walking
Why
Were walking because its an
absolutely beautiful July afternoon
No
Excuse me
No We wouldnt take the car
Not far at all a couple of miles
In one direction
A couple of miles
Youre funny Were not crazy
Have you been out today outside
Thats the temperature here
Thats not hot No
No Were not running the air-conditioner at the
house
she momentarily took the phone
from her head and said He thinks were
nuts to be out walking
-- Well
he lives in the city
she didnt hear him again
she had returned to the telephone
call to help iron out the details of his upcoming trip
walking the IPA colored afternoon only improved
earlier the moon showed in the
soft blue sky approaching three-quarters
a pale silver egg
and as they walked to the pub
they talked
they wondered if perhaps the moon
was in profile to earth or if she looked
at them head on directly
if NASA might secretly have placed
a space station on the dark side of the moon as a military requisite for black-ops
through the remaining century
if homophobes Wall Street whores
and other entitleds otherwise known as Republican
candidates for Prez indecently knew they
were psychopaths
if there was such a thing
as
someone authentically inauthentic
wrestling with their earlier
conversations on the way over
then her brothers phone call coming
in
he was going to have to either make
something up as a continuum of where
they left off
she was sharper than that maybe
or
he was going to have to admit he didnt remember what they were talking about
or maybe
shed remember where they left off
despite the 10 per cent IPAs
because it sounded walking beside her things were finalised and she was
preparing to get off
What to do What to do
of
course he knew what to do
-- I love you too
Ill
see you soon
God I hate talking on the
telephone
-- I hear ya
-- Now where were we
-- Yaknow
Ya
left me alone all by myself and I went pinball machine
Im sorry I dont remember what we were talking about
Do you
-- No
As I hung on the telephone delaying to say goodbye I had no idea what we were talking about
-- So then
that said we each could have made
something up lied and the other would have bought into it lock
stock and barrel
What does that say about us
-- Probably that we could be liars but prefer to be honest
-- Yaknow
I love your mind almost as much as I love your breasts
2323, Sunday,
26 7. 15
1510, Monday,
27 7. 15
