[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Januarysnatched the telephone and her glass of soda out of the way; the river ofblood pooled in an invisible depression of the glass, then resumed its courseon the other side of the new pond while she watched, fascinated, to seewhether it would eventually spill over and form a beautiful crimson waterfallin miniature.THREEThe white building shaped like a Monopoly hotel on the corner of Jackson andDarling streets in El Cerrito had doubtless hosted christenings before, butthe christening of a healthy-lunged (just ask his groggy parents) Leon StantonSantos-Shoemaker on Sunday afternoon, the twentieth of September, had been itsfirst in the guise of the Church of the Higher Power, and a great success byall accounts.Page 218 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe attendance of virtually the entire congregation of the CHP, as well as arepresentative sampling from the various branches of the East Bay recoverycommunity, had assured both a full house, and one hell of a potluck uponcompletion of a rather eclectic ceremony involving a few drops of water and agreat flood of affirmations.Afterwards (and say this for the twelve-steppers: they cleaned up afterthemselves without being told), Nick and Betty, still in their christeningfinery, a baggy white cotton suit for her, a blue Blass blazer, necktie, andtan slacks for him, drove the Oldsmobile up to Tilden Park with Leon's carseatin the back for his first ride on a merry-go-round (he spit up on Nick'sblazer), a visit to the Little Farm, and a ride on the miniature railroad (hespit up again, this time on Betty's suit).When they returned to a church cleaner than it had been before the party,they found the parsonage kitchen had been cleaned top to bottom as well.Onthe kitchen table rested a small package from Executive Couriers, with RUSHand SUNDAY DELIVERY and NIGHT DELIVERY and B.A.M.N.and similar sentimentsstuck and stamped all over it.But the space on the address form for the sender was blank.Betty opened thebox to find an exquisite silver christening cup engraved with the lettersL.S."It's beautiful," she said."That ain't one of your mall gift-shop engraving jobs, either," agreed Nick,loosening his tie."Is there a card?""Yes, but it's not signed." Betty read it aloud: " 'Tolstoy was wrong.' Nowwhat could that mean?"Nick took the card from her."If I had to guess," he replied carefully, "I'dsay it refers to the opening sentence ofAnna Karenina: 'Happy families are allalike.'"Betty looked the cup over again suspiciously."And if youhadto guess, whowould youguessmight have sent it?"Nick shrugged if there had ever been a window of opportunity for him to comeclean about the string of evasions that had begun with him not telling herabout bringing January back from Midsummer, and extended through Whistler'sconciliatory phone call at the end of August, he had missed it it was too latefor the whole truth now.But even if Nick hadn't recognized Whistler's careless handwritingimmediately, he knew no one else who could afford a By Any Means Necessarydelivery from Executive Couriers it would have cost him practically as muchagain as the cup itself, and that cup so heavy with silver it weighed morethan Leon's head.Nor was the subtlety of Tolstoy's sentiment as a gesture ofpeace lost on Nick: it had JMW stamped all over it."Someone who doesn't believe all happy families have to be alike, obviously,"was Nick's eventual answer."And you know what? I think I agree."Not only had the parsonage kitchen been cleaned, but the refrigerator wasstuffed with leftovers dinner for days.Nick served Betty while she nursedLeon, then left for his own house, promising to return for the 1:00 a.m.todawn shift.Page 219 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlIt was only fair and as close as he and Betty ever got to resembling amarried couple: there would be a bottle of expressed breast-milk on thebedside table; Nick would change into a pair of cotton pajamas he kept at theparsonage, then slip into bed beside Betty, who was often so exhausted shewouldn't even wake up (or at least acknowledge that she had awakened).When heheard Leon howling (usually around two or three, though it could beearlier never later), he would feed him a bottle, change him, and put him backto sleep before either crawling back in beside Betty or, if he needed to workthat night, returning home.And he might indeed have some Net prowling to do tonight, he realized when hearrived back at his own house a little before seven-thirty: someone had posteda new, and rather sophisticated, entry to a dummy bulletin board Nick had setup to entrap unwary crackers.He hit the print screen button, then went into the bedroom to change out ofhis christening clothes.He had just returned to the office in asoftball-style Detroit Tigers jersey and his oldest, softest Levi's nounderwear and removed the printout from his LaserJet when the office phonerang."Santos.""Nick, please pick up the ""It's me."" phone, please oh.I thought it was your machine.""No, it's me.Is this January?""Please help me, Nick.Just this one time, and I'll never ask you foranything again.""What happened?""This guy dosed me on acid last night I been hiding behind the couch allnight.""Are you still tripping?""No.I don't know.Maybe.""Where are you?""I don't know.His apartment.""Is he there?""I don't know.I think he's gone." Not sounding very much like a vampire atall more like a frightened little girl."Nick, I'm scared and I'm having abummer.Please come get me.I don't have anybody else to call.""I don't want to start ""Please, Nick? I'll give up blood again, I'll do anything you want, pleasejust help me this once.""All right, all right.But you have to tell me where you are."Page 220 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"I'm hiding behind the couch.""No, I mean where the apartment is.""Somewhere on Solano is all I remember.Second floor.""Albany or Berkeley?""How should I know?""Can you see out a window?""Just a second." He heard the swoosh of curtains being drawn."Yeah.""Are there parking meters?""No.""Okay, you're in Albany.What else do you see?""There's a bakery across the street, next to a frozen yogurt place.""The bakery's on the corner?""Yup.""Big clock in the window?""Yup.""I know where you are.Hang on, I'll be there in ten minutes.Watch for the'Vette."He made it in five, including a minute to pull on his socks and Tony Lamaboots and grab his fleece-lined Levi jacket from the closet.He cursed himselffor a fool the entire way down to Solano, but when he saw January's pallidface peeking from between the drawn curtains of an upstairs window, he wasglad he'd come.For about another two minutes anyway, which was how long it took him to findthe street door that led up to the second-story apartment.Because when she opened the door for him, he saw over her shoulder a sightthat would stay with him for a good long time: a dead man with his headresting on a low glass table-top coated with black and crusted blood."Fuck this," he said, starting to turn away.She grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him into the apartment."I didn'tknow," she whispered.Her eyes were blood red, her grasp had beenblood-strong, but her voice was tiny as a talking doll's."I was scared tolook [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Januarysnatched the telephone and her glass of soda out of the way; the river ofblood pooled in an invisible depression of the glass, then resumed its courseon the other side of the new pond while she watched, fascinated, to seewhether it would eventually spill over and form a beautiful crimson waterfallin miniature.THREEThe white building shaped like a Monopoly hotel on the corner of Jackson andDarling streets in El Cerrito had doubtless hosted christenings before, butthe christening of a healthy-lunged (just ask his groggy parents) Leon StantonSantos-Shoemaker on Sunday afternoon, the twentieth of September, had been itsfirst in the guise of the Church of the Higher Power, and a great success byall accounts.Page 218 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe attendance of virtually the entire congregation of the CHP, as well as arepresentative sampling from the various branches of the East Bay recoverycommunity, had assured both a full house, and one hell of a potluck uponcompletion of a rather eclectic ceremony involving a few drops of water and agreat flood of affirmations.Afterwards (and say this for the twelve-steppers: they cleaned up afterthemselves without being told), Nick and Betty, still in their christeningfinery, a baggy white cotton suit for her, a blue Blass blazer, necktie, andtan slacks for him, drove the Oldsmobile up to Tilden Park with Leon's carseatin the back for his first ride on a merry-go-round (he spit up on Nick'sblazer), a visit to the Little Farm, and a ride on the miniature railroad (hespit up again, this time on Betty's suit).When they returned to a church cleaner than it had been before the party,they found the parsonage kitchen had been cleaned top to bottom as well.Onthe kitchen table rested a small package from Executive Couriers, with RUSHand SUNDAY DELIVERY and NIGHT DELIVERY and B.A.M.N.and similar sentimentsstuck and stamped all over it.But the space on the address form for the sender was blank.Betty opened thebox to find an exquisite silver christening cup engraved with the lettersL.S."It's beautiful," she said."That ain't one of your mall gift-shop engraving jobs, either," agreed Nick,loosening his tie."Is there a card?""Yes, but it's not signed." Betty read it aloud: " 'Tolstoy was wrong.' Nowwhat could that mean?"Nick took the card from her."If I had to guess," he replied carefully, "I'dsay it refers to the opening sentence ofAnna Karenina: 'Happy families are allalike.'"Betty looked the cup over again suspiciously."And if youhadto guess, whowould youguessmight have sent it?"Nick shrugged if there had ever been a window of opportunity for him to comeclean about the string of evasions that had begun with him not telling herabout bringing January back from Midsummer, and extended through Whistler'sconciliatory phone call at the end of August, he had missed it it was too latefor the whole truth now.But even if Nick hadn't recognized Whistler's careless handwritingimmediately, he knew no one else who could afford a By Any Means Necessarydelivery from Executive Couriers it would have cost him practically as muchagain as the cup itself, and that cup so heavy with silver it weighed morethan Leon's head.Nor was the subtlety of Tolstoy's sentiment as a gesture ofpeace lost on Nick: it had JMW stamped all over it."Someone who doesn't believe all happy families have to be alike, obviously,"was Nick's eventual answer."And you know what? I think I agree."Not only had the parsonage kitchen been cleaned, but the refrigerator wasstuffed with leftovers dinner for days.Nick served Betty while she nursedLeon, then left for his own house, promising to return for the 1:00 a.m.todawn shift.Page 219 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlIt was only fair and as close as he and Betty ever got to resembling amarried couple: there would be a bottle of expressed breast-milk on thebedside table; Nick would change into a pair of cotton pajamas he kept at theparsonage, then slip into bed beside Betty, who was often so exhausted shewouldn't even wake up (or at least acknowledge that she had awakened).When heheard Leon howling (usually around two or three, though it could beearlier never later), he would feed him a bottle, change him, and put him backto sleep before either crawling back in beside Betty or, if he needed to workthat night, returning home.And he might indeed have some Net prowling to do tonight, he realized when hearrived back at his own house a little before seven-thirty: someone had posteda new, and rather sophisticated, entry to a dummy bulletin board Nick had setup to entrap unwary crackers.He hit the print screen button, then went into the bedroom to change out ofhis christening clothes.He had just returned to the office in asoftball-style Detroit Tigers jersey and his oldest, softest Levi's nounderwear and removed the printout from his LaserJet when the office phonerang."Santos.""Nick, please pick up the ""It's me."" phone, please oh.I thought it was your machine.""No, it's me.Is this January?""Please help me, Nick.Just this one time, and I'll never ask you foranything again.""What happened?""This guy dosed me on acid last night I been hiding behind the couch allnight.""Are you still tripping?""No.I don't know.Maybe.""Where are you?""I don't know.His apartment.""Is he there?""I don't know.I think he's gone." Not sounding very much like a vampire atall more like a frightened little girl."Nick, I'm scared and I'm having abummer.Please come get me.I don't have anybody else to call.""I don't want to start ""Please, Nick? I'll give up blood again, I'll do anything you want, pleasejust help me this once.""All right, all right.But you have to tell me where you are."Page 220 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"I'm hiding behind the couch.""No, I mean where the apartment is.""Somewhere on Solano is all I remember.Second floor.""Albany or Berkeley?""How should I know?""Can you see out a window?""Just a second." He heard the swoosh of curtains being drawn."Yeah.""Are there parking meters?""No.""Okay, you're in Albany.What else do you see?""There's a bakery across the street, next to a frozen yogurt place.""The bakery's on the corner?""Yup.""Big clock in the window?""Yup.""I know where you are.Hang on, I'll be there in ten minutes.Watch for the'Vette."He made it in five, including a minute to pull on his socks and Tony Lamaboots and grab his fleece-lined Levi jacket from the closet.He cursed himselffor a fool the entire way down to Solano, but when he saw January's pallidface peeking from between the drawn curtains of an upstairs window, he wasglad he'd come.For about another two minutes anyway, which was how long it took him to findthe street door that led up to the second-story apartment.Because when she opened the door for him, he saw over her shoulder a sightthat would stay with him for a good long time: a dead man with his headresting on a low glass table-top coated with black and crusted blood."Fuck this," he said, starting to turn away.She grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him into the apartment."I didn'tknow," she whispered.Her eyes were blood red, her grasp had beenblood-strong, but her voice was tiny as a talking doll's."I was scared tolook [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]