Bridgetown, Issue #1: Arrival Read Online Free PDF Page A

something else to the guy
after that, some kum-bi-ya platitude he'd once heard Jesse say. But whatever
it was, he wasn't paying any attention to it.
    Wayne got up and headed over to the communal
bucket of beers. He pulled the top off a can of Schlitz. Dusting
off what little frat-house experience he had, he downed the can in
a few gulps.
    He let the buzz kick in, and ambled over to
the girls' couch, weightless, with a previously undiscovered
swagger in his step. The girls saw him coming—Blondie to his left,
and Ginger to his right.
    "Jesse's brother, right?" - Blondie.
    "Yep, yep, yep, that's me. Wayne." He held
out a hand for them to shake. Suddenly, he felt like talking more
than he ever had. He was confident that whatever was about to spew
forth would be positively wrought in a golden wit that would just
bowl these girls right over.
    "Normally, I'd be really self-conscious about
talking to you girls," he began. "You know, 'sweaty palms' AACK!"
He guffawed, and the girls looked at each other and both giggled in
turn. "But, you know, it's like, we're all out here under the
stars, it's gorgeous, you people are all so cool and hip, and it
makes me want to be like—"
    The girls leaned in, waiting for him to
finish his thought.
    "It's like, fuck! , you
know?"
    The girls both slow-nodded in unison. "Yeah,"
Ginger said. "I totally dig what you're saying."
    Wayne leaned against the side of the Chevy
truck. "So, tell me about yourselves. What's your names?" He
brought his fist to his mouth, thinking he was discretely covering
a beer burp.
    "Laura," Ginger said.
    "Gwen," Blondie said.
    "It's nice to meet you—Laura, Gwen." A
moment's pause. "Am I being really loud right now? I can't tell, I
think I'm being really loud!"
    "You're fine," Ginger—ah, no, it was
Laura—dismissed his concern with a wave.
    "Do you have any pot?" Blondie—what was her
name again?—asked.
    "Only in my lungs!" Wayne slapped his knee.
He really felt he'd landed that one.
    The girls giggled, and glanced at one
another, as they had before. They kept going on like that, like
they had to check on each other's story to make sure all the pieces
lined up.
    "We're students," Blondie said. "We go to
SLO."
    Wayne gave an impressed face that was,
perhaps, a little too Kabuki in its exaggeration. But he was
feeling good, so, fuck it. "San Luis Obispo? What are you two doing
all the way down here, then?"
    "We're here for the month," Laura said.
"We're both big fans of your brother's music. We wanted to come
check out his scene and he told us we could hang out. We love it
here!"
    "Well, you know," Wayne began, "I'm basically
Jesse's manager. Well, I mean—" he searched for his words, making a
sloppy grasping gesture with his hands. "I'm not like a manager per
se, but more of a mentor. I'm his big brother, so you know, he
really trusts me. And I just want what's best for him. What's best
for all you guys."
    "Wow," Blondie said. "That is so
righteous."
    "I was the one who told him, 'Jesse, Mom and
Dad would've wanted you to use your half of the money to invest in
something important to you.' Six months later, here we are!"
    "So, you're like, his record producer, or
something?" - Laura.
    "Yeah. Yeah, I suppose you could say that. I
mean, totally."
    That was about the time a man with an afro
stepped into the picture and interrupted Wayne's flow. The man
started chatting up the girls. Wayne tuned out of life for a
minute, fixated on his own cozy buzz, bobbing his head from side to
side to the music.
    This is great. I don't know what I was
worried about. I'm having a great time.
    When Wayne came back down to Earth, the couch
was empty. The girls were gone.
    Hmm. I'm gonna go find some more weed.
     
    A few hours later, and Wayne was really
enjoying himself. More than he could remember having enjoyed
himself in years, as a matter of fact.
    He was the life of the party! He never knew
how funny he could be.
    He had entire groups of people transfixed, as
he regaled them with