you know yourself.”
“oh yeah… and now I know you.” I leaned in close to her, hoping she’d loosen up and let go, but instead she pulled her head back, itching her chin with a hooked trigger finger.
“Farrow, this bonding time really warms my heart, but I’m on my way to pay Missy a visit.”
“So you found her?” I didn’t believe it for a second.
“Other way around. She found us. She’s scared of you Farrow. She called the precinct for protection. Someone let it slip that you want your name on A Greater Truth .” Sgt. Bethany Powers… if you count to one, she’s already on two .
“Her book?” While I didn’t believe her, I did fall beneath her eyes. There wasn’t much else to do, but wait and see what she was getting at.
“You live mysteries, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t everybody?”
{XIII}
“F ARROW CHANGE SEATS WITH me.” Gun in hand, Sgt. Bethany Powers crawled from the driver’s seat into my lap, brushing my face with her ass. Death-pasture green eyes spray-painted to her face. Her legs, surprisingly muscular as they nudged me towards the wheel. I slid out from under her, wiggling into the driver’s seat. She turned the key in the ignition, sliding the car into drive. I stepped on the gas a little too hard, bracing myself as the engine kicked back before settling in.
“Left.” “Right.” “Stay straight.” She kept it simple fondling her gun, occasionally looking at the rear-view mirror. Whether I stared or not, I knew the gun was there. Just as I knew the slightest graze of hot flesh under thin layers of fabric could change the way I came to terms with my entire existence.
At some point in our relationship the way Missy made love to me changed. I remembered specifically the different ways she would lock her legs around me and force me to finish inside of her. The way she would seem insulted if my cum ended up anywhere, but inside as she demanded. On many levels it seemed more natural than any other way of making love. It was dangerous and simply beautiful. And danger mixed with beauty creates more life - it seems.
Distant eyes reached past the endless night. Images of Missy temporarily dissolved. Streets, boulevards, and alleys intruded on us from all directions.
“You’re thinking of her.”
“An assassin hovers over me in my sleep. She’s gone when I wake.”
“You’re too insignificant. Nobody wants to kill you. Believe in other things.”
Sgt. Bethany Powers motioned for me to park along an illuminated strip of housing projects verging on the beach. Hooded shadows limping laps in the darkness took immediate notice of our presence, sinking back into the night. They seemed to sense we were not customers, standing their ground, just in case.
“Police issue.” Sgt. Bethany Powers handed me her Smith and Wesson. It weighed in heavier than it looked and in return made the earth feel lighter, more conquerable. I ran my hands along the smooth cold body of the gun, settling on the grip. It felt right. Wrong no longer existed.
“Should I keep it in my pocket?”
“Do what you want.”
Fresh air in the city was an illusion. Beach air was new life. Sgt. Bethany Powers walked me out past the dunes. The sand was heavy and kept us moving a few steps slower than when on concrete.
“Shooting a gun is a meditation. It’s relaxing.”
“I’ve never shot one before.”
“I know. You’re more of the knife across the throat type.”
“I’m more of the pen on the paper type.”
“Farrow, keep your hand off the trigger and lift the pistol.”
“What do I aim at?”
“Doesn’t make sense to shoot at random things. Pick something…”
“How about the jetties?”
“How about something alive? How about the seagulls on the jetties?”
“I can’t see them.”
“Neither can I, but I know they’re there.” The seagulls cackled raucously as the waves battered the rocks.
“Keep your feet shoulder width apart. Lean forward slightly. Put your
Eleanor Coerr, Ronald Himler