The Coming Read Online Free PDF Page B

go to the bar and pour herself something. Not so soon after dawn, though. She sat back in the chair and closed her eyes.
    "You're thinking."
    "Happens." After a moment: "So have they called out the army yet? NASA going to blow them back to where they came from?"
    "Not yet. They're not due for another three months."
    "Nice of them to tell us." The door banged open and Willy Joe flowed across the floor and onto a bar stool, the one nearest the men's room.
    "Cup of espresso, Señor Smith?" José said. He nodded.
    Sara checked her watch. "You're two minutes early."
    "It's the goddamn aliens. Screwin' everything up." While the espresso machine was building up pressure, José punched "No Sale" on the antique register and took out a pink five-hundred-dollar bill.
    "Hey. Be obvious," Willy Joe said.
    "I'm an obvious kind of man." He put the bill under the saucer in front of Willy Joe.
    "I could make you real obvious. You don't watch your fuckin' trap."
    "Yeah, yeah." He poured the coffee, making a sound like a chicken, just audible over the machine hiss.
    "José…" Sara warned.
    He served the coffee. "It's okay. Senor Smith knows I know his boss."
    "You know too many people, génie. Get you some trouble someday."
    "Enjoy your coffee, sir," he said with a broad smile. "I hope it is done to your liking."
    "You boys want to put your dicks back in? Customers coming."
    "You watch your mouth too, lady."
    Sara turned and made a sign only Willy Joe could see: right thumb rammed up through left fist. " Y tu madre, " she mouthed, her face turning red.
    "Yeah, well, fuck you, too." He turned back to his coffee. Two women and two men came in, suits from the federal building. Sara took their orders and passed them on to José.
    At exactly nine-thirty, the mayor strode in. He said hello to Sara and José and one of the suits, Rosalita. He sat down two stools away from Willy Joe and ignored him.
    "Café con leche, Mr. Southeby?" José said.
    "Oh, let me be daring. The chocolate one."
    "One chococcino, coming up."
    Sara brought him a place mat and setting. "So what about these aliens, Cameron? You made it all up, confess."
    "Ah, you see though me like a window, m'dear," he said theatrically. "Anything to keep from raising taxes. Tourists by the planeload."
    She patted his shoulder. "Send some of them here," and went on to seat two new customers.
    José brought the hot-chocolate-with-espresso, and ground a scatter of fresh chocolate on the top. "Merci gracias," the mayor said, and took a careful sip. He sipped and studied the menu for a few minutes, then went into the men's room.
    Sara had seen the little dance every month since Cameron took office. Mayor goes into the men's room and comes back out. Willy Joe suddenly feels nature's call, and stays in the bathroom long enough for the mayor to finish his coffee and escape. Willy Joe comes back out, leaves a stunning five-dollar tip, and slithers on to his next stop.
    She could blow the whistle on them. She could have her fingers broken, one by one, too. She could have them broken off, and fed to her. Willy Joe was just a hood with delusions of grandeur. But the people he collected for played for keeps.
    She sat down again. Busy, slack; busy, slack. Were all businesses like this? Did whores spend two hours on their backs and then two hours doing crossword puzzles?
    Here comes Suzy Q., the poor daft thing. Sara stood up and went to the bar, but José was a step ahead of her. He'd filled a large foam cup with sweet coffee and hot milk.
    She took it outside with some pastry from yesterday. Suzy Q. accepted her morning gift with calm grace. Fix up the random hair, the pungent rags, and she could look like Queen Victoria or Eleanor Roosevelt. Stern ugliness, imposing.
    "How goes it this morning, Suzy Q.?"
    "Oh, it's hot. But hot is what you got. Am I rot or not?"
    Sara laughed. "You're rot, all rot." She patted the old woman on the shoulder and went back inside.
     

Suzy Q.
    Now she knows how to treat