Venus Drive Read Online Free PDF Page B

and headed off to the straw party. I pictured the man from Scarsdale watching me arrive through his periscope.
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    There were only a few coats left on the hallway floor when I got back. Through a doorway I saw some of the women on a bed. One slept with her tongue out in the other one. A phone glowed open in her hand.
    I heard Gary in the next room, laughing with the man from Scarsdale. They looked to be lords of something fallen. There were white dunes and straws on the marble, pills and cash on the floor.
    â€œThis guy,” said the man from Scarsdale, pointing. “He was here before. Who is he?”
    â€œHe’s a rising young angler,” said Gary.
    â€œCome again?”
    â€œGive a man a fish,” said Gary.
    â€œAh, yes,” said the man from Scarsdale. “Many applications to that little homily. Gary here has not yet taught me how to fish, so it’s a good thing he finally came over. I was starting to do lint off the carpet again. Are you familiar with the fable of the dropped rock?”
    â€œHe knows all about it,” said Gary, chopping, sifting.
    â€œHey,” the man said to Gary, “what happened to your thumb? Did you break it?”
    â€œChildhood accident,” I called from the couch.
    â€œYeah,” said Gary, “my mother misjudged me.”
    â€œListen,” I said, “I just saw this guy with a sign on his shirt. R ACE FOR THE CURE , it said.”
    â€œSucker,” said the man from Scarsdale, stood.
    â€œWhere are you going?” said Gary.
    â€œMe?” said the man from Scarsdale. “I’m going into the bedroom. I’m going to put some of this shit on my cock and slip it in those dyke asses before they know what hit them. Then I’m going to take some valium and fall into a deep, beautiful sleep filled with dreams of Geneva.”
    The man from Scarsdale winked at me, walked out of the room.
    â€œJesus,” said Gary.
    â€œChrist,” I said.
    â€œI mean, what is that?” said Gary. “What are we supposed to do with that?”
    He stared into the mirror. His razor hand shook.
    â€œTell me what I’m supposed to do with that?” said Gary.
    â€œIt’s okay,” I said. “He’s just some guy.”
    â€œI’m tired,” said Gary. “I’m so tired.”
    â€œEverything’s fine,” I said. “You’re here. I’m here. Everything’s fine.”
    â€œFuck here,” said Gary. “We were from a town. A little town. Do you remember?”
    â€œWhat a question,” I said.
    â€œThere were people there,” said Gary, “There were cars. Carports. You knew where to park.”
    â€œDog hatches in the doors,” I said. “Dog doors. Nearmont Avenue. The trestles on Main.”
    â€œSpartakill Road,” said Gary. “Venus Drive. The Hobby Shop, the Pitch-n-Putt, Big Vin’s Pizza, the Plaza.”
    â€œBehind the Plaza,” I said.
    â€œExactly,” said Gary. “Behind it.”
    We were quiet for a while.
    â€œEvil’s not one thing,” said Gary. “They didn’t teach us the gradients. We could have stayed.”
    â€œBlown our brains out in our cars,” I said.
    â€œNot me,” said Gary. “What did he mean, Geneva?”
    I got up, took the man from Scarsdale’s seat, pressed Gary’s dead thumb in my hand.
    â€œAre you sorry you did it?” I said.
    â€œGet the hell off me.”
    I stroked his thumb, brushed it, tenderly, the way you would a blind, tiny thing fresh-pulled from a hole.
    â€œJust tell me if you’re sorry,” I said. “Because here we are. Because, me, I’ve been following you. Do you understand that? I’ve been following you all along. So, just tell me, are you sorry?”
    â€œHell, no,” said Gary. “I wanted to watch TV. Anyway, what’s done is done.”
    â€œDone and gone,” I said.
    â€œDon’t