A Dirty Job Chapter 17

17WAS IT GOOD FOR YOU?The close morning, Janes girlfriend Cassie heard psyche in the h whole and clear the brink. Charlie stood t present, cove sanguine in blood, swart goo, and smelling of sandalwood and almond anele he had a cut everyplace his ear, blood crusted in his nose, the bet of his pants were in shreds, and there were tiny black f obliteratehers stuck to him everywhere.Why, Charlie, she utter, somewhat surprised, it appears that I underestimated you. When you decide to thwart your freak on, you do non trade around.Shower, Charlie state. pascal Sophie c onlyed from her bed adult malener. She came runnel bring expose with arms thrown wide, followed by both big dogs and a lesbian aunt in Brooks Br some others. Halfway crossways the spirit room she saw her father, turned, and went squealing come in of the room in terror.Jane pulled up by the couch and stared. Jesus, Chuck, whatd you do, try to piece of ass a leopard?Something wish well that, Charlie plead. He stumbled by her and went through his sleeping room to the master bath.Jane see to ited at Cassandra, who was move to keep her smile from breaking into laughter. You demanded him to choke out more.You distinguish him approximately florists chrysanthemum? Jane express.Thought that news should convey from you, utter Cassandra.Well, guns suck, I bay window key out you that, said Babd, the most recent of the three decease divas to make an appearance Above. Sure, they get a line prominent from down here, only up close noisy, imper discussional yield me a battle-ax or a cudgel alone day.I the wishs of to cudgel, said Macha, who had her claws up inner(a) Madison McKernys severed head and was running(a) the mouth resembling a exit puppet.Its your own fault, scolded Nemain. She had one of Madison McKernys silicone implants bits of fuck-puppet gore make up-tempered clinging to it and was pressing it to Babds wounds to heal them. Even as the black flesh regenerated, the red glow in the implant dimmed. Were wasting the power in these. And afterward waiting years to get other instinct?Babd sighed. I contemplate in retrospect the hand job wasnt such a cracking idea.I judge the hand job wasnt such a great idea, mocked Machas hand puppet.I did that on the battlefields of the North, what, ten gigabyte sentences? said Babd. A final wank for the dying warrior fair(a) go overmed manage the least(prenominal) I could do. Im especially good at it, you fuck. It bourgeons a powerful slur to keep a soldier overweight when his guts are running between his fingers.She is good at it, said Orcus. Ill vouch for that. He leaned stand on his throne to display three feet of black, bull death-wood to show his enthusiasm. non right pip, I just did my lipstick, puppeted Macha with the head, making its look bug out with her claws so it appeared that the dead girl was impressed by Orcuss prodigious unit.They all snickered. Shed had Orcus and her Morrigan sisters giggling all morning with her puppet show, putting the implants on a shelf and working the head preceding(prenominal) them. Of course theyre real, he genuinely paid for them, didnt he?Theyd been giddy since pulling the understanding vessels out of the fuck puppets grave, that victory compensate overshadowing Babds failure to kill the Death Merchant. hardly as the light ebbed out of the implants, their mood darkened. Nemain threw the useless implant against the bulkhead of the ship and it exploded and spattered the room with clear goo.What a waste, she growled. We leave alone civilize the Above, and I will eat his knowr while he visualizees.What is it with you and eating livers? Babd said. I hate liver.Patience, Princesses, said Orcus as he weighed the remaining implant in his talon. We were a thousand years plan of attack to this place, for this battle, a few more to gather our fight will only make the victory gratifyinger. He snatched the head out-of-door from Macha and took a bite out of it as if it were a crisp, ripe plum. You actually could contrive passed on the hand job, though, he said, spraying bits of brain at Babd.Ive got us on a flight to Phoenix at two, Jane said. We affiliate there to a commuter and were in Sedona by suppertime.Charlie had just come out of the shower and wore only a pair of fresh jeans. He was drying his hair with a beige towel, leaving red streaks on it from his still-bleeding scalp. He sat down on the bed.Wait, wait, wait. How farsighted has she known?They diagnosed her six months ago. It had al avery spread from her colon to her other organs.And she waited until now to tell us.She didnt tell us. A shout make outd pal called. Evidently theyve been living together. He said she didnt requirement us to worry. He broke down on the phone. mommas living with a guy? Charlie was staring at the red stripes on the towel. Hed been up all night, trying to explain to Inspector Rivera what had h appened in the alley, without genuinely presentment him everything. He was bleeding, battered, exhausted, and his mother was dying. I lott believe her. She flipped when Rachel moved in in face we were married.Yeah, well, you can yell at her for being a hypocrite when you see her tonight.I cant go, Jane. I pee the store, and Sophie shes too subaltern for something corresponding this.I called Ray and Lily, theyve got the shop covered. Cassandra will watch Sophie overnight and the Communist-bloc ladies can watch her until Cassie gets spot from work.Cassies non approaching with you?Charlie, Mom still refers to me as her tomboy.Oh yeah, sorry. Charlie sighed. He was nostalgic for the days when Jane was the freak in the family and he was the frequent one. You going to try to reconcile that with her?I dont know. I dont really allow a plan. I dont even know if shes lucid. Ive been on autopilot since I heard. I was waiting for you to get home so I could affect apart.Charlie st ood up, went to his sister, and put his arms around her. You did great. Im approve, I got it from here. What do you indispensability?She hugged him back, thus pushed back with tears in her eye. I need to go home and pack. Ill come by at noon with a cab to get you, okay?Ill be ready. He shook his head. I cant believe Mom is living with a guy.A guy prenomend Buddy, Jane said.The slut, Charlie said.Jane laughed, which is all that Charlie requireed compensate and so.Lois Asher was sleeping when Charlie and Jane arrived at her home in Sedona. A potbellied sunburnt man erosion Bermuda shorts and a safari shirt permit them in Buddy. He sat at the kitchen table with Charlie and Jane, and professed his love for their mother, told them slightly his own life as an aircraft mechanic in Illinois before he retired, past recited a play-by-play of what they had done since Lois had been diagnosed. Shed gone through three courses of chemotherapy, then, upset and hairless, she had given in . Charlie and Jane looked at each other, feeling guilty that they hadnt been there to help.She didnt want to bother you two, Buddy said. Shes been acting give care dying was something she could do in her spare time, between hair appointments.Charlie snapped to attention. That was the kind of thing hed purview to himself some(prenominal) times when he was retrieving a soul vessel and had seen spate who were so far in denial about what was happening to them that they were still purchasing quintet-year calendars.Women, what are you gonna do with em, Buddy said, winking at Jane.Charlie of a sudden felt up a great wave of affection for this sunburned micro brassy guy who his mother was shacked up with.We want to thank you for being here for her, Buddy.Yeah. Jane nodded, still looking for a little dazed.Well, Im here for the whole shebang, and then some, if you need me.Thanks, Charlie said. We will. And they would, because it was immediately evident to Charlie that Buddy was go ing to hang on himself only as long as he felt he was needed.Buddy, said a soft female voice from behind Charlie. He turned to see a big, thirtyish woman in scrubs some other hospice worker a nonher of the amazing women that Charlie had seen in the homes of the dying, helping to deliver them into the succeeding(a) world with as some(prenominal) comfort and dignity and even jubilate as they could gather benevolent Valkyries, midwives of the final light, they were and as Charlie watched them at work, he saw that rather than become detached from, or callous to their job, they became involve with every patient and every family. They were present. Hed seen them grieve with a hundred contrasting families, taking part in an intensity of emotion that most people would feel only a few times in their lives. watching them over the years had tendere Charlie feel more reverent toward his travail of being a Death Merchant. It might be a jonah on him, but ultimately, it wasnt about hi m, it was about serving, and the transcendence in serving, and the hospice workers had taught him that.The womans name tag read GRACE. Charlie smiled.Buddy, she said. Shes awake and shes chooseing for you.Charlie stood. Grace, Im Charlie, Loiss son. This is my sister, Jane.Oh, she talks about you two all the time.She does? said Jane, a tad surprised.Oh yes. She tells me you were quite the tomboy, Grace said. And you she said to Charlie. You used to be nice but then something happened.I well-read to talk, Charlie said.Thats when I halt liking him, Jane said.Lois Asher was propped in a nest of pillows, exhausting a perfectly coiffed gray wigging tied back in the style she had always worn her real hair, a silver squash-blossom necklace and matching earrings and rings, a mauve silk nightgown that blended so well with the southwesterly decor of the bedroom that it looked as if Lois might be trying to dissolve into her surroundings. And she did, except the space shed made for her self in the world was a little bigger than she now required. There was a gap between the wig and her scalp, her nightgown hung almost empty, and her rings jangled on her fingers deal bangles. It was clear to Charlie that she hadnt actually been sleeping when theyd arrived, but had sent Buddy out with the excuse to give Grace time to dress and arrange her for presentation to her children.Charlie detect that the squash-blossom necklace was hot dull red against Loiss nightgown and he felt a long, condemnable sigh rise in his chest. He hugged his mother and could feel the mug up in her back and shoulders, as delicate and fragile as a birds. Jane tried to fight down a sob as concisely as she saw her mother, but managed only to produce what sounded corresponding a painful snort. She fell to her knees at her mothers bedside.Charlie knew it was perhaps the stupidest question one could ask the dying, yet he asked How are you doing, Mom?She patted his hand. I could use an old-fashioned. Buddy wont permit me mystify any alcohol, since I cant keep it down. You met Buddy?He seems like a nice man, Jane said.Oh, he is. Hes been good to me. Were just friends, you know.Charlie looked crossways the bed at Jane, who raised her eyebrows.Its okay, we know you guys are living together, Charlie said. existing together? Me? What do you take me for?Never assessment, Mom.His mother waved reach the thought as if she was shooing a fly. And how is that little Jewish girl of yours, Charlie?Sophie? Shes doing great, Mom.No, thats not it.Whats not it?It wasnt Sophie, it was something else. Pretty girl too good for you, really.Youre conceive ofing of Rachel, Mom. She passed on five years ago, remember?Well, you cant blame her, can you? You were such a sweet little boy, then I dont know what happened to you. Do you remember?Yeah, Mom, I was sweet.Lois looked at her daughter. And what about you, Jane, have you found yourself a nice man? I hate the idea of you being alone.Still look ing for Mr. Right, Jane said, bad Charlie the weve got to get away and have an emergency meeting head gash that she had practiced around their mother since she was eight.Mom, Jane and I will be remediate back. We can call Sophie and talk to her then, okay?Whos Sophie? Lois asked.Shes your granddaughter, Mom. You remember, beautiful little Sophie?Dont be silly, Charles, Im not old enough to be a grandmother.Outside the bedroom Jane fumbled around and in her purse and produced a pack of cigarettes, but couldnt figure out whether to smoke one or not. Holy Motown Jesus with Pips, what the fuck is going on in there?Shes got a lot of morphine in her, Jane. Did you smell that acrid smell? Thats her sweat g write downs trying to take the poisons out of her body that her kidneys and liver would normally filter. Her organs are starting time to shut down, it means that theres a lot of toxins going to her brain.How do you know that?Ive read about it. opinion, she never lived in reality c ompletely, you know that? She detested the shop and hated Dads work, even though it supported her. She hated his hoard uping, even though she was just as bad. And the thing with Buddy not living here shes trying to reconcile who shes always thought she was with who she really is.Is that wherefore I still want to punch her lights out? Jane said. Thats wrong, isnt it?Well, I suppose Im a horrible person. My mother is dying of cancer and I want to punch her lights out.Charlie put his arm around his sisters shoulder and started walking her toward the front door so she could go outside and smoke. Dont be so hard on yourself, he said. Youre doing the aforesaid(prenominal) thing, trying to reconcile all the moms that Mom ever was the one you wanted, the one she was when you needed her and she was there, the one she was when she didnt understand. Most of us dont live our lives with one, integrated self that meets the world, were a whole bunch of selves. When someone dies, they all in tegrate into the soul the essence of who we are, beyond the different faces we wear throughout our lives. Youre just hating the selves youve always hated, and loving the ones youve always loved. Its bound to mess you up.Jane stopped and stepped back from him. Then how come its not messing you up?I dont know. Maybe because of what I went through with Rachel.So you think that when someone dies suddenly like that, that this face-reconciliation thing happens?I dont know. I dont think its a conscious(p) process. Maybe more for you than for Mom, you know what I mean? You feel like you have to put things right before shes gone, and its frustrating.So what happens if she doesnt integrate all that before she dies. What happens if I dont?I think you get another chance. real? equal reincarnation? What about Jesus and stuff?I think that theres a lot of stuff thats not in the confine. In any of the books.Wheres this coming from? I never got the impression you were spiritual. You wouldnt even go to yoga with me.I wouldnt go to yoga with you because Im not bendy, not because Im not spiritual.Theyd gotten to the door, and when Charlie pulled it exposed it made the same sound a refrigerator door makes. When they stepped out onto the front porch he realized why, as a wave of hundred-and-ten-degree heat hit them.Jeez, did you by the way open the door to hell? Jane said. I dont need to smoke this badly. thwart inside, get inside, get inside. She shoved him inside and closed the door. Thats heinous. Why would someone live in this climate?Im confused, Charlie said. Did you start smoking again or not?I didnt really, Jane said. I just have one when Im really express out. Its like thumbing your nose at Death. Havent you ever felt like doing that?You have no idea, Charlie said.With Charlie and Jane there, they sent the hospice nurse home at night and watched Lois in four-hour shifts. Charlie gave his mother her medication, wiped her mouth, fed her what little she would take in, but by now she was mostly having sips of water or apple juice, and he listened as she lamented losing her looks and her things, as she remembered being a great beauty, the belle of the ball at parties before he was born, an object of desire, which clearly she loved more than being a wife or a mother or any of the dozen other faces she had worn in her life. Sometimes she would actually turn her attention to her sonI loved you as a little boy. I would take you to cafs in North Beach and everyone would just dote on you. You were so sweet. Beautiful. Both of us were.I know.Remember when we dumped all of the cereal out of the boxes so you could get the prize out? A little submarine, I think? Do you remember?I remember, Mom.We were close then.Yeah, we were.Charlie would take her hand then and let her remember great times that they had never really had. The time had long passed for correcting facts and changing impressions.When she exhausted herself he let her sleep, and read by a flashl ight sitting in the chair at her bedside. He was there, in the middle of the night, reading a crime novel, when the door opened and a slight man of about fifty crept into the room, stopped by the door, and looked around. He wore sneakers and black jeans, a long-sleeved black T-shirt but for the oversized wire-frame supply, he was just short a hand grenade and a survival knife from looking like someone on a commando mission.Just be quiet, Charlie said softly. Shes sleeping.The little man jumped flat up about two feet and came down in a wrinkle. He was breathing hard and Charlie was afraid he might faint if he didnt relax.Its okay. Its in the top drawer of that dresser over there its a squash-blossom necklace. Take it.The little man ducked behind the door, then peeked around the edge. You can see me?Yes. Charlie put his book down and got up from the chair, and went to the dresser.Oh, this is bad. This is really, really bad.Its not that bad, Charlie said.The little man shook his h ead violently. No, its really bad. Look away. Look over there. Im not here. Im not here. You cant see me.Here it is, Charlie said. He took the squash-blossom necklace from its velvet-textured case in the drawer and held it up.What is?What youre looking for.How did you know?Because I do what you do. Im a Death Merchant.A what?Then Charlie remembered that Minty Fresh said he had coined the term, so maybe only the Death Merchants in San Francisco knew it. I collect soul vessels.No, you dont. You cant see me. You cant see me. Sleep. Sleep. The little man was waving his men up and down in the air like he was sketch a curtain of deception before him, or possibly alter spiderwebs out of the room.These are not the droids you seek, Charlie said, grinning.What?You dont have Jedi powers, you git. Just take the necklace.I dont understand.Come with me, Charlie said. Its time for my sister to watch her anyway. He led the little guy out of his mothers room into the living room. They stood by t he front window, looking at the sun coming up and casting shadows of the broken odontiasis of the red rock mountains around them. Whats your name?Vern. Vern Glover.Im Charlie. Nice to meet you. How long does she have, Vern?What do you mean?How long on your calendar. How many days were left hand?How do you know about that?I told you. I do what you do. I can see you. I can see that necklace glowing red. I know what you are. alone you cant. The smashing Big make says that horrible Forces of dark will rise if I talk to you.See this cut over my ear, Vern?Vern nodded.Forces of Darkness. Fuck em. Fuck the Forces of Darkness, Vern. How long does my mother have?Its your mother? Im sorry, Charlie. She has two more days.Okay, Charlie said, nodding. Then wed better go get a doughnut. release?Doughnut Doughnut You like doughnuts, dont you?Yes, but why?Because the continuance of gentle existence as we know it depends on us having doughnuts together.Really? Verns eyes went wide.No, not real ly. Im just fucking with you. Charlie put his arm around Verns shoulder. notwithstanding lets go get one anyway. Ill wake my sister for her watch.Charlie called home from his spry phone to check on Sophie. Then, satisfied she was safe, he returned to the booth at Dunkin Donuts, where Vern and a cruller were waiting for him. Vern had taken off his stocking cap and had a wild mop of silver gray hair over large, aviator-frame glasses that made him look like a tan and wiry mad scientist.So like she was really hot?Vern, you wouldnt believe. Im utter you, body of a goddess. Covered with really fine feathers, soft as down. Charlie innately recognise another Beta Male like he recognized another Death Merchant, so he nearly stumbled over himself to tell the score of his adventure with the sexy sewer harpy, knowing he had a tender-hearted audience.But she was going to put her claw through your brain, right?Yeah, she said she was, but you know something, I think there was some interperso nal chemistry there.You dont think it was just that she had your crank in her hand at the time, because that can blot out a guys judgment.Yeah, theres that, but still, you have to think, of all the Death Merchants in all of the cities on the planet, she chose me to share the death wank. I think she had a thing for me.Well, youre in the City of Two Bridges, said Vern, brushing a little maple glaze from the corner of his mouth. Thats where its supposed to happen.Where whats supposed to happen? Charlie had really enjoyed being the senior Death Merchant, acting as the elder solon to Vern, who had been called to recruit souls only six months ago. Now he was thrown.In The Great Big script of Death, it says that we cant talk about what we do, or try to light upon each other, or the Forces of Darkness will rise up in the City of Two Bridges and there will be a horrible battle and the Underworld will rise and cover the land if we lose. You guys have two bridges in San Francisco, right?Ch arlie tried to confuse his surprise. Vern had obviously gotten a different version of the Great Big Book than they got in San Francisco. Well, two main ones, yes. Sorry, its been a long time since I read the book. Remind me why the City of Two Bridges is so important?Vern gave Charlie the big duh look. Because that is where the new Luminatus, the Great Death, will take power.Oh yeah, of course, the Luminatus. Charlie thumped himself in the side of the head. He had no idea what Vern was talking about.You think that they wont need us anymore, after the Great Death takes power? Vern asked. I mean, will there be layoffs? Because the Big Book makes it sound like the Luminatus travel is a good thing, but Ive been making a ton of currency since I got this gig.Yeah, thats going to be our problem, layoffs, Charlie thought. I think well be fine. like the book says, its a dirty job, but someone has to do it.Right, right, right. So this cop that shot the sexy-goddess babe, he didnt do anyth ing?No, not energy. First he put me in the back of his cop car and tried to get me to tell him what had been going on when he showed up, and what had been going on for these function few years hes been checking on me.And what did you tell him?I told him that it was as much a mystery to me as it was to him.And he believed that?No. He didnt. But he did believe it when I told him that if I told him more it would get worse, so we came up with a story that justified his firing his weapon. A guy with a gun taking a shot at me, then at him descriptions, everything. Then when he was sure we had it straight, he took me to the station and I wrote out my statement.Thats it, he let you go.No, then he told me stories about his career, and the preternatural stuff hes encountered, and why because of that, he was going to let me go. The guy is a complete nut job. He believes in vampires and demons and giant owls he said that he once handled a call for a polar-bear attack in Santa Barbara.Wow, s aid Vern. You lucked out.I called him before we left the city. Hes going to check on my building until I get home, make sure my daughter is okay. Charlie hadnt told Vern about the hellhounds.You must be worried sick about her, Vern said. I have a kid, shes a junior in high school, lives with my ex-wife in Phoenix.Yeah, so you know, Charlie said. So, Vern, youve never seen any of these dark creatures? Never heard voices coming out of the storm drains? Nothing like that?Nope. Not like youre talking about. We dont have storm drains in Sedona. We have a desert with rivers through it.Right, but have you ever missed getting a soul vessel?Yeah, at initiative, when I got the Great Big Book, I thought it was a joke. I skipped three or four of them.And nothing happened?Well, I wouldnt say that. Id wake up early, and look up at the mountain above my house, and thered be a shadow there, looked like a big oil slick.So?So, it would be on the wrong side of the mountain. It would be on the same si de as the sun. And during the course of the day, it moved down the mountain. Oh, if you didnt look at it, watch it, youd look right by it, but it was coming down into the city, hour by hour. I drove out to where I saw it going, and waited for it.And?You could hear crows calling. I waited until it got a half a draw a blank from me, moving so slow you could barely see it, but it got louder and louder, like a huge flock of crows. Scared the bejesus out of me. I went home, looked up the name Id written down during the night, and they lived in the neighborhood Id been in. The shadow was coming out of the mountain for the soul vessel.Did it get it?I guess. I didnt.And nothing happened?Oh yeah, something happened. The next time the shadow moved faster, like a cloud blowing over. And I followed it, and sure enough, it was heading right for a womans house whose name was on my calendar. Thats when I realized that the Great Big Book wasnt bullshitting.But the shadow thing, it never came for y ou?Third time, Vern said.There was a third time?Oh yeah, like you didnt think this was all a load of crap when it first started happening to you?Okay, good point, Charlie said. Sorry. Go on.So, the third time, the shadow comes down off a mountain on the other side of town, at night, during a full moon, and this time, you can see the crows flying in it. Not like really see them, but like shadows of them. Some people discover it that time. I got in my car again, took my dog, Scottie, with me. I already knew where the thing was going. I pulled up a couple of doors down from the guys house to warn him, you know. I didnt realize yet what the book was saying about us not being seen, otherwise I would have just gone for the soul vessel. Anyway, Im at the door, and the shadow is coming across the street, all the edges shaped like crows, and Scottie starts barking like mad, and runs at it. Brave little guy. Anyway, as soon as the shadow touches him he yelps and drops over dead. Meantime, a woman comes to the door, and I look in and see a statue, like a fake Remington bronzy on the table in the foyer behind her, and its glowing red, like red-hot. And I blow by her and grab it. And the shadow evaporates. Just like that, its gone. Thats the last time I was late getting a soul vessel.Sorry about your dog, Charlie said. What did you tell the woman?Thats the funny thing, I didnt tell her anything. She was talking to her husband in the next room, and he wasnt answering her, and she runs back to see what happened to him. Didnt even look at me. Turns out the guy was having a heart attack. I took the statue, went and picked up Scotties body, and left.That had to be tough.I thought I was Death for a while, you know, special. Because the guy croaked with me there, but it was just coincidence.Yeah, that happened to me, too, Charlie said. But he was still disturbed by the whole great battle revelation. Vern, would you mind if I took a look at your Great Big Book?I dont think so, Charlie. In fact, I think wed better say goodbye. I mean, if the Great Big Book is right, and I dont have any reason to believe its not, then we shouldnt even be talking.But its a different version than I have.You dont think theres a reason for that? Vern said. His eyes magnified in his big glasses made him look like a madman for a second.Okay, then, Charlie said. But e-mail me, okay? That shouldnt hurt.Vern looked in his coffee cup like he was thinking, as if by telling the story of the shadow that came down out of the mountains, hed frightened himself. Finally he looked up and smiled. You know, Id like that. I could use some pointers, and if something weird starts to happen, well stop.Deal, Charlie said. He drove Vern back to his car, which was parked around the block from his mothers house, and they said good-bye.Jane met Charlie at the door. Where have you been? I need the car to go get her floss.I brought doughnuts, Charlie said, holding up the box, maybe a little too proud.Wel l, thats not the same, is it?As floss?Dental floss. Can you believe it? Charlie, if Im still flossing on my deathbed, you have my permission to garrote me with it. No, Im leaving you instructions to garrote me with it.Okay, Charlie said. So other than that, shes okay?Jane was digging in her purse, had found her cigarettes and was looking for her hoy. Like gum disease is the big danger at this point. Goddammit Did they take my lighter at the airport?You still dont smoke, Jane, Charlie said.She looked up. So whats your point?Nothing. He pass on her the keys to the rental car. Can you grab me some toothpaste while youre out?She gave up searching for the lighter and threw the cigarettes back into her purse. What is it with this family and the compulsive dental hygiene?I forgot to bring any.Okay. Jane braced the keys in her hand, ready to go in the ignition, and inclose her purse under her arm like a football. She dropped into a crouch and pulled down her mirrored, wraparound sunglass es that, with her short platinum blond hair and Charlies black pinstripe suit, made her look a little like a cyborg assassin from the future getting ready to dash out into the deplorable atmosphere of planet Duran Duran. Its fucking hot out there, isnt it?Charlie nodded and held up the doughnut box again. The glazed have suffered.Oh, Jane said, lifting her glasses again. Cassandra called. After you called this morning she noticed your ascertain book on the nightstand. Well actually, she said that Alvin and Mohammed dragged her in there and pushed it at her. She wondered if you needed it.What about Sophie, is she okay?No, shes been abducted by aliens, but I wanted you to digest the bad news about forgetting your date book first.You know, that right there is why Mom is ashamed of you, Charlie said.Jane laughed. Guess what? Shes not.Shes not?No, this morning. She told me that she always knew who I was, always knew what I was, and that she has always loved me, just the way I am.Did y ou card her? Theres an impostor in our moms bed.Shut up, it was nice. Important.She was in all likelihood just saying that because shes dying.She did say that she wished I wouldnt wear mens suits all the time.Shes not alone on that one, Charlie said.Jane fell back into assault mode. Im off on the floss mission. Call Cassandra.Done, Charlie said.And Buddy needs a doughnut. Jane threw open the door and ran out into the heat screaming like a possessed(predicate) charging the enemy.Charlie closed the door behind her so as not to let the air-conditioning out, and watched through the glass as his sister ran across the zero-scaped yard like she was on fire. He looked beyond her to the red rock mesa rising slope out of the desert. There seemed to be a deep crevasse in it that he hadnt seen there before. He looked again, and saw that it wasnt a crevasse at all, just a long, sharp shadow.Then he ran out into the driveway and looked at the thought of the sun, then at the shadow. It was on the wrong side of the mesa. There couldnt be a shadow on this side the sun was also on this side. He shaded his eyes and watched the shadow until he thought his brains were cooking in the sun. It was moving, slowly, but moving, and not the way a shadow moves. It was moving with purpose, against the sun, toward his mothers house.My date book, he said to himself. Oh, shit.