THE CHANGE - CHAPTER ELEVEN

PART FOUR - CHARLIE AND THE FUCK-YOU MONEY / A SCIENCE FICTION WORLD

PART FOUR

CHARLIE AND THE FUCK-YOU MONEY

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18TH

EUGENE, OR - LOS ANGELES, CA

ELEVEN

But then there was the whole thing with the girl, and that really got under my skin. Maybe because she reminded me too much of Angela, I don’t know. That skin. That fucking mouth. The twinkling light behind her eyes. She had all the qualities that get to me most. Just so funny, and feisty, and fearless.

And she came right up, like a cat that knows you’re allergic to cats, demanding to be psychically petted. It was too much fun to say no, even though I would pay for it later. Even though I made it clear that I just wanted to be left alone.

So when she said she was going to that Liam Pathe shitfest, I almost said, oh, of course you are. Just rub it in my face already. Next thing I knew, I was losing my temper in public. The world’s stupidest, deadliest luxury.

But then I felt bad. Of course I did. I spent the rest of the night pointlessly agonizing about it, torn between finding her to apologize and blowing the brains out of every witness on the train. Eventually, the last of the Jim Beam took me under its wing.

And if I dreamed, I don’t remember a thing.

* * *

By the time we arrived in L.A., I was back on track, my hangover no worse than usual. The girl was nowhere to be seen. And that was fine with me.

At 10:45 – nearly right on time – we were disgorged onto the platform that led into Union Station. Already, the sun was high in the sky, which looked deceptively blue and clear. But there was a jumbo passenger jet, flying low, just above us; and when I looked up, I could barely even see the goddam thing.

That’s when I knew that I was back in L.A., where all the angels got lost cuz they couldn’t see through the smog.

Of course, it’s a science fiction world now, so I was the only one not staring at a fucking cell phone. No phones for me. No computers, either. You can’t live off the grid while dragging your coordinates around with you. You can’t disappear if they always know where you are.