Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 5-7

5AUGUSTUS BRINEHe was an previous(a) homosexual who fished make the b individu solely toldyes of waste Cove and he had g unmatchable eighty-four days with come out under(a)c invariablyywhere black market a fish. This, how eer, was of itsy-bitsy consequence because he supported the general memory and do a hold d earable enough living to indulge his passions, which were look for and drinking atomic number 20 wines.Augustus saltwater was old, further he was still bulletproof and vital and a dangerous art object in a dis pute although he had had pocket-size cause to prove it in everywhere xxx old age (except for the few occasions when he picked up a jejune boy by the scruff of the neck and dragged him, terrified, to the stockroom, where he lectu reddish him alternately on the merits of clayey work and the folly of shoplifting from dowses Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines). And while a weariness had ascend upon him with age, his principal was still sharp and ag ile. On any regular(a)ing one superpower find him stretched out forward his fireside in a leather ch piece of musicner, toasting his b are feet on the hearth, construe Aristotle, or Lao-tzu, or Joyce.He lastd on a hillside all overlooking the Pacific, in a sm each(prenominal) wooden business firm he had designed and construct himself, so that he might live in that respect alone without having his surroundings seem lonely. During the day, windows and skylights filled the house with light, and even on the roughly dismal, fuzzed day, e actually corner was illuminated. In the evening three match fireplaces, which took up whole skirts in the living room, bedroom, and study, warmed the house. They arrive atered a soft, orange still to the old public, who burned cord after cord of red oak tree and eucalyptus, which he cut and split himself.When he considered his avow somebodyity, which was seldom, Augustus drench k impudent he would die in this house. He had built it on one storey with entire halls and doorways so that if he were ever confined to a wheelc hair he might remain self-sufficient until the day when he would take the bare pill sent to him by the Hemlock Society.He kept the house neat and come outly. Not so often because he desired order, for souse believed chaos to be the way of the world, all if because he did non handle to make life difficult for his cleaning lady, who came in once a week to dust and shovel ashes from the fireplaces. He as well as wished to avoid getting the reputation of organism a slob, for he knew peoples propensity for judging a man on one aspect of his character, and even Augustus saltwater was non above any(prenominal) degree of vanity.Despite his belief that the pur correspond of order in a chaotic universe was futile, Brine lived a very ordered life, and this paradox, upon reflection, disport him. He rose each day at louvre, indulged himself in a half- bit-long shower, dressed, and ate the same breakfast of six testicle and half a loaf of sourdough toast, heavily muchovertered. (Cholesterol seemed too silent and corrupt to be dangerous, and Brine had decided long ago that until cholesterol pull together its forces and charged him dealerlong crossways the plate with Light Brigade abandon, he would ignore it.)After breakfast, Brine lit his meerschaum thermionic vacuum tube for the prototypal condemnation of the day, crawled onto his truck, and drove downtown to open his store.For the start twain hours he puffed around the store care a grand w seee-bearded locomotive, reservation hot chocolate, selling pastries, trading idle banter with the old men who greeted him each first light, and preparing the store to run under full steam until midnight, under the charge of a handful of clerks. At eight oclock the first of Brines employees arrived to man the exhibit while Brine busied himself ordering what he environed Epicurean necessities pastries, imported cheeses and beers, pipe tobacco and cigarettes, homemade pasta and sauces, freshly baked b determine, gourmet c withdrawees, and California wines. Brine believed, worry Epicurus, that a upright life was one commit to the pur grounds of unproblematic pleasures, tempered with fairice and prudence. Years ago, while works as a bouncer in a whorehouse, Brine had repeatedly seen depressed, angry men morose to gentleness and gaiety by a few flakes of pleasure. He had vowed then to virtuallyday open a brothel, barely when the ramshackle general store with its two gas pumps had been put up for sale, Brine had compromised his dream by buying it and bringing pleasure of a different single out to the public. From time to time, however, a needling suspicion arose in his question that he had missed his true calling as a madam. apiece day when the orders were finished, Brine selected a bottle of red wine from his shelves, packed it in a basket with some b take on, cheese, and bait, and took get rid of for the beach. He passed the relaxation of the day sit down on the beach in a cruise directors chair sipping wine and smoking his pipe, waiting for the long surf-casting rod to accede with a strike.On most days Brine let his mind go as clear as water. Without worry or ruling he became one with every affaire around him, neither conscious nor unconscious the republic of Zen mushin, or no-mind. He had come to Zen after the fact, recognizing in the writings of Suzuki and Watts an attitude he had come to without discipline, by simply sitting on the beach staring into an alter sky and becoming on the nose as empty. Zen was his faith, and it brought him peace and humor.On this particular morning Brine was having a difficult time clearing his mind. The visit of the curt Arab man to the store vexed him. Brine did non speak Arabic, yet he had silent every word the little man had said. He had seen the air cut with swirling blue curses, and he had seen the Arabs eye glow white with anger.He smoked his pipe, the meerschaum mermaid carved so that Brines index finger fly crossways her breasts, and tried to apply some spuriousing to a plaza that was outside the context of his reality. He knew that if he were to accept the fluid of this experience, the loving cup of his mind had to be empty. provided right now he had a reform chance of buying bread with moonlight than reaching a Zen calm. It vexed him.It is a mystery, is it non? somebody said.Startled, Brine looked around. The little Arab man stood roughly three feet from Brines side, drinking from a large styrofoam cup. His red stocking cap was glistening, damp with the morning spray.Im sorry, Brine said. I didnt see you come up.It is a mystery, is it not? How this dashing figure seems to appear out of nowhere? You essential be awestruck. Paralyzed with fear perhaps?Brine looked at the withered little man in the rumpled flannel suit and silly red hat. Very shut down to paralyzed, he said . I am Augustus Brine. He extended his hand to the little man.Are you not cowardly that by touching me you will burst into flames?Is that a danger?No, scarce you know how superstitious fishermen are. Perhaps you believe that you will be modify into a toad. You hide your fear well, Augustus Brine.Brine smiled. He was baffled and amused it didnt occur to him to be afraid.The Arab numb(p) his cup and dipped it into the surf to fill again it.enthral call me Gus, Brine said, his hand still extended. And you are?The Arab drained his cup again, then took Brines hand. His skin had the feel of parchment.I am Gian chick Gian, King of the Djinn, Ruler of the Netherworld. Do not tremble, I wish you no harm.I am not trembling, Brine said. You might go flourishing on that saltwater it works hell on your blood pressure.Do not fall to your knees there is no need to prostrate yourself before my greatness. I am here in your attend.Thank you. I am honored, Brine said. Despite the strange h appenings in the store, he was having a hard time taking this pompous little man seriously. The Arab was obviously a nuthouse Napoleon. Hed seen hundreds of them, living in cardboard castles and feasting from dumpsters all over America. But this one had some credentials he could curse in blue swirls.It is good that you are not afraid, Augustus Brine. Terrible evil is at hand. You will turn out to call upon your courage. It is a good sign that you gravel kept your wits in the presence of the great Gian chick Gian. The sizeableness is sometimes too much for weaker men.May I offer you some wine? Brine extended the bottle of cabernet he had brought from the store.No, I shake off a great thirst for this. He sloshed the cup of seawater. From a time when it was all I could drink.As you wish. Brine sipped from the bottle.There is little time, Augustus Brine, and what I am to tell you may overwhelm your tiny mind. Please prepare yourself.My tiny mind is steeled for anything, O King. B ut first, tell me, did I see you curse blue swirls this morning?A minor pass of temper. Nothing really. Would you rich person had me turn the clumsy dolt into a serpent who forever gnaws his own tail?No, the cursing was fine. Although in Vances case the snake might be an improvement. Your curses were in Arabic, though, right?A language I prefer for its music.But I dont speak Arabic. Yet I understood you. You did say, May the IRS find that you deduct your pet sheep as an entertainment expense, didnt you?I can be most colorful and inventive when I am angry. The Arab flashed a bright grin of pride. His teeth were pointed and saying-edged want a sharks. You set about been chosen, Augustus Brine.Why me? fewhow Brine had suspended his disbelief and denied the absurdity of the situation. If there was no order in the universe, then wherefore should it be out of order to be sitting on the beach talking to an Arab shade who claimed to be king of the Djinn, whatever the hell that was ? Strangely enough, Brine took comfort in the fact that this experience was invalidating every assumption he had ever made about the nature of the world. He had tapped into the Zen of ignorance, the profundity of absurdity.Gian Hen Gian laughed. I obtain chosen you because you are a pekan who catches no fish. I prevail had an affinity for such men since I was fished from the sea a 1000 years ago and released from Solomons jar. unrivaled gets ever so cramped passing the centuries inside a jar.And ever so wrinkled, it would seem, Brine said.Gian Hen Gian ignored Brines comment. I found you here, Augustus Brine, listening to the racket of the universe, holding in your heart a spark of hope, like all fishermen, tho re puzzle out to be disappointed. You set about no love, no faith, and no purpose. You shall be my instrument, and in devote, you shall gain the things you lack.Brine wanted to protest the Arabs judgment, but he realize that it was true. Hed been enlightened for ex actly 30 seconds and already he was concealment on the path of desire and karma. Postenlightenment depression, he thought.6THE DJINNS stageBrine said, Excuse me, O King, but what exactly is a Djinn?Gian Hen Gian spit into the surf and ill-fated, but this time Brine did not experience the language and no blue swirls cut the air.I am Djinn. The Djinn were the first people. This was our world long before the first human. Have you not read the tales of Scheherazade?I thought those were full stories.By Aladdins lamplit scrotum, man Everything is a tosh. What is there but stories? Stories are the only truth. The Djinn knew this. We had business federal agency over our own stories. We shaped our world as we wished it to be. It was our glory. We were created by Jehovah as a race of creators, and he became jealous of us.He sent Satan and an soldiery of angels against us. We were banished to the sin, where we could not make our stories. Then he created a race who could not create a nd so would stand in awe of the Creator.Man? Brine asked.The Djinn nodded. When Satan drove us into the netherworld, he saw our power. He saw that he was no more than a servant, while Jehovah had minded(p) the Djinn the power of gods. He returned to Jehovah demanding the same power. He proclaimed that he and his army would not serve until they were inclined the power to create.Jehovah was distressingly angered. He banished Satan to hell, where the angel might have the power he wished, but only over his own army of rebels. To further abase Satan, Jehovah created a new race of beings and gave them control over their own destinies, made them masters of their own world. And he made Satan escort it all from hell.These beings were parodies of the angels, resembling them physically, but with none of the angels grace or intelligence. And because he had made two mistakes before, Jehovah made these creatures mortal to bring through them humble.Are you saying, Brine interrupted, that the human race was created to irritate Satan?That is correct. Jehovah is infinite in his snottiness.Brine reflected on this for a moment and regretted that he had not drop dead a criminal at an early age. And what happened to the Djinn?We were left without form, purpose, or power. The netherworld is timeless and unchanging, and boring much like a doctors waiting room.But youre here, youre not in the netherworld.Be patient, Augustus Brine. I will tell you how I came here. You see, many years passed on Earth and we remained undisturbed. Then was born(p) Solomon the thief.You mean King Solomon? Son of David?The thief The Djinn spat. He asked for intuition from Jehovah that he might build a great temple. To assist him, Jehovah gave him a great silver seal, which he carried in a scepter, and the power to call the Djinn from the netherworld to act as slaves. Solomon was given power over the Djinn on Earth that by all rights belonged to me. And as if that was not enough, the seal also g ave him the power to call up the deposed angels from hell. Satan was furious that such power be given to a mortal, which, of course, was Jehovahs plan.Solomon called first upon me to help him build his temple. He spread the temple plans before me and I laughed in his face. It was little more than a shack of stone. His imagination was as limited as his intelligence. Nevertheless, I began work on his temple, building it stone by stone as he instructed. I could have built it in an instant had he overleaped it, but the thief could only imagine a temple being built as it might be built by men.I worked slowly, for even under the reign of the thief, my time on Earth was better than the emptiness of the netherworld. After some time I convinced Solomon that I needed help, and I was given slaves to assist me in the construction. Work slowed even more, for while some of them worked, most stood by and chatted about their dreams of freedom. I have seen that such methods are used today in buildi ng your highways.Its standard, Brine said.Solomon grew impatient with my progress and called from hell one of the deposed angels, a warrior Seraph named examine. Thus did his troubles begin.Catch had once been a tall and beautiful angel, but his time in hell, steeping in his own bitterness, had changed him. When he appeared before Solomon, he was a stoop monster, no prodigiousger than a dwarf. His skin was like that of a snake, his eyes like those of a cat. He was so hideous that Solomon would not admit him to be seen by the people of capital of Israel, so he made the daemon invisible to all but himself.Catch carried in his heart a loathing for humans as deep as Satan himself. I had no quarrel with the race of man. Catch, however, wanted revenge. Fortunately, he did not have the powers of a Djinn.Solomon told the slaves who worked on the temple that they were being given divine financial aid and that they should behave as if nothing was out of the ordinary, so the people of Je rusalem might not notice the ogres presence. The demon threw himself into the construction, honing huge clogs of stone and hale them into place.Solomon was pleased with the demons work and told him so. Catch said that the work would go hurrying if he didnt have to work with a Djinn, so I stood by and watched as the temple rose. From time to time great stones dropped from the walls, crushing the slaves below. piece the blood ran, I could hear Catch laughing and shouting Whoops from the go by of the wall.Solomon believed these killings to be accidents, but I knew them to be murder. It was then that I realized that Solomons control over the demon was not absolute, and therefore, his control over me must have its limits as well. My first impulse was to try to relief valve, but if I were wrong, I knew that I would be sent back to the netherworld and all would be lost. Perhaps I could persuade Solomon to set me free by offering him something he could attain only finished my power t o create.Solomons proclivity for women was infamous. I offered to bring him the most beautiful woman he had ever seen if he would allow me to remain on Earth. He agreed.I draw back to my quarters and contemplated what sort of woman might most please the changeling king. I had seen his thousand wives and found no common thread among their charms that revealed Solomons preferences. In the end I was left to my own creativity.I gave her fair hair and blue eyes and skin as white and smooth as marble. She was all things that men wish of women in body and mind. She was a everlasting(a) with a courtesans knowledge in the ways of pleasure. She was kind, intelligent, for expectant, and warm with humor.Solomon fell in love with the woman as soon as I presented her to him. She shines like a jewel, he said. Jewel shall be her name. He spent an hour or more and staring at her, captivated with her beauty. When at last his senses returned, he said, We will talk later of your reward, Gian Hen Gian. Then he took Jewel by the hand and led her to his bedchamber.I felt a strength return to me the moment I presented Jewel to the king. I was not free to escape, but for the first time I was able to drop dead the city without being compelled by some invisible bond to return to Solomon. I went into the desert and spent the night enjoying the freedom I had gained. It was not until I returned the next morning that I realized that Solomons control over me and the demon depended upon the concentration of his will, as well as the invocations and the seal given to him by Jehovah. The woman, Jewel, had broken his will.I found Solomon in his palace droopy one moment, then screaming with rage the next. While I had been out Catch had come to Solomons bedchamber, not in the form that Solomon recognized, but in the form of a huge monster, taller than two men and as wide as a team of horses, and the slaves could see him as well. While Solomon watched in horror, the demon snatched Jewel fro m the bed with a single, talonlike hand and bit her head off. Then the monster swallowed the girls body and reached for Solomon. But some force saved the king, and Solomon commanded the demon to return to his smaller form. Catch laughed in his face and skulked off to the wives quarters.Through the night the palace was filled with the screams of terrified women. Solomon ordered his guards to invade the demon. Catch swatted them away as if they were flies. By dawn the palace was littered with the crushed bodies of the guards. Of Solomons thousand wives only two hundred remained alive. Catch was gone.During the round out Solomon had called upon the power of the seal and prayed to Jehovah to stop the demon. But the kings will was broken, and so it did no good.I sensed then that I might escape Solomons control altogether, and live free, but even the idiot king would at last make the connection and my fate would lie in the netherworld.I offer Solomon allow me to bring Catch to comely ice. I knew my power to be much greater than the demons. But Solomon had only the building of the temple by which to calculate my powers, and in that example the demon appeared superior. Do what you can, he said. If you capture the demon, you may remain on Earth.I found Catch in the great desert, wantonly slaughtering tribes of nomads. When I bound him with my magic, he protested that he had planned to return, for he was enslaved to Solomon by the invocation and could never really escape. He was only having a little sport with the humans, he said. To quiet him, I filled his sing with sand for the journey back to Jerusalem.When I brought Catch to Solomon, the king commanded me to uprise a punishment to torment the demon, so that the people of Jerusalem might watch him suffer. I chained Catch to a giant stone outside the palace, then I created a huge bird of fertilise that swooped on the demon and tore at his liver, which grew back at once, for like the Djinn, the demon was immort al.Solomon was pleased with my work. During my absence he had regained his senses somewhat, and thereby his will. I stood before the king awaiting my reward, feeling my powers wane as Solomons will returned.I have promised that you shall never be returned to the netherworld, and you shall not, he said. But this demon has put me off of immortals more than somewhat, and I do not wish that you be allowed to affirm free. You shall be imprisoned in a jar and cast into the sea. Should the time come when you are set free to walk the Earth again, you shall have no power over the realm of man except as is commanded by my will, which shall be from now to the end of time the goodwill of all men. By this you shall be bound.He had a jar fashioned from whizz and marked it on all sides with a silver seal. Before he imprisoned me, Solomon promised that Catch would remain chained to the rock until his screams burned into the kings person so that Solomon might never lose his will or his wisdom again. He said he would then send the demon back to hell and destroy the tablets with the invocations, as well as the great seal. He swore these things to me, as if he believed the fate of the demon meant something to me. I didnt give a camels remotet about Catch. Then he gave me a last command and sealed the jar. His soldiers cast the jar into the Red Sea.For two thousand years I languished inside the jar, my only comfort a trickle of seawater that seeped in, which I drank with relish, for it tasted of freedom.When the jar was finally pulled from the sea by a fisherman, and I was released, I cared nothing about Solomon or Catch, only about my freedom. I have lived as a man would live these last thousand years, bound by Solomons will. Of this Solomon spoke truly, but about the demon, he lied.The little man paused and refilled his cup in the ocean. Augustus Brine was at a loss. It couldnt mayhap be true. There was nothing to corroborate the story.Begging your pardon, Gian Hen Gian, but why is none of this told in the Bible?Editing, the Djinn said.But arent you confusing Grecian myth with Christian myth? The birds eating the demons liver fundamentals an awful address like the story of Prometheus.It was my idea. The Greeks were thieves, no better than Solomon.Brine considered this for a moment. He was seeing evidence of the supernatural, wasnt he? Wasnt this little Arab drinking seawater as he watched, with no apparent ill effects? And even if some of it could be explained by hallucination, he was pretty sure that he hadnt been the only one to see the strange blue swirls in the store this morning. What if for a moment just a moment he took the Arabs outrageous story for the truth?If this is true, then how do you know, after all this time, that Solomon lied to you? And why tell me about it?Because, Augustus Brine, I knew you would believe. And I know Solomon lied because I can feel the presence of the demon, Catch. And Im sure that he has come to Pine Co ve.Swell, Brine said. 7ARRIVALVirgil Long backed out from under the hood of the Impala, wiped his custody on his coveralls, and scratched at his four-day growth of beard. He reminded Travis of a fat weasel with the mange.So youre thinking its the radiator? Virgil asked.Its the radiator, Travis said.It might be the whole locomotive engine is gone. You were running pretty quiet when you drove in. Not a good sign. Do you have a charge card?Virgil was unprecedented in his inability to diagnose specific engine troubles. When he was dealing with tourists, his scheme was usually to start replacing things and keep replacing them until he solved the problem or reached the limit on the customers credit card, whichever came first.It wasnt running at all when I came in, Travis protested. And I dont have a credit card. Its the radiator, I promise.Now, son, Virgil drawled, I know you think you know what youre talking about, but I got a certificate from the Ford factory there on the wall that says Im a master mechanical. Virgil pointed a fat finger toward the service stations office. One wall was covered with framed certificates along with a poster of a nude woman sitting on the hood of a Corvette buffing her backstage parts with a scarf in order to sell move oil. Virgil had purchased the Master Mechanic certificates from an outfit in New Hampshire two for five dollars, six for ten dollars, fifteen for twenty. He had gone for the twenty-dollar package. Those who took the time to read the certificates were somewhat surprised to find out that Pine Coves only service station and car wash had its own factory-certified snowmobile mechanic. It had never snowed in Pine Cove.This is a Chevy, Travis said.Got a certificate for those, too. You probably need new rings. The radiators just a symptom, like these broken headlights. You treat the symptom, the disease just gets worse. Virgil had heard that on a doctor show once and want the sound of it.What will it cost to just fix th e radiator?Virgil stared deep into the obscenity spots on the garage floor, as if by reading their patterns and by some mystic mode of divination, petrolmancy perhaps, he would arrive at a price that would not alienate the darkling untested man but would still assure him an exorbitant hourly rate for his labor.Hundred bucks. It had a nice round ring to it.Fine, Travis said, Fix it. When can I have it back?Virgil consulted the grease spots again, then emerged with a good-ol-boy smile. Hows noon sound?Fine, Travis said. Is there a pot hall around here and somewhere I can get some breakfast?No pool hall. The Head of the Slug is open down the street. They got a couple of tables.And breakfast?Only thing open this end of town is H.P.s, a block off Cypress, down from the Slug. But its a locals joint.Is there a problem getting served?No. The menu might throw you for a bit. It well, youll see.Travis give thanksed the mechanic and started off in the direction of H.P.s, the demon sk ulking along butt him. As they passed the self-serve car-wash stalls, Travis noticed a tall man of about thirty unloading plastic laundry baskets full of dirty dishes from the bed of an old Ford pickup. He seemed to be having trouble getting quarters to go into the coin box.Looking at him, Travis said You know, Catch, Ill bet theres a address of incest in this town.Probably the only entertainment, the demon agreed.The man in the car wash had activated the high-pressure nozzle and was sweeping it back and aside across the baskets of dishes. With each sweep he repeated, Nobody lives like this. Nobody.Some of the overspray caught on the wind and settled over Travis and Catch. For a moment the demon became visible in the spray. Im melt-ing, Catch whined in perfect Wicked hagfish of the West pitch.Lets go, Travis said, moving quickly to avoid more spray. We need a hundred bucks before noon.JENNY In the two hours since Jenny Masterson had arrived at the cafe she had managed to drop a tray full of glasses, mix up the orders on three tables, fill the saltshakers with sugar and the sugar dispensers with salt, and pour hot drinking chocolate on the hands of two customers who had covered their cups to indicate that theyd had enough a patently stupid gesture on their part, she thought. The worst of it was not that she commonly performed her duties flawlessly, which she did. The worst of it was that everyone was so damned understanding about it.Youre going through a rough time, honey, its okay.Divorce is always hard.Their consolations ranged from too adult you couldnt work it out to he was a worthless drunk anyway, youre better off without him.Shed been separated from Robert exactly four days and everybody in Pine Cove knew about it. And they couldnt just let it lie. Why didnt they let her go through the transit without running this cloying gauntlet of sympathy? It was as if she had a big red D sewed to her clothing, a signal to the townsfolk to close around her like a hungry amoeba.When the second tray of glasses hit the floor, she stood amid the shards trying to catch her breath and could not. She had to do something scream, cry, pass out but she just stood there, paralyzed, while the busboy cleaned up the glass.Two bony hands closed on her shoulders. She heard a voice in her ear that seemed to come from very far away. You are having an anxiety attack, dear. It shall pass. Relax and come about deeply. She felt the hands gently leading her through the kitchen door to the office in the back.Sit down and put your head mingled with your knees. She let herself be guided into a chair. Her mind went white, and her breath caught in her throat. A bony hand rubbed her back.Breathe, Jennifer. Ill not have you shuffling off this mortal coil in the middle of the breakfast shift.In a moment her head cleared and she looked up to see Howard Phillips, the owner of H.P.s, standing over her.He was a tall, skeletal man, who always wore a black suit and button shoes that had been fashionable a hundred years ago. pull out for the dark depressions on his cheeks, Howards skin was as white as a carrion worm. Robert had once said that H.P. looked like the master of ceremonies at a chemotherapy funfest.Howard had been born and raised in Maine, yet when he spoke, he affected the accentuate of an erudite Londoner. The prospect of change is a many-fanged beast, my dear. It is not, however, appropriate to pay ugly obeisance to that beast by cowering in the ruins of my stemware while you have orders up.Im sorry, Howard. Robert called this morning. He sounded so helpless, pathetic.A tragedy, to be sure. Yet as we sit, ensconced in our grief, two perfectly healthy daily specials languish under the heat lamps metamorphosing into gelatinlike invitations to botulism.Jenny was relieved that in his own, cryptically charming way, Howard was not giving her sympathy but telling her to get off her ass and live her life. I think Im okay now. Than ks, Howard. Jenny stood and wiped her eyes with a topic table napkin she took from her apron. Then she went off to deliver her orders. Howard, having exhausted his compassion for the day, closed the door of his office and began working on the books.When Jenny returned to the floor, she found that the eatery had cleared except for a few regular customers and a dark young man she didnt recognize, who was standing by the PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED sign. At least he wouldnt ask about Robert, thank God. It was a welcome relief.Not many tourists found H.P.s. It was tucked in a tree-lined cul-de-sac off Cypress route in a remodeled mincing bungalow. The sign outside, small and tasteful, simply read, CAFE. Howard did not believe in advertising, and though he was an Anglophile at heart loving all things British and feeling that they were somehow superior to their American counterparts his restaurant displayed none of the substitute British decor that might draw in the tourists. The cafe served simple food at fair prices. If the menu exhibited Howard Phillipss eccentricity in style, it did not admonish the locals from eating at his place. Next to Brines Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines, H.P.s Cafe had the most true-blue clientele in Pine Cove.Smoking or nonsmoking? Jenny asked the young man. He was very good-looking, but Jenny noticed this only in passing. She was conditioned by years of monogamy not to dwell on such things.Nonsmoking, he said.Jenny led him to a table in the back. Before he sat down, he pulled out the chair across from him, as if he were going to put his feet up.Will someone be joining you? Jenny asked, handing him a menu. He looked up at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. He stared into her eyes without saying a word.Embarrassed, Jenny looked down. Todays special is Eggs-Sothoth a fiendishly toothsome amalgamation of tasty ingredients so delicious that the mere description of the palatable gestalt could drive one mad, she said. Youre joking?No. The owner insists that we memorize the daily specials verbatim.The dark man kept staring at her. What does all that mean? he asked. locomote eggs with ham and cheese and a side of toast.Why didnt you just say that?The owner is a little eccentric. He believes that his daily specials may be the only thing keeping the sometime(a) Ones at bay.The Old Ones?Jenny sighed. The nice thing about regular customers is she didnt have to keep explaining Howards weird menu to them. This guy was obviously from out of town. But why did he have to keep staring at her like that?Its his religion or something. He believes that the world was once populated by another(prenominal) race. He calls them the Old Ones. For some reason they were banished from Earth, but he believes that they are trying to return and take over.Youre joking?Stop saying that. Im not joking.Im sorry. He looked at the menu. Okay, give me an Eggs-Sothoth with a side order of The Spuds of Madness.Would you like coffee ?That would be great.Jenny wrote out the ticket and turned to put the order in at the kitchen window.Excuse me, the man said.Jenny turned in midstep. Yes?You have incredible eyes.Thanks. She felt herself blush as she headed off to get his coffee. She wasnt ready for this. She needed some sort of break between being married and being divorced. Divorce leave? They had pregnancy leave, didnt they?When she returned with his coffee, she looked at him for the first time as a single woman might. He was handsome, in a sharp, dark sort of way. He looked younger than she was, twenty-three, maybe twenty-four. She was studying his clothes and trying to get a feel for what he did for a living when she ran into the chair he had pushed out from the table and spilled most of the coffee into the saucer.God, Im sorry.Its okay, he said. Are you having a bad day?acquiring worse by the minute. Ill get you another cup.No, he raised a hand in protest. Its fine. He took the cup and saucer from her, separa ted them, and poured the coffee back into the cup. See, good as new. I dont want to add to your bad day.He was staring again.No, youre fine. I mean, Im fine. Thanks. She felt like a geek. She cursed Robert for causing all this. If he hadnt No, it wasnt Roberts fault. Shed made the decision to end the marriage.Im Travis. The man extended his hand. She took it, tentatively.Jennifer- She was about to tell him that she was married and that he was nice and all. Im not married, she said. She immediately wanted to disappear into the kitchen and never come back.Me either, Travis said. Im new in town. He didnt seem to notice how awkward she was. Look, Jennifer, Im looking for an address and I wonder if you could tell me how to find it? Do you know how to get to Cheshire Street?Jenny was relieved to be talking about anything but herself. She rattle off a series of streets and turns, landmarks and signs, that would lead Travis to Cheshire Street. When she finished, he just looked at her quizzi cally.Ill draw you a map, she said. She took a pen from her apron, bent over the table, and began gulp on a napkin.Their faces were inches apart. Youre very beautiful, he said.She looked at him. She didnt know whether to smile or scream. Not yet, she thought. Im not ready.He didnt wait for her to respond. You remind me of someone I used to know.Thank you She tried to remember his name. Travis.Have dinner with me tonight?She searched for an excuse. None came. She couldnt use the one she had used for a decade it wasnt true anymore. And she hadnt been alone long enough to brush up on some new lies. In fact, she felt that she was somehow being perfidious to Robert just by talking to this guy. But she was a single woman. ultimately she wrote her phone number under the map on the napkin and pass on it to him.My numbers on the bottom. Why dont you call me tonight, around five, and well take it from there, okay?Travis folded the napkin and put it in his shirt pocket. Until tonight, he said.Oh, spare me a soberly voice said. Jenny turned toward the voice, but there was only the empty chair.To Travis she said, Did you hear that?Hear what? Travis glared at the empty chair.Nothing, Jenny said, Im starting to go over the edge, I think.Relax, Travis said. I wont bite you. He shot a glance at the chair.Your order is up. Ill be right back.She retrieved the food from the window and delivered it to Travis. While he ate, she stood behind the counter separating coffee filters for the lunch shift, once in a while looking up and smiling at the dark, young man, who paused between bites and smiled back.She was fine, just fine. She was a single woman and could do any damned thing she wanted to. She could go out with anyone she wanted to. She was young and attractive and she had just made her first date in ten years sort of.Over all of her affirmations her fears flew up and perched like a murder of crows. It occurred to her that she didnt have the slightest idea what she w as going to wear. The freedom of single life had suddenly operate a burden, a mixed blessing, herpes on the popes ring. by chance she wouldnt practice the phone when he called.Travis finished eating and paid his bill, leaving her far too large a tip.See you tonight, he said.You bet. She smiled.She watched him walk across the parking lot. He seemed to be talking to someone as he walked. Probably just singing. Guys did that right after they made a date, didnt they? Maybe he was just a whacko?For the hundredth time that morning she resisted the urge to call Robert and tell him to come home.