13...
A thick shroud of fog poured in over the city from the ocean, carrying with it the faint smell of ghosts. When the sky hung that low, it threw back the city’s sodium arc lamps and bathed the streets in an orange glow like sickness, like bad memories.
Uncle Eddie charged the streets of the Mission without fear, the clicking of his low-healed boots a steady staccato as they bounced off the dirty walls. The few people wandering the sidewalks gave him room and forgot him as soon as they passed.
At the corner of 18th Street he stopped dead still. He stood there for a full minute and a half before removing his hat and holding it to his chest. He turned his face towards the cold mass that floated above and it would almost appear that he were trying to divine what this fog was made of if you didn’t notice that his pale eyes were closed. He stretched his neck out towards the hill and sniffed the air; quick, almost delicate pulls at first, then long intakes that made his body shake.
He dropped his head and smiled. His mouth seemed to hold far too many teeth.
As he turned away from Mission Street, walking his assured steps right up the filthy sidewalks of 18th, a cab driver roving the narrow streets of North Beach suddenly jerked the wheel to the right. His old time metal bumper made a quick mess of a Jetta’s rear panel and he nearly gave himself a neck injury quickly looking around for witnesses before squealing away.
Frank twitched in his twin bed, biting his lip with such sudden ferocity that he awoke with a cry. The lack of sleep caught up with him soon enough though and he was asleep again before noticing the blood running down his chin.
Somewhere near the corner of Turk and Van Ness, a mess of woman sat in the mess of her car and held herself, shaking. She glared out the caked windshield, focusing on nothing, her eyes suddenly narrowing. She punched the steering wheel. She punched it again with a banshee’s wail. She punched it again, chipping off a piece of decorative plastic and breaking her hand in four places.
And in a car speeding away from a mess and into the brilliant haze of the unknown, a girl sometimes known as Alexis suddenly burst into tears.
Uncle Eddie charged the streets of the Mission without fear, the clicking of his low-healed boots a steady staccato as they bounced off the dirty walls. The few people wandering the sidewalks gave him room and forgot him as soon as they passed.
At the corner of 18th Street he stopped dead still. He stood there for a full minute and a half before removing his hat and holding it to his chest. He turned his face towards the cold mass that floated above and it would almost appear that he were trying to divine what this fog was made of if you didn’t notice that his pale eyes were closed. He stretched his neck out towards the hill and sniffed the air; quick, almost delicate pulls at first, then long intakes that made his body shake.
He dropped his head and smiled. His mouth seemed to hold far too many teeth.
As he turned away from Mission Street, walking his assured steps right up the filthy sidewalks of 18th, a cab driver roving the narrow streets of North Beach suddenly jerked the wheel to the right. His old time metal bumper made a quick mess of a Jetta’s rear panel and he nearly gave himself a neck injury quickly looking around for witnesses before squealing away.
Frank twitched in his twin bed, biting his lip with such sudden ferocity that he awoke with a cry. The lack of sleep caught up with him soon enough though and he was asleep again before noticing the blood running down his chin.
Somewhere near the corner of Turk and Van Ness, a mess of woman sat in the mess of her car and held herself, shaking. She glared out the caked windshield, focusing on nothing, her eyes suddenly narrowing. She punched the steering wheel. She punched it again with a banshee’s wail. She punched it again, chipping off a piece of decorative plastic and breaking her hand in four places.
And in a car speeding away from a mess and into the brilliant haze of the unknown, a girl sometimes known as Alexis suddenly burst into tears.
posted by P. B. Nomer | 9:00 PM
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