Vertical Descent Point. PART 2

 

 

Fat rubbed his stomach and smiled into the dry and dreary day, his teeth even and brilliant under the rays of the scarcely visible sun.

 “I think I ate too much,” he said. He burped and wiped a hand across his mouth.

 “You always think you eat too much,” said Tattoo, smiling as they walked from within the restaurant, their coats once more pulled tightly around them, “only to find yourself ravenous again an hour later.”

 “I can’t help it,” said Fat, frowning and looking at the back of Tattoo’s head. “I can’t help it, you know I can’t help it.”

 There was silence for a moment or so, and then Tattoo spoke. “I know, little brother, I know you can’t help your constant hunger any more than Old can help his forever ramblings on World War Who-Cares.” There was a definite smile in her voice. “Or any more than I can help doing pointless things like this.”

 She stopped walking, stumbling a bit in her haste.

 The three of them hadn’t cleared the front of the MacDonald’s yet, but they weren’t in plain view of those within the restaurant. Turning on the spot, Tattoo reached into the shallow depths of her windbreaker and pulled out a silver aerosol can.

There was the thin rattle of small ball bearings.

 “No,” said Fat, leaning into Tattoo’s suddenly strained face, sounding positively terrified, “the police, Tattoo, they’ll…”

 “Her lot,” whispered Old from behind Fat. “It’s her lot in life to do such, to hell with the time or the place.” Old stopped talking, but looked rather pleased with himself. Fat turned and poked Old’s scrawny right shoulder.

 “We’ll be seen and arrested, Old,” said Fat, quivering, “just like in Lewiston and Prague and Arabia. It’s always the same. I know she can’t help it, but I’m tired of spending cold nights in holding cells with rats and criminals. I’m tired of running nowhere and being punished for the crime of not having a proper destination. You’ve always dealt with it, but I’m new to this game. I didn’t know it would be this hard.”

 A pretty pathetic ending to what had been a promising argument, Old thought. He watched as Fat’s weak chin began to shake and thought of Osaka in the Spring of 1942. He thought of breakfast on the east bank of the Yodo with Umi. He saw into the past and looked into Umi’s large, liquid eyes.

 “Your age, why won’t you tell me your age?” Umi had asked as she slipped her shoulders from within the embrace of her kimono. “Do you think that I won’t love you anymore if I know how old you are?” She smiled at him across the gulf of past and present and Old wondered if she would have gone on loving and reprimanding him the way those who loved do had she not died of dysentery a month later.

 “Old!” said Fat, his voice now shaking with fear.

 “Ahhh,” said Old, having, reluctantly, torn himself from the beckoning finger of the past, “she’d done her thing already and what do you know, Fat, we haven’t been hauled into the depths of Guantánamo Bay.” Old pointed his chin at a spot behind and slightly above Fat. “Look.”

 Fat turned and gasped.

 Having been so into the laying of a plan with Old, Fat hadn’t heard the hiss of the spray can. Nor had he heard Tattoo’s slight grunts every now and again. Now he looked upon a ten-foot high obelisk with five uneven sides. Atop the structure was a rather beautiful carrion bird. The land at the foot of the obelisk was wild with trees and hills. Beneath the brand new mural were the words MORT FINITE.

 “Beautiful,” said Old, dabbing at the corners of his eyes with the soiled handkerchief.

“Beautiful. See, Fat?” He appraised Fat with a sly, yet clueless look. “Often, things that cannot be helped turn out mysterious and beautiful. Live your lot but enjoy it.”

 Fat said nothing. His eyes were still crawling across the mural and may well have gone on doing so were it not for a light jab between his ribs. He turned and saw Tattoo wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her windbreaker.

“Let’s go, Fat.”

 The three of them walked and no sirens followed them.

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Hairy and Confused]

Still loving it. I was a little bit surprised by Fat's very coherent and eloquent speech. The impression I got from his previous bits fo dialog were that he was not only fat but slow and stupid. But I guess I was wrong.

[Inda Lauryn]

This seems like it would be a good beginning of a novel(la). I want to know more about the characters, past, present and future. They're already interesting, so continuing their story would be awesome.

[Timely Disposition]

"A pretty pathetic ending to what had been a promising argument, Old thought. He watched as Fat's weak chin began to shake and thought of Osaka in the Spring of 1942. He thought of breakfast on the east bank of the Yodo with Umi. He saw into the past and looked into Umi's large, liquid eyes. "Your age, why won't you tell me your age?" Umi had asked as she slipped her shoulders from within the embrace of her kimono. "Do you think that I wouldn't love you anymore if I knew how old you are?" She smiled at him across the gulf of Past and Present and Old wondered if she would have gone on loving and reprimanding him the way those who loved do had she not died of dysentery a month later." ----- This should be in itallics.

Over all the story (parts 1 and 2) are set up as such that I do want to know what the connection is between the three. I want to know what they do. Are they vampires, etc.?
This is all good.

On the downside, I would say, that there are some definite assumptions being made that every reader will stay with the story this long. I know your writing and I have faith that it will be good. Others, might not have that faith if they are new to you.