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Monday, January 6, 2014

Queen Of The Desert CH 7 Remnants Of Memory

Katheena looked over at Tellesco, and she nodded at him.  She grabbed me by the arm and said, “Will.  You need to tell Tellesco something for me.”



I said, “OK.  What?”




She said, “You tell him that there is a little girl who wants to talk to him.  Then you need to bring him back to that wagon behind us.  Just tell him to follow you.  It’s too soon for these other young men to see.”





So I did.  I didn’t know what the hell was going on.  I was chust along for the ride.







“Uhh.  Tellesco.”

He smiled up at me and arose.  “Mr. Will.  What is it?”







“There’s a little girl who wants to talk to you.  Follow me.”

He looked up at me and his face got all screwed-up looking.  He said, “Mr. Will.  Please don’t make fun.”





I said, “I ain’t.  Just come with me over here.”

He shrugged but his eyes got all misty.  Jeez.  Friggin Katheena making the weepy dude cry again.









Save Me   by Warren Hayes  







He caught up to me as I walked to the old wagon hearse.  Mayhem snorted and flipped his blue tail over his rear quarters.  He looked back at the barn with them young fellows all sitting about.  They were watching us. 


They saw their two friends walk off to the desert, no destination visible, no X on the map.




Then they turned back to the angry punk on the ground.




Tellesco said, “Her name is Avison Talon Wenondinnay.  She was buried with her momma in the desert.”







I just kept right on walking.





He went on.  “She and her momma were buried in the desert, and them Purple Robes built a mansion over their graves.”





I just kept right on walking.  Shit happens, right?  Shit has always happened.  Probably will never stop happening.




He stopped and tapped my shoulder.  He said, “She and her momma, and all them other lost souls, they looking to me to do something for them.”




I had enough.  I turned around and said, “Look, Tellesco.  I don’t know what in thee hell you are talking about.  So please shut up and just follow me.”




He shook his head.  He said, “I can’t go any further unless you say that you believe me.”


I said, “Whatever.  OK, I believe you.  Now let’s just go!”






He said, “That ain’t good enough!”  Then he began to cry.  I mean, full on crying.  He slumped down onto his knees and put his hands up to his eyes and he wailed like a kid who lost his marbles in a bad game of snake-eye.







Ah, fer fack sake, Francis.  I turned back to him, and back there beyond, I could see them others shaking their heads and turning away.  Even that angry punk looked away.  I sat down on my haunches and patted him on the back.  



I said, “Dude.  I’m sorry.  I really don’t know what you are talking about.  But you should know that all of us will always protect you.  We ain’t got much left, but we gotta remain true to each other.  We are all we have now, in this fucking war thing.”




He quieted his crying a bit, and he nodded.  He took in a big breath and let out a huge sigh.  He wiped his hands on his naked hips and looked up at me.  He had snot smeared and dripping across his meaty cheeks.



Damn.  I forgot that he was naked.  So, I mean, damn.  I Made an executive decision.  I took off my leather, pulled off my shirt, and put my leather back on.   I handed my t-shirt to him.




He said, “Thanks” and then he blew his nose on it and wiped his boogery face off.  He began to cry again.  He said, “I really means a lot to hear you say that, Mr. Will.”


I said, “Damn it, Tellesco!  I wanted you to drape that shirt across your front side.  You about to go see a little girl!”



He started to cry again.  He said, “Oh.  Shit.  I wasn’t thinking.”  Then, in his tears, he did something very strange.  He laid back in the desert mud and put his legs skyward.


What the fuck?


I turned away.  Dude lost his marbles.  I wasn’t interested in seeing his muddy junk.  Hell, I wasn’t interested in seeing his junk even if it was clean.



I looked up ahead at that giant black horse with the mane and tail of burning flame and wondered why no one else appeared to be able to see it?  Was I truly hallucinating now all the time, from that bump on the noggin I’d taken back at the purple mansion?

Mayhem whinnied and it sounded like he was laughing.  He nodded back at me, or was it behind me?



I turned around.  Tellesco was standing again, and he was wearing my t-shirt.  He had thrust his legs through the armholes, and the t-shirt was pulled up and tied in a knot on the front side.  It looked like a diaper.  His man junk hung down from the neck hole.


I didn’t want to wear that shirt ever again.



I couldn’t help myself.  I laughed.  Tellesco looked down at himself and then he was embarrassed.  Em-Bare-Assed.  And bare-balled.  Etc.


He pulled the shirt down across his huge thighs and tied a new knot on the neck hole.


For all his manly girth, now it looked like he was wearing a fucked-up white speedo.


I couldn’t stop laughing, and he began to cry again.


Damn. 


That made me laugh even harder.





Then I heard a whisper in my ear.  “Will.  Compose yourself.  This is a very important moment.  Tellesco is about to understand something new here.  It’s a connection he’s meant to make.”




Awww.  Damn.  It was happening in the worst way for that sort of important thing.  I whispered back, “Uh, Katheena, what the hell?  Look at him there.  He’s all fucked up.”




She said, this, and I could not fucking believe it.  I still don’t.



She said, “You need to lend him your leather jacket.  He can use that as a kilt."



Oh.


Fuck that shit.



I said, “My leather?  No fucking way.”





The air around me grew very cold.  She whispered again, “It’s very important.  This is what it’s all about honey.”





My damp hair grew icicles and I found that it was actually a very good idea to comply with my dead girlfriend.  I think my balls crawled up inside me.  It got very cold, you see.










How Long   by Charles Bradley  









I said, “Hey, Tellesco.  Here.  Tie my leather around your front side.”

He came over and said, “You sure?  Always mind your leather, that’s what you always say.  Hey there Miss Katheena.  How ya been?”


Katheena said, “Been busy.  Now do as Will says.  You have some work to do here.  You ready?”


He nodded.  He said, “I know.  I thought she was gone forever.”





Katheena said, “At the fight in the backyard of that ugly mansion, I saved them.  They have come back to fight, with you.  Now.”





I was floored.  Hah?  He could see her?  Then I realized that he could see her when he was crying.  And now, if he looked up ahead, he would see the wagon hearse and the mighty Mayhem steed. 




I said, “Tellesco, no need to worry.  Just keep your speedo diaper on.  Here. Just get it cleaned before you return it to me, cool?”




He smiled and draped it around his front, and the put the arms into a knot on his backside.


He said, “Miss Katheena, is her mom with her as well?”



Katheena nodded.  She said, “I think you should talk to them.  There is nothing that I can say.  It’s what they have to tell you that you should hear.”





Tellesco said, “She’s really still alive?  I thought she was gone…”




Katheena said, “Um.  They are…  still not alive.   But there is a way that they can move on.”



Tellesco frowned.  His eyes got wet again.  He said, “I know.  I mean, I know.  I just meant to say that I was hoping that I’d get a chance to see her again. The way that they were buried together…  Her and her momma.  Nobody should ever…”  Then he was all blubbering again.




Jeez.




So we moved forward, and Tellesco’s shoulders kept heaving, and when we reached the wagon hearse, I nudged him.  He looked up.  



He said, “This is that wagon that Mr. Glinty drives.  Look at that beautiful horse!”



He looked back at the wagon hearse, and the side door opened.  From within the dark depths of the interior, a face appeared.  




It was little Avison.



Tellesco took a step back and his waterworks began anew.


She hopped down and ran to him with her arms outstretched.  Thank goodness he wasn’t completely naked.  That would have been gross.



He stooped down and pulled her up and they hugged and he kept right on bawling. 










God Help You.

God Help Us All.

---willies out.













Out Of The Depths  by Lyle Workman 

















































Never Been Any Reason   by Head East  





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