Page 55 - The Myth and the Moment

Afternoon

relieved to get the raging bull out of her house. Varoom! Through the
gate, like a bat out of hell. She can really handle this thing. Probably
not as much power as a real sports car; the Japanese know how to cut
corners and leave a nicely beveled edge. Did I ever want one of
these? For itself or its status value? Both, when I was a teen-ager.
Fancy machines lost their appeal quickly after I got into college.
Whole capitalist miasma. Ah, so what? So I saved a lot of money,
never got into debt. Never knew the thrill of conspicuous
consumption; never seduced and abandoned by the mechanical bride.
How could I know what love really is? Maybe I read about it
somewhere. How long since Corinne left: thirteen years. Seems like
only yesterday, eh, Evangelino?
“Look, Nate: there’s the old Blue Dharma theatre. It’s a video-
cassette rental shop now.”
“What! The whole thing? Oh, I see. It was torn down and rebuilt
as a mini-shopping center.”
She didn’t have to drive by here. Could have gone straight down
Sunset.
“I wouldn’t have known this was the place. Doesn’t seem to be a
plaque on the wall indicating its historical importance.”
“L.A. has no history, except in our minds. That is its great beauty,
and its even greater ugliness.”
“Why, Aestheria, you sound almost poetic. I didn’t know the
material world had attracted your attention so profoundly.”
“Never mind your mockery, Nate. I remember how you used to
chastise the actors when they wouldn’t emote according to plan. You
know what we called you behind your back? The Manic Mocker. You
didn’t know that I wrote poetry, too, did you?”
“Uh, no.”
What is she getting at?
“Nothing as grand as your Atomic Sonnets, of course, and I didn’t
show it to anyone. I would have liked you to see it.”
“But I was the Manic Mocker, and your fragile ego couldn’t face
the shock of rejection.”
“Yes, except I was wrong. My ego is not fragile. So, listen to this:
Man’s arms are made for strength/Woman’s arms for love/When she
reaches for a hug/He gives her a shove.”

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