Page 410 - Some Dance to Remember

380 Jack Fritscher

anything, I’m working to get my memoirs into a hundred words or less.”
“So what’s it about?”
“There is no God in Oz. There is only the phony Wizard. And San
Francisco is his City. Castro is a godforsaken place. God may have created
the world, but Satan designed it.”
Ryan’s depression had turned to bitterness since the night at the the-
ater. He was unhappy with life. He understood the Luis Bunuel films with
the dog always walking through the plots as if men were only one mad-dog
bite away from rabidity.
“Have you talked to Kick?”
“Three times. On the phone.”
“And...”
“And nothing. He acts like nothing happened that night. We’ve never
mentioned it.”
“So you’re content to let your affair fade away and die a natural Death?”
“I’m writing him letters.”
“Are you mailing them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Kick experiences very little of the soul-searching that goes with liv-
ing. He’s too beautiful to be bothered.”
“But you’re bothered.”
“No. I was bewitched, but I’m not bothered. I’m not bothered the way
Arthur Jones is not bothered.”
“Who’s Arthur Jones?” I asked.
“Kick trained with him. He’s the guy who invented the Nautilus exer-
cise machines. He’s a self-described misanthrope....”
“So now you’ve replaced misogyny with misanthropy.”
“Jones keeps a .45-caliber pistol under the front seat of his car. He
knows about human treachery.”
“How’s that?”
“He deals with bodybuilders.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I’m researching him for an article. He likes to quote Twain’s line: ‘If
you pick up a starving a dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite
you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.’”
“So you’re bothered,” I said. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to wait until he’s tired of Logan.”
“Solly says you should throw them both out of Bar Nada.”
“No. As long as he’s living in my place, he’s thinking of me. I know

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