Rain Days

Ernest was out working on his bus and Joe Saternallia was out interviewing for a similar job. Joe had be feeling lost lately and I hoped that a job would help to ground him. He left for his interview and I settled on our green couch to read a book I had picked up at the library a couple days before. The window behind me was open and a breeze was blowing strong. It was raining outside and could hear it hitting the pavement outside with a click splash click. The constant pitter was driving me into restlessness and I couldn’t concentrate on anything having to do with literature so I picked up and left. The only place I could think to go was Karrie Gleeson’s place across the way. She had a nice two bedroom place in a good part of town, decent rent and a landlord who left you mostly alone. It was a short walk, and I slipped into the lobby and warmed up a bit. It hadn’t been raining hard, but it had been freezing and I was worried that pneumonia would set in. I had had it four times when I was a kid, so I was justifiably concerned. I hiked up to her apartment on the fourth floor and knocked really quiet and discreetly. She heard me inside and called out “Just a minute!” so I plastered myself against a wall with my arms crossed and my button down open in the front all the while pretending I was Paul Newman. Karrie opened her door then and laughed a gunshot laugh. She motioned for me to come in and I sauntered on by her, eyes slit and arrogance abounding. I settled in a round chair she had in the center of the room and slouched all the way down in the chair like a regular jackass would. We talked for a bit, mainly about my pal Ernest Williams. They had been batting at each other back and forth and Karrie felt like she needed to talk to a neutral party. I was more than happy to listen, so we sat there for an hour or so until I became overwhelmed with her drama and felt like going for a walk down to the grocery store. It was a quick walk and the rain had let up a bit, but we still got soaked through. I had five dollars in my pocket so I spent it on an expensive chocolate bar and pickled peas. I mistook them for the pickled green beans I had eaten as a kid. I realized this after I bought them and was disappointed but they turned out to be delicious nonetheless so I accept it as divine intervention. When I brought my strange combination up to the cashier she looked at me like I was a looney so I acted the part/. My hair was already crazy enough from the weather so I went all bug eyed and crazy. I made her nervous and got a good chuckle out of it later on after we had left. We went back to her apartment and I devoured the chocolate bar and felt pretty sick. Karrie stepped into her bedroom to change her clothes and when she came back out she was thinking about Ernest and was in a foul mood so I took off and trudged back to my flat. I opened the door and flopped onto the couch. I drifted off into a half sleep dreamscape and saw a crowd of people sew their faces together like that was a normal thing to do. Ernest came back and woke me up. He was in a good mood and was telling me all about his life plans. I was feeling lousy and cruel so I began to find flaws in his ideas. I whittled them down to nothing and he got very defensive. For awhile I thought he was going to come at me, but he didn’t, he just sat their quietly and stared at nothing in particular. He left to go eat and I sat there alone, writing in my notebook and sorting out my thoughts.