voyage to star 25, part 2: mrs wilson's diner

for part one, click here

maisie was a philosopher nothing disconcerted her she had seen all the pictures, heard all the tales still had a little wind in her sails though her mind often seemed to drift she was always on time for her shift and had won mrs wilson's trust without breaking through her solid crust tonight, though, mrs wilson seemed vexed well, perhaps just a little perplexed her agitation gave maisie pause and she wondered what was the cause "some fellers came in tonight. they just didn't look right." maisie could hardly be more surprised though nothing showed in her dark eyes mrs wilson had run the diner for four decades she was not a blushing maid her patrons were not from the top drawer maisie had never seen her discombobulated before "um - what did these fellers say or do? did they actually threaten you? where was leroy? he's never around - " maisie laughed " - when you need him, i have found" "it wasn't what they did or said - but i could see right into their heads!" "well", maisie replied with opacity "i never knew you had such a capacity." "their evil ideas were fairly bursting forth from their skulls with walpurgisnachtian froth - " this was not mrs wilson's usual manner of speaking maisie wondered if her brains were leaking "well, leroy should be around soon why don't you go on over to your room -" (for mrs wilson lived right behind the shop) " - and laudanum why don't you take a drop?" "no, i don't want to sleep who know what terrors in the deep from which i may never return may writhe and slime and slash and burn -" maisie replied with a smile half bright "but isn't that true every night?" she proceeded to put her apron on and wished mrs wilson would run along "oh look, here comes leroy now" around midnight leroy craved some chow at morning noon and twilight too his stomach rumblings would come due leroy enforced the law in the little town always had a smile, hardly ever a frown he had a rusty badge and a billy club and he was everybody's bub he had a gun in his holster he had never drawn in miscreants' faces he would yawn and say why do you have to make a fuss yes, leroy was an amiable cuss "glad you decided to come round tonight mrs wilson has had a fright" but when maisie turned around mrs wilson's agitation was not to be found "it's nothing, leroy, don't worry yourself" mrs wilson took a pie down from the shelf "i was just being a neurotic old frump sometimes i get down in the dumps" incurious leroy, nowise upset on his favorite stool down his carcass let and with his customary yawning and stretching said "maisie, my dear, tonight you look particularly fetching" "and you too edna, you look as good as this pie" leroy thoughtfully rubbed his eyes things were back to normality and proceeded with customary informality some of the regulars came and went a few hard earned dollars they spent leroy continued to eat his fill and maisie leaned against the grill outside it started to rain, then thunder maisie began to idly wonder what had upset mrs wilson so perhaps, she thought, i will never know she heard a car pull up outside and then the door flung open wide leroy did not look back or up but slowly put down his coffee cup two customers stood in the door that maisie had never seen before they were very neatly dressed their shirts were ironed and their ties were pressed but such details seemed hardly germane as they stood there in the wind and rain their features maisie had never before seen their eyes were red and their faces were green

the lady and the cowpoke - a fragment

you ride the range you man so strange would you like an apple or an o-range? don't pick up that cat, it's got the mange she was a good old kitty cat and did her duties with eclat but life has wrestled her to the mat now there is no more this in her that i'm glad you dropped by look at the sky my oh my how time does fly are you sure you don't want some tea? the gypsy made it especially for me despite its curious pungency it really contains no mystery poor man, you look pale let me tell you a tale once there were three princesses with scarlet, gold and sable tresses who always wore white satin dresses and by a witch were given three guesses as to which kingdoms they would rule after they had finished school and which emperors were the biggest fools in which to sink their claws so cruel a crimson cloud across the sky drew the golden princess's eye and with a sad and mournful sigh she sat on a rock and began to cry o sister, cried the scarlet maid what has made you so afraid? have all our secrets been betrayed? and all our rescuers waylaid? ....... the cowpoke listened to the lady's tale and smiled and nodded without fail out in the distance he heard a wail a leaf flew past the window -- next a gale? the conversation reached another stage the parrot looks so unhappy in his cage let's turn the page would you like to blow some gage?

song of the damned number 21

i am just a lonely moocher with no present past or future and the windows watch me well on the rainy street to hell and my brain begins to hum for a taste of opium and its incandescent streams of fervid fleeting dreams i would sell my ragged soul for the tenth part of a bowl there's nowhere that i wouldn't slink for just one more - one more drink all you mandarins and missionaries in your mansions museums and libraries will you know a brighter final fate than the stranger dragging past your gate?

i was the one

i was the one i was there i walked the dog i bounced the ball i fed the cat i sang the song i was there i saw it all happen when it was over they came and asked me because i was the one i spun the chamber i calmed the crowd i sharpened the stake i pointed at the bird and the dog ran down the street i walked up the stairs i rang the bell i sold the encyclopedia i sat on the front porch lily mae came out and offered me a glass of lemonade i accepted politely and looked out at the street the crowd was gone the dog ran under the light i drank the lemonade and gave the glass back to lily mae who waited patiently while mrs jones looked out the window but i was not worthy even though i was the one i howled at the moon i grew the fangs i defied the mob i wept in despair i walked the dog i bounced the ball i mixed the mint julep i begged for forgiveness all these things happened in a single night a night that never ended i was there i was the one

in the dark

lift a glass and raise a cheer to the stuffy bankers of yesteryear the snooty dowagers, the butlers stiff the girls named josie, and the guys named cliff the cop on the beat, with his face so red, the bookie with his hat tipped just right on his head the cabbies, the waiters, the hat check girls the saucy debutantes tossing their curls the windbag senator, the girl reporter commissioner johnson and mayor mcwhorter newsboys, shoe shine boys, cracking wise all right - break it up, you guys the playboy spending grandfather's dough chester - you should invest in our show i'll get back to you on that, sweetheart aw come on - all i need is a start abbie the tailor - his cobbler pal moe watch through their windows - the whole city on the go you call that a suit - you call that a hat? i can do you much better than that the sky's the limit - it's looking good if they could see me in the old neighborhood standing on the corner with benny the dip just before he gives me a tip on the fifth horse in the seventh race how did i ever come to this place? trying to get the big story? trying to cover myself with glory? don't send me again to the debutantes dance please, muggsy, won't you give me a chance this story is just about to get hotter and i can blow it right out of the water i know the story is pretty tangled but hey - i got an angle the cops are doing it by the book but i think i see something they overlooked there's never been a story like this before with horror you'll gasp, with laughter you'll roar your mouth will fly open, with delight you will squeal when it all comes together in the last reel

jewelry

no doubt, gerald, you will say that the devil made you do it no, aunt , the devil didn't make me do it nor did i succumb to a sudden impulse or ungovernable passion - i did not need the money and was not playing a prank or being initiated into a secret society i was not making a statement about the modern world or being lured to my doom by an evil, scheming woman i had no plans to travel to china or tahiti no, i stole your jewelry for one reason only - because i am totally, irredeemably corrupt - outside on park avenue and 89th street the wind tested the leaves of a london plane tree

page from a notebook

0. the essence of the thing is the thing itself. 1. sense escapes. the thing is left behind. 2. the former expansion of the essence surrounds the thing. 3. the expanded essence is the word. 4. a collision of expanded essences is an affair. 5. affairs are remembered. 6. what is remembered is an affair. 7. the escaped essence leaves the expansion behind, guarding the thing. 8. the thing growls menacingly at the expansion. 9. the escaped essence flies away, laughing. 10. laughter is an affair whose essence has escaped. 11. a thing whose essence has attempted to escape is a laughing matter. 12. but the essence of the thing, which is the thing itself, is no laughing matter. 13. an affair that is no laughing matter is a tough crowd. 14. the essence of the thing is a tough crowd. 15. a crowd with an escaped essence is tough.