six

“Try these on for size,” said Weymouth, “maybe crank over those napping brain cells.” —– They took turns:

“It took me a long time to find out about money. You either have it or you don’t. Life goes on. Walk around wearing a smile or become an f’ing whiner. Either way, no one’s just going to give you a winning lottery ticket.”

“Pete Martin was schooling his friend Daryl. ‘Here at the fish house we have a cool way of life. We do what we want. And you can come or you can go, any time you want.’ Daryl let his eyes travel over the rag-tag collection of second-hand couches and old soft chairs. ‘What do you do here?’ he asked. ‘We tell stories, bro,’ Pete answered. ‘That’s all?’ ‘That’s all.’ Pete twisted to look directly, for the first time, at his friend. ‘We tell stories, bro, and then the stories come true.’”

“It’s pretty much tradition in DeLoreal Beach to spend as much time out in the sun as possible, and to build a daily diet around alcohol, coffee, and ice cream. Rennie Lewis had never been much for ice cream. And he looked on coffee primarily as remedy.”

“Sharon Filkins found the duck blind Saturday, on one of her weekly trips out into the marsh. Fortunately, she found no evidence of killing, which was good. She was a pacifist and a lover of animals. She never once saw a duck she didn’t think about cuddling. But the duck blind was here, where she found it, and it for sure wasn’t built to house wayward girls on nature hikes. So, Saturday, that day, she cut some reeds and made a make-shift cushion, sat down with legs crossed and her hands in what’s called the cosmic mudra, and became very still. Thirty minutes later she was clear on what she had to do.”

Silence..

“Yo, sleepy head,” Connie said right at me, looking like the Cheshire Cat. “Where do you think Sharon got the knife to cut the reeds with?” Weymouth spun around on a stool that didn’t spin.

The marrieds sat there, across and above, for the next five minutes, just looking at me.