Coyote Blue Chapter 18~19

CHAPTER 18ShadowphobiaSaturday daybreak Josh Spagnola was sleeping in and dreaming of putting shampoo into bunnies look when the Harley-Davidson crashed finished his bird-sc arr portalsill carrying a 270-pound, pissed- glum, speed-crazed cycle per secondr bear ond Tinker. With the crash and thunder of the bike in his life sen cardinalce room, Spagnola sit up in his nest of satin sheets hypothesizeing earthquake, listening for the sounds of his burglar alarms, which did non come. Spagnolas house was wi braining six ways to stop an elegant crack uplock or spry cutpurse from entering by stealth, sneak, or cats-paw he had, in fact, protected himself against somebody exactly ilk himself. That anyone would break in on a battering ram of Milwaukee iron, in b thoroughfare daylight, had neer occurred to him.Tinker, on the some other hand, as wellk the terminology breaking and entering quite liter t develop up ensembley, and effectuate entering a rather empty experience with divulge(p) substantial breaking. He carried on his belt a policemans riot verge, a discolourjack, deuce lookup knives, and a set of brass knuckles. In a rare second gear of sanity he had leftover his guns at home. His lawyer had advised against guns victoryion on probation.Tinker had received an early-morning diagnose from Lonnie Ray, one of his brothers in the Guild.You demand him dead? Tinker had asked Lonnie.No, honorable cognise him up. And dont wear your colors. I dont requirement any connection to me.Is he big? Tinker had a planted fear of someday executeing someone as large and uncultivated as himself.I dont k today. Just wait until I c either. Youll see the downcast Mercedes.You got it, bro, Tinker said, and hung up.Tinker tried to wait for Lonnies call, merely hed been up all dark cooking up a batch of methedrine in the Guilds lab, and had lost his patience subsequently sampling the product in ordinance to take the edge off the case of beer hed drunk. A t daybreak his bloodlust got the part of him and he left.In the keisterroom, hearing a Harley do burntaboos on his Berber carpet, Spagnola in conclusion realized that something was seriously wrong. He leapt from undersurface and began searching through a trail of clothes he had left last night on the way to bed with the Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday masseuse from the Cliffs. He remembered kicking his gun belt external from the bedroom door when he sent her home at midnight and locomote to the door. He was bending to unholster the gun when Tinker kicked the door open, catching Spagnola nonetheless up in the forehead, knocking him c aged.Tinker looked drink down at the naked, unconscious infinitesimal man and permit out a sigh. The absence of terror was wildly unsatisfying for him. As a gesture of brotherhood to Lonnie he pulled the baton from his belt and with cardinal vicious blows broke both of Spagnolas legs, then he sulked out of the bedroom, mounted his bike, and rode t o the Guilds clubhouse to watch Saturday-morning cartoons.-=*=- surface-to-air missile awoke to Yiffer yelling, Get down Dont let them see yousurface-to-air missile looked around the room. steam organ and Grubb were gone. He got up and reached for his watch on the dresser while shouts and whispers continued from the financial backing room. stirtuplet in the morning. It must develop gone on all night the shouting, the pounding, the babies crying. He was lucky to have slept at all. He dressed and walked into the living room.Get down, Yiffer said. Dont let them see you. Sam dropped to a crouch in the doorway. Nina and Calliope were huddled under the front windows h honest-to-goding the babies. Yiffer was crouched by the door that led to the balcony. He rose up to peek out the window, then instantly dropped to c all over.What is it? Sam said. Is someone shooting?Nina said, No, its the garage sale flock. term of enlistment down.Good morning, Calliope said. Did you sleep well?Fine. Who are the garage sale people?Theyre fucking predators, Yiffer said. They keep circling wish sharks. Look. Yiffer gestured to the window.Sam duck-walked to the window and peeked over the edge. Dodge Darts and Ford Escorts were cruising slschnozzley by, stopping in front of the house, then moving slowly on.Nina said, Yiffer put the ad in the musical theme for our yard sale with the wrong date. Theyre all looking for us.Five of them have been to the door already, Yiffer said. Whatever you do, dont answer it. Theyll tear us apart.Probably ten of them went to Lonnies door and left when he didnt answer, Calliope said.What happened with Lonnie? Sam said.Yiffer rose up and peeked out the window. Christ T heres a whole van full of them outside. He dropped to a sitting position, his gage to the door. To Sam he said, Lonnie didnt answer when I went down in that respect last night. As soon as he heard me come plump for upstairs he got on his bike and left.Nina said, How considerable are they going to circle? I have to go to work today.Theyre never going to leave, Yiffer wailed hopelessly. Theyre going to honest wait and pick us off one by one. Were doomed. Were doomed.Nina slapped Yiffer across the typesetters case. Get a grip.Sam could think of only one thing, the onlyt ends on the seat of his car. He had gone sixteen hours without a smoke and was looking ating as if he would snap like Yiffer in a few minutes if he didnt get some nicotine into his system. Im going out there, he said. He tangle like John Wayne before the lung disregardcer.No, dude. Dont do it, Yiffer pleaded.Im going. Sam stood up and Yiffer cover his head as if expecting an explosion. Sam picked up Grubbs plastic donut on wheels. Can I borrow this?Sure, Calliope said. Are you coming approve?Sam paused for a minute, then smiled and took her hand. Definitely, he said. I however privation to take a shower and handle a few things. Ill call you, okay? Calliope nodded.Youll never see hi m a blistering again, Yiffer whined.Nina looked up apologetically. He had a lot to drink last night. Im sorry if our fighting unbalanced you.No problem, Sam said. Nice meeting you both. He move and walked through the kitchen and out the door.As he went down the steps, the van that Yiffer had spotted screeched to a halt in front of the duplex and a dozen white-haired ladies piled out and rushed him. They met at the bottom of the steps.Wheres the sale? one said.This is the slump address. We check into it twice.Wheres the bargains? The ad said bargains.Sam held the plastic donut up before them. This is it, ladies. Im sorry, besides everything was gone exclusively this when I got here. We were all too late. The quick and the dead, you be intimate.A joint moan came from the mob, then one shouted, Ill break off you ten bucks for itTwelve a nonher shouted.Twelve fifty.Sam gestured for them to be quiet. No, I need this, he said solemnly. He hugged the donut to his chest.Their purp ose gone, they mill around around for a moment, then gradually wandered back to the van. Sam stood for a moment observance them. The other garage sale people who had been circling the pulley-block saw them leaving, and Sam could almost feel the disappointment settling into their collective consciousness as they broke pattern and drove off.Great night, brush wolf said.Sams nerves had been so worn from the night and morning that he didnt even jump at the voice by his ear. He looked over his elevate to see prairie wolf in his black buckskins and a huge, white ten-gallon cowhand hat. Nice hat, Sam said.Im in disguise.Swell, Sam said. I cant get give up of you, can I?Can you wipe off your shadow?Thats what I thought,. Sam said. Lets go.-=*=- The shogun of the Big Sky Samurai Golf Course and Hot Springs was worried. His hold was Kiro Yashamoto. He was driving his wife and two children in a rented jeep station wagon up a winding mountain road to look at an ancient Indian treat w heel. The day before, Kiro had purchased two thousand acres of land (with hot springs and trout stream) near Livingston, Montana, for roughly the determine he would have paid for a studio apartment in Tokyo. The deal did not worry him after the golf course and wellness club were built he would recoup his investment in a year from the droves of Japanese tourists who would come there. His children worried him.During this trip Kiros son, Tommy, who was fourteen, and his daughter, Michiko, who was twelve, had both fixed that they treasured to attend American universities and live in the United States. Tommy precious to run General Motors and Michiko motiveed to be a patent attorney. As he drove, Kiro listened to his children discussing their plans in English they paused only when Kiro pointed out some infixed wonder, at which time they would dutifully ac surviveledge the interruption before locomote to their conversation. It had been the same at the Custer Battlefield, the Grand C anyon, and even Disneyland, where the children marveled at the machinations of commerce and befuddled those of magic.My children are monsters, Kiro thought. And I am responsible. Perhaps if I had read them the haikus of Basho when they were unforesightful instead of that American intelligibleo of high-pressure sales, Green Eggs and hamKiro steered the jeep around a long gradual curve that round the peak of the mountain and the music wheel came into view huge stones create spokes almost two hundred feet long. In the center of the wheel a tattered figure lay prostrate in the dirt.Look, father, Michiko said. They have chartered an Indian to take tickets and he has fallen asleep on the job.Kiro got out of the Jeep and walked cautiously toward the center of the wheel. Hed learned a lesson in premeditation when Tommy had nearly been trampled in Yellowstone National Park while trying to record a herd of buffalo. Tommy and Michiko ran to their fathers side while Mrs. Yashamoto stayed in the car and checked off the medicine wheel on the itinerary and maps.Tommy panned the camcorder as he walked. Its just rocks, Father.So is the Zen garden at Kyoto just rocks. besides you could make a wheel of rocks at your golf course and people wouldnt have to drive up here to see them. You could hire a Japanese to take tickets so you wouldnt lose revenue.They reached the Indian and Tommy put the camcorder on the macro setting for a close-up. Look, he has fallen asleep with his confront on the ground.Kiro bent and felt the Indians neck for a nerve impulse. Michiko, bring water system from the Jeep. Tommy, put down that camera and help me turn this man over. He is sick.They turned the Indian over and cradled his head on Kiros rolled-up jacket. He prove a beaded wallet in the Indians overalls and handed it to Tommy. Look for checkup information.Michiko returned with a bottle of Evian water and handed it to her father. Mother says that we should leave him here and go get help. She is worried about a lawsuit for indecent maintenance.Kiro waved his daughter away and held the water to the Indians lips. This man volition not live if we leave him now.Tommy pulled a square of paper from the beaded wallet. He unf onetime(a)ed it and his face lit up. Father, this Indian has a personal letter from Lee Iacocca, the prexy of Chrysler.Tommy, please look for medical information.His name is Pokey Medicine Wing. comprehendDear Mr. Medicine WingThank you for your recent suggestion for the engagement of our new line of light trucks. It is true that we have had great success with our Dakota line of trucks, as well as the Cherokee, Comanche, and Apache lines of our Jeep/Eagle division, but after investigation by our marketing department we have plunge that the word crowing has a negative connotation with the car-buying public. We also nominate that the word Absarokee was too difficult to pronounce and Children of the Large-Beaked Bird was too long and somewhat inap propriate for the name of a truck.In answer to your question, we are not aware of any royalties paid to the Navaho commonwealth by the Mazda pot for the use of their name, and we do not pay royalties to the Comanche, Cherokee, or Apache tribes, as these words are registered trademarks of the Jeep Corporation.While your proposed boycott of Chrysler products by the Crow tribe and other Native Americans saddens us deeply, research has determined that they do not represent a large enough demographic to affect our profits. occupy accept the enclosed blanket in thanks for bringing this government issue to our attention.Sincerely, Lee IacoccaCEO, Chrysler Corporation. Kiro said, Tommy, put down the letter and help me sit him up so he can drink.Tommy said, If he knows Lee Iacocca he will be good to have as a contact, Father.not if he dies.Oh, right. Tommy dropped to his knees and helped Kiro lift Pokey to a sitting position. Kiro held the bottle to Pokeys lips and the one-time(a) mans e yes opened as he drank. After a few swallows he pushed the bottle away and looked up at Tommy. I burned the blanket, he said. Smallpox. Then he passed out.CHAPTER 19Five Faces of Coyote Blue ever so since the morning Adeline Eats had found the frost-covered liar in the grass undersurface Wileys Food and Gas there had been a screech owl sitting atop the power pole in front of her house, sitting there like feathered trouble. In addition, Black Cloud Follows had blown a water pump, all of her cods were coming down with the flu, her husband, Milo, had gone off to a peyote ceremony, and she was trying desperately to stay out of Hell. It was unfair, she thought, that her new credence was be tested before the paint was even dry.She wanted the owl to go away and take her bad luck with it. But to a good Christian, an owl was just an owl. Only a traditional Crow believed in the bad luck of owls. A good Christian would just go out there and shoo that old owl away. Of course, it wouldnt ac cess a good Christian. Adeline had come to Christianity the same way she had come to sex and smoking through peer pressure. Thinking about her six kids and her smokers hack, she wondered if perchance peer pressure didnt constantly lead to the best habits. Her sisters had all born-again and they had referred to her as the heathen of the family until she caved in and accepted Christ. Now, only iii weeks after macrocosm washed in the blood of the Lamb, she was already backsliding like a dog surprised down a skunk hole. The owl.Adeline looked out the front window to check on the owl he was comfort there. Had he winked at her? She had pinned up her hair and was wearing sunglasses and a pair of Milos overalls, hoping the owl wouldnt recognize her until she figured out what to do. She was tempted to pray to deliveryman to make the owl go away, but if she did that, she would be admitting that she believed in the old ways and shed go to Hell. on that point was no Hell in the old ways . Then again, she could load up Milos shotgun, walk out in the yard, and turn that old owl into pink mist. She couldnt see herself doing that either no carnal knowledge what kind of trouble that would unleash. And she couldnt wait for Milo and ask him for help not after weeks of working on him to leave the Native American perform and trade in his peyote buttons for wafers and wine.She ducked away from the window. One of the kids coughed in the other room. Eventually she was going to have to take them down to the clinic for treatment. But she was dismayed to pass by the owl. According to the priest, God knew everything. The sunglasses and hairdo wouldnt have God. God knew she was afraid, so He knew she still had faith in the old ways, so she was going to Hell as sure as if shed been out all morning worshiping golden calves and graven images.I got bad medicine from being Crow, she thought. And Im going to Hell for being Christian. I should have let that old liar Pokey freeze to death. She slapped herself on the forehead. Damn another(prenominal) Hell thought.-=*=- A nun with an Uzi popped up on the parapet of Notre noblewoman like a ninja penguin. Coyote shot from the hip, winging her before she could fire. She tumbled over the side, bounced off a gargoyle, and splattered on the sidewalk below. A synthesized Gregorian modulate began to play as her spirit rose to heaven, a steel dominion in hand. Coyote strafed a stained-glass window and took out a bazooka-wielding bishop for two thousand penance points.Sam walked into the bedroom, hair wet, a wipe draped around his hips. Nice shot, Sam said.Coyote glanced up from the video game. The red ones have put to deathed me three times.Those are cardinals. You have to hit them twice to kill them. Wait until you get to the Vatican level. The pope has guilt-beam vision.Before Coyote could look back to the screen the cathedral doors flew open and St. Patrick fired a wiggling salvo of heat-seeking vipers. take aw ay your smart bomb, Sam said.Coyote fumbled with the authorization, but was too late. A snake latched onto his leg and exploded. The screen flashed GAME OVER, and a synthesized voice instructed Coyote to go to confession.Coyote dropped the control onto the bed with a sigh.Sam said, You did good. Gunning for Nuns is a ponderous game for beginners.I should have brought some ch eating medicine. My cheating medicine never fails.This isnt like the hand game. This is a game of acquisition.Who needs skill when you can have luck?Sam shook his head and turned to go back to the bathroom. During the night something inside him had changed. Each time he thought things had reached a plateau of weirdness, something even weirder had happened. The result, he realized, was that he was now accepting anything that happened, no matter how weird, without resistance. Chaos was the new order in his life.The foretell rang and Sam, hoping it was Calliope, grabbed the receiver off the vanity. Samuel Hunt er, he said.You low-life, scum-sucking shitheadGood morning to you too, Josh.You win, dickhead. Therell be a meeting of the co-op association tonight. Theyll vote you back in. You can keep your apartment, but I want your guarantee that this is over.Okay.I hope you know Ive lost all respect for you as a professional, Sam. The doctor says Im going to walk with a limp for the rest of my life.There was a crooked man who had a crooked-You broke my legs My house is destroyed.Sam peeked into the bedroom where Coyote was attacking the Sistine Chapel with a helicopter gunship. Josh, I dont know what youre talking about, but Im glad you came to your senses.Fuck you. Im using up years of collected dirt to get your apartment back.Townhouse, Sam corrected. Not apartment.Dont fuck with me, Sam. Im in a cast up to my nipples and a sadistic nurse has been force-feeding me green Jell-O for an hour. Just tell me its over.Its over, Sam said.The phone clicked. Sam walked back into the bedroom. What did you do to Spagnola?Coyote was rolling on the bed in exaggerated body English to tilt the gunship. These birds are eating my tail rotor. I cant control it.Uh-oh, St. Francis released the doves of death. Youre dead meat. Sam took a cigarette from the pack on the dresser and offered one to Coyote. What did you do to Spagnola?You said you wanted your old life back.So you broke Spagnolas legs?It was a trick.You cant just go around breaking peoples legs like some Mafioso fairy godmother.The gunship spun out of control and crashed on the mezzanine. Coyote threw the joystick at the screen and turned to Sam. How can I win if you keep talking to me? You whine like an old woman. I got you your house backI wouldnt have lost it if you had left me alone. Be logical.What gods do you know that are logical? Name two. neer mind, Sam said. He went to the closet and pulled his clothing out for the day.Coyote said, Do you have a light?No.No? After I stole fire from the sun and gave it to your people?Wh y, Coyote? Why did you do that? Sam turned to point out the lighter on the dresser, but the trickster was gone.-=*=- Calliopes upbringing in the Eastern religions, with their emphasis on living in the now of acting, not thinking had left her totally offhanded to do battle with the future. Shed tried to ignore it, even after Grubb was born, but it had become more and more difficult to function on karmic autopilot. Now, Sam had entered her life and she felt like she had something to lose. The future had a name. She wondered what she had done to manifest the curse of a nice guy.It feels wonderful, but I want more, Calliope said.I dont get it, Nina said. They were cleaning up the kitchen. Grubb was scooting around on the linoleum at their feet, tasting the baseboards, a table leg, a slow-moving bug.Ive of all time felt separate from men, even during sex. Its like theres this part of me that watches them and Im not really involved. But it wasnt that way with Sam. It was like we we re really together, no barriers. I wasnt watching him, I was with him. When we were finished I lay there watching the pulse on his neck, and it was like we had gone to some other world together. I wanted more.So youre saying youre a hosebeast.Not like that. It was just that I want to feel that way all the time. I want my whole life to feel complete.Im sorry, Calliope, I dont get it. Im happy if Yiffer doesnt pass out before we finish.I guess its not a internal thing. Its a spiritual thing. Like theres a part of life that I can touch but I cant live in.Maybe we just need to find a house where your ex doesnt live downstairs.That was bewitching awful. I couldnt believe Sam didnt just leave.Nina threw a dish towel at Calliope and missed. You had a little good luck for a change, accept it. Not every guy has to be a shrink like Lonnie.Im a little afraid to leave Grubb with him when I go to work today.Lonnie wont hurt Grubb. He was just pissed that you were with someone else. custod y are like that. Even when they dont want you, they dont want anyone else to have you.Nina, do you think theres something wrong with me?No, youre just not very good at worrying. Youll get the hang of it.-=*=- Ive got to get back to the house, Lonnie said to Cheryl, who was pouring bleach on his damaged chest. She wiped away the foam with a tissue, then poked the appall with a broken black fingernail.Ouch What are you doing, bitch?Cheryl got up from the bed and pulled on a pair of leather pants. Lonnie could see her hipbones and shoulder blades button against her pale skin as if they would poke through any second.Youre always thinking of her. Never me. What the hell is wrong with me?She turned to face him and he stared at her breasts lying like flaps against her ribs. She pulled back her lips in a snarl and Lonnie knew his face had betrayed him. Fucking asshole, she said, pulling on a black Harley-Davidson T-shirt.Its not her, its the kid. Hes my kid. I have to watch him when she goes to work.Bullshit. Then why wont you fuck me? She tossed her head and her long black hair fell into her face like seaweed on the drowned.Because you look like you just escaped from fucking Auschwitz, Lonnie thought. Hed been with Cheryl for three months and had never seen her eat. As far as he could figure she lived on speed, come, and Pepsi. He said, I worry about the kid.Then get custody. I can take care of him. Id make a good mother.Right.You dont think so? You think that vegetarian bitch is a better mother than me?NoYou start treating me right or Im gone. Cheryl took a purse from the floor and began delve in it. Where the fuck is my stash? She threw the purse aside and stormed out of the room.Lonnie followed her, carrying the dungaree vest sporting the Guilds colors. Ive got to go, he said.Cheryl was dumping a bindle of white mill into a can of Pepsi. Bring back some crank, she said.As Lonnie walked out she added, Tink called while you were sleeping. He said to tell you h e took care of things.Outside Lonnie fired up his Harley and pulled out into the street. Tinkers news should have cheered him up, but it didnt. He felt empty, like he needed to get fucked up. He always felt that way lately. At one time being a brother in the Guild, being accepted for who he was, had been enough. Having all the women and drugs and money and power he needed had been enough. But since Grubb was born he felt like he was supposed to be doing something, and he didnt know what it was.Maybe the bitch is right, he thought. As long as the kid tied him to Calliope he was going to feel shitty. It was time to feel good again.-=*=- free-spoken Cochran, the cofounder of Motion Marine, Inc., had spent most of the morning in his office milling over the bane of his existence the gracious factor. Frank loved organization, routine, and predictability. He liked his life to be linear, moving forrad from event to event without the nasty backtracking caused by surprises. The human facto r was his name for the variable of unpredictability that was added to the equation of life by human beings. Today, the human factor was represented by his partner, Jim Cable, who was in the hospital after being attacked by an Indian.Franks thinking went thus If Jim dies therell be insurance hassles, legal battles with the family, and someone will have to comfort Jims mistress. But if Jim lives maybe Jims mistress should be comforted anyway.His train of thought was broken by the buzz of the intercom on his desk. Mr. Cochran, his secretary said, theres a man from NARC here to see you.I dont have any appointments until after lunch, do I?The office door burst open and Cochran looked up to see an Indian in black buckskins striding toward him. His secretary was shouting protests from her desk.Cochran spoke into the intercom, Stella, do I have an appointment with this man?Native American Reform Coalition, Coyote said. I understand that some insurance agent is taking reference for what happened to your partner.Cochran had a very bad feeling about this. Look, I dont know who you are, but I dont like surprises.Then this is going to be a very bad day for you. Coyote slammed the door behind him. A very bad day. The trickster extended his right hand. Nice to meet you.Cochran watched in horror as the Indians hand began to sprout fur and claws.