@@@@@I found another woman with 926
@@@@@I found another woman with long
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painted hair, and she was betterThat hair was a
little too long and a little too dark, but -
No it wasn't, because Pam had been to the beauty
parlor, sometimes known as the Midlife Crisis
Fountain of Youth
I held the china figure, wishing I had a house to
put her in and a book for her to read
I tried to switch the figurine to my right hand -
perfectly natural because my right hand was there,
I could feel it - and it fell to the table with a
clackIt didn't break, but Elizabeth's eyes
opened"Dick! Was that the train? Did it whistle?
Did it cry?"
"Not yet," I said"Why don't you nap a little?"
"Oh, you'll find it on the second floor landing,"
she said as if I had asked her something else, and
closed her eyes again"Call me when the train
comesI'm so sick of this stationAnd watch for
the big boy, that cuntlicker could be anywhereMy right arm itched horriblyI
reached into my back pocket, hoping my notebook
was thereI'd left it on the kitchen
counter back at Big PinkBut that made me think
of the Palacio kitchenThere was a notepad for
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messages on the counter where I'd left the tinI
hurried back, snatched up the pad, stuck it
between my teeth, then almost ran back to the
China Parlor, already pulling my Uni-ball pen from
my breast pocketI sat down in my wingback chair
and began to sketch the china doll rapidly while
the rain whipped the windows and Elizabeth sat
leaning in her wheelchair across the table from me,
dozing with her mouth ajarThe wind-driven
shadows of the palms flew around the walls like
bats
It didn't take long, and I realized something as I
worked: I was pouring the itch out through the tip
of the pen, decanting it onto the pageThe woman
in my drawing was the china figure, but she was
also PamThe woman was Pam, but she was also the
china figureHer hair was longer than when I'd
last seen her, and spread out on her shoulders
She was sitting in
(the BURN, the CHAR)
a chairWhat chair? A rocking chairHadn't been
any such item in our house when I left it, but
there was no
