The Tolerance Wars - 11
don't look so good
upper and lowercase versions
begin at the beginning—Chapter 1
The Tolerance Wars
11.
don’t look so good
So this is what stupid feels like. A real nasty head, pounding red and dull black thudding, it feels like it’s always been like this, and you wish it would stop, but you’re afraid if it stops you’ll be gone again. When you finally open your eyes what isn’t blurry there’s three of. So you close your eyes and go back to the red and black, making spiral patterns of pounding and thudding. Somehow this is better.
“Oh man… I’m real sorry. Are you okay? C’mon, man. Say somethin’. Oh man! Oh this is not good.”
It sounded like something I knew once. A people. And some of them seemed to be talking to me. I wished they would stop. I was worried they might. Maybe if I opened my eyes they might not be there. Then they could stop. I tried it. It hurt less than the last time.
“Oh man, I was worried ‘bout you. You okay?”
I realised that was a question. I wondered why I didn’t answer. The pounding had stopped. Mostly. Okay it was slower. I tried to focus on one of the faces in front of me. The other two disappeared, like magic. The one that was left said something again.
“Man, you don’t look so good. You okay?”
Things flashed in my mind. A guy in a bed. A jacket. Some stairs. Running. A door.
“Ow.” I said. It was the best I could do in the moment.
“Man are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.” I tried moving my head. Hurt like mad but apparently it was still attached. I tried sitting up, and managed. Just. The red and black swirls came back and danced around the world for a few seconds then got bored and went back where they live when they’re not dancing. I looked up and finally recognized the face. Sparechange. I remembered running through the door. “What the hell happened?”
“Sister said she was goin’ inside for a second, eh? So I come ‘round the corner, t’sit in the shade, have a butt.” I don’t know if I blanked out for a minute, but it seemed like there was some time before he started talking again. “An’ then…”
There was this pause. This time I was almost certain I stayed conscious, so it sure felt like a pause.
“An’ then… I saw this guy come bustin’ outta there like his hair was on fire, y’know? Only it wasn’t. Barely caught sight of ‘im, dude hauls it an’ he’s outta sight in a flash. Then bam, door whangs open again, and it’s my man an’ I point to where guy’s just taken off. He says there’s someone’s behind ‘im an’ I should slow ‘em down.” Again with the pause. “Man I’m real sorry.”
“So did you slow him down?”
“Oh yeah.”
There was silence for a while. Or at least there were no words. I could hear birds. And a squirrel complaining that we were muscling in on his territory. I still wasn’t making sense of anything, but it seemed like my turn to say something. “So that explains it.”
“Yeah man, pretty much.”
We were quiet again. There were still birds in this new silence, although the squirrel had given up on us, or more likely lost interest. Or forgot what he was thinking about. I remembered the hospital, there had been three of us there. No, four counting the guy in the bed. A cardinal started singing, wor-ry, wor-ry. I didn’t know what he was so concerned about, his life probably made sense. I saw me doing the stairs again. Eight steps, turn, eight steps two at a time… the door.
“I’m real sorry man, I didn’t know it was you until I’d already whacked you. You’re gonna have a bruise.”
I looked at Sparechange, “You… whacked me.” Somewhere there was a universe where this all made sense. That wasn’t here. “Because…”
He shrugged. “Limner said I should.”
Limner? “You always do what he says?”
“When I’m workin’, yeah. On my own time he can go do it himself.”
“Workin’…” I rolled the word around in my head trying to make it connect with something. No luck. Three of us in the room. I saw the stairs again. Eight steps, turn. I saw the door. Crash. “What’s a Limner?”
Sparechange looked at me for a couple of beats. Then he blinked. “He come out of the door right ahead of you, man. You were both runnin’ after the guy…”
“Wait a minute,” I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts, and was immediately sorry I’d done it. “I was chasing the goon. You know, blondie? Superhero chased away the kid beside the club?”
“Yeah that’s Limner, man. What were you chasin’ him for?”
I couldn’t remember if I had a reason or not, but I was pretty sure I’d been chasing him. Then I remembered the voices in the hospital room. Something had gone wrong. “He was on the floor upstairs, and he took off down the stairway.”
“Must’ve been after the guy. Dude never runs without a reason. Sure can move when he wants to.”
“Man, something was bad. Upstairs. And then I saw the guy running away.” There wasn’t anybody else I’d seen. I remembered the voices in the room, something went real bad. “Buddy, your Uncle Alex.”
“I figured something was up.” He shrugged. “Man wouldn’t bust it like that for some guy rolling a pop machine.”
“So shouldn’t we go see…” I tried to get up again. And sat right back down again. This was gonna take a minute. Okay maybe two.
“Hey man, take it easy.” He shook his head. “Somethin’ goin’ down, it is what it is. I ain’t gonna help hangin’ out up there.” He pointed up to the building. “‘Sides, I couldn’t just leave ya here. I felt kinda responsible.”
Kinda. Responsible.
I was saved trying to respond by Archer coming around the corner. She saw me sitting on the ground, Sparechange kneeling beside me. “Wow, you don’t look so good. What happened here?”
“Apparently I got whacked.”
“You got…” She looked at Sparechange, then back at me, “…whacked?”
“Hey, man, I said I was sorry.”
She looked at him again, then again back at me. “He said he’s sorry.” Like she was translating from the Martian.
“Well, that makes me feel better.”
“Do you have any idea why he did it? Or is it a secret?”
“Because someone told him to.”
She tried that on for size. “Is this some kind of male bonding ritual?”
“I sure hope not.” I considered standing up again. The thought made things start to spin. No maybe not just yet. “And if there’s any more to it I may not survive.”
She turned her attention back to Sparechange. “So…?”
He pointed at the door again, “Man, he came bustin’ outta there so fast I didn’t have any choice.”
“Someone told you to… whack him. And you didn’t have a choice.” She turned it over in her mind. Looking for clues. “A real person, or just a voice?”
“Limner,” I supplied. That much I knew. Sort of.
Archer thought, and got nothin’. “Okay, what’s a Limner?”
“A dude,” I said, trying to be helpful. Sparechange nodded, not being helpful at all. She looked at me, drawing a blank. “Blond dude,” I said.
She tilted her head slightly, eyes full of questions, not sure where to start. “Blond?”
I nodded, carefully. “Please feel secure.”
You could see her take it in. She was a quick study, no doubt, way quicker than me. Mind you she hadn’t been whacked. She turned back to Sparechange. “He told you to,” she waved her hand in my direction, “whack him?” Pause for a couple of beats. “And you did?!”
Buddy took a half-step back, “Aw man, c’mon, I said I was sorry.”
She checked in with me, “Is that making you feel better yet?”
“Not a lot, no.”
She turned back to Sparechange. “Are you going to explain any of this?” She didn’t sound angry, but there was a tight focus in her voice that hadn’t been there before. Made you want to pay attention. “Or am I going to have to explain to the police that you ‘whacked’ my friend? Specifically because ‘Limner’ said you should.”
He went white. Apparently didn’t think that would be such a good idea.
I was getting tired of just sitting there. I tried to stand up one more time. Made it, sort of. Again with the spins. I grabbed for an arm. It turned out to be hers. Managed to stay standing. Just. “Do you want to go inside?” she said, “We can get someone to look at you.”
“No.” At least I remembered not to shake my head. “I’ll just get triaged into the middle of next week. Stay long enough they start to charge you rent, that’s how they make their money since the cutbacks. That and parking.” Things started to unspin. Not exactly clear, but it’d do. I let go of the support. She didn’t move away. Sparechange was standing in front of me. “Okay, friend,” I said, “maybe now would be a good time to start with the explanation.” I put my hand on his shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. “And if it’s not making any sense to my poor feeble mind I am going straight to the professionals. So give it to me in simple sentences, and go slow.”
“Look, I could get into a lotta trouble, man.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Big trouble, man. The biggest.” He shook his head slowly. “Oh man…” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “Tell you what, how ‘bout you ask the man himself?”
“Limner? He’s the man?”
He nodded. “Well, a man, but yeah. An’ he can tell you way more’n me.”
I looked over at my smart friend, she shrugged. “Okay,” I said, “but today, right? Or I go to the cops in the morning, and stop off at the papers on my way there. Clear?”
Buddy looked relieved. “Yeah man. I’ll make it happen.” He took off without another word. And with the rest of my smokes. Figures. My lucky day,
“You okay? You really don’t look so good.”
“I’ll be alright.” Then I remembered, “I never did get my jacket.”
She held up something I hadn’t noticed yet. “Will this do?”
“Uh, yeah. It’s almost the same as mine. Only nicer because it’s here instead of upstairs. Thanks, eh.” She handed it to me. I clued in. “Hey, you were up in the room. Last I saw there was something not good going on. So?”
“He’s dead.”
That took a second to sink in. “Wow. I figured it was heavy, but that’s too much. You sure?”
“Yeah, I’d already told them I was his daughter, so they gave me the news as soon as I got there. They couldn’t tell me what happened, though. I don’t think they know.”
“Do you?”
She shook her head. “No.” I spent most of my life in the dark, situation normal for me, but I could see my friend wasn’t so comfortable that way. I guess that’s a problem with being smart.
We’d figured it’d be best to get me home, although I wasn’t up to the walk. Tony had the keys to the wagon, so we called her from the phonebooth and asked for a pickup. Within a few minutes she pulled up to the curb in front of the hospital.
“Wow, you okay? You don’t look so good,” she said as she threw open the car door.
“Actually I’m feeling much better thank you. So this is approaching my normal state. But if people keep telling me I look lousy I’m gonna get a complex.”
She laughed. “Must be okay, the mouth still works. Am I taking you home?”
“You say the sweetest things.”
“Don’t get your hopes up sailor. But I’ll draw straws with your cute friend. Loser stays with you to make sure you’re still breathing.” She threw a wink at Archer sitting in the back seat.
“It is nice to be so appreciated.”
Actually they both stayed for a while. And it was kinda nice. I guess they drew straws when I wasn’t looking, though, because after a while Tony made to leave. “Glad you’re alright.” she said as she hugged me, then Archer walked her downstairs.
The phone rang. It was Sparechange, “Hey man, is tomorrow okay?” I didn’t feel like pushing it, so I agreed. Figured it’d be better if I was fresh when I asked the dude who he’d been chasing. Because I was pretty sure I’d only heard two of us in that stairwell.
But what do I know.
NEXT