@@@@@"Don't keep us in suspense, muchacho,
@@@@@"Don't keep us in suspense,
muchacho, what?"
"Kamen," I said
I thought of all the pictures stored at the Scoto,
pictures that were soldThey'd be safe for a
little while where they were, but in the end,
money talks and bullshit walksThat wasn't even a
man-law, it was the motherfucking American way
"Come on, Edgar," Jack said"I'll run you to your
place, then drive you back here
xiv
I won't say our trip upstairs to Little Pink was
exactly serene (I had the silver candlestick, and
carried it at port arms all the time we were
inside), but it was uneventfulThe only spirits
in the place were the agitated voices of the
shellsI put the drawings back in the red picnic
basketJack snagged the handles and carried it
downstairsI had his back the whole way, and
874
locked Big Pink's door behind usMuch good that
would do
While we were riding back to El Palacio, a thought
occurred to meI'd left my digital
Nikon behind and didn't want to go back for it,
but-
"Jack, do you have a Polaroid camera?"
"Sure," he saidIt's what my Dad
calls 'old but serviceable' Why?"
"When you come tomorrow, I want you to stop for
awhile on the Casey Key side of the drawbridge
Take a few Polaroids of the birds and the boats,
okay?"
"Okay
"And sneak in a couple of the drawbridge itself,
especially the lifting machinery
"Why? What do you want them for?"
"I'm going to sketch the drawbridge with the
machinery gone," I said"And I'm going to do it
when I hear the horn that means it's up to let a
boat go throughI don't think the motor and the
hydraulics will really disappear, but with luck I
can fuck it up badly enough to keep everybody off
for awhile
875
"Are you serious? You really think you can
sabotage the bridge?"
"Given how often it breaks down on its own, that
should be easy I looked again at the dark water
and thought of Tom Riley, who should have been
fixedWho had been fixed, dammit"I only wish I
could draw myself a good night's sle