Chapter 2

Already with the next dawn's first light, the letters, written over the lambent skeins of the previous evening's sirened squalls, had begun to find their way towards their intended eyes.

Friday January 27th registered a blistering cold front to begin its brief accession.

As she scurried across her street, sealed letter to Brian in hand, Angela found herself exhaling a soft chorus of plaints she couldn't quite control the rhythms of just yet. She wondered if she could really in any way be like prepared for this day's arrival. Or how that could even be possible.

In just 24 hours the poles she had oriented her world by had flipped over, once anyway. Her bearings this morning seemingly pointed due-strange. A 100 word sonnet-thing-gram to Brian Krakow, delivered by first light under his door? How was that even possible in any sort of accepted, plausible universe? But then she hadn't changed her mind either about her letter's virtues, or necessity, when she re-read it first thing after waking up. And then she had stared back for awhile at the image of Anne F., keeping her station at the corner of the desk.

One firm thing she had carried away from her reading of the diary was that AF had found a way to frame all her days' dread and exhilarations assisted only by the uncompromising clauses required by her journal. And somehow that had been enough.

(Though, Angela could suppose, AF's immediate personal regards weren't quite the equivalent of say being stuck in a small room with Brian Krakow for a really long extended period (maybe like even past an hour). Those conditions would have made for quite a different diary, Angela was perhaps suggesting towards her book cover. And then sophomore English classes, like forever, as well. AF and her 'Petel' Krakow, together anywhere on the same diary page? Even if the world is burning down around you? The insatiables of just some-kinda-love could have driven even AF that half-mad? And what was Dutch for '!AAHHGGGG!" anyway? And with that Angela let her first unnerving thought experiment of the day lapse.)

OK, so now maybe was the time her own journal keeping ought to begin changing its own course. She hadn't been very consistent in committing her day's thoughts to her personal journal over the past year, as she kept intending. She had already noted the usual morning sickness, the drowsy stream-of-neuroses that regularly compelled itself first into her day, seemed to have dissipated, some, this day.

She was surprised, and relieved, that no one seemed to have stirred yet in the Krakow house as she slipped her note past the brush weather stripping sealing their front door.

And then she was back at her bedroom dressing table before anyone else in the house could start to roll into their morning routines.

With the presence of a clear quieted mind she thought maybe she could muster a few acceptable passages this morning for her journal. Something worthy of an indulgent AF over-wiew, a 'less than Frank assessment', she considered (but wisely chose not to commit to paper). And then just as quickly she found herself writing instead another letter to her first note-worthy friend,


Sharon! Hey! Up early here ,,, So.. its a pretty, clear morning around these Pitt-y full parts, think? ,, for being just so absolutely miserably freakin cold and grey out, let me tell you

Well so, my horrible dreams, that I told you about, like these really dark ones that felt like they could just be sneaking up here from under all that crappy snow piling up on the curb, stopped last night. Maybe they just wore themselves out I dreamt instead Iwas floating ,, really floating. Like I had stage jumped off our roof ,,, and then just got carried along on a street parade that was passing by the house ,,,I was a loose girl, for a while last nite, I can tell you ,, So just to ask, you haven't bought any new white chiffon party dresses lately have you? To replace the one you wore for your sixth birthday party? Cause that's what you, and a lot of the party, were wearing last night. And I mean like 5 layers deep, I kid you not. So I did float by then for a while last night ,,, the party was in your bedroom ,,, everyone was there ,,, well I mean like I know George Bush was there anyway. I think he may have been handcuffed to your bed ,, and that ch. 5 weather girl, only I think it was really Lisa Presley, was there trying to interview him, She was wearing her puffy white chiffons as well I'm not sure about any other handcuffs though I think she was asking him 'So how you like Pittsburgh now GB, huh?' and then his opinion of your room, since you'd re-decorated it ,,, maybe you better check out the six o'clock news tonight. It might be pretty interesting with your new finer dress chiffons and all being featured on it ,, and well, only about time!

I wanted to stay on a while longer but then I just had to be somewhere ,,, So well, you know all the talk of there being a hole in the ozone layer now? ,,, So well I found it ,,Its real - its there alright and I went through it ,, you're never going to guess what's on the other side ,,, Well apparently, to start, a few wandering space shuttles for one. With not very attentive drivers, or pilots, I found out almost right away. But maybe I was like right on the direct shuttle line or the middle of the pick-up zone or something. Cause it came right at me, and then stopped and swung open its shuttle doors. The pilot looked pretty impatient and waved me on in. Y'know, like we can't wait here all morning on your gawking, miss. So I showed him my school bus pass as I got on and he was totally cool with that. But the space shuttle was just packed for its rush hour shuttle commute, I guess. Everybody on their way somewhere. But I found this open, like torn green vinyl seat, with the cushions falling out, and sat down there. I looked out the small passenger window to see where we were we might be headed. And it was towards all these bright glittering red ruby lights. I thought it was Las Vegas for sure up ahead - next stop. But it wasn't. It was taking us to the Emerald City! I mean, like really, where else? Remember us watching the Wizard of Oz together? How many times you think? So but sorry to say this Gale friend, but apparently Our actual First Town appears to have leaned over quite a ways now over towards the glittery gultches. Its really looking like maybe the Las Vegas city council has taken over, or acquired it or something. I know I don't remember reading in the book about there being like slot machines just everywhere you go now in the Emerald City but its the first thing you hear when the shuttle doors open to let you off. And you're just like bathed in all this crimson emerald glow now wherever you do go. And so like everyone's wearing their special edition Emerald City raybans, like even Toto too. 'We'll get you and your little dog too, miss pretty' ,, -That is, get 'em all Vegas-styled up for the new Emerald City tourist season. Now that's some evil witchery there! So then I was looking around wondering maybe where Dorothy and the crew might really be hanging here. So then I got to wondering who it might be from her crew who would have like the gambling problem out there as their big character issue? You don't think it could maybe be Dorothy herself, do you? Like she'd be 'Oh look Scarecrow, there's an open nickel slot over there! We got any change?') Hate to think where she could end up on like those mean yellowbrick roads with that kind of problem ,,, She could be like "Hey! Strawdude, could I freshen up that tequila rum for ya? So maybe, you got like something for the nickel slot, you big hot hunk of Hey!" ,,, Oh God, talk about afflications,, thats enough outta me this morning

So just remember to get your white chiffons back out and all statically charged and everything. I'm looking around for mine ,, but gotta run ,, Jordan's my driver this morning! Not sure he's ready for the white chiffons yet though ,,, more to tell still ,, Soon

Angela


Hey Brian - I have your note. I know you got mine. Not sure when we'll get a chance to talk today, with that schedule of yours. But certainly had to let you know you are specially invited to join us for lunch today ,,, SO LIKE YOUR PRESENCE IS OFFICIALLY REQUESTED TO BE THERE! ,, if you can. See you Brian ,,, hope this locker note finds you before lunch

Angela


AWKWARD? ,, AWKWARD-LY? ,, AWKWARD-SOME-YY? ,, AWKWARDLY-ISH-ING? ,,, Well I just had to write a short one about lunch, Angela. ,, So well here goes ,,, A-W-K-W-A-R-D, I'd say, in a word. So when did black seances start coming with our lunch? They just suddenly started appearing then today, along with the table stains? So did I mention AWKWARDINGLY-ish strange (even for the lunch room)! ,,, Well Like Brian joining us wasn't going to be a bit lunch-unsettling anyway, with that like fugitive composure of his. (Sorry Angela!) And I think the general lunch room vibe doesn't help there any ,,, But I never mentioned to Delia he'd be there when I invited her. Cause I didn't know !

So what I what to know is, is it really even possible to like speak in tongues and swallow your tongue at the same time? (and keep chewing on your corn chips). ,, Cause I think Delia did all that, while rotating her head around a couple of times, when Brian just appeared and parked himself at the table ,,, You couldn't just feel the way the table lifted and then just kinda crashed down? All on Delia fumes, I'm sure. ,, I don't know what dimension that black stare of hers comes from but it had this like really frigid Delia-arctic cold front attached to it ,, I could just suddenly see my breath right there in the lunch room, I am literally STG,-ish. And then it just kinda settled in there for all the rest of the lunch period when Brian asked how she was doing. ,, It was like this really bitter, cold sore just pulled up and invited itself to join us. ,, Honest, I thought maybe I had misunderstood something and Brian had instead offered Delia a bite of his satan sandwich or something. Whatever it was it was like a whole new lunch sensation to me.

But still, I know she likes having lunch with us now, so... we'll just have to park maybe a few cars, or tanks, or something, between them at the table, to keep the tensions tolerable. Or have each of them sit in their own through lunch. We could just feed them lunch off those like car window-lunch trays you see in the old movies at the drive-in places. (Do tanks come with those kinds of options as well?) Or maybe we could all just start carpiling instead. Out in the parking lot, all together. Just pile in as much of the lunch room tension as somebody's car will bear, That'd be just your kinda lunch time fun, right? apparently? Then do that like as often as we can thru the day as well - at least every break anyway. And the fuller the stomachs the better ,, so we can all battle that down too in the carpiles. ,,, AND THEN! maybe we could invite Principal Foster and Mr. Racine to join us ,, that really would be a new carpiling incident. Everybody out there carpiling in our principal's own designated parking slot ,, would be worthy of a couple of year book pics anyway, right? Brian could do those, couldn't he, so there'd be like this year book proof it really happened? AND THEN! we could just read each other the latest Liberty Lit issues. So Foster could burn them right there in his own designated park and burn space. While everybody else could be out shooting off their new guns. I'll hand those out. So maybe all that could satisfy your lust for some real lunch-tension, Angela, huh? But probably not - so then maybe we could all just start regular carpooling together as well. In the little Katimski carpooler. It'd be like starting a new Katimski carpooler gang. Uprising - just setting off fires and shooting off guns where ever the carpool takes us - but maybe first could just keep all that in the school parking lot, til get a better hang of it. All the while spouting off some new haikus as well, like while we're at it. Or shooting off those tanks! How much trouble would that mean, shooting off those guns and tanks (if its not in the hallways?) AND THEN! ,, I'd like to throw in maybe like this raving pack of Liberty pirate mascots as well. The real ones, the kind that like guns and tanks and haiku, to show everybody that really needs it just what like backseat carpool manners should look like. Say maybe like picking up the toothpicks after yourself?

Well save all that for next week huh? ,,, This was fun. ,, So but enough writing practice. What happened to my Spanish class here anyway? Oh well, leaving this in your locker - ,, AWKWARDLY ,, no doubt See you tonight Angela

Love

Rickie


Hey Angela, ,, Thank you for lunch. But of course, most of all, again, Thank you for taking the time for your note to me. You should be certain of one thing, beside the fact I won't lose this, you do have a gift -for what is right and proper, like throwing together a really great lunch. So hope now I haven't made your lunch hour, or anything, too awkward. Or something. And well I should also let you know that I'm really going to miss riding the bus home with you tonight. So I know its not like its any kind of big deal or anything but I just wanted to make sure that I let you know that. ,, But I have like these 2 more review sessions I really probably have to attend and contribute and everything right after classes ,, I guess a big deal could be what happens if I don't get it all this finished on time. Sorry if seeming any overly anxious about any of this. But Thanks again for lunch. Maybe I could stop by later tonight. Or tomorrow. We could do lunch. So don't sell the house and move or anything meanwhile - just let me in when you can

Brian


Rickie Love, ,, could you please ask Mr. Katimski about such things as over-dramatising and over-writing! ,, Apparently hardly any of what you write is like actually true. ,, Lunch was fine. ,,, If A-W-K-W-A-R-D ,, L-Y ,, I-N-G I-S-H. ,, A little. Take it from me on that one. But they'll settle down. Brian is like pretty devoted y'know to Our Town now, discovered at lunch (and so let me guess, you want to make our next little production here then, something like, Our Table, right?) ,,, Except he can't be there tonight, or tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to this little production of Ours more all the time, and also getting it over with, I think. So well, one thing I do know for certain here is that you are Our real Stage Manager - and I'm really glad for it, Rickie. So how do you do it? Well so, just keep working it - your little production magics! See you tonite

Love

Angela

XXX


Rickie, ,,, Thanks Dear, ,, but I think I can handle the closing act, thank you ,,,, But just to let you-only know, I am going to close that Act 2 one of those night's with Emily doing her like this Our Town-stopping version of that Natalie Imbruglia song, about being 'naked and numbed out on the floor' and all song ,, It might be like the new necessary ACT 2 1/2 to the show, or something. Listen, I KNOW Emily and she's good for this - life is short, y'know ,,, She means it when she says it ,, And poor George ,, And it should get us some well earned Liberty reviews, right? ,,, Think maybe some Time magazine too ,,, think we could guest in like that Val Kilme-slowly for George that night ,,, just for one night! ,, Could you do that for me? if you got any of his posters you could spare, I could start prepping for my part probably tonight ,,, or maybe even gym period if you got any stashed in your locker ,, hurry ,,, too much?

R.


Angela

If you reily think you can get me any extra credat for composing to you, I think then we have this deal Angela. So I am officially approving of our deal right here than. And to pleese let it be noted to all about whum! or watever ,, And I may well write a revuw of uor band exberiance tomarow out in the Cooderville sticks ,,, Why do all these gigs have to be out ther in like the far outar HeHa galiksy ,,, I think thats the name in fakt of the staj we'll be playing tomarow, , The Outar HeHa Galiksy Biker Bar. ,, Or watever. Sure you can't go? ,,, This may not be a hapy revuw - the drive, the setup ,, on and on ,,,, I hope we at leest play well tomarow ,, Don't want to leev any unhappy biker hiks arond before we can get out of thare ,,, Thay'll set our equpmant on fire ,,, wish you could be there! ,, nice offir from me, huh ,,, I'll be howleng for you Angela ,, and then I'll do it at the mic stand ,,, Later, Red ,, or watever

Jordan