The Great Peace by Ryan George Kittleman

Author:Ryan George Kittleman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2012-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

Rufus, Hamilton, and Satch boarded an idle trolley at Lindsay Park station and watched as the conflagration consumed Alistair’s Asshat.

The east wing collapsed under the weight of the Brutalist slabs. Farewell, Pleasure Suite. Smoke billowed through the cracked domes, their frescoes melting into a colorful shapeless splotch. Goodbye, Library. The blaze swallowed much of the gambrel roof, fiery fingers clawing through the dormers, flicking bursts of shattered glass into the sky. Goodbye Asshat.

The house caved inward, reminding Rufus of a certain ping-pong table that was now surely a pile of ash. As the flames continued to spread, the house imploded further into its own smoldering morass. Creative destruction? Destructive Creation?

Rufus looked on with blank detachment as he watched his father pass away for a second time. Alistair's life and all it bought vanished in the plumes, while his son, evermore an orphan, saw his world upended once more. Rufus managed to load a few random artifacts into his barrel and roll it onto the tram. Everything else was history.

The barrel, the rope, the self-immolation. It seemed as though the motifs of his life had finally revealed themselves to Rufus, suggesting at once a deeper significance. He knew for certain that the night at Smitty’s was no fluke. He had been saved, and he had saved others. Yet now there was a new dimension, and its implications were murkier and more difficult to discern.

“You ever kill a man, Jay?” Rufus asked, watching the porch logs splinter and disintegrate.

Hamilton and Satch had gone for a stroll to smoke a joint before Polo arrived and by the time they had returned the house had begun to smolder. Rufus’ staff had already retreated to a safe distance to enjoy the spectacle, but Satch heroically braved the inferno to rescue the banana boob manuscript.

“Once, and the bastard deserved it,” Hamilton answered with conviction.

Rufus tried to have the same confidence. “So did he,” he said.

“Where are we going?” asked Satch, nervously clutching his manuscript against his hopelessly wrinkled blazer.

Rufus turned to him. “We’re going to see the mayor.”

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