The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon: A Novel by Tom Spanbauer

Author:Tom Spanbauer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Literary, General, Gay, Fiction
ISBN: 9780802136633
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 2000-01-14T13:00:00+00:00

Sparrows woke me up in the morning. Ida Richilieu’s body, Alma Hatch’s body, and my body were all so mixed up with each other I had to ask my arms and legs which ones they were.

I finally got those two crabby girls out of bed with a pot of coffee— Ida cussing, Alma whining—got them somewhat dressed and started off to the hot springs. We were just down the stairs and out the front door of Ida’s Place, when right off we met a bunch of folks I’d never laid eyes on before—all-dressed-up men and women and children— tybo men all looking like the same tybo man, the women the same woman, the girl children the same girl child, same thing with the boy children.

It was Sunday morning. These were the Mormons Ida had been talking about.

I looked over to Alma Hatch. All she was wearing was her corset and the slip over it and a skirt. Ida was even worse. She was wearing my pants and shirt and hat, smoking a cigarette the way she does with the cigarette hanging out her mouth. Me, I was the worst—in my underwear and Ida’s shiny red robe hanging open across my shoulders.

Alma Hatch winked at one of the men and smiled. She lifted her arms, showing her armpits, and started piling her hair up in the back.

The Mormon women started herding their children out of there as quickly as possible, the children all staring up at us as if they’d never set eyes on human beings that weren’t Mormon before. The man Alma had winked at took off too, and so did other men, but mostly the men stayed and stood and stared at us, but not the way the children had stared. The men stared with hatred, stared the way only Christians can hate, especially Mormons. One of the men standing there was Josiah Helm—the Reverend Brother Josiah Helm, that is. Didn’t know it then, but I’d soon know his name and a whole lot of other things about him too. The Reverend Brother Josiah Helm was not a big man but held himself as if he was—chest sticking out, chin out, wearing a tall hat. He held up his Bible or Book of Mormon—whichever one of the two it was—I don’t know—it was a big book. Then he cursed us, me and Alma Hatch and Ida Richilieu, cursed us to everlasting damnation and fire.

Same as with Billy Blizzard, I should’ve killed Helm right then and saved the world from a whole lot of misery.

Ida Richilieu, who wasn’t walking very straight that morning, walked down the steps, walked not very straight right up to that Reverend Helm, took the cigarette out of her mouth, and spit right in his face. Then I couldn’t believe my ears when Ida said what she said:

“I hate your little dick even more than you do!”

Wasn’t much the reverend could do, after his mouth closed back up, but huff and puff, and quote somebody else’s words out of the book he was holding.

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