The Lost Boys Symphony: A Novel by Mark Ferguson

Author:Mark Ferguson [Ferguson, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780316323994
Amazon: 0316323993
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2015-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

Da Capo: 19

What do you mean, you’re gone?” said Henry. “You’re right here.”

“No,” said 80. He was still on his knees, crying through clenched teeth.

Henry looked up at the bridge, its wooden planks brightened to a fiery golden hue by the bright sunlight above. Henry himself was still in the shade of the canopy. In his mind’s eye he could see 41 dancing to the woody clamor. He couldn’t see any vomit on the front of his clothing, but it was going cold on his back, adhering his skin to the fabric of his shirt.

“I’m not here,” said 80. “Not truly, not in this world.”

“Stop.”

“He’s—God, what is he doing? What has he done?”

Henry wanted to kick him. Just a day before, the bright green spastic low vibration had driven him from his mother’s house to the George Washington Bridge, where he’d experienced a hallucination of such intensity that it had knocked him out. He’d then been drugged and abducted by men whom he genuinely believed to be future versions of himself. Without even a moment alone to ponder any of that, he’d been paraded through the woods to this other bridge and abandoned by the one of his two companions whom he was beginning to trust.

Henry felt like a prop in some absurdist play, and the only person who could possibly help him make sense of what was happening was now kneeling on the bare earth, crying and muttering.

“I can’t keep it straight,” said 80. He sat up a little, raised both hands out in front of him, palms turned down as if bowing in praise. When Henry finally understood the meaning of the gesture, he grabbed the man’s wrists and lifted him to his feet.

“Stop,” said Henry. “Stop crying—what happened?”

“I need to sit down,” said 80. “I need to think.” He walked back toward the bridge. Then, using the guardrails for support, he slowly lowered himself to the walkway.

“But I just helped you up,” said Henry. He followed 80 out onto the bridge. “Where did he go?” he said. “Please. Think. You have to know.”

An asthmatic whistle mewled out of 80’s wide-open mouth.

“Hello?” said Henry.

“I can’t hear it.”

“Where did he go?”

“I can’t…But how?”

“He said I had set myself free,” said Henry. “What did he mean?”

“I can’t hear it,” said 80. “It’s gone, but how—”

“What did he mean, 80? Focus! What did he mean? He said I’d set myself free. Free how? From what?”

80 directed his fearful gaze at Henry. “From me. Free from me.”

“But I’m here with you, right now. I’m here and he’s— What did you do to him?”

80 stared down at the water. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Really? You don’t think so?” said Henry. “Because to me? Right now? It seems like maybe it does. It seems like it matters a lot, actually.”

“No,” said 80. “It was a different time. It’s over.”

“This is what he was talking about, isn’t it?”

“If you knew—”

“You’ll just hide shit from me, you’ll lie to me, right? No straight answers.”

“I’m not lying,” said 80. “It doesn’t matter what happened.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.