The Search for Philip K. Dick by Dick Anne R

Author:Dick, Anne R. [Dick, Anne R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Published: 2010-12-15T21:00:00+00:00

DON

It was well after midnight and we had almost finished all the potato chips and the vodka when Don made his entrance. He was a nice-looking, blond man of about thirty. His eyes glittered. He told me he was a carpenter now. Not long after we were introduced he pulled up his shirt and showed me a beautifully done eagle tattoo that covered most of his upper back. Like Sheila, an attractive blonde woman of about the same age, he had the aura of a survivor of some long-ago cataclysm.

In 1971, Don was known as “the kid.” He was a fifteen-year-old runaway with long, long hair, who had just come out of juvenile hall. “I felt like a little ragamuffin and hid when Phil’s science fiction and literary friends came over with their ties on.”

Phil told Don, “The more company I have, the safer I feel.” The most amazing thing to Don was how Phil would change when his science fiction friends came by: “He acted totally straight.”

Don remembered long, heavy political discussions, Phil telling the kids that he didn’t like most of what went on in the country: “He put things into words so that we young kids could understand. Then sometimes he would speak in other languages. When the book Helter Skelter came out, we all had a big discussion about Manson and his ‘family.’ Phil wanted this sort of relationship but without the crime.”

When Don first moved into the house, Phil’s office was immaculate. Phil would lock himself in to write. Later Don saw Phil flying into fits of rage, taking books off the shelves, and throwing them, picking up plants, and knocking over the speakers. Don hid behind the couch or a chair. He couldn’t understand what Phil was saying, Phil was talking so fast. In the middle of one topic, he would switch to another. Don thought that Phil would let his emotions build up and then they would explode.

Don liked and admired Clint. Clint was handsome, with blue-black hair and dark eyes and skin. He was an excellent mechanic and repaired Phil’s car for him. But he began to tinker and “do weird things” with the car. He fixed the brakes before a trip to Mount Tam. The brakes failed and the whole crowd almost got killed as they came down the mountain. Clint was a genius at electronics. He played the guitar, the harmonica, drums, and “did vocals.” He took a lot of speed, so much that he thought spiders were crawling on him and asked Don to spray Raid on him. At times, Clint picked imaginary bugs off the carpet. He thought a shoe box in the hall closet was full of bugs. Phil and Clint were close. But one day Phil put sand in the rug and sprayed Clint with hair spray. The sand stuck to the hair spray and Clint freaked out about the bugs crawling on him. Don couldn’t understand why Phil had done this, because Phil knew that Clint was terrified of insects.

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