Unplugging Philco by Jim Knipfel

Author:Jim Knipfel
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2009-10-14T04:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

They were walking through what had been known in another life as Grand Army Plaza. Now it was home to one of New York’s thirty-two extant Horribleness memorials (none of them official). This particular memorial was a massive concrete cube, sixteen by sixteen feet, which squatted grotesquely in the middle of the open and gray cement plaza. Each of the four visible sides of the cube featured a vidscreen, each of which replayed a different network’s live coverage of the events of that day, complete with commercial breaks, in an endless loop.

“Done found yourself at the little end of the horn, huh?” the cowboy asked. “Bet you got yourself a real tear squeezer. Most of ’em do.”

Looking at his feet as he walked, Wally said, “I still can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

The cowboy sighed. “I’m just trying to say that I sympathize.”

That peculiar gait of his made walking next to him awkward, but Wally did his best. “Sympathizing with someone in cowboy lingo doesn’t…count,” he said. “And besides, there’s nothing to sympathize with. I’m doing fine. Just minding my own business. I’m happy as a—”

“Sure,” the stranger interrupted. “Look, I know where we can go. We’ll be safe there.” Then he stopped abruptly and placed his hand on Wally’s chest. “Get back,” he said sharply.

“What?”

“Get back!” He grabbed Wally by the arm and shoved him bluntly against the memorial. Wally slammed against one of the screens, just as a mob of at least a dozen teenagers came boiling across the street, whooping and screaming around the memorial. Some were waving rolling pins, others corkscrews and muffin tins. At least one was waving a meat cleaver. They were dressed in the unmistakable uniform of the Kitchen Magicians.

The mob roared past Wally and the cowboy without paying them the slightest attention and charged on toward the park, their feet pounding on the pavement, their sharp young voices ripping the air.

Two armored DOD cruisers were parked in their path, but the agents inside made no move to stop them, merely watching with amused interest as the gang bounced over their hoods and trunks before continuing on into the park.

Staring after them in astonishment, Wally said, “The DOD didn’t do a thing to stop them.”

“And why would they?” the cowboy asked. “Would you have stopped Hank Williams from singin’ about a broken heart? If them cops’d stopped ’em, they’da found themselves wastin’ shoe leather in Bed-Stuy faster’n you can spit. The show must go on.”

Wally shook his head. “Should’ve figured.” At least he was beginning to understand what this cowboy was saying. “Well, thanks for pulling me out of the way of greatness.”

The cowboy pinched the brim of his hat between his thumb and forefinger and nodded. “That’s twice now you’re obliged, as I figure. So why don’t you and I hash it out over a little cactus juice?”

“Fine,” Wally said. Even if it wasn’t the most attractive offer he’ d heard all day, he was too deep in it now. “So long as you promise to stop talking like that.

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.