You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 2~3

Chapter TwoThe Last fundamentSo that was it?Yep.Never again? no.e. non ever?Nope.I nonice identical I should save them or more or less amour.Would you just flush and educe away of there.Chapter ThreeI am Poor and My Cat Is commodiousJody walked a step or two behind Tommy, just notice him, as they made their way up Third Street toward Market. She was observance his reaction to his new senses, giving him some room to interpret around, speak hints well up-nigh what he was experiencing. Shed g one(a) through this herself only a suspender of months ago, and shed make it without a guide.I arouse carry out the heat glide slope off the lanelamps, Tommy verbalize, facial mental synthesis up and spinning as he walked. in all(prenominal) windowpane in e real building is a different color. purify to just reckon at one thing at a time, Tommy. Dont let it overwhelm you. Jody was waiting for him to comment on the aura that each(prenominal) person was giving off. Not a heat aura, more of a life force. So far theyd only seen healthy red and pinko ones not what she was looking for.Whats that noise, wish running water? Tommy asked.Thats the sewers running chthonic the street. All that stuff will fade after a season youll still bring out it, provided you wont notice it unless you focus.Its like a meter people argon talking in my headway. He looked around at the few pedestrians who were out on the street.Televisions and radios, too, Jody give tongue to. Try to focus on one thing, let the rest fall plump for.Tommy stopped, looked up at an a realmment window four floors up. Theres a twat-o-nine-tails up there having phone sex.Figures youd adjust in on that, Jody state. She foc apply on the window. Yes, she could hear the bozo heave and giving instructions to someone on the phone. Evidently he felt the caller was a dirty little slut and therefore essential to apply varie get hitched withs of hot salsa to her body. Jody tried to hear the voice on the other end of the phone, but it was too faint the guy must substantiate been raiding a headset.What a freak, Tommy utter.Shhhh, Jody verbalize. Tommy, close your pumps and listen. Forget the salsa guy. Dont look.Tommy unkindly his eyes and stood in the middle of the sidewalk. What?Jody leaned against a No Parking house and smiled. Whats just to the right of you?How do I deal? I was looking up.I go through. Focus. Listen. Two feet from your right hand, what is it?This is dumb.Just listen. Listen to the shape of the sizable coming from your right.Okay. Tommy squinted, showing he was concentrating.A touch of androgynous students man shape uped(p) in black with severe hair, probably from the Academy of Art on the next block, walked by and barely gave them a look until Tommy verbalize, I substructure hear a box. A rectangle.Acid noob, said one of the students, who sounded like it superpower be a guy.I remember my first trip, said the other, who was probably a girl . I wandered into the mens room at the Metreon and supposition I was in a Marcel Duchamp installation.Jody waited for them to pass so asked, Yes, a rectangle, solid, hollow, what? She was a little giddy now, bouncing on the balls of her feet. This was better than get shoes.Its hollow. Tommy tilted his head. Its a theme machine. He opened his eyes, looked at the news reputation box, then at Jody, his face lit up like a toddler who has just discovered chocolate for the first time.She ran into his arms and kissed him. I have so much to show you.Why didnt you tell me? Tommy asked.How could I? Do you have words for what youre hearing? For what youre seeing?Tommy let her go and looked around, took a deep breath through his nose, as if checking the bouquet of a wine. No. I dont know how to say these things.See, thats why I had to contend this with you.Tommy nodded, but looked a little forlorn. This part is good. barely the other partWhat other part?The foul, dead, descent-drinking p art. Im still starving.Dont whine, Tommy. Nobody likes a whiner.Hungry, he said.She knew how he felt, she was feeling some of it herself, but she didnt know how to solve the feeding problem. Tommy had ever so been her go-to blood guy now they were going to have to hunt. She could do it, she had done it, but she didnt want to do it. Come on, well figure this out. Dont pout. Lets go consider people on Market Street. Youll like it. She took his hand and dragged him up the street toward Market, where rivers of tourists, shoppers, and freaks were flowing up and down the streets and sidewalks. Rivers of blood.Everyone smells like whiz and feet, Tommy said, standing on the sidewalk in front of a Walgreens drugstore. It was still early in the evening and the convention crowd from the hotels was flowing down the sidewalks like a great migrating herd, looking for dinner or a watering hole. let out on the edges, hustlers, homeless, and hangers-on worked their angles, playing the secret path of eye contact to the pocket, maculation the herd defended itself by paying rapt attention to their companions, their cell phones, or a spot on the sidewalk twelve feet ahead.Feet and pee, Tommy continued.You get utilize to it, Jody said.Is there a clean pair of underwear anywhere on this street? Tommy shouted. You people are disgustingWould you settle down, Jody said. People are looking. They think youre crazy.Which makes me different, how?She looked up the street for the three blocks she could see there were about three people per block shouting at passersby, wild-eyed and angry, and patently bat shit. She nodded. He had a point, but then she snatched his shirt compass and pulled his ear down to lip level. The difference is that you arent living anymore and its not a good idea to attract attention to yourself.Which is why you chose to wear that delightful ensemble from the skank-wear collection at Hoes-N-Thangs?You said you like it. Jody had wrench a little more provocativ e in her dress since comely a vampire but she saw it more as an rumination of confidence, not a means to attract attention. Was it a predator thing? A power thing?I did do like it, but every guy who passes is staring at your cleavage. I can hear their heartbeats go up. Did you have to turn to mist to get into those jeans? You did, didnt you?A hydrant on Tommys shoulder. A young man in a white, short-sleeved dress shirt and a black tie had sidled up to him, holding out a pamphlet. You sound troubled, brother. Maybe this will help. The pamphlet proclaimed triumph on the cover in big green letters.Jody covered her brim and morose away so the guy wouldnt see her giggling.What? Tommy said, turning on the guy. What? What? What? faecest you see Im try to discuss my girlfriends uh well, those. Tommy gestured to Jodys shoulder, which was now where those had just been. Show him, Jody, Tommy said.Jody shake her head and started to walk away, her shoulders thrill with laughter.Ther es a message here, said the tie guy. It can bring you comfort and joy.Yeah, well, I was trying to show you some examples of that, but there she goes with them.But this is a joy that goes beyond corporeal Yeah, like youd know, Tommy said, cupping his nose and oral cavity as if covering a sneeze. Listen, Id love to discuss this with you, buddy, but right now you have to GO HOME AND WASH YOUR ASS You smell like youre smuggling a stockyard hindquarters thereTommy turned and strode after Jody, leaving the tie guy blushing and crumpling his pamphlet.Its not funny, Tommy said.Jody was trying so hard not to laugh, she snorted. Yes, it is.Cant they see were damned? Youd think they could tell. At least you. We are damned, arent we?»No idea, Jody said. She hadnt really thought about it.Didnt cover that in your advanced vampire demarcation with the old guy?Forgot to ask.No problem, Tommy said, with no effort at all to suppress sarcasm. Minor detail. Anything else you might have forgo tten to ask?I thought Id have more time, for follow-up, Jody said. I didnt realize that the man I love was going to bronze us that first night.Yeah well okay. Sorry.Wheres the trust? Jody said.You killed me, Tommy said.Oh, there you go again.Please, folks. I need a dollar, said a voice from the left. Jody looked down to see a guy session against the granite wall of a closed bank. He was dirty beyond age or race, sort of grimy to the point of shine, and on his lap was an great long-haired cat. There was a cup on the sidewalk in front of him and beside it a hand- writeed sign that read I AM sorry AND MY CAT IS HUGE.Tommy, who was still fairly new to the city and hadnt learned to look past this sort of thing, stopped and started digging in his pocket. That is sure a long cat.Yeah, he eats a lot. Its all I can do to keep him fed. Jody nudged Tommy, trying to get him fanny into the pedestrian flow. She liked that he was a nice guy, but it could really be devil sometimes. Especial ly when she was trying to teach him the profundities of being a creature of the night. in general fur, though, right? Tommy asked.Mister, this cat weighs thirty-five hammers.Tommy whistled and handed the guy a dollar. Can I touch him?Sure, the guy said. He doesnt care.Tommy knelt down and poked the cat gently, then looked up at Jody. This is a colossal cat.She smiled. Huge. Lets go.Touch him, Tommy said.No thanks.So, Tommy said to the cat guy, why dont you give him to a shelter or something? past how am I supposed to make a living?You could print up a sign that says Im poor and I lost my huge cat? That would work on me.You may not be the best sample, said the cat guy.Look, Tommy said, standing now and digging into his pocket. Ill buy the cat. Ill give you, uh, 40 The cat guy shook his head.Sixty Furious head shakingTommy untangled bills from a wad hed pulled out of his pocket, One hundred No.And thirty two No.And thirty-seven cents.No.And a paper clip.No.Thats a great offer, Tommy insisted. Thats like four bucks a poundNo.Well screw you, then, Tommy said. I dont feel sorry for you and your huge cat.You cant have your dollar back.Fine Tommy said.Fine said the cat guy.Tommy took Jody by the arm and started to walk away. Thats a huge cat, he said.Why were you trying to buy it? Were not supposed to have pets in the loft.Duh, Tommy said. Dinner.Yuck.Its a stopgap, Tommy said. You know that the Masai of Kenya drink the blood of their cattle with no apparent ill incumbrance to the cow.Well, Im sure it violates our lease if we get a cow.Thats it.Whats it?A lease.Tommy swung her around and brought her back to the cat guy.I want to rent the cat, Tommy said. You could use a outrage and I want to show the huge cat to my aunt who is an shut-in and cant come down here.No.One night. One hundred and 32 dollars and thirty-seven cents.The cat guy raised an eyebrow, the grime over that eye cracked a little. One fifty.I dont have one fifty, you know that.Then I want t o see the redheads hooters.Tommy looked at Jody, then back at the cat guy, then back at Jody.No, Jody said calmly.No, Tommy said indignantly. How dare you suggest it?One hooter, responded the cat guy.Tommy looked at Jody. She gave him the wide, green-eyed expression that she would have described as I will slap you so far into next week that it will take a police squad of surgeons just to get Wednesday out of your ass.No way, Tommy said. The redheads hooters are not on the table. He grinned, looked back at Jody, then looked away, really fast.The cat guy shrugged. Ill need some kind of security deposit, like your drivers license Sure, Tommy said.And a credit card.No, Jody said, pulling her jacket closed and zipping it up to her neck.Nothing kinky, said the cat guy. Ill know.Going to show him to my aunt, and Ill have him back tomorrow, this time.Deal, said the cat guy. His name is Chet.You first, Tommy said. They stood in the great room of their loft on any side of the futon, where the huge cat, a crossbreed between a Persian, a dust mop, and possibly a water buffalo, was actively shedding. Tommy had decided that he was going to be very cool about the whole blood-drinking thing, disrespect the fact that he was so amped he felt as if he could run up and down the walls. In fact, he wasnt sure that he couldnt run up and down the walls, that was part of what was freaking him out. Still, since coming to San Francisco a couple of months ago, he had spent entirely too much time overreacting, and he wasnt going to do it now not in front of his girlfriend. Not at all, if he could help it.You should go first, Jody said. Youve never fed before.But you gave the old vampire some of your blood, Tommy said. You need it. It was true, she had given the vampire her blood to help heal him from the damage Tommy and his friends had caused by blowing up his yacht and so forth, but he hoped she would say no again.No, no, no, after you, Jody said, with a very bad French accent. I insist.Well, if you insist.Tommy leapt to the futon and bent over the huge cat. He wasnt sure how he was supposed to go about this, but he could see the healthy red life aura around Chet, and he could hear his little kitty heart pounding. There was a crackleware noise inside of his head, like someone was popping bubble put in in his ear canal, and then there was pressure on the ceiling of his mouth, painful pressure, and more crackling. He felt something give and two sourish points poking his lower lip. He pushed back from the cat and grinned at Jody, who yelped and jumped back a step.Fangth, Tommy said.Yes, I can see that, Jody said.Whyd you jump? Do they look thupid?You startled me, is all, Jody said, looking away from him like he was an arc welder or a total eclipse and full eye contact might blind her. She waved him on. Go, go, go. Be careful. Not too hard.Right, Tommy said. He grinned again and she shied away.Tommy turned back, braced the cat, who seemed much less freaked b y this process than the two vampires in the room, and bit.Thuppt, thuppt, ack Tommy stood up and started brushing at his tongue to remove cat hair. Yuck continue still, Jody said, going to him and brushing the loose, damp cat hair away from his face. She went to the kitchen counter and came back with a glass of water and a paper towel, which she used to wipe at Tommys tongue.Just use the water to rinse. Dont swallow it. You wont be able to keep it down.Im not going to thwollow it, my mouf is full of cat hair. at once he had rinsed, Jody picked the last of the hairs from his mouth, and in doing so, she pricked one of her flicks on Tommys right fang.Ouch. She pulled her finger away and put it in her mouth.Oh, jeez, Tommy said. He pulled her finger out of her mouth and put it in his. His eyes rolled back in his head and he moaned through his nose.Oh, I dont think so, Jody said. She grabbed his hand and bit into his forearm, attaching herself to him like a remora to a shark.Tommy growl ed, flipped her around, and threw her facedown on the futon, his arm still in her mouth. She flipped her hair to the side and he sank his teeth into her neck. She screamed, but the shriek was muted, foamy out on Tommys bloody forearm. Chet, the huge cat, hissed and bolted across the room, through the bedroom door, to wedge himself under the bed, as the sounds of straining leather, tearing denim, and screaming predators change the loft.The irony, that it sounded like a huge catfight, was completely lost on the huge cat.