Leroy. The Iowa Review. Steve Katz. Volume 1 Issue 4 Fall. Article 22

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1 Iow Review Volume 1 Issue 4 Fll Article Leroy Steve Ktz Follow this dditionl works t: Prt Cretive Writing Commons Recommended Cittion Ktz, Steve. "Leroy." Iow Review 1.4 (1970): Web. Avilble t: This Contents is brought for free open ccess by Iow Reserch Online. It hs been ccepted for inclusion in Iow Review by n uthorized dministrr Iow Reserch Online. For more informtion, plese contct lib-ir@uiow.edu.

2 Leroy Steve Ktz Eileen grbs subwy heds for Vn Cortl Prk. Wht prk. Anything wnt is re. Cricket. Lcrosse. Ldies' Stbll. "So enjoy rself," mumbles Eileen, s she slides set ner mucky window. womn in set by door reds New York Times. Eileen htes tht newspper ll its contents. p she hs hidden under her swetshirt is wiggling so she slps wd kleenex over its little prick under its til prys it cn restrin itself. "Nice p got re, ldy," sys blck kid, edging wrds her long sets. He is wering bsebll uniform, Mrvels is nme his tem. "I've got no ppy here," Eileen replies, knowing ps re illegl on subwy. kid sends some gestures winks bck his temmtes t or end cr. "You've sure got something tht whines wiggles like ppy under re." Eileen ignores kid. IRT rumbles on down trck busts in dylight, heding for Bronx. boy tries pet hidden p with his first bsemn's mitt. "I ld re is no ppy under re," Eileen insists, turning side looking hrd out window. Flt-pped buildings stick ll over little hills Bronx. "If don't got no ppy in re," sys kid. "With ll tht round in whining whomping re, n something boss, ldy; got jivingest jugs in world." kid goes bck his temmtes y ech or's when slp plms he tells m wht he sid, roll bseblls y ir rms. Eileen sets ppy free in prk, it yerps with joy. sun is good hot. She slips out her swetshirt strolls pth wrds grnite cliffs bushes. Her tight, bell-botm jens mke her wnt lope her purple, jersey polo shirt grzes nipples her smll, brless bosom. She feels giddy loose. little p jumps t her nkles scmpers round her growls: lively white blck begle crossbreed p with wrm ngue. High bove m sun lights wings hwk tht glides in wide circles on ir-currents. Its hed flicks from side side like switch. Vn Cortl Prk, in New York City, is most fmous for its hwks. y hunt re for or smll stuff on pigeons squirrels running rocky slopes. y swoop down on bseblls. sntch y cps nurses. A swich isn't sfe. Eileen cross steps grss, skirts bsebll dimonds, 52 University Iow is collborting with JSTOR digitize, preserve, extend ccess Iow Review

3 one keeps eye for hwk. She heds for peeled circling point seclusion comfort in rocks. sun is strong; wind, fresh. Jetstrems Crosshtch Hwk lzes in his sky. circles overhed, csul mke enough us Eileen on foolhrdy. puses rock high gze South t Mnhttn poking through smog. city is dumb bunch things, she thinks, so filthy crunchy in its thick suce. n she hers ppy s squel big hwk it f in its tlons. "Good ynks she ground boy," sys, slutes hwk who crries p p some rocks. Eileen squts wtch bunch hlf-nude, hiry people turning on below her; y swllow hfuls pebbles for kicks. She certinly could never be one m, nor one ny gro she ever knew bout. Tht ws she cme why New York. She stretches her bck out on flt sne lovely depression flots down settle round her like leves. "Whtever hep my life is," she in her mood. I do will ever dd whispers "Nothing No c nything. It's ll for counting. moment, for moments. I'll never con good get clusion. I won't rech climx." Hwk drops down stly fllen limb by her knee. "Thnks million," it sys. Eileen sits. A bit ppy gristle clings hook its bek. "It sure is swell on me those tender keep bringing ps. mke me y feel so good. A hwk in New York is like fish out wter se dys. No ets here. comes frozen or in cns." Everything Eileen smiles. "It's becuse I'm probbly Aqurius. My friend, Corinne, t fice is Virgo she thinks wht I do is hideous. But I don't blk t lw oth fng. I tell my friends feed hwks y think I'm frek. I men violence is r It's in predicment. r nture. It would be stid oppose hwks just becuse y survive by violence. Tht's why I tell my friends feed hwks. If mke hwk in friend n cn begin underst him." "I like whole lot, ldy," sys hwk. "Orwise I would let know how stid re, becuse re becuse stid, don't even re member I sid thing lst time. Violence need never be mentioned. It's not even word. We're re for circling. circles, mking circles, tht's where it's t." tht's "Mybe true, but first listen me. I wnt tell I something. don't think I've ever sid this or Eileen is nybody." enthusistic, suddenly, bout someone. "I need blow tlking relly New York Times. Every one would be much better f if it were bunch cinders. And n mybe some T-V networks. Get rid ll m. But it's Times tht's my biggest nemesis. Everybody reds it stuffs his hed full informtion. Wht good is informtion All it does is me people? prevent from n d becoming venturess." But "Oky, oky. Mybe 've got listen point. for once wht I sy. You've got underst wht I on keep telling bout It's circling. perpetul present, continuous moment. Come think it those re hlf-ssed ides 've got bout informtion dventure. You just mke m her rself get excited. I tell if humn beings could lern fly in circles ir own volition life would be clm for m informtion would fll wy, 53 Fiction

4 mening would fll wy, wisdom would follow m like strem song. You humns re out lunch. re is no such s relly dventure." thing "You ld me tht ws bd." rself hunting "You're Listen me You're nitwit. isn't stid, ldy. crefully. Hunting worth prey mntis in my estimtion. It's not wht It's not get. ctch. It's circling itself, those rcs cn long eloquent mke without crek I men I like ing wing. my food, but tht's not..." ldy, "You should cll me Eileen." "... Eileen. But re's mtter with it if I don't et. It's oky, nothing my lest cre. Usully one gets something et, if he doesn't he just keeps in most circling circling exquisite drems. Those re circles I mke, those circles re my life, which is moving circle my horizon s I fly, which mkes me hrmonious with my world, And erth rcs round sun, universe out wrps forever. I know ll tht. I didn't hve study mmtics. Eileen, my derest humn friend, live in box, tht's why lwys get those hedches." With tht finl remrk hwk stretches his wings few powerful sweeps ber him lt. So she gets hedches, how does hwk underst tht? He gets in ir esily, tht's dmirble, but wht he hs sy is just so much hwk breth. So she gets hedches. Wht does hwk know bout spirin, even more potent remedies? Pills re little circles in mselves. So wht? Tke ll r hwk ories long with ll r mn ories put m in orbit wht hve got? Solr grbge. Wht she still wnts do is burn down New York Times. Hwks mke esy bout humn life without ever ssumptions pusing in ir circles exmine complexities. If she were shped like wheel things would be different. Eileen strolls on pths round bsebll dimonds. This is first relly 'good' dy yer she knows tht is bout something extrordinry hppen her. If this were not LEROY, but ws insted chep movie tht fetured her, she could expect mke t some sp sre-front fortune teller on Second Avenue, hve old frud red from crystl bll, or from trot, or from strs, or her tht she is tht meet plm, obliged dy remrkble Wht confusing strnger. bore on so wrm dy sunny be constrined hve converstions with someone like tht, lot nonsense serstitious nywy. Such fint hocus-pocus impresses hert, people who wlk in lmp-posts sit on wet prk benches. All she wnts hppen is something tht keeps her from ever going bck her job gin, persistent nibbling just below hert she hs cll her 'work'. She loves lie in sun. She could be pressionl lizrd. How does someone like herself, who hs no or concern feeling for problems underprivileged, hs no philnthropy in her hert though she ws born poor herself, get in welfre cse-worker's rcket? she ws in before ws worse dt-processing job, doing driest tsks with or husks humn beings. Work is stid ide, dessicting poison tht people in this drkest drk ges inflict on mselves. "Hey ldy, where's r p?" Mrvels re on plying field she psses, wrming for gme with incomprble New York Bullets. "A hwk 54

5 sntched it," she shouts bck. "Right on, ldy. We ply Hwks next Stur She feels her. ss round lst bse dy." something observing boys yer's blls, wrpped in blck electricin's tpe. y shg flies, do some pepper drill, lern chew bcco. She thinks she sees prctice sliding, bunting, something moving in bushes, like cloud. She strts bck for some flt rocks she knows bout where she cn lie down with her sun one one will belly see her. re's noise rumbling somewhere, like jet but it seems be plne, on She rises some ground. through sumcs, some scruffy willows, some syc mores rrives t her flt She stretches out sun feels for her fce plce. hets her belly when she lifts f her shirt. She ywns, lmost dozes. Jets in gret prusion rise bove her belly from Kennedy, LGurdi Newrk dropping poisonous smoke. She hers something else, like lrge metl wheel crcking grvel. "Who is it?" She pulls her shirt down. A big rolls her wy over flt rocks. It's s s high she is, full milky iridescence tht looks like life. This is most remrkble thing tht hs ever hppened her, n begins spek. "I could hve been quieter, but I ws frid tht would lrm completely. I've been mushrooms." gring "I'll bet hve," sys Eileen. "It's bout this time yer tht morels pop ll over, I know spot tht's just chuck full m. Nobody gets re before me. month is so My good, just becuse my fvorite mushrooms." mkes Eileen smile. Though he's just piece geometry, he seems "You've no plesnt. got wy mushrooms. You pick hven't ny hs," she observes. Wves crimson, like smoky blush, drift through 's interior, he sys, "You would notice like tht. I hve stly, something my limittions, s we ll do, but must hve noticed o tht I didn't sy I'd picked m. I sid I'd gred m." Eileen sits re for moment beside noises rise stymied City in her ers. She doesn't underst wht is on. going Here she is in n extr sitution ordinry she rects no more thn s if she were bored it. She's by numb. A chill flows within her she looks t wishes it hd some rms throw round her comfort her. "We don't seem immeditely hve much sy ech or," she whispers. rolls slowly bck forth. "Tht's nothing worry bout se it dys," sys. "Converstion hs gone wy cr trolley glss milk bottle. Yers go I used tlk lot. I mde predictions n I liked tell m, I ws sure wht ws come going true, but I guess I've been mostly wrong. For instnce, bout forty yers I go knew tht by nineteen-seventy or so most modern cities would hve moving sidewlks, so would need nobody wlk sre except if he wnted get re twice s quick. Tht hsn't hppened yet. I lso predicted tht people would be jumping round on con trptions tht resembled jet propelled pogo sticks so tht dense res populted would look like popcorn. Not chnce for tht hppen. I predicted tht ll food now by would come people in little or pills pckges, tht tste 55 Fiction

6 would be obsolete. Tht hs lmost hppened. n I predicted tht Indi would become world's new serpower becuse clever oil nturl politics gs deposits tht should hve been discovered in Mdrs stte in mid sixties. You cn see tht never I so with hppened. got discourged predictions. I mde huge forecsts t tht time: tht hlf Jpn Philippines would sink in n horrendous erthquke tht would give birth seven new populous chins isls cuse Cliforni rise twelve feet higher out se s result this clmity mn nmed F. Scott Fitzgerld (not writer) would become mssively welthy influentil due tresures he found heved on extended shore by his bech house. were Glpgos hve out t popped this hevl like cork spun in orbit round erth, colliding with moon cusing dispersl stellite frgments tht would n orbit erth like one rings Sturn. Hlf Pcific ws hve flowed in hole left by Glpgos, cusing n expnsion South Americ, rediscovery Atlntis, proving hollow erth ory, some stisfction. wter within erth ws hve built people's such pressure tht geysers would hve funneled ll over globe: Poughkeepsie, Tel-Aviv, Kuznetsk, LPz, Oslo, Christchurch. Some jets were hve spouted over thous feet in ir, spewing out quntities strnge, boiled rtifcts, whose use couldn't be known on surfce erth, but clerly must hve been product some form intelligent life inhbiting center globe." Eileen lowers one eyelid stres t "I'll bet tht's where 're from, from center Erth." "You're quick smrt," sys "And s rin. I dmit it. I right left escpe ctclysm I hd predicted, lso becuse I wnted see for myself if re relly ws intelligent life on surfce erth." "Did come on ny?" "A little bit, but nothing mke sit tke notice. re ws mostly lot confusion wilfulness. You've seen it rself. I did relize tht disster I hd predicted would wipe out most popultion United Sttes, leving mostly Temsters Athletes pick pieces strt gin through tribl system. y would hve invent substitute for sop would remember only sixteen letters ir lphbet, so three books y found hermeticlly seled in box would be less thn useless m. Those three books were hve been: THE BEST OF BROADWAY: 1954, AION by C. G. Jung, BORN TO RAISE HELL, study Richrd Speck, mss murderer." "All those were predictions mde?" "Yes y were. I mde most m in lte twenties, but I ws pretty fr f." "None m hve come true?" "Dmned few. Of course I predicted tht mn would rech moon, be cuse it looked pretty close me. I lso hve predicted tht both Mo-Tse-Tung Chng-Ki-Shek will be ded by I predicted 3-d television, or trivil 56

7 forecsts, but y're esy. for it I thought I hd." I've spped forecsting. I don't relly hve tlent "Hven't ever hd return center hnkering erth, be with r own kind gin?" "I don't relly think it tht wy. I don't feel s if wht's in re is my own kind. I prefer isoltion I hve out here. I find musements here. mushrooms re like friends, for instnce. me endless y give plesure. little fellows grow inside erth o, I used just love m re. I guess ll mushrooms in one on outside one on inside grow pirs, Erth's crust. m here mkes me feel t home." Knowing Such is gentle presence Eileen subtle vritions imgines color in its interior s it speks, but she thinks her eyes re doing it. She strokes surfce it like membrne. "You're such 's ffectiontely quivers sweet I must dmit I've never herd one before." strnge spek "Well, don't feel bd. I've seemed wherever I've been. I've lwys strnge, never fit in." "Did hve prents?" "Sure I hd prents. were y just like prents. Authoritrin. Rigid. Dense. My fr ws Pyrmid my mor ws Ellipsoid. lst thing y ws expected hve y hd no ide how cope with me. As soon s my surfce ws hrd I could roll on own enough my I distnce put between m myself. Tht's n old sry. Tell me bout rself becuse so 're very pretty. Wht were r prents like?" were "y poor midwestern but people, my mor ws pretty my fr hsome I inherited ir looks, for whtever it's worth. I just led life. I'm stid nobody." "Wht Wht strnge expression, 'nobody'. funny wy bout spek me." rself "I men it." relly "But wht thing sy me, Look t me. I'm but 'nobody'. nothing geometry in r world. A no Relly body." "Tht ws Eileen blushes. me. I'm dippy thing sy," "Forgive relly sorry. I like lot s whtever re." "I don't tke fense. Tht would be rolls bck silly." slowly forth like mn in throes indecision, pcing with his rms folded behind his bck, cigr twixt his jws. It suddenly sps. "Just mzing," it sys. "Tht mkes me so It's remrkble." hppy. relly "Wht is?" Eileen looks round. "Don't see it? Your city. Look t wy tht Mnhttn hs disppered down re. It hs disppered. Tht's mirculous. You know one my pre dictions ws tht Mnhttn would in lte sixties or seventies. dispper erly I predicted tht it would dissolve in its own ir wsh wy, now look. It's true. It's gone. My prediction hs come true I'm so hppy. You re my good luck chrm." is right. Mnhttn does seem hve disppered, though she knows it isn't gone for good. A srm hs swddled it in clouds, rushing in f 57 Fiction

8 Atlntic, sending thick ngue Hrlem River wrds Bronx. "Tht's rin tht hs moved on You cn her thunder." just city. "Oh thunder. Rin. re's some I'm still not Right. lwys explntion. used it here. Well rin cn hve Mnhttn, dmn it. I'm wrong gin." "I would hve been quite set," sys Eileen, "hd Mnhttn ctully disppered. I would hve been left without nything. Not even friend." "Well n I'm gld my prediction didn't come true. To hell with it. I won't mke ny more. But I still think something is going hppen, I'd like know wht it is." "We'll get soked if we sty here," sys Eileen, getting bck in her swet shirt. "I don't get wet," sys "I cn be impermeble." "Mybe I sound fussy, but I'll get soked chilled, I just got over cold. I'm going get subwy before it rins." "I even like fresh wter on my surfce," sys. Eileen feels reluctnt leve She knows encounter will seem nor her once severl hours hve She wnts uch dydrems pssed. it some more, s if sel its texture on her skin. "Plese... umh..." she finds words difficult relese. "Plese come home with me my prtment if wnt." bounces round in plce s if it hs been bobbled. "I ws hoping would sk me come. I hven't seen mny interiors." Eileen strokes with both her hs. "Well," she sys. "One doesn't ten find in prk she feels she cn invite her home." "I must seem strnge." "Not t ll," sys Eileen. "You re very nice." Eileen loves people her dopted city. Hd she turned with in her home wn Swisher, Iow whole would hve turned popultion out cll her Communist Hippie Betnik y never would hve hd minute's privcy, but here she gets only few glnces over shoulder from New Yorkers who shrug. Eileen is ctully only one who pys ttention her unusul escort. She sense gets from with vertigo wlking it, becuse it moves by rolling she imgines it continully turning its hed over getting dizzy. Tht clerly isn't cse. mentl prts, where senses re, from which it communictes, is t probbly very center where she gueses it is st, but surfce is ugh, though she notices it cn vry its texture for her uch, chnging from st slick plush rigid. Wht compnion it is for her hs. She still feels dizzy with it, like little girl doing crtwheel fter crtwheel on lwn. pops settles on set opposite her remins re despite jolting IRT. "How do sty re?" she sks. "Sty where?" "On set, when subwy jerks? You look like should just roll f." "I never think bout it," sys "I hve no reson roll f, so I don't roll f, but I cn underst why wonder bout it. When I first strted on living surfce it used strtle me see people keeping ir blnce 58

9 on those two flexible posts. You seemed move by flling forwrd n ctching r blnce. It seemed inefficient, if not impossible. I mde clcul tions, but I still couldn't figure tht it ws possible. only time r motion mde ny sense me ws when got in those continers with wheels. n I could gree tht were doing it, but wht clled 'wlking' seemed im me. Now I possible just ssume cn do it let mtter lie." Specil converstions with mke Eileen feel good, s if she is getting select tretment she deserves. Her life feels spicy, if once y get home mkes pss t her, well tht is wht she hs come NewT York for, get wy from humdrum routines mononous midwestern life. It is mle She is sure it. y get f t 79th Street Brodwy wlk few blocks North her prtment, under sky tht is s clering fst it hs clouded, smell ozone, wshed ir, sunlight flying down on Her little glowing buildings. prtment house is wet luminous. "You tking such thing with r prtment," sks ldy with little yellow dog, tht Eileen frequently greets on street. "To r prt ment? You must hve big prtment." "It's coming home with me like friend." "Wht should it be?" old womn slips on her glsses. "Wht kind thing do cll tht?" "This is my friend, Mrs...." "Lubell. Mrs. Lubell, mor Hrry Lubell T-V producer. So wht is this, nywy? Is this wht kids strt see from squirting myonnise in r veins?" "I'm hrdly kid, Mrs. Lubell." "I didn't men, drling. But those kids, y get se hypodermics n y jb mselves with crnberry juice chlororm. Who knows wht else? re's one m in my house wht he sees is specil thing." "Well see this, don't?" "I don't see nothing. Don't sk me wht I see. You're better f if don't see nothing se dys." Though it's o wide for m fits through every door s if doorfrme doesn't exist. It puses by sill her own prtment s she switches on some lights. "I've never spent ny time in one se interiors before," sys. Eileen is suddenly embrrssed. plce isn't herself. She hs never done decortion she ded wlls re cov lwys promised. ered with dog-ered poster Lenny Bruce, dull btik hnging, picture Rolling Snes. Nothing herself. moves round, humming glowing like detective's device, n it puses before little fishbowl full brightly colored trnsprent mrbles. "This is just mzing," it sys. "If hd se where I come from 'd be locked." sps moving Silence rushes in on tlking. m, m with seprting rom noise building t dinner time. Eileen chews some bred cheese she hs brought from kitchen. seems be wtching her, but she doesn't know. It rolls on cfee tble muses itself on by blncing edge. It must be tking some ccount how she hs fitted out her life, she doesn't know 59 Fiction

10 how tht this isn't wht she explin plce relly is, but just wy-sttion, wtering hole she is spping t on her journey wherever. She begins in silence feel pnic losing contct. Nothing is right. Her own prtment is unrel, like lir hibernting best. She shuts her eyes for moment feels herself over rolling over, s if hs got in her. "Don't ever feel she peculir," sys, when she opens her eyes. "I men here on 're surfce Erth, where don't without belong, friends, or hope nyone underst." "Tht mkes little sense me." voice clm tht projects slows her unesiness. "Everything I do is interesting me. I hve everything I need. I hve I don't myself. sty still." "I m... I hve Eileen s nothing," sys if she is slowly, wholehertedly, blowing gret weight f her ngue. "You're so lucky not be mde this flesh. All I feel in myself is n endless dissolution, like I'm run through with nem des being crried wy from myself in little nibbles, f in void. I know despir is ftuous, but every fce look t is destroyed by troubles, behind those troubles lies n byss. You're lucky just be visir. Nothing is strong enough hold me ger. I don't even know wht I'm tlking bout, why I it sy Wht re or, wht m I for tht mtter? If re were n or world I'd like go re try it for myself, becuse I don't sit very esy in this one. I wnt know some whole but re people, just don't seem be ny. nerve Just bunches, like trnsmitters with running shpes inflicting pin. Every one is suffering, it's like tht suffering is skyscrper built round us in our certin drem we cn never hve in this sleep only life will remove it. I'm so unsettled. I need blow New York Times. I need go wy. My friends tlk revolution. revolution cn only be wht's rel. brekthrough I cre bout tht. durble hs come Something cler. Wht's become us? I feel something sreme horrible is on hppening erth, we will be excluded. Flesh. How did ever get in my house, roly-poly? This must sound so stid. It's like crhorns. People tlk like honking txis. Honk. Out my wy. Blst. This is ridiculous I don't know wht I tlk bout. I wnt just find ny or world, clmer. I wnt someplce spce unlod, nywhere. You find me tiresome." rolls wrd her till it is uching her it moves round her st her clos. ly grzing "You so get serious," it sys. relx. Flesh is flesh. You "Just reside in it for while it's just life. It's like ir. Some dy 'll get without it but for now long re is no wy step outside, becuse it's inside. You hve it it hs, like lover, or tlent. Relx. re's nothing resist." keeps rubbing her while he mkes gentle philosophy. She begins feel sexy. Perhps is just hing her line, she thinks, wnts only get her in bed. She feels plesnt tingling ll over her skin. It cn't be just philosophy tht mkes her feel this wy. doubts troubles she hs fetched from deep within re slowly displced by round, rising dremlike motion in herself. "You... uch me like... like this," she sys. "You need be uched. I know tht," sys "Those feelings rech 60

11 me thn words. quicker Perhps through lnguge understing my grow, but knowledge descends through uch lone." "I know wht re," Eileen sys lightly. "You're sphericl mke-out rtist, out pying line for me." "A line?" "It mkes no difference. bout it. Forget Did ever mke love humn womn before?" "In prk once I mde love, if tht's wht cll it, but tht ws long go I think it ws ng humn mle." "You think it ws humn 'ng mle'. Wht re, femle?" "Of course not. I'm s see, me." "A queer Eileen," her clps h over her mouth. "You would do it with men or women." "Of course I'd 'do it' with men or women, or with dogs." "With dogs?" seem "y be everybody's fvorite. In see prk men with men, women with women. You see with everybody dogs." "Golly," Eileen blushes. "Sometimes I forget I'm just hyseed girl from Swisher, Iow, but it's true. My friend, Lester Stuevl, used tlk bout doing it with sows. ng He ws fr out." Eileen circle begins sexiness she feels is uncontrollble, but sticks out on nothing, nothing Its grb. surfce texture in slowly most chnges plesing wy, s she strokes it she feels mild electricity flowing just under her skin. She strts it rolling wrds her bedroom, her excitement whetted by questions tht stroke her mind: How cn this ever penetrte her? Would she cll it sex with? If her experience were ever jotted down by writer, could it be clled pornogrphy by millions? Once in bedroom she quickly undresses, strnge ctivity before who seems, nked from get within, its most intimte substnces seeping surfce. skin is so she indequte, thinks, in order be genuinely nked she would hve remove it. rolls wrd her she spreds her rms s it uches her. "Do she something," sys. "I wnt," sys "You're so sweet gorgeous." Her body feels shot through with refreshing, vitl wrmth, she swoons bckwrd on floor, but something st breks her fll. rolls down her in body perfect, gentle mssge, its ction slowly intensifying her feel covered hed e mking with wrm, stiny fbric, ll her bones feel s if y hve been turned loose in her muscles rolled down hill. Suddenly seems be not on only p her but under her lso, in two directions t once. She feels minute rolling mssging just under her skin, begins let out little shudders sighs screms, she suddenly feels sfe inside over rolling over down long hill picking like in speed juggernut ecstsy. She opens her on eyes mrvellous incn descence room generted by who is setting itself f in ple vermillion bubbles wrds In moment her ceiling. eyes close she gin flls continues tlk with in sleep drem. "Hve ever 61 Fiction

12 been in love?" she sks. "Wht is love?" it "Hve ever responds. been "Wht is "Hve ever hungry?" hungry?" been tired?" "Wht is tired?" "Hve ever been "Wht is "Hve ever ngry?" ngry?" thought mrrige?" "Wht is "Hve ever mrrige?" hd "Wht is religious experience?" experience?" In drem Eileen Sphere circulte in empty spce, y never uch, though y resemble ech or, Eileen feels closer thn she hs ever felt fr or lover. By morning hs fled but Eileen isn't disppointed. She feels permnently chnged, lifted like wing f plnet on nor relm. She is curious go outside see wht it is ll bout gin. A fringed buckskin mini skirt, yellow silk tsseled blouse, thin-strpped high-heeled Itlin sls, silk scrf round her lime-green neck, in mirror she looks o sexy hit street. She feels divine. Out she goes. A rre crisp fter morning night rin hs clrified ir. people tke long strides or short quick steps with dogs bounding t ir sides. No one looks lzy. Up down Brodwy troops colorful people wlk ir dogs whistle. Eileen heds North thinking something buy. She hs left her purse t home with no money in it. Old people wlk ir Pomernins Schnuzers. Pretty girls heel ir Germn Shepherds. Hookers wlk ir Dobermn Pinschers. Drg Queens strut with Gret Dnes. Elegnt ldies with Afghn Borzoi. Chummy nimls ll m full teeth which y bre t Eileen becuse y hte her. Eileen hs lredy tken her step f Erth she drifts Brodwy, sexy vulnerble. y look her over, sned ng coles, old women in loose cotn dresses, ng men from behind ir shdes. y're like snipers. y're wllflowers tking tis from her skin. How gld she is hve left behind this life sinister presences, this wn Brodwy hnging out, this looking through sunglsses, this wer. She is being followed. Seven blocks sme mle behind her. Wht could she wnt now with mle? A confusing pursuit. She wlks more he continues quickly get closer. He is just behind her. She cn her his clos. She turns round. "I m Astronut," he sys. He is smll, hsome mn. "Wht's r reson for me. I hve for following nothing." "Now tht I m here no cn be min longer chrcter LEROY." Eileen is strtled by such twist, though not set. She hs no mbitions be min chrcter nything. Now tht hs chnged her life she would more time prefer herself. Her is gone forever, she relizes, she feels redy weep. "Wht do men by tht?" she sks. "Don't let it trouble. I m here now must s replce protgonist LEROY." Since she hs come New York City, Eileen muses, ech thing tht hppens her hs been strnger thn lst. "If this is true, wht do I do now?" "You do wht You plese. my leve, or remin in LEROY s sec ondry personge. I should like see from time time." "How do know this is wht hppens?" Eileen sks. "I hve bility red hed." "Why do clim tht re Astronut?" 62

13 "Tht's who I m. re hsn't been spce yet explin how it hppens tht I m, but I m Astronut." lwys "I guess it's cler quite simple cut, except tht before tke over I'd like sk me help with one thing." "Certinly," sys Astronut, "As s we cn long tke cre it on this pge." "I still need blow New York Times." "Tht will be no problem," sys Astronut. Eileen is jubilnt. She shoves her rm through his y hed for downwn IRT. Forty-three minutes lter New York Times is hep rubble. 63 Fiction