Strangers I (Authority)

Strangers I (Authority)

...only observations, such as:

Such as?

Well, for one thing her ear was purple, her left ear, I think so-- I think she'd been hit. It was purple, so some sort of impact.

Such as?

(quickly, excitedly) A fist? A kick? head-lock? Baseball game? (pausing, more seriously, slightly embarrassed) No, I don't know. Wrestling? I don't know. (looking around, long pause) Have?-- It hurts to be hit in the ear; I've been, it really burns, and you can feel the blood-- and it really burns.

Her ear?

Oh right, maybe she was hit on a cross walk. You could probably check that. Maybe a car came into the cross-walk, taking her legs out from under her, (gestures, flat left hand flying perpendicularly towards right hand) like pushing her feet away, but sideways-- and she was jumping (looking up, imagining) jumping up and the car caused her to rotate, caused her left ear to smash into the hood. It'd have to be a car though. And everyone around would have told her that she was so lucky, people say things like that. But maybe walking home she'd be remembering everything, her her slow-motion hood-banging and crashing and what they said, their advice, and maybe she'd come to the conclusion that she wasn't really lucky, being hit by a car. Her ear.

(unscrews cola bottle, takes a small sip, twists cap back on) Oh!

Yes?

Her face, her, it seemed like an ape's. Well, not like an ape's, more like one of those sculptures made by forensics-- sculptors. The dead hookers and the neanderthals. I know it's not a nice thing to say. But she seemed to be made of clay and pig's teeth. Her hair was dry and curly and twisted, twisty-- powdery, light brown. I think she wore a jacket with a suede collar. I think her jeans were regular, blue. Her ass, I couldn't see for sure, didn't look very good. Nothing against her, it's just, her jeans. I don't know. And her coat maybe too. It wasn't very attractive.

This was at the VIA rail depot, 11pm?

I think she was waiting for her honey.