Part 26 (1/2)

'Art and h.o.m.os.e.xuals on the plains of West Texas. Is life funny or what?'

'Or what.'

The mayor looked around, leaned in, and lowered his voice.

'These h.o.m.os.e.xuals, they're the best thing to ever happen to Marfa, even if they are abominations in the Lord's eyes.'

'Good of you to look past their human faults.'

'I'm a Christian man.'

'And a real-estate broker.'

'That, too.' He leaned back. 'Before the artists, don't believe we had a h.o.m.os.e.xual in town ... well, there was the Johnson boy, everyone wondered about him. But he moved over to Alpine. They got a university there.'

As if that explained the Johnson boy's change of venue.

'During the Chinati Open House in October, we'll have more h.o.m.os.e.xuals per square foot in Marfa than in San Francisco'-Nadine gave Book an 'I told you so' look-'and most of them are Jewish to boot. Got me to thinking about a motto for Marfa, you know, like ”Muslims to Mecca.”'

'That's Mecca's motto?'

The mayor had the look of a man about to make a big announcement.

'”Jews to Judd.” What do you think? Kinda catchy, ain't it?'

The mayor smiled proudly, as if he had just coined another 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.' Nadine eyed the mayor as she had the Border Patrol agents that first day; Book hoped she would not express the same evaluation of the mayor.

'Jews to Judd? Are you a dope?'

'I'm the mayor.' He turned his hands up as if innocent. 'I figured we could run an ad in the New York Times.'

Book shook his head. 'I wouldn't go there, Mayor.'

The mayor seemed perplexed. But he quickly shook it off and continued with his sales pitch.

'Anyway, we got the largest hydroponic tomato farm in the world, they produce twenty million pounds of tomatoes every year.'

'Lot of tomatoes.'

'd.a.m.n straight it is. We got that El Cosmico hippie campground. I heard tell folks smoke dope out there.'

'You're kidding?'

'Nope. And we're fixin' to have an art-house drive-in movie theater, designed by the same architects that designed the Museum of Modern Art in New York.'

'You need a Starbucks,' Nadine said.

'We got a Frama's.'

'Coffee shop?'

'Yep.'

'Fresh ground beans?'

'Yep.'

'Real cream?'

'Yep.'

'Where?'

'Block west of the Paisano.'

'I'm there.'

'How much coffee do you drink?' Book asked his intern.

'As much as I can.'

The mayor pressed on. 'Press calls us ”Santa Fe South” and ”Marfa's Vineyard.”'

'Is that a compliment?'

'Yankees like the sound of it. And it brings the celebrities to town. Robert Redford was just here-'

'We heard.'

'-and Michael Nesmith performed here last year.'

'Who's he?' Nadine asked.

'The Monkees.'

'He's a monkey?'

'The Monkees. TV show about a band back in the late sixties.'

'I wasn't born until the late eighties. Is he dead, too?'

'He wasn't when he sang here.'

'We heard there's some conflict between the newcomers and the old-timers?' Book said.

'Sounds like you've been talking to Sam Walker?'

'We have.'

'He tell you about the Triple As?'