Part 6 (1/2)

Why didn't I become a comedian, instead? Or a rock and roll star?

Jesus.

I sit up and look at the little red light on the wall. I don't know why I didn't notice it before --- it's very bright, and it's in the shape of a woman's lips. ”I'm singing in the rain,” it sings, ”I'm singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again . . .” I glance out the window, and, yes, it's raining. I feel too lazy to crawl over Pris and Felix to get to the window for a better look, so I let myself sink through the bed and floor to the level below, and find --- much to my surprise --- that the room below is exactly like the one above, including the position of the bed and the people in it. So I sink down one more. Still the same thing! To the roof, then. I lie on my back, stretch my arms and legs toward the ceiling, and will myself into the air, up through the floors, the beds, the ceilings, on and on, until there's nothing but cloudy sky. Rain pelts my face and bare chest. I walk naked through a garden and carefully climb over a low iron fence to a grove of trees, and sit down in the damp gra.s.s and watch as the rain forms a rainbow. The rain is warm, like a shower, and I can feel the water running down the hill though the gra.s.s under my b.u.t.t. It's a very s.e.xy feeling, and I notice my p.e.n.i.s is growing fully erect. I feel so free, I just let it grow---- ”Oh, no. Now he's awake.”

”h.e.l.lo. Wake up, wake up.”

Someone is shaking me gently, constantly. It's Pris. She's raised up on one elbow and Felix, behind her, is sitting up. His hair looks as if he'd just gone through electro-shock therapy.

Pris is smiling. ”What do you want for breakfast?”

I blink, then am overcome by a tremendous yawn. Then I realize I have a monster erection and it's making the front of my pants look like a tent. I'm so embarra.s.sed that I'm struck dumb, but Pris doesn't seem to have noticed it. ”C-coffee,” I mutter.

”That goes without saying,” Felix says.

”Does corned beer hash sound okay?” Pris asks.

”Corned beer hash?” Felix erupts into silly, tired laughter.

”I said beef.”

”You said beer.”

”It sounds good,” I tell Pris, feeling my erection fading. Thank G.o.d. ”Either one, beer or beef. What time is it?”

”About seven,” Felix says. ”You know, you snore like a mother.”

”I'm sorry.”

”You're not any worse than Felix,” Pris says. She moves down to get past Felix, who is not moving, and brushes up against my erection which is still quite prominent. She stops and looks at it. ”Oh, h.e.l.lo,” she says, then giggles and continues on her way.

Felix looks at it. ”Nerk,” he says. ”What were you dreaming about?”

”Nothing. Don't you get them in the mornings?”

”Yes.” Felix stands up carefully. The front of his pants looks like a tent.

4. NERK.

The arrangement, from what I understand, is that I drive Aaron's Mercedes to Berkeley and he picks it up at our apartment. So as I come up the hill to our apartment I'm looking for a parking place right in front --- a rarity, but it does happen --- and there before my eyes is a miracle. There is a parking spot up front, and for some reason the parking meter which usually curses this spot is missing. Is the city removing parking meters? I don't believe it. The world will end the day the city of Berkeley removes its cherished parking meters. This must be the work of a vandal, but that's besides the point. If there's no meter, there's no way any of the local, rabid meter maids can justify giving it a ticket. I park, feeling joyful and blessed, and as I get out and lock the car I notice that there are no parking meters along the entire block. None. And they were there yesterday! It's too good to be true --- there has to be a catch somewhere --- but I cross my fingers and, glancing furtively up and down the street, cross the side walk and jog up the empty stairs to the Euclid.

Tom's voice calls out my name as I enter the apartment. He meets me in the hallway, dripping water and wearing nothing but a bath towel wrapped around his waist. ”So,” he says, ”where were you last night?”

”I spent the night with Pris.”

”Oh yeah?”

”And Felix.”

”Oh. Nerk.” He looks down, shrugs, a gesture I guess means You can't win them all. ”I got a call this morning,” he says. ”It seems that the University got some huge grant last fall for some Top Secret government project.”

”Really?” I'm looking around to see any evidence of Heather. I hope to G.o.d he didn't bring her here.

”The person who called in the tip claims the project is right on the campus. You haven't heard anything about it, have you?”

”No, nothing. Not much physics news reaches the biology department.

Are we alone?”

”Yes, we're alone.”

”Did you and Heather survive the night?”

”Yes.” Tom smiles. ”It's really different this time. We've come to a new understanding.”

Yeah, right, I think. Excuse me for being skeptical. ”How long will this last?”

”As long as it does.”

”Hey, do you know what happened to all the parking meters?”

”Parking meters?”

”You know, the parking meters.”

He shrugs. ”I don't know. Look, do you think you can do some snooping around on the campus about this government project? You know, find out what they're doing, what it's for, things like that. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it had something to do with the little red lights everybody's been seeing.”

”Yeah?”

He nods. Water droplets fall from his hair. ”Could be.”

”Okay. I've got to get ready for my cla.s.s. Here's the keys to Aaron's car, he's going to pick it up sometime today. Are you going to be around?”

”No. Put it on the coffee table, he'll find it.”

”I'll leave a note on the front door, just in case.”

”Whatever.” Tom turns and walks dripping to his room.

I go to mine and begin stripping off my clothes. My bed seems to call to me, singing out, ”Sleep . . . sleep . . .” but I ignore it.

Naked except for a towel I head toward the bathroom and take a shower, shave my face, then comb my hair. By the time I'm out, Tom's gone.

As I'm dressing I stare at the phone, wanting to call Pris. But, no, I don't want to seem too eager. I can't believe I spent the night with her. I think about her with her arms and legs around me, sleeping softly warm next to me, I feel all b.u.t.tery inside and feel this energetic euphoria sweep through me. I turn the stereo on loud and sing some Rolling Stones songs as I put on my shoes and socks, and when I'm done I go dancing over to the stereo, turn it off, and continue dancing and singing out the door. I thumbtack a note for Aaron on the outside of the apartment door, telling him where to find his car keys --- he has a key to our apartment in his wallet --- then go walking lightly, almost skipping, out of the building, down the front steps, and across the Berkeley campus.

I reach my cla.s.sroom at exactly 10:00 AM, just when cla.s.s is supposed to start, and to my amazement it's empty. I open the door and look back and forth . . . n.o.body is there. The room is dark and deserted. I turn on the light and walk down toward the front, and notice the rug is the wrong color. It's now dark red as opposed to the pale blue.