06-01-05 - 8:02 p.m.
carey materialized beside me at work today.
i want you to see my new place. i bought a microwave. are you still bent out of shape?
then he slugged me, like that grade school kid on the playground he often seems to be. so i slugged him back, and after work, he drove me over to this tiny trailer in a grove of big leafy trees, out on the highway, right next door to the wagon wheel bar. it was paneled inside, like a little mountain cabin. he proudly showed me all his new purchases- dishes, shower curtain, inflatable bed, even a bread box!- for this fresh start, free of wendy and her emotional blackmail.
tomorrow i pay the rent and move in, he said emphatically. tomorrow is the beginning. come over after work, and we'll go next door to the bar and i'll buy you a beer.
cool, i told him. it'll be like cheers; you'll walk in and everyone will know your name!
he didn't get it.