Gar is in his mid sixties. Gar is content, but never complacent. He behaves like a hapless child because he thinks it is wise. His small awkward body looks like it has been used for stunt work in films. His white hair is tied up in a small ball and the sides of his head are shaved like a monk warrior. He administers to the shrine for the prayer group.
Sue lives alone in a room on Stark. She has an inquisitive mind. She wanders in the field by the Da Vinci school. She feels an ancient sadness rooted in her Irish ancestry.
Gar wants to go to Singapore to study with the monks at the Yeun monastery.
Sue likes to think that she can think for herself even though she is beset by confusion.
Gar would have Sue discontinue the anti-psychotic medication given to her when she was in the hospital. He can’t give himself to Budda enough.
Sue has three meatballs with her spaghetti.
Gar has a glass of water.
In japan they have forest therapy, Gar said. Employees spend time in the woods to listen to the streams.
Sue gives Gar one of the meat balls. He examines it.
I would like to go to San Fran, Sue said.
Sue is always thinking of cities she wants to travel to.
I used to live there, said Gar. It is expensive. You could live with me.
I’m a solitary, Sue said.
I’m scared of folks, Gar said.
No, you’re not, Sue said. You’re never alone. You’re always with your group praying and raising money.
In japan they have forest therapy, Gar said. Employees spend time in the woods to listen to the streams.
I think if the innocent are dominated by evil then the innocent are inferior to evil, said Sue. Virtue is dubious.
Ha, said Gar. You are recovering.
We should sit out and watch the sunset after I have taken my bath, Sue said.
It’s thirty degrees out, said Gar.
They killed a suspected terrorist in Pakistan, said Sue. Then they killed his son so he wouldn’t see revenge. They allowed the grandfather to live. He wrote about it in the NY times. They fly drones into sovereign countries. It’s against the law.
Drones are accessible to the public, said Gar. They will be abused.
In the sixties we could organize, said Sue. Now it is impossible to meet folks and talk.
Everything works in a virtual reality. I don’t even have a computer. I don’t trust it. My son has one. He wants to get me one.
Can’t we get you a computer, said Gar. I can talk to my organization. I’m sure we can get one.
I don’t want it, said Sue. I wouldn’t be able to use it. It takes me too long to learn the programs. I’m dyslexic. I can’t keep up.
It doesn’t matter, said Gar. There are features that stay the same. Once you have the basics.
I get very nervous, Sue said. My mother was problematic. She was very jealous.
I can help you with the computer, said Gar.
I think you like it that you can’t be easily reached, said Gar.
What the fuck do you know, said Sue. That poor grandfather lost his son
and grandson. He has no family. He’ll never get justice. The government won’t
compensate him. They can’t. No money can make up for it.
I think we should get you off that medication, Gar said.
It gives me headaches, Sue said. God knows what it is doing to me. I tried to get off it
once but it was so painful. I never knew such pain existed.
Did you hear there’s a sick bastard killing women in the city park, said Sue.
I didn’t hear about anything like that, said Gar.
Are you saying I don’t know what is the deal, said Sue. I read the paper everyday.
Do you read?
I read texts, said Gar.
Yeah, said Sue. That’s not reading. It’s hiding. You hide. Admit it. You are scared.
I face my fears, said Gar.
No, you don’t, said Sue.
Gar and Sue play sex games. He likes to choke her. It gets him going. Sue likes it when
he calls her names. She wears garish lipstick for him.
I was raped, Sue said. I didn’t like it. This killer scares me. I have been having these images of the victims before and after each one is murdered. He does it because he’s impotent.