Aquarius Falling

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

July 18, 1964

Transportation Resolved

Marvin Gaye belted out “Hitch Hike” as I surveyed my nose in the bathroom mirror. “The purple’s turning kind of brown, but it looks better, except it’s not straight anymore.”

“It looks cute,” Misty said. “How’s the cut on the back of your head? That’s what you should be worried about.”

“It’s OK. It’s scabbing over.”

“Let me see.”

She came into the bathroom and started spreading the hair on the back of my head to get a look.

“Ow. Don’t press it like that,” I protested.

“Oh, you baby. That should have had stitches, but no way could we have done anything about it that night. You would have been carted right off to jail for arson.”

“You know, you’ve been a pretty good nurse these last few days. Have you ever thought about doing that?”

“I’m not good at bedpans. I’ve just been nursing you ’cause you’re my hero. You came to my rescue.”

“More like you came to my rescue. Anyway, right now we need to do something about making more bread. I’ve got to get back to doing photo work and getting clients. Besides, today’s Saturday. The beach will be packed with weekenders, and Jack’s only been able to use his contact at the Majestica for any business. We’ve only brought in fifty dollars in the last two nights. I think Jack scares people when he approaches them.”

“Stop worrying. It’ll pick up. We just have to keep you off the beach and away from any lifeguard who might recognize you.”

“I can’t stay off the beach,” I said. “I’ve got to get back to working at Pyramid Photos. It’s been the best way to get business. Maybe you could put some makeup on my nose.”

“What did Jack tell your boss at Pyramid?”

“Just that I’d be out a couple of days, that I’d had an accident. I’ll tell Mr. D I got into a bar fight.…There’s something I want to ask you about the other night, Misty.”

“Yeah?”

“Was the other night a new moon?”

“Oh! I know where you’re going with this,” she said, throwing a towel against the wall. “You wanna know why I didn’t see it coming. If I’m such a good goddamned astrologer, why’d I go in that house? Or better yet, why’d I even approach that bastard lifeguard in the first place?”

“Don’t get mad.” A small blue vein appeared on her temple, and red blotches formed on the ivory skin of her neck. “I just…I don’t know. It was just very dark…”

“No, goddamn it! It was not a new moon. New moons come roughly every twenty-nine days. The next one will be August seventh or eighth.”

I didn’t say anything, and after a few moments Misty calmed down. More collected, she said, “You didn’t see a moon the other night because it had already passed. I knew that something might go wrong, that it could be a bad night. I did check my chart, and it warned about new ventures being risky. But just because I know something bad—or even good—might happen, it doesn’t mean I’ll do the right thing or take the right path. It’s like the night Sylvia got beat up. I know how the stars line up and the impact of the moon phase. I just don’t know exactly what will happen or if anything will happen. It’s just that the conditions are there. Like the weather, it could be cold and cloudy, so it could snow, but it doesn’t mean it will snow.”