Despite everything she did, she was a hypochondriac. She lived the same day over and over again. What bothered her didn't seem to bother other people.
A young boy helped her in a Vietnamese restaurant. On the phone, he continued to speak Vietnamese to his girlfriend, but she did not understand him. Ruth envied his fluency. She noticed the plate of rice on the untraditional table. To her, it looked like maggots.
She wasn't familiar with Coke, but those around her talked fast, making her think they were high. It reminded her of the movie Friday the 13th Part 6 Jason Lives, in which Jason keeps getting up fast after the Sheriff blasts him with several rounds from a shutgun.
Ruth's thoughts faded away...
Jeano called her to see if she wanted to see Halloween Ends, so the three of them headed there.
Ruth experienced her terrors, her memories of cutting herself, and her flashbacks despite the theater not being completely dark.
Chuck was the first to do so. Outside Ted's in uptown Missouri, he stood. She was attending a private boarding school at the time. Ted's employed both of them. On the night she last saw him, he did not appear to be involved in trucking. According to Ruth, he promised to quit the hamburger business and become a truck driver.
He told her there was a dispute. Someone had taken his service dog and thrown it around by its tail. He attacked the person who threw his dog with a hatchet out of rage.
At Stacy's Grandmother's house, she cut up her arms. The window was filled with sunlight that day. The sunlight is beautiful. Stacy asked, "What is a Machiavellian?". Stacy didn't plot, sabotage, or ruin anyone's career, but didn't fully understand what Jeano meant. Her grandmother's untuned Wurlitzer piano was now playing Heart and Soul.
The magpie was sitting on a branch outside Ruth's window. It hadn't occurred to her that Stacy had accomplished something remarkable. The melody of Stacy's song had been turned upside down. Whether she knew what she was doing or even how to play was impossible to determine. In those days, Ruth read her poetry at Jill's Swing and Dance on open mic nights. Hearing Ruth read was embarrassing for Stacy. Jeano often told Ruth she thought Ruth was crazy when Ruth wasn't around. As a result, Stacy would be set up for Jeano's response, "Your piano playing is nuts.".
She sat in 226 in the uncomfortable assigned seat, enjoying her nachos, and remembering the time when Jeano and Stacy shared a messy plate of nanchos. They stuck their dirty fingers in the cheese in search of a tasty chip loaded with cheese. Although the thought was still fresh in her mind, Stacy's Grandma wasn't.
There was also the Hymns's Inn. In her car, she analyzed and reflected on her life, where she was and where she was going. She wondered how everyone was doing in Hymns, Missouri, where she grew up. Until she reached the Inn, she drove. Ruth was always concerned that a ram or something bigger would wander onto the road. It happened once, but she narrowly avoided hitting it.
She saw horrifying paintings everywhere when she checked into the Inn. She heard growls or pants under her bed that sounded like the devil was trying to possess her.
She stopped at a mountain rest stop on her way home. She could see the devil watching her over the ridge.
In front of her, a small stream of water was littered with trash. Among the beer cans, she noticed a condom, and wondered what it meant. What a beautiful way to express love. Her view was that it was lustful sex, not love. On the train ride back to the Pittsburgh boarding school she was attending in her teens, she recalled the experience. She worked with Chuck at Ted's. The romantic types of love she had never experienced, she still had not experienced, she would read about.
The woman knew she had to get back in the car and keep going, she had been peeing for too long. She had been wondering why she was bleeding there, but it wasn't her menstrual cycle. All things have their time and place, she thought.
She still got horny and ate when she was hungry despite her OCD.
As soon as the movie ended, her relationship with them ended.
Everyone was exhausted, so Jeano lit a cigarette. Stacy, let's go back to your grandmother's house."
Sure, Jeano, whatever you want. Ruth why don't we grab some Chinese food on the way.
"Sure, Jeano. Anything but white rice will do."
It didn't matter to her anymore.
