of mass distribution, and what documentaries that reveal the true processes
of aberrant power see the brighter lights of day?"
"I get it," I said in a clipped tone, feeling the need to defend the
media, but I had made that mistake to discover that I didn‘t really give a
shit about it; only myself within it mattered.
Chuckling, I said, "I‘m sure you said this is just an overview day to
get me started."
"I never said it would be easy. By the way, what was that =as close as
I will ever get—Rio,‘ remark about?"
Thankful for her contrived respite—she knew I needed a break—I
said, "I took Catholic lessons when I was in basic training, to get out of
the barracks; we were all restricted to them for the first six weeks."
I explained that, a month later, our platoon went on all night
manoeuvres. Around seven on a frosty October morning, after a sleepless
night playing silly soldier in deep, wet grass, a jeep pulled up to our
riverside camp and the driver announced that anyone who wanted to be
confirmed Catholic had to come with him; the Bishop was waiting back at
the base. As we were theoretically heading for a stretch in purgatory
anyway, Ed and I figured we might as well get a ride part of the way. The
rest of our troop had to march five miles.Chuckling, Bonnie said, "You
paid for those miles a long time ago—let it go. Speaking of going," she
said, suddenly looking at her watch," I have to drive my son to a
basketball tournament."
"And it was just getting interesting," I muttered.
"Reading Castaneda‘s views on being stalked will be interesting as
well," she said, heading toward her car ahead of me. "Later," she said with
a wave over her shoulder.
I thought to call Ed‘s office from a pay phone on Denman Street,
before I headed home. His secretary said he was on a service call, and that
she didn‘t expect him back. I walked four blocks to the Dover Pub, where
I found Ed and Roddy, the president of a collection agency, finishing their
service calls. Ed said he would cover my costs until I cashed my cheque; it
was at the apartment.
I finished my first day as an apprentice of The Way to Live by getting
as properly pissed as an average man can get. Bonnie worked all day
Friday, so I had a full recovery study day off. During this time, I also
decided to reread all of the books we had ever talked about, and to do
whatever she asked of me in our lessons. As a result, my days were full of
=gathering energy‘, with or without her.
