Still Life by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.
Still Life
Page 168
Under Assistant Asshole
"The Classified Stroll"
Every morning at precisely 7:42 AM, Martin took his golden retriever, Crouton, for a walk through the winding cul de sacs of Sycamore Ridge. It was a quiet neighborhood, the kind where mailboxes were shaped like miniature barns and every lawn had a sign that said “We Believe in Science” next to a pesticide company’s flag.
But Martin’s peace was reliably punctured by one man; Gregory Vance.
Gregory didn’t so much greet Martin as ambush him; emerging from hedges, driveways, or sometimes inexplicably from behind Martin’s own recycling bin.
“Morning,” Gregory would say, puffing his chest like a pigeon on a protein bender. “Still walking that dog, huh? I work for Sandia Labs.”
Martin, ever polite, would nod. “Oh, neat. What do you do there?”
And that’s when Gregory would pause, smile like a man who’d just swallowed a secret, and reach into his windbreaker to produce a