Into the Light

Chapter 22: odd Bible stories

Chapter: 22

"Shadow is a colour as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relation of two tones."

Paul Cezanne

Blake and Stiggy meet up near the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Melon in the college student section of Oakland that flanks the schools on a fine, bright fall day. They discuss their travels as Stiggy waits for Blake to set forth his plan. The choice is made to stay in the confines of the city proper, so they can blend in easier within the safety of the skyscrapers even though the Oakland area is cheaper in the city of bridges.

Blake tells Stiggy, still looking rather gruff from his trip even though he's wearing a crushed black velvet suit, that he wants to go to PointState Park to see the fountain right where the rivers meet downtown. Stiggy nods and rubs his eyes. He calls a cab and then looks up an Army/Navy surplus store on Stiggy's phone to collect supplies and camping gear for the journey. As they wait on the student crammed sidewalk, a radio news flash comes through the windows of a Forerunner stopped at the light.

"More developments on the attacks of the Louvre and the wildfires in California that devastate thousands. Ecuador was hit by massive landslides and many still underground. The NASDAQ bottoms out, and bottoms up to the reigning Queen of Media, Medea, with her first day as a twice divorcee and engaged for the third, watch out Elizabeth Taylor. This cutie will have the most booty from the pillaging. More on the couple at six and you won't believe the hundreds of millions of dollars they spent on a new screen adaptation of another comic book that the purists frown upon. But that doesn't matter if it brings in box office. News five after the hour."

A couple hours later, Darius sore, swollen, chomping of a few stale cashews, sits in a cab stuck in traffic on the AndyWarholBridge that leads to downtown Pittsburgh where Wyndam Grand Hotel awaits him. The swanky hotel overlooks the Golden Triangle where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to create the mighty Ohio River. Darius doesn't remember seeing the huge Heinz Ketchup sign as he came in like he did the last time he was there five years earlier. He stares out of the windows and his breath fogs up the inside glass. The sapphire skyline holds over the U.S Steel building. He wants a drink.

The drinks at the hotel bar went right through Stiggy and he shakes his dick dry in a bathroom stall. A chirping whistle shrills off his lips to let anyone who comes in know he's there. He zips up and checks the corners and washes his hands. No paper towels so he wipes his velvet pants. The lack of towels annoys like the day he got stuck in Whitney museums bathroom with no toilet paper and had to ask a teenage boy to get a custodian, but did not. Irked but too buzzed to care, he goes to the swanky bar of the swanky hotel where Blake decided to splurge on a room and top shelf single malt whiskey from Scotland.

Stiggy strides up to Blake, who talks to petit blonde bundled in white as she finishes her a gin and tonic. Slipping into the high backed bar stool, no one notices Stiggy grabs his Vodka Gimlet off the bar.

"Okay Devan, I'll be around. See you later?" Blake asks.

"Definitely," Devan says and in one motion slips off her seat and grazes Blake's cheek with a kiss. An artic white fox coat slips off her shoulder as she backs away with a coy wave of her alabaster hand.

"Who's that?" Stiggy asks

"Devan. She's here for some hair care product convention. Didn't really listen but she thought she recognized me from somewhere. How's the pisser?"

"Fine. Thanks for asking. Should we discuss details?"

"Not here, but yes. I have a plan for location, revelation and elimination brewing. Been writing it down in my notebook. Can't seem to stop writing for some reason. By the way, I think we need to start a blog. We might need acolytes if this becomes a revolution and we need to get the word out. Coded of course. At first we'll blog about conspiracy theories," Blake says and takes a slug of his peaty whiskey.