LARGE LANGUAGE LOVE, DIVINE

Ghosts Of Scranton

…Zeph’s car broke down in Panama City Beach, which resulted in unexpected intimacy…

Ghosts Of Scranton

Her Timex beeped. Four PM. They picked up his car. Buildings were rumors in the fog. Cars appeared and disappeared. Wherever people were, it was somewhere else. She was somewhere else. Claire kept thinking, This city is a ghost, this place is a dream. She said jokingly to Zeph, "Maybe we should come back some time."

She fell asleep and dreamed of the Great Dalton Mission and holding Zeph and the calm ocean and the fog. When she woke up they were in Scranton. Zeph was getting gas. She excused herself and found a payphone and called Boom Boom.

"Listen," she said, already crying. "I feel like I've got a lot to say, but I don't know how to say it."

"I know."

"What? You pulled me?"

"No. You called me last night."

"I did?"

"Uh huh. You told me you were super drunk and probably wouldn't remember anything you said."

"I don't remember. What did I say? Was I out of my mind?"

"You said there are things you wanted, or I guess, things you've always wanted. And you'd given up on them because you thought you couldn't have them. But now you think you can."

He didn't sound upset. Like all Daltons, Boom Boom could get nervous, scared, uncomfortable, but he didn't get upset.

"Was I talking about emotions, and relationships, and love, and sex?"

"You didn't get into specifics. You mentioned wanting to feel special."

Claire was back on the beach in the fog with Zeph. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Boom Boom cleared his throat. "Claire, you deserve to feel special. You've got every right to want to feel special."

He cared, in the way he could. She was still crying. Claire said, "You've helped me so much. You listened to me. You never judged me. You showed me the world isn't completely out of control. I'm so grateful to you. I'm so, so grateful. But..."

"I get it. I think part of why it's all really intense right now is the whole holding all that data and then having it suddenly removed. I kept telling the hub it wasn't a good idea keeping you loaded up as long as they did.”

"I don't think I can support the Mission anymore."

"I get it."

"I don't want to cause drama. The last thing I want to do is jam things up for you."

"No, no drama. No one would want you to be unhappy. We'll get a divorce, and the hub'll take care of everything. I'll get set up with someone else. There's no hard feelings from the community." Boom Boom cleared his throat again. "But they will want compensation."

"Of course. Fair is fair. I get it. How much?"

"I'm not sure. They'll use your bank account."

"Whatever it is, that's what I owe." She tried to say his name and it sounded like she was gargling marbles. "I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met you. I'm going to miss you so much."

"Respect to Respect."

He didn't say he was going to miss her. Claire placed the receiver against her chest. For some reason she was now thinking about the little boy back who'd dropped his donut and then stepped on it. Was the meaning of life that everything was actually sad and beautiful and dumb and perfect all at the same time? Or was it all actually about donuts, like Zeph said. For a moment it was. The gas station was on the side of a steep hill. Across the street stood a cinder block lodge with a neon shamrock in the the lone window. A large man opened the door and his pants fell down exposing his fleshy bare ass. Claire said, "Okay, too much."

She put the receiver back to her ear and Boom Boom was saying, "What's that?"

The door closed behind the man. She waited for something more to happen, and when it didn't she snorted up a bunch of mucus and said, "Scranton. I'm in Scranton."

…Claire and Zeph solidify the first loop of infinity…