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Show Motherlunge a novel 183 The sky moved around in the background behind his fine head. What could I do? I nodded. "That'd be good." I smiled to show that I could. I felt like a skull, my long teeth stuck into dry bone. "Good. Just some time to think. And I have a lot of shit to get done this week." I nodded again. I shaded my eyes to look at his face. I looked, cleared my throat. "Eli, just so you know, I've never used birth control. And I've never been pregnant. I'm perfectly...I'm perfectly safe." He didn't look reassured. " Huh," he said, looking down the street away from me. "So you say this to all the guys." I didn't know whether to nod or shake my head; I pulled my shoulders up in a torticolic spasm, I'm afraid. "There's my bus." And Eli grabbed the strap of the bag across his shoulder and took off running like a kid. And still it was Wednesday, just the middle of the week before Pavia disappeared, and only approaching dinnertime at that. After Eli left me at the comer, I drop-footed my way down the dirty steps at the subway station and got on the train back to my apartment. The train was crowded, but I got a seat next to a large lady who wheezed softy as she worked a find-a-word puzzle, persistently missing CREATURE on the diagonal starting top right. On the other side of me, a guy about my age-asymmetrical hair, torn |