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Show All the Variables & Other Love Stories 82 hit Travis and Travis demanded satisfaction upon the field of honor, Feste made sure to be the first one off the roof. Feste had been listening to Circle of Dead Children and acting stupid in the backyard while Anthony fretted. They argued over whether or not to get the cops called on them. Feste voted yes and Anthony voted no. The house sat on a quiet side street bordered on two sides by an abandoned acre of crabapple trees and milkweed and giant shag shrubs. The empty lot was generally considered a fire hazard by the same neighbors who sometimes used it as a dumping ground for unwanted refrigerators, rained sofas and mattresses, and condemned hot-water heaters. Feste wanted to pull the refuse into the street to make a roadblock, but Anthony said no, absolutely not. Feste was willing to be reasonable and said if Anthony would drink with him on the roof, he would let the roadblock wait for another day. Drinking on the roof was Feste's favorite drinking game. The rales were simple: ascend with a bottle and a companion to the nearest rooftop. Engage in pleasant conversation and pass the bottle back and forth. The bottle must remain in perpetual motion, either being drunk or being passed. Whoever takes the last drink must, without looking, throw the empty bottle off the roof. The penalty for holding the bottle or refusing to throw the bottle was your companion putting his cigarette out on your bare flesh. Feste and Anthony got drunk and talked about the Neurosis back-catalogue while a line formed on the asphalt below, out the front door, around the side of the house, and into the street, which is why Travis was in the way when Anthony, under threat of cigarette scar, hurled the empty eighth of sour mash. The bottle glanced off Travis' shoulder and popped like an icicle on the blacktop. |