"What do you want to do?" she asked me today when I called her.
"I want to see your house."
Stunned silence. Then, -- "Well, all right, but... we have no furniture!"
"Oh, you've seen my place already, I don't even have a bed. Sleep on a petate, like the Aztecs, eh?"
"Well, we have beds, yes, but, and yes, a table to eat, and a couch, and well, all right...."
Then I walk by the apartments for rent on Callejon del Travieso. You know what they call Dennis the Menace here in Mexico? Daniel el Travieso. Yeah. Go figure and you know who I am, no? But I'm not ready to move to the little street of the menace, no. Yeah, Agustin can be a bitch, and sling all kinds of insults at my wanting to have a friend over to visit, but hey, he's only watching out for the place. And although I'm paying too much rent for the two rooms (one kitchen and one bed) that I get (plus a bathroom), still, it's worth it because it comes with him. And he's watching out for all of us. But....
So I looked in the street gate and saw the sign that said PLEASE KEEP THIS GATE CLOSED TO KEEP OUT THE BAD-LIVERS (malvivientes) but... the gate was open....
I don't think I'm going to move. Not yet.
But if he threatens me again, telling me to move out....
*sigh and double sigh*
I walk from Travieso half-a-block over to Revolution. Luckily discover an empty bench near the corner of Segunda. Sit down and continue writing this. Find myself thinking about... guess who? Yeah, Marie.
Hard to admit but I've been trying NOT to see her every day. I like having some time alone, I don't want to spend as much money as I do, and, strangest of all, I like feeling the feeling of missing her. Tells me she is someone special for me, if I hurt when I don't see her. Oh, yeah.
But I'm afraid of telling her I want time alone. I tell her I have to work, or I have to go to San Diego, or....
The time is come to be honest. To tell her I want to have time alone. To....
Or....
I like to just sit here, writing, with nothing to think of, nothing to do, until tomorrow when I'll go meet her at her office and then go see her house....
AND LAST NIGHT... we met after my return from the birthday weekend. I took her to a computer cafe and showed her my ephemeris program that I've programmed to run the western skies in April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November of 1519. The fabulous months when Cortes and landed in Mexico, and then marched toward the Aztec capital and Moctezuma. And there, in the west, the dance of Venus, Xolotl, the evening star of the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl, whispering every evening to the superstitious Aztec king, guess who? Guess what? He's BBAAAAACCcckkkk........
They're back. They're here.
The gods from beyond the waters. The gods from the east, where the sun rises....
Then we walked up REVO to Caesar (Cesar) Hotel and shared some tequilas in their old bar, which is now set up like a sports bar with walls of TVs. But something is different than when I went by myself some Sunday, when was it? I don't remember....
Oh no, now I do. It was the night of Oscar awards, I think. Yeah. That was a month or so after I moved into Augustin's building. Yeah, that's how long it's been. Now you know.
Anyhow, something feels different about the place, now. Like, like, like something fundamental is about to change forever.... The guy in the suit behind the Caesar's bar is the same as last spring, but... it's like he knows something is about to happen, but can't say it....
I can't put my finger on it. But something... something is about to happen in Rome, and Caesar may never be the same again....
But we had a nice time. The tequila is good. Still, I wish I could find just an ordinary cantina where things aren't so damn fancy and tourist-trappy.
And Maria... that's something special about her... I think she would fit in no matter where we went. Like Rydra Wong in Samuel Delany's Babel-17, she cuts across worlds. My ideal, always.
I think I like her more and more, every time I see her. And... tonight, alone, I look forward to seeing her tomorrow. And seeing her house.