78 Milkshakes heaven

They sat in the back booth of the Wimpy's, Wabash & Madison. Pre-hologram Chicago, all in the real. Milkshakes heaven. Lala knew that, too.

Picked up on the Bstreams full of pleasure, such a magical divine place. K Tate with the folded letter from Lisa Sestina in his back pocket.

Hidden, the toothpick box and the eye in his leather jacket, bought on Maxwell Street. Lots of pockets, a cop's coat. A dealer's garb. Both.

They'd been in the city for three days. Lala had bought a clunky purse, all the hipster tht girls it girls had them. Inside: the Panopticon.

Lala wanted to rename it the Visagerycon. K Tate thought it sounded too much like menagerie con and she pouted. But they did not fight.

They had money, she had followed a brainstream to Burnham Harbor, a rich man's yacht. Wallet held hundreds. He'd miss nothing, snored away.

I'll still need to work: K Tate. I can skiptrace. Lala: question mark balloon. Find people that don't want to be found, did that for years.

Back in my twenties, before the fall, the corporate buyout of the country. I doubt my father's writings would be this grim, good on him.

Lala, I'm 44, how old are you? You look like a teenager (my daughter? why no one looks sidewise). I'm as old as you think, as you believe.

One day, I'll tell you more (about my true connection to the Trinity Visagerists) Let us just enjoy this-pre-modern world, this lovely city.

They touched hands, people on the street flashed peace signs, a newish thing, the entire room slurping the last of their shakes. He flashed.

Is this how Mickey Milkshake got his name? I couldstay here forever in the vanilla of the gods. Elevated trains crisscrossed above them.

In his past/future, the tracks would be like sutures. Here, they were simply transportation for people who never stopped smiling. Lala spoke

What was that? K Tate said after the train echoed by. We should go to the library, try to understand this Panopticon better. He nodded yes.

Hand in hand, straight up Wabash. That silver building was for Amoco Oil. In 2012, they owned Colorado. Amocoloradoil. Weird, but yeah.

Clothing shops galore. No parking garages, no happy homeless. Glory. Lala would buy bangles and K Tate would watch the passing parade 5/1/65

A woman who sold Lala her current top, a Cubs shirt reading Kessinger Beckert to Banks yer OUT! told her the library was opposite Wrigley.

Keep walking to the big white building, clock up high. Everything seemed like it was on pause. Stopped at the red light, K Tate looked west.

State-Lake Theater. Craned to the roof, would Lisa Sestina wave back? And backwards? Marquee: Robert Mitchum in THUNDER ROAD. Below that:

Steve McQueen THE GREAT ESCAPE. Stifled a laugh, thinking of dad and unc. Lala couldn't see their brainstreams, train tracks a backwards L.

K Tate thinking it through, Lala humming some song someone else was humming when they passed over the bridge. Wrigley ivory tower ahead.

K dad thinks I know something I shouldn't, yet by looking at the Panopticon (call it Opti or something, huh?) when dreams or brainstreams

tell us so, we look down like in a viewfinder, framesnaps of K & O. Crazy as it sounds, K dad would one day impart upon him the knowledge.

Dicky O would spill it, K dad slop it up. The same dilly-o info K dad would want to kill him for. He thought, too, about '68, born again K.

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