9/10

That morning i got up bright and early. Coffee. Listened to NPR. Hot and humid. They were predicting heavy thunderstorms later in the day. I went to Walmart and bought new underwear and white t-shirts. Then i went to Wurstboro and got a haircut, came home trimmed my beard and put on the $900 custom leather pants Friendly had given me back in the winter, while things were still hot between us. I hadn't taken a shower in a couple of days, knowing how much the girl dug the stank. If I was to win her back, I had to think outside of the box- so to speak.
1:00pm- Drive into city. Now, every time I crested the mountain I couldn't help seeing that insurance salesman laying dead in the road, forms stuck to his bloody face. Drive on pass, saying a little prayer. Made it into town in record time. No traffic.
3:30pm- Meet Friendly at E13 and Ave. B. We go in Cafe Bistro for a drink. It's tense at first. This is the first time I've seen her since I dropped her off at the bus station on her birthday, my gut filled with undigested steak.
3:45pm. Doesn't take long for things to thaw and immediately heat up. Never underestimate the power of smell. (note: this only works with phermonal sympathetics) With the wrong partner you get nothing but turned up nose.
4:30pm. Take it to the car and there's a sureptitious afternoon downpour, allowing us to go to the back seat and in no time have the windows so fogged the outside world disappears. She DOES have a big "C" tattooed on her lower back and thankfully no 666 labia ink. Take my word for it. The thunderstorm lasts only so long and we go back to the bar for some food and more drinks.
6:00pm- Decide to wander the EV, checking out record stores and ending up down by CBGBs.
7:00pm- The skys open up and again and we get soaked. We duck in a doorway and make out on someone's front stoop on E6th. The cameras should be running....it's sooooo romantic.
8:00pm- Have another quick drink and head back to the car. Both of us are soaked to the bone and there's a heavy thunderstorm bearing down on the city. I lose track how many times we screw in the back seat. We have the place to ourselves. Once in a while I can see the shadow of an umbrella float by.
10:00pm- I start up the car and AC. It's sweltering. Friendly cracks the window and sticks her sweaty head outside. Her hair is plaster across her forehead and i can see lightning reflected in her eyes, as one strike hits the power station up on 14th.
1:00am- We wake up naked, stuck to each other in the back of the car. The rain has let up. I have to work in the morning and it's a two hour drive home. She has to get back to Jeeves. I take Friendly to the L and head up the West side highway for the GWB.
3:05am- Make it home in one piece. Friendly and I had talked very little. She said she'd call in the morning and we'd figure out where to take it from here. The one thing that was for certain was that we'd started it all up again. I felt on top of the world. Fuck Jeeves and fuck work tomorrow. I'm sleeping in.

9/11
A little after 8:00am- The phone rings. "Ahhhhh." I say out loud, still half asleep. I know it's Friendly. "Hellooooooooo." I say. "Good. You're home!" the voice says. It's the old man calling from the lake. "Yeah. I took off today." I say wearily, disappointed it's not my girl. " Well NY's a mess. Some little plane just hit the World Trade Center." I can hear the TV in the background."What kind of plane?" I ask, trying to shake the cobwebs. "OH MY GOD!" the old man crys, as the second plane hit the towers.