Abe sings along at the top of his lungs, tracks into SCP, finds parking almost directly below Sandy’s place, takes the elevator up, pops on in. Blast of light, loud music, it’s the Tustin Tragedy on the CD here, singing “Happy Days” in Indonesian gamelan style, punctuated by machine-gun fire. The rhythms perk Abe up immediately, and Erica gives him a peck on the cheek. “Tashi was looking for you.” Good. Sandy barges around a corner, “Abraham, you look wilted, you just got off work, right?” The Sandy grin, an eyedropper appears in his fingers and it’s head back, lids pulled open, drip drip drip. Abe offers it back to Sandy; “Polish it, there’s more.” Drip, drip, drip, his spinal cord is suddenly snapping off big bursts of excess electricity and he wanders into the next room, they’re dancing there and he feels great shocks of energy coursing up his spine and out his fingertips, he dances hard, leaping for the ceiling, shaking it all out, now that feels good. He tilts his head back, “Yow! Yow! Yoweeee!” Coyote time at Sandy’s place, traditional high point of the parties, everyone just hauls back and lets loose, they must be audible all the way to Huntington Beach. Great.

Feeling much better, he goes out onto the balcony. Still no sight of Tash, though the balcony’s his spot; Tash never goes indoors when he can help it. Even lives on a roof, in a tent. Abe loves it; Tash, his closest friend, is like a cold salt splash of the Pacific.

Instead he encounters Jim. Jim’s a good friend too, no doubt about it. But sometimes … Jim’s so earnest, so unworldly; Abe has to be in the right mood to really enjoy Jim’s intense meaningfulness. Or whatever it is. Not now. “Hey there, bro,” Abe says, “Howzit.” Pretty lidded, he is.

“Good. Hey, you worked today, huh? How’d it go?”

Ah, Jimbo. Just what he doesn’t want to talk about. “Fine.” Jim cares, and that’s nice, but Abe wants some distraction, here, preferably Tash, or one of his young women friends … a little chat and he’s off.

Still no Tash on the balcony. To his surprise, he runs into Lillian Keilbacher instead. “Hello, Lillian! I didn’t know you knew Sandy!”

“I didn’t, till tonight.” She looks thrilled to have been introduced, which is funny since Sandy knows everyone.