We’ve got the teen and her girlfriends with us and they’re lounging around Lou’s pool in their bikinis because apparently Jazz Attenborough’s name still means something to the 15-year-old set （good sign!）。 Eventually we all go out onto the deck overlooking the ocean and sure enough, a long black cigarette boat zips into view, the kind you’d expect to be delivering bricks of cocaine outside Miami. It’s going so fast it’s a blur, but Lupa’s brought along the camera she uses to shoot insects in flight, and she takes blasts of the boat and then breaks them down into stills so we can zoom in and see everyone. The scene is intense: in one, Bosco is midair with a Munch-like howl on his face. There’s one of Jules puking over the side of the boat, and then he disappears. Can’t find him anywhere!
Jazz Attenborough has a kind of wolfish grin, like he’s enjoying pushing everyone to the brink of death or possibly beyond it （where the hell is Jules?）。 After a while they tear away and reappear in a different boat, this one even longer, canary yellow. On the yellow boat, Lulu and Jazz Attenborough get into a serious conversation that distracts Jazz to the point that he slows the boat down and we’re able to see everyone clearly. Jules is back, looking very white. Attenborough hands over the steering to Lulu and sits down with a kind of blank expression. Lulu knows her way around a speedboat, and they take another few turns before finally heading in to Lou’s dock.
I’m wondering if we’ll have to carry Bosco and Jules off the boat, and I’m also wondering if Bosco will have screamed his voice away. But Bosco and Jules come off the boat bellowing, pumped, both in swim trunks （Jules wore a T-shirt and you’re right, he’s slimmed down!）， both of them roaring at the top of their lungs. It’s a geezer fest. The photographer and videographer follow them off the boat, and the teens are whispering and giggling, a little cowed by these ancient alphas, and now everyone’s just waiting for Jazz.
He comes last, with Lulu. I know she’s in her thirties and a mom, but in the company of these geezers she looks 21 again. Jazz keeps turning to her, checking on her, worrying over her injured arm, and my stomach is starting to turn （you know his rep）。 Then he takes Lulu’s hand to help her off the boat and their faces line up for a second, and I realize that it’s EXACTLY THE SAME FACE. Dimples, cheekbones, chin. Think about it, Steph. She’s basically a clone of him.
There’s more, as I’m sure you’ve heard from Jules. But I’m going to stop there and let you digest.
Love, B
12
Lulu Kisarian→Chris Salazar and Molly Cooke, VIA MONDRIAN
Hey you two,
I don’t think I’ve seen either of you since Colin’s memorial （ten years ago, can that be?）， but I think of you both a lot, especially that day when we rode away from the country club on our bikes and fell asleep on the pier. It is one of those way stations that I keep coming back to, maybe because of Colin. Still can’t believe he’s gone.
Anyway, I’m contacting you now at the suggestion of Ames Hollander, who recently gave me some invaluable cleaning help. Small world, great minds, all roads, etc. Who needs a Collective Consciousness?
I’m thirty-five, unemployed, and looking for a way to make the world better, not worse. I know something of your work from Ames Hollander, and from the grapevine, and from the ether （and from your mom, Chris, who brought me lunch recently）。 If you’ll have me, I would love to work for you.
Awaiting your reply, Lulu
Lulu Kisarian→Joseph Kisarian Joseph my love,
The general’s compound is a ruin, but they let us walk through it.
A tree with enormous waxy leaves has thrust itself through the middle of the room where Mom and I slept.
They’ve named a holiday after Kitty and filmed her riding a wild stallion into the sunset. They’re going to put her on a postage stamp.
Kitty and my father are planning to make a Western together. Horses and speedboats apparently have more in common than you’d think.