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Stories from the Verse
Re Verse All
Chapter 65: Takano 34
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Hastings 207
The trip to the camping store went smoothly, and Tommy picked up the rest of the items on her shopping list.
“Do you wear a belt in your pants?” Clark asked.
“Not usually,” Tommy replied. “Why?”
“Well, one of these web belts can be extremely useful. In an emergency they make an adequate tourniquet, and you can unravel them for string if necessary. But I was thinking that a couple of these belt hooks might be useful--they slide over the belt, and you can attach little things to them like your pocket knife and your waterproof match container. That way you have them available without stuffing them in your pockets.”
That made sense, and Tommy bought three, thinking that she knew what to do with two of them and might come up with a use for the third. They soon had her purchases in the trunk of Peggy’s car.
As they pulled out of the parking lot, Tommy said, “Any chance we might go back to that club? I’d like to see Johnny Angel again.”
“He’s a bit old for you, isn’t he?” Peg quipped, and Tommy blushed.
“It’s not that. We come from the same place, and it’s pleasant to reminisce about home.”
“If you miss home, why don’t you go back? Delaware isn’t that far, you know.”
Tommy nodded; she was going to need an answer to this.
“Well, someone has said you can’t go home again. You can go to the same place, but the place you remember isn’t there. I think that’s one reason why I started my walking tour--when I came back from Japan, nothing was quite the same, and I didn’t really feel at home anymore.”
“Well, that’s weird, if you ask me,” Peg said, “but I suppose we could go. Clark, what time does Dot get off tonight?”
“Four o’clock,” he answered.
“Think she’d be up for a night in the city? Or do you guys have plans?”
“I think I could persuade her. All I have to do is promise to dance with her.”
Talking of weird, Tommy thought that was weird.
“Well, then,” Peg continued, “I guess I have to take everyone home to get ready, and we should stop by the store and let Dot know our plan. Then I’ll swing back around to pick everyone up. Sound good?”
People seemed to be assenting, and Tommy pulled a five dollar bill from her remaining funds. “Here,” she said. “Take this for gas money, and thanks for driving.”
Peg took the bill and slipped it into a shirt pocket. “No problem,” she said. “Thanks.”
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with five other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #376: Characters Arrive. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
