Zero History

down and I’m good for six months of mineral water. Actually what I need now’s a gym.
Serious one. What did he do?”
“I’m not sure I could explain that,” Hollis said, pouring her own coffee. “But I made a
very firm agreement never to try.”
“Crook?”
“No,” said Hollis, “though some of what he did involved breaking laws. You know
Banksy, the graffiti artist?”
“Yeah?”
“He liked Banksy. Identified with him. They’re both from Bristol.”
“But he wasn’t a graffiti artist.”
“I think he thought he was. Just not with paint.”
“With what?”
“History,” said Hollis.
Heidi looked unconvinced.
“He worked with an older man, someone with a lot of resources. The old man decided
what should be done, what the gesture would be, then Garreth worked out the best way to
do it. And not get caught. Dramaturge to the old man’s playwright, sort of, but sometimes
actor as well.”
“So what was the problem?”
“Scary. Not that I didn’t approve of what they were doing. But it was scarier than
Bigend’s stuff. I need the world to have a surface, the same surface everyone sees. I don’t
like feeling like I’m always about to fall through, into something else. Look what
happened to you.”
Heidi picked up a triangle of dry toast, considering it the way a potential suicide might
consider a razor. “You said they weren’t crooks.”
“They broke laws, but they weren’t crooks. But by the very nature of what they did,
they constantly made enemies. He came to L.A., we hung out. I was starting the book. He
went back to Europe. Saw him again when I was over here to sign the car contract.”
“I got a proxy.” Biting off a corner of toast, chewing it dubiously.
“I wanted to be here.” Hollis smiled. “Then he came back with me, to New York. He
wasn’t working. But then they were gearing up again. It was the run-up to Obama’s
election. They were getting ready to do something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. If I did, and kept my promise, I couldn’t tell you anyway. I just got
really busy with the book. He wasn’t around as much. Then he just wasn’t around.”
“Miss him?”
Hollis shrugged.
“You’re a difficult fit, you know that?”
Hollis nodded.
“Must make it harder.” Heidi got up, carried her whiskey and coffee into the bathroom,