In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

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"Meth?" Penny asked. "Yep, crystal. Had the lab in the barn, it's him burned it down, so now he's just a two bit middleman, hangin' around convicts and niggers. Him and Dad were out huntin' round Thanksgivin'. I stayed here, back's been out. Fuckin' murdered him, I swear! Hell, I'd kill'im myself, but it's too much fun watchin' him go down the tubes, know whuddah mean?" Mitch snorted. "Sorry, Mitch. Been a helluva a year for everybody, huh? Well, say hi to K.C., next time you two hook up, I gotta get back to Dad." She got up and started towards the door. "You know he kinda adopted this freaky geek, right? Grolsch. Real basket case. Better off with your wop, Penny. I tell ya, whole world's going to the dogs. Were you there?" He pointed to the flag. "Yup. I live a couple blocks away, in this basement. The super has a generator for summer brownouts, so I just kept on workin', nothing much else I could do. Well, I gotta go, okay? Take care of that back and watch it too!" "Ha! Yeah! Thanks for stoppin' by. See ya 'round." Penny let herself out, careful not to let the dogs escape. Back at the house, Dad was still in the middle of his equations at the kitchen table. Lurch was nowhere in sight. "What do you want for dinner, Dad?" "I'm busy, make yourself something." She nuked herself a couple of hot dogs, squirted some Guldens on them and poured some sludge into a pencil smeared mug. Her room was out of the question, so she sat in the living room, unchanged except for the lack of plants and the piano, that was long gone to make way for tall gray metal bookcase bookcases crammed with dull books on hydroelectric systems, Brave New World cities and Kennedy era politics, though not of the grassy knoll conspiracy kind. In the faded shabbiness of the living room a heavy black and white TV cabinet still loomed in front of the rotting foam filled sofa. Out the picture window the old car was parked under the Douglas firs. Beyond them spindly aspens quivered in the arctic wind, shining brightly, even against the snow. Penny looked down at her ring. Engaged? She slipped it off. The ring had always looked beat up, but in this house it looked like another shabby trinket from the Salvation Army. She switched it to her right hand finger and curled up on the couch. Penny woke to monosyllabic male voices. She didn't even use 229
the bathroom or brush her teeth, but dialed for the car service on the old rotary phone, grabbed her coat and knapsack and slipped quietly out the door. The little ranch house disappeared behind the jagged black wall of Douglas firs as she crunched down the driveway to the road. 230
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elsie russell in over her head ...l
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IN OVER HER HEAD by Elsie Russell
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For Robert Déscharnes
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CANAL STREET There was another cust
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some were balancing bamboo poles ac
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heaved and spun slowly out of contr
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with me, her place just got broken
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"Wait! Miss Nova, uh, Ula, get up,
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and―" "Sure, control is the artis
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laptop gone too. Stereo and speaker
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this guy's part in all this? The bo
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grinning ear to ear over on the sof
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used in a dance piece, not to menti
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said, "Hey, do you mind? I've got a
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echarger. "Hey, ever the hear this
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third degree anyway. Like a flock o
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CHEZ SCHWANZ The two Eames chairs d
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Monde, also the initiating cause of
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He didn't wake when the stewardess
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apron. "This is Inez, she will show
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white leather sofa with some kind o
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it was soda pop! You'll be dead bef
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he sees you without your sompteuse
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around, slamming on their brakes, t
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him, to get him back to reality, wh
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like everyone else, so their voices
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"Again, the rain!" Rubbing her hip,
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storekeepers. The red faced blue co
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eally depressed and needy types, it
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urned cigarette into the ashtray. S
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her neck over her navy blue house d
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a son. But then, what do you know,
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Lucien chuckled and left for the be
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education, and motivation." Maia no
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A leopard canvas futon strewn with
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contraband, the labels are in Russi
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door. "We will call tomorrow, early
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It is an honor to lose!" "Yeah, con
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Penny stifled a yawn. "You want to
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DICK SCHWANZ HAS A CHANGE OF HEART
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Dick poured himself a jigger, squir
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DISTURBING DISCOVERIES A greenish g
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"Yeah, could be." "What's on the vi
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her feet in dirty white bunny slipp
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sucked in his cheeks as he vacuumed
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Maia drained her cup hurriedly as s
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"Hospital? You can wait eighteen ho
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BEATRICE She stood back lit under t
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standing in the doorway. "Ah! Manag
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urbanization. This is how our poor
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Fantasy in C Minor? I've been waiti
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From Greek god to cubist collage, h
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ULA AND NG Ng dragged Ula into Cybe
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He tossed her the suit from the flo
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ight up your alley, my alley, our s
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AT THE LOUVRE Penny got her knapsac
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"Yeah, let me show you something."
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uxom goddesses. She turned right, d
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fresh air. Under the high vaulted c
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crisscrossing the lawn. "How do you
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Alessandro's room was similar to he
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"But she does mine!" "That figures.
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ouncy fake breasts sudsed her hair.
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"Right. Well, you seem normal enoug
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AMORE Penny collapsed into the duve
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passwords, and seemed just a little
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"But it is the Annunciation! There
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was stuck. All this passive-aggress
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eyes shut. "Now mama wants to keep
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Signora sustained a cheerful banter
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her bathroom as fast as she could,
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style guest supplies of nail clippe
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eyed into empty space. "This is the
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ought out a picture of two boys in
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BATS IN THE BELFRY Downstairs in th
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packing. "Holy shit!" Penny blurted
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Ula brushed her leg through and spr
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as a dream, as she often fell aslee
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need a hard copy. Penny, do you hav
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around and worked her way through t
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one of those pins you could have he
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"I am glad you asked, Penny." She w
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"'Bout what?" "That I doubted your
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They worked into the night tighteni
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ROMAN HOLIDAY Between rows of sleek
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dainty Parisian heels like the runw
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"Is the truth!" "Okay, okay," Penny
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"Weird science." Ula gave Penny's r
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THE ANGEL'S TOMB "This is where Had
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"I get the picture, I get it, okay?
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and the face was not Abe Lincoln's.
Page 185 and 186: sisters, eat boiled dandelions and
Page 187 and 188: Sandro carried Ula on the plane and
Page 189 and 190: under a lot of stress back there."
Page 191 and 192: Ula didn't wake when the water ran.
Page 193 and 194: "Shut up! What's so funny?" "Your f
Page 195 and 196: He smashed his head into the door.
Page 197 and 198: "Thanks, my name is Penelope Bell,
Page 199 and 200: his hand on the table. The sound of
Page 201 and 202: hand. He flashed one of those tiny
Page 203 and 204: was an American made disk, USA dot
Page 205 and 206: "Yes, we go dance, eat oysters and
Page 207 and 208: her swirl of sea foam Dior drinking
Page 209 and 210: think?" He started to say more, but
Page 211 and 212: was imprisoned and sentenced to dea
Page 213 and 214: deconstructed, mechanistic stuff, a
Page 215 and 216: are trees, along rows of empty gree
Page 217 and 218: Shit, Ula, I'm not twelve, and you'
Page 219 and 220: She pointed with the drumstick. "Ho
Page 221 and 222: where it hit her. He might be there
Page 223 and 224: OBELISK And he wasn't there when sh
Page 225 and 226: of the Tuileries. After a brisk wal
Page 227 and 228: Ula stifled a giggle. Penny frowned
Page 229 and 230: "Oh, ith it rillee?" Loulou said in
Page 231 and 232: "So, the face?" Sandro didn't cring
Page 233 and 234: you had a super time. When's the gr
Page 235: littered with greasy paper plates o
Page 239 and 240: of spacious skies and smack into hi
Page 241 and 242: wall, but the Madonna didn't seem t
Page 243 and 244: ubbles were clumps of toga clad god
Page 245 and 246: her hot cup. "Why did you want me t
Page 247 and 248: like suburban USA except for the fl
Page 249 and 250: sandal and jumped into the sand and
Page 251 and 252: metal tower. "The Parachute Jump, k
Page 253 and 254: demarcations, but careful to hide a
Page 255 and 256: WANDERLUST Penny made for the East
Page 257 and 258: clear her seething brain. It didn't
Page 259 and 260: DESPERATE MOVES Sounds of laughter
Page 261 and 262: Sandro's jaw dropped. "Funcullo," h
Page 263 and 264: glimpse of bare chested Sandro and
Page 265 and 266: at least once, but her knees gave w
Page 267 and 268: SANDRO HAS AN ADVENTURE Picking out
Page 269 and 270: you were the professional here," Sa
Page 271 and 272: pulled down his face so he became a
Page 273 and 274: Catholic. Someone had been thoughtf
Page 275 and 276: so he wrenched open the door. The m
Page 277 and 278: GULAG Medical people shuffled aroun
Page 279 and 280: they were subjected to endless runs
Page 281 and 282: FROM OBSCURITY TO CLARITY The MRI r
Page 283 and 284: normal way. But how did you flush?
Page 285 and 286: churning clouds. "I was at Nha Tran
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stuck out from under his arm, catch
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from the first breakdown, then 'Gel
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LA GRENOUILLE Dr Züt got up from h
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THE WILIS From Ula's studio, "I don
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He giggled, "Yes, them." She clappe
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SHOWDOWN After that Penny saw neith
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folding metal cot all neatly made u
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"No booze." "No! Em, perhaps a dess
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ought her bowls and flexi-mat with
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Ula walked up to her and slapped he
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scrunched it up and lunged at him,
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instant karma, who can beat that?"
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He got up, patted the lute dust off
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EPILOGUE Rumor has it, five years l
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Biography Elsie Russell's bohemian
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