In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

storekeepers. The red faced blue collar guys at the bar must have lived
there or had real jobs in the area. A few sorry souls huddled in the
corners scratching out lotto tickets, reading newspapers with
magnifying glasses, or holding stubby non-filters with shaky yellow
stained fingers.
Alessandro took a seat facing the wall, far from the door and
slid his phone onto the green Formica table.
"How you gonna see them when they come in?"
"You will see them."
"How long do you think they'll take to get here?"
"We have time. Tell me if you see that petit con."
"Excuse me?"
"Ng, Cyber con." He said it fast, "Seebear coh."
"What's a coh?"
"A creep."
They ordered coffees, the waitress recognized them from the
night before since he left a wad of a tip.
His phone rang.
"Dude! Au, ben oui, mais qu'est ce que vous foutez? Ciao."
"Max and Maia are on their way, the lazy bones. They will help
us. You will love Maia, she is really sweet. Maybe she can show you
around today. Forgive me for being such a bad companion, but I feel it
is my duty to watch over Ula or she will fall off the edge of the world,
you know? It is always like that with her, I am what keeps her in the
reality. And now she has gone over the edge again, eh!"
"You didn't seem so concerned last night."
He shrugged. "She is un fléaux, how do you say, a cross to bear,
but she is not my life."
"Still, you're the one made her famous, that's what the reviews
say, anyway."
"Fame is relative, irrational and ephemeral. Who can say where
she takes you or how far? Oh, right..."
He grinned at her again, showing his teeth, this time. They were
probably fake, too.
"Tell me how you arrived at your music."
"Hmm, I remember my mother singing to me and my baby
brother when I was little, she got into early music staying at this, um,
don't laugh, 'Gnostic' commune in the Sawtooth. They lived in these
buckyball domes, growing giant vegetables in manure and making goat
cheese but also fasting a lot and singing to purify themselves and the
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