"Bradley Denton - We Love Lydia Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Denton Bradley)

тАЬI thought your card didnтАЩt work,тАЭ Lydia says.

WeтАЩre meat.

Not if you back off and let me deal with this.

тАЬIt didnтАЩt work in the phone,тАЭ I say. тАЬBut the motel took it.тАЭ тАЬSo why didnтАЩt
you call from the motel?тАЭ Told you.

Piss on it, then. IтАЩm going to tell her the truth, including who I am.

WhoтАЩs that?
 тАЬDonтАЩt answer,тАЭ Lydia says. тАЬJust turn on the VCR and watch the monitor.тАЭ

So I do as she says. The monitor flashes on as the tape starts, and there I am,
doing it with a brown-haired gift IтАЩve never seen before.

Yee-oww. Where was I when this was going on?

This never went on. I know thatтАЩs the motel room we stayed in last night,
because I recognize the bent comer on the picture frame over the bed. But I donтАЩt
know that girl. So that canтАЩt be me.

Looks like us.

So it must be you. ItтАЩs Christopher before the crash.

You are Christopher.

Yeah, but IтАЩm Christopher after the crash.

Check out the hat on the floor. We were wearing it last night. WeтАЩre wearing it
right now. And it didnтАЩt belong to Christopher before the crash. ItтАЩs brand new.

But I donтАЩt have a chance to figure out what that means, because Lydia has
succeeded in setting the white drapery on fire. She waves it like a flag, bringing its
flames close to her hair, so I move to yank it away from her. But she tosses it away
before I can reach for it, and it snags on a chair leg sticking out of the pyramid. To
my relief, the flames start to die down.

Lydia is staring at me now. тАЬTell me what happened last night,тАЭ she says.
тАЬTell me where you found that girl while I was sweating in front of all those people.
Tell me whether you started with her while I was singing, or whether you waited until
you knew IтАЩd be on my way home. Tell me whether she can suck the chrome off a
trailer hitch.тАЭ She points the fireplace-lighter at me. тАЬTell me the truth, Christopher.тАЭ

I look at the video monitor. The brown-haired girl and I are still going at it.
The clothes on the floor are the ones IтАЩm wearing now. The stamp on my left hand is
the one that was put on at the club last night, the one thatтАЩs still here on my skin. But