The Alarm Clock at the End of the World

Part 89

Epilogue Part 5

“I told my friend I thought you were cute,” I said. “You said I raped you.” I stand up and start to pace. “We weren’t ever in a room alone together, and you said I raped you. You called me a traitor. You said I was a sexist. In front of 50 kids you called me a murderer because I wore a leather jacket.” I look out to her tiny back yard. “You told those stupid fanzines to talk shit about me. You divided our front, broke those kids up all over the country. You have no idea how important you were to their opinions, and you helped a lot of kids learn how to hate.”

“So you murder Solomon to prove you’re a man of peace?”

I take her hand and squeeze. “Think Aus Rotten will do a song about me? Please tell me Aus Rotten is still around.”

“A couple guys died in a car crash, but I think there is someone still using the name,” she says with a full-fledged chuckle. “You’re white, they’ll never give you that much support.” We laugh. We laugh for a long time, overdue and cleansing. We both let go a grudge that remained too long. There are more important things in life, like laughing.

I ask first about her kids and tell her about the show, comparing notes on what the fashionistas would blather on the Internet tomorrow morning..

“Is there a van outside yet?” I ask.

Kara opens the door to the garage. “They were supposed to be here by now.”

“I haven’t heard anything. Usually they make a lot of noise,” Persephone says.

I say. “Playing Crass at full volume does good for disguise.”

“On the contrary!” Seph cries. “The police are think you’re such a jackass that they don’t even bother to suspect you of any crimes.” Persephone’s laugh can shake a room.

“These are the people rescuing us,” Kara defends. She goes into the garage to check the street again.

“I can only suppose Bureaucraticus is nearby.” Persephone says.

"I thought he’d be here by now,” I say. “He went back for the artifact.” The look in Persephone’s eyes is concerned, but she’s maintaining.