The song ended and he realized that for however long the song had been, he'd assumed there was nothing outside the song. He looked around and things were still there, faces blurred, sweat mingled with color in the sentient lights.
There may not have been anything outside the world during those eight or so minutes. He could remember things certain ways. That was the way things worked. Even if it wasn't true, he could set things up a certain way and others things would align themselves more accurately. Appropriately, perhaps, was a better word.
Things are clear. He thought. He smiled. Things were lucid. Excruciatingly so. Only in a blissful way where it was hard to contain. He wished it were a button he could leave on. Maybe he could.
She was still there. She was STILL THERE! That was GOOD. That can't be understated. The music stopped and he still touched her, bouncing his hands off her hips and then back on. His feet wouldn't stop, hers had.
They took it from below his waist and lofted it above his head. His head could have contained a string attached to the buoyancy, the way his ear led his body.
—I'm going to go find my friends. She yelled in his ear.
No. —Come back at midnight. He said.
She was already gone. There are limits in things like this. He thought with a devious smile.
Limits, where outside of there you have to have a good fucking explanation for why you're that ____ whatever it may be: happy, elated, hyper, turbo, paranoid, tripped, fizzed, fuzzled. Whatever.
He began to spin. His sister was there. —Mr Sunshine. She said to him. He smiled and leaned in like an eager puppy. She treated him thus. —I like our friends. He said. —I know. They're good. She replied.
—It's all so funny. He said. There could have been a creature on the apex of his crown. A creature with heavenly fingers, massaging in an otherworldly fashion. Raising him on his heels to follow.
—Why is it all so funny? She asked. —Me, us, our friends. It's just silly. But it's cool. And Danny and Katie. It's so funny to see them like this.
—People become three-dimensional. She said and the song dropped heavy and his body shuddered and he became untouchable. He shuffled his feet and he looked back at her with a mouth full of disbelief.
—The first time for me was in Paris. I ran out on the dance floor and ripped off my shirt. Danced in my bra. He didn't answer her. He wanted to find something to lay into. Bad. It was the only appropriate thing to do.
He walked with purpose. Downstairs. The building held the vestiges of a bank. The main floor had thick smoky glass below the feet. Hip-hop was a vault. Latin was a dark-red dungeon hallway and 80's was a side corner. He raced through them all.
Outside his feet didn't stop. He'd raised a champagne glass at midnight and there was a thick brunette with gentle eyes who leaned into his face. His fingers traced too fast and she scattered like incoming sunrays on a glassed ocean.
Outside the temperature settled. He pulled his jacket around his neck. His sister said —we have to find a cab. And he smiled to her and said —da dah dada. It meant nothing. Things were vacant behind. He wanted to speak and that's what was there. She put her hand around his shoulder. —Lil' Nellie. She said.
They stopped. There was an actual bank across from them. There were many banks in the downtown but this one was visual and declarative. There was a clock at the summit. It was white and the white was fuzzy when he moved too much. The time didn't mean much.
The clubs and bars were hemorrhaging people. The pattern was wet. Sloppy conditions began to arise. Things were spilling everywhere and people were sliding about. He was clear.
There was someone they knew and they were across the street. Danny had a smile like a tractor beam.
Things were not right, a minor monsoon. Droplets of rain clouded in the eyes and tumbled from the mouth. A woman was screaming. He had seen her before, Nell knew her, she was in a class with him. Jessica, she was Asian and cute. She wore a violent mask. Nell moved to greet her. A hand reached her first. —Shut the fuck up bitch. He heard.
—Oh fuck no. And then the distant sound of fist on jaw. Nell turned and his sister held his arm. Then she pulled it. A large man turned as a smaller man followed through with his punch. He stood to watch and then sighed. A fist launched from the big man and the forehead went down and the fist landed and the smaller man flew into a fence. His sister pulled him and he stood.
The big man charged and then they were hugging. Friends began to pull. They untangled the wet mess of flesh and he heard a calm voice —You bit me, why would you do that?
—You hit me in the face. Nell heard and smiled. Everything became different. The words were so kind and generous after the scene of ultimate negotiation.
Danny and Katie caught up. Stray men walked purposefully. Their heads slightly down and their eyes peering out. Nell looked to the side. Dirty humans lay out. Hidden in thick layers of cloth. Boxes and carts and plastic bags stacked and shoved around them.
—Call again for the cab. Danny said. —I can't stop my feet. Nell said. Katie rubbed his back. —I said it's gone. He continued. —It rolls, was her response.
—I wish we could feel good forever. He said and there was no response.
They stayed still and no one bothered them. Nell looked about. A young man, similar in age, peered out from the shadows of a building. The man leaned against the marble of a high-rise with a bank at the top floor. A broken mosaic was above his head. There was glue where the marble had shattered off. It was the color of a drab desert of earth.
Across the street there was a man who slapped his friend on the back. They shared a joyously demented look until this contact. The slapped man then turned and released the contents of his stomach onto the sidewalk. It was a projectile and splashed and spattered shoes and jeans.
Behind a building a block away there was a young woman. She wore a dress and hurried into a parking lot. She looked back at her friend and felt horrible. She squatted and hitched up her dress. She slid her thong around and shit upon the ground. She got up and walked away.
—Come on. Nell's sister said. —They said to meet on the corner of Fourth and Broadway. She pulled Nell's arm and he followed.
Van Noord is epic.