The Highway West: Chapter Eleven: The Devil Haunts a Hungry Man

[jasonandrew]

New words: 1833
Total words: 60,100
Note: I haven't posted an update in about two weeks
Type of scene: Nathan and Eve are hanging around Portland ala A Whole New World from Aladdin.
Challenge(s): This is part of the basic romance subplot. This is somewhat of a challenge and this is the last little bit of sunshine before all hell breaks loose. After this scene, the book goes really dark for a couple of chapters.

There is also a little bit of a time jump between chapters and I wanted to account the time without looking like a tool

Researched: Areas in Portland

Work in Progress


The city of Portland is a study of diverse contrasts; a mixture of new century steel-grey towering architecture punctuated by old world brownstones surrounded by a circle of bridges, highways, and rivers. She was a thriving city with the heart of a small town and the low self-confidence of a third-world city. The cutting edge of the cultural zeitgeist of the decade had been captured like a genie in a bottle in the millions of tons of steel and brick that formed the City of Roses. New music blared from every corner from musicians and bars hoping to be the next rising star on the map. Vendors hawked everything from cigarettes in tin plated mobile homes to the latest indie comics in stores of glass and plaster.

Punks, hobos, hippies, yuppies, emos, and any other modern variety of youth and those that craved a nostalgic return to their childhood wondered the streets at all hours mingling in a fashion Nathan had never witnessed in California. There were just some neighborhoods you avoided there no matter what social class you imagined that you belonged to.

The mid-day sun shined a little too bright for Nathan as he stumbled out of the Acropolis. It had been mostly dark inside except for the neon track lights that surrounded the mirrors on stage and the quick transition to the bright shield blinded him for a few moments. After shielding his eyes, the colors of the city slow sharpened into focus. “I feel light headed.”

“That’s the air they blow in there.” Marty winked very satisfied. “Higher oxygen-count to keep you drinking and spending money.”

“Well, it seemed to work. How much did you blow in there?” Nathan asked.

“Hey, I didn’t spend more than my stripper budget allowed.” Marty folded his arms defensively.

“It just felt awkward.”

“That’s an art as old as Ishtar. Sacred goddesses living at the temple. Tantric energy created between man and woman.” Marty sighed, very happy. “Besides, I believe in supporting single mothers.”

“At least the steak was damn good.” Nathan rubbed his belly. “And we managed to sit down for a while.

You’ve dragged me all over this city. Let’s see. We talked to that ghost Nina in the Shanghai tunnels. Visited the creepy dark spot in the White Eagle Tavern. Creeped around the Villa Saint Rose School for Girls looking for a tulpa that didn’t exist and almost got arrested.”

“By the way, I was very impressed with that glamour,” Marty said with sincerity. “I don’t know that I could have fooled that cop. He had a strong mind.”

“Let’s not make it a habit, OK? Speaking of which I had a thought about the money you’ve been throwing around. You don’t have to keep hold of an object once you glamour it, do you? You could turn a five-dollar bill into a fifty and no one would notice until hours after you left.” Nathan cleared his throat. “There isn’t anything you want to tell me is there?

Marty waved away Nathan’s concern. “Took you long enough to figure out that trick. It was the first thing I did when I learned the art. Back in the day, your daddy and I tricked our way around this country before we realized the cost.” He snapped his fingers. “Everything has a cost. There’s no free lunch in this universe. Magic is about what you do. Doesn’t matter if you intended to have a bit of fun, it all comes back to you when you least expect it. Stealing is stealing.”

“And sneaking into bars and strip clubs? What does that do?”

“There’s a difference between morality and legality. A lot of what we do isn’t strictly legal in a lot of places.” He clapped his nephew on the back and laughed. “Doesn’t make wrong. You’ll have to learn the difference and do the best you can.”

“So why couldn’t go pick up Eve and Papo? Why’d we have to go ghost hunting?” Nathan asked.

Marty flashed his shy wry grin that he used on occasion to puppy-dog his way out of trouble. Nathan felt the urge to check his wallet. “Truth is that I wanted to spend a couple of days with you. Just the two of us.” He shrugged his shoulders. “And the purification ritual wouldn’t have been too exciting to watch, believe me.”