Chapter Six

The cat swam in the ocean. Deep down to where the fish were. He shot up into the sky and flew like a bird. He picked a fight with the cat down the street. He ate fresh meat. He fucked a beautiful stray.

chapter 5

George found a bar with neon signs inside and a jukebox playing Bob Seger. A few guys were sitting at the bar and some people were smoking in the back.
"Does someone here speak English?"
"We all do."
The bartender had no accent.
"You wanted to go to France, to try to follow your wife. But you've never been there, you can only imagine it from what you've seen, so this is what you got."
"But that doesn't make sense. I should be in Paris or on the Eiffel Tower or drinking wine or something."
"But you know that's not what France is like, not really."
"I figured that's what my wife was going to see."
"No. She's not here. So that means you didn't want to see her. She'd be here if you did."
"If I decided I wanted to, would I be seeing her, or something that looks like her?"
"Yes. But whether or not that's what you, the George I'm talking to, would see, that depends."
"What does that depend on?"
"A lot of things, and I don't know most of them."
George sat down at the bar and closed his eyes.
"You have to be more specific."
"And you have to be more open-minded."
"What?"
"The beacon's in the bathroom. Touch it and try to think of two places you want to be at once. That'll explain more than I can."
"Hell with it. Will that booze behind the counter get me drunk?"
"It's real."
"But this isn't really France."
"Do you want a drink or not?"
George ordered a shot of Jameson's.
"When I was younger, I was sure of what I wanted. A big house, a wife and two kids, fifty years of fun, sex, and love, and dying in my sleep."
"What happened?"
"Housing got too expensive, kids got too expensive, and the wife-- and fun?"
"It's not so bad, being married to Dorothy. She got you in on this adventure."
"This isn't an adventure. I could do this down the street from our apartment."
"Go to the bathroom, touch the beacon, think of two places, then say that."
"OK, after another couple drinks."
He had another shot.
"You can't explain this to me?"
"I wish I could, just as much as you wish I would. But this defies explanation."
"Five thousand dollars. For five dollars you get a steak. You know what it is, what it does. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery of the steak."
"Would you like a steak?"
"Sure. And another shot. I haven't had much to eat today."
The bartender reached under the bar and pulled out a steak and another shot of whiskey.
"You just had that there?"
"No."
"That's the best hint you can give me?"
"It's the only hint I can give you. But it's also a good steak. Try it."
He picked up a fork and knife and cut off a piece for himself. It was perfect.
"Give me another shot. And put it on my tab."
"You don't--"
"I think I get it now."
He took another drink and headed into the bathroom.