Four of Pentacles

The Market—MORNING

As I try to squeeze the big van into a space at the market, Maggie explains to Andrea about her decision to move back to Illinois.

She says that she is unsure and worried but has, it seems, been given some new age advice on the subject and says things like “The move will be good for her chakras.”

Sigh. I am not sure how she and Sailor Lou ever got together.

When I park, however, Andrea and I quickly depart from her company. Andrea takes me inside where there is some Greek or Middle Eastern stand serving some sort of shawarma-like meat wrap that she wants me to try.

We find a couple of deck chairs and a little table in the food court where we can eat our pitas and look around the Market. There is a small patch of sun between two of the stands and this small alley several bronzed men and women are in thongs sunbathing, crowded together on blankets fighting for a ray.

“When in Rome” says Andrea, way out of character, and strips down. Soon she is topless and in a yellow thong. I sit in a deck chair and she sits in my lap. I want to make love to her really badly, even though she really needs to shave her legs.

We meet back with Maggie later in the market. After stacking her purchases in one spot with mine, I take one last trip around the vintage clothes rack and grab a box to stick our things in. I stick Andrea’s things in the box; one woman comes after me as I pick up an electric mixer. Andrea sees and apologizes to her, as it was her purchase, for my mistake.

“Jesus, no problem lady,” I say, “I wasn’t about to throw down over a mixer.”