Tales of the City 03 - Further Tales of the City

protection for a woman. I was worried about you not having it. There’s a lot of crazy folks running around these days.” He smiled, revealing teeth that were surprisingly even and white. “I guess a lot of people would take me for crazy, huh?”
    “I wouldn’t,” said Prue.
    “You did,” Luke replied, without malice. “It’s natural. People judge people by the houses they live in, the clothes they wear. It takes a little longer to look into the heart, doesn’t it?”
    “Yes,” said Prue, “I guess it does.” She looked down, then blew on her coffee, touched and embarrassed by such an accurate assessment of their first encounter.
    “Do you know who trusts me?” asked Luke.
    Prue flushed. “Luke, I’m sorry. I trust you. I was just …” She threw up her hands, unable to finish.
    Luke’s smile was forgiving. “Besides you, I mean?”
    She shook her head.
    “Watch,” said Luke, sitting down on the edge of his bed. He drummed his fingers on the packed earth floor. “Chipper, Jack, Dusty …”
    Right on cue, three chipmunks scampered from under the bed and climbed onto Luke’s hand. He lifted them to his face and nuzzled them. “These fellows trust me. The buffalo down the road trust me. So do the raccoons over by Rainbow Falls.” He let the tiny creatures down again. “I’m nice to humans, too, but I don’t do so well with them. It’s just a question of knowing where your talent lies, I guess.”
    Prue was captivated. She reached down to touch the chipmunks, but they scurried under the bed again. “I see what you mean,” she said.
    “I used to have a whole flock of humans,” said Luke.
    “What do you mean?”
    “A congregation,” smiled Luke.
    “You were a preacher?”
    Luke nodded. “People are the hardest way to find God, though. It’s easier out here with the animals … and the beauty. Sometimes there’s so much beauty it makes me want to cry.” His white teeth shone at her again. “See what I mean? Crazy as all get-out.”
    “I don’t think that’s crazy,” Prue replied. “What happened to your congregation?”
    Luke shrugged. “They left me … lost the faith. No one wants to find God anymore.”
    Prue stared at him, tears in her eyes. “Luke … if I … would you mind if I … helped you tell your story?”
    “Tell who?”
    “The people … the public.”
    “You’re a reporter?”
    “No. Not exactly. Just a writer. You can trust me, Luke, I promise.”
    He looked at her for a long time, then lifted his big calloused finger and brushed the tear from her eye. “You are filled with God,” he said.

Meeting
    M ICHAEL STOOD IN THE DOORWAY OF THE SCREENING room and studied the two giants kneeling over film cans in the corner. They looked like Vikings ransacking a wine cellar, but their laughter was so intense and so intimate that an outsider might have come to the erroneous conclusion that they were still lovers.
    _______held up a film can so Ned could read the label. “What about this one?”
    “I dunno,” answered the nurseryman. “I kinda doubt it.”
    The movie star smiled ruefully. “Me too. I screened it for some teenyboppers the other day and they were all in hysterics by the time we got to the hayfork scene.”
    “You were great in the hayfork scene.”
    “My lats were great in the hayfork scene.”
    “Fuckin’ A! And they’ll appreciate that. Play to your audience, man!” Ned rapped_______’s chest with the back of his hand.
    “Well,” said______, “maybe it’ll keep ‘em outa the bushes. Mr. Shigeda will have my ass if his begonias get crushed. Where did they come from anyway?”
    Ned shrugged. “Santa Monica Boulevard, for all I know. Guido said that Charles told him that Les thought it would be a hot idea.”
    “And God knows,” laughed________, “Les can round ‘em up quicker than Selective Service.”
    Ned laughed with him. “My friend Michael is out there somewhere.”
    Michael saw an entrance and raised his hand. “Uh … present and accounted for.”
    Two heads turned instantly in Michael’s direction. Both of them smiled at him. Michael stepped forward hastily and extended his hand. “I’m Michael Tolliver,” he said. “This is a great party.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Well, I don’t know anybody, of course, but …”
    “Here’s a handy guideline,” grinned_______. “The blonds are all named Scott. The brunettes are all named Grant. Now you know everybody. Except me. I’m________.”
    Michael nodded. “The