Tales of the City 08 - Mary Ann in Autumn

sign that read HOME OF THE LOBOS .
    “Smokin’,” said Jake, though she wasn’t especially.
    Jonah returned the phone to his blazer. “She works at the chamber of commerce. We’ve been together since high school. How ’bout you?”
    “How ’bout me what?”
    Jonah smiled. “Is there a girl in your life?”
    Jake hesitated, looking for a way to be as truthfully misleading as possible. “There used to be,” he said at last, “but no more.”
    The kid frowned in sympathy. “That’s too bad.”
    “Thanks, but … it wasn’t a good fit.”
    Jonah nodded solemnly. “You’ll find the right one.”
    “So where’s the chamber of commerce? Where your girlfriend works. What town?”
    “Oh … teeny tiny little place. Snowflake, Arizona. About six thousand souls.”
    “Where it snows a lot.”
    “Well … a fair amount, but that’s not the reason. It was founded by a guy named Snow and another guy named Flake. Back in the 1870s.”
    “Dude … shut up.”
    Jonah smiled. “My last name is Flake.”
    “Seriously?”
    “There’s a bunch of us in Snowflake. People tend to stay put.”
    Suddenly, the name rang a bell for Jake. “There’s a movie about that town. I saw it on TV back in Tulsa. Some logger who said he got abducted—”
    “—by a UFO. Yeah, that was Snowflake.”
    “That was some scary shit. They probed him with these creepy metal doohickies. Were you living there when that happened?”
    Jonah shook his head. “I remember the movie. The abduction was before I was born. My cousin was town marshal back then. He thought the whole thing was a hoax.”
    “Marshal Flake.”
    Jonah hesitated, seeing the smirk on Jake’s face. “Actually, yeah … Marshall Sanford Flake.” He managed a sheepish smile. “Told you I was a country boy.”
    Jake was instantly remorseful. “No, man, it’s cool. I grew up in the suburbs of Tulsa. I would have given anything to live somewhere that interesting.”
    “When did you move here?”
    “About four years ago. Just picked up and left. Got tired of working at Wal-Mart.”
    “So what do you do now?”
    “I’m a gardener. Actually, a partner in a gardening firm.” It was stupid, but he couldn’t help bragging a little. For some reason, he wanted to impress this green kid from the hinterlands.
    “And it doesn’t … you know … get to you?”
    “What? Gardening? I love it.”
    “No … this city … the people and all.”
    Jake was pretty sure he knew what Jonah meant, but played dumb. “How so?”
    “You know … San Francisco values … that sort of thing.”
    Jake shook his head, remaining as poker-faced as possible. “Nope. No problem so far.”
    The kid nodded rhythmically, as if keeping time with the silence between them.
    T HE WAITER RETURNED WITH THEIR meals—salmon for Jake, a rack of lamb for Jonah. Jake welcomed this temporary relief from conversation, since there was already a whiff of uneasiness in the air. He was making appreciative noises about the salmon, when he realized that Jonah’s head was bowed discreetly in prayer.
    “Oh … sorry … I didn’t …”
    “You wanna join me?”
    “That’s okay. I’ll just … you go ahead.”
    So Jonah kept his head bowed while his lips moved in silence for a few more awkward moments.
    “Sorry,” said Jake, as soon as Jonah had picked up his knife and fork.
    “No biggie. You were thanking Him in your own way.”
    “I always thank the salmon.” Jake was joking, but not completely, since he often made an effort to be appreciative when a helpless creature had died for his sins.
    Jonah chewed a mouthful of lamb before speaking again. “You’re not a Christian, then?”
    Jake shrugged. “I was raised one.”
    “But?”
    “I dunno. I couldn’t buy it anymore.”
    Jonah looked him directly in the eye. “You know, dude … that’s why they call it faith.”
    “Believing what you know ain’t so.”
    A cloud passed over the kid’s face.
    “Mark Twain,” said Jake. “ ‘Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.’ ”
    “Oh.”
    The kid was looking more and more like the bug-eyed fish pressed against the porthole, so Jake kept his tone as gentle as possible. “I just don’t think that anybody’s up there. I don’t believe in life after death. I wish I could, but I can’t. I think if there’s a heaven, it has to be here and now. We’re the only ones who can make it happen.”
    “I understand,” Jonah said softly. “That’s why I do what I do.”
    Jake just