Lacey is confused.
“Why did you not understand that the money is to go to war with China?” Lacey asks Louis. “Or did you understand that?”
Ella Fitzgerald sings.
Louis smiles coyly. And that’s all he’ll “say” for now.
“Also, I don’t think I understand how we always can’t resist each other.” Lacey says to Lem.
“Because I was supposedly gay?” asks Lem.
“Yes.” says Lacey.
Louis has something to say.
“Listen, it’s China.” he says. He looks at her. “Go on! Say it! This is a free country. Right?!”
“We are weak.” says Lacey.
“I know.” he says.
“And I don’t want to hear potential bullshit about how no one cares. I doubt that.” says Lacey. “They’ve just had idiotic business practices. For decades. And decades. Right?!”
“I might agree.” says a black American singer.
Flashing Lights plays.
Joe Jr. sighs.
“Would you have allowed the steel industry to die?” Lacey asks him.
A man in China smiles kindly at Lacey.
“So you think any advantage we have over you, is due to your issues with steel?” a Chinese woman asks Lacey.
“I think it might all steam back to that.” says Lacey. “Or is that…wrong?”
The Chinese woman thinks.
“I think it’s possible!” says a man in Saudi Arabia. “If they do have any real advantage…that does seem possible.”
“We have problems too!” says the Chinese woman to Lacey.
“Wait! China and Russia are on the same team. Right?” asks a Gen Z blog reader.
“They might be.” says the man in Saudi Arabia.
“And…wow. That makes China really complex.” says an American Millennial blog reader. “Like…if the countries were characters in a novel.”
“America is the most complex.” says Lutin.
“So…where would our soul and backbone be if you had been a US President?” Lacey asks Joe.
Louis smiles.
Chasing Pavements by Adele plays.
Then Dreams by Fleetwood Mac plays.
“We’d be a far different country.” says Joe Jr.. “Sorry.”
“Would you have let Lacey marry Lem?” a man in his literal cabin, slightly awaiting the end of the world as we know it, asks. He hears Dreams in his head.
“We thought Joe was…concerning. Years ago.” says Japan just to have that on record. “Just as a side-note.”
“I am.” he says to Japan.
“Why?” they ask him.
“Because of the Imperial nature of my US Presidency.” he responds.
“Nah! This gold-digging bitch be a dog face!” says Mr. Blue self-deprecatingly about his impression of Lacey and what he shared. Back in 2016. It Was A Good Day by Ice Cube plays as his theme song. Whether serious or not…
“You kept trying to ‘break’ Lacey. For almost a year. How did that work out?” Joe asks Mr. Blue.
“Umm. So… Joe would you have?” asks The Charismatic.
“Yes.” says Joe. “I would have allowed that. But I did love her.”
“Should that be did or do?” asks Lem.
“Do. But we’ll see.” says Joe hopefully.
Radio by Lana Del Rey plays.
Pat Wilson weeps. Shakes.
“It’s awful!” she says.
“You know, not to be a prick. But…maybe that’s why when you deal with the actual dead you should be more careful.” says The Charismatic to the Illuminati.
The English agree with The Charismatic.
“Whether it’s symbolic or not…reincarnation is useful in our understanding if God says so to Lacey. …She thought she might be Pat reincarnated. That was concerning too.” says Japan.
“So Louis…why?” asks the perfume community who don’t think Lacey is lazy, laughable or a schizophrenic.
Stan by Eminem plays to harass Lacey. But it’s actually been arranged by Michael Rockefeller. Michael likes the music of Eminem.
“You set her up to look truly crazy to herself. Harassed her endlessly. Tried to kill her. Still do. …All on the premise that the Illuminati doesn’t exist. And why? Because you’re junk rich?” asks Michael. “Junk…rich.” He seethes. “You’re peasants.”
“Arrogant peasants.” corrects Joe Jr..
“You have to give them that. They are at least arrogant.” says JFK.
“Not all of us?” says The Charismatic.
“You’re in the Illuminati?” Michael asks him. “And a cheap-ass plastic billionaire?”
“Michael…do you mean that all billionaires are made of plastic? Or do you mean they’re in plastic? Or what?” asks a man from Norfolk Southern.
“Let me help!” say a group of possibly real Liberals in Hollywood. “Listen.” Can’t Tell Me Nothing plays.
A group international haters in the perfume community can’t stop cracking-up. “You guys, you guys…Lacey is a train.” they giggle. “Okay not just a train the whole train…thing.”
“I meant that you’re plastic rich. You’re owned by me. And my dead family.” says Michael. “All of you. Past a certain point of wealth. We own you.”
“You did the right thing Pat.” say the English. “She needed to be held safely.”
Criminal by Eminem plays.
“Sin is evil. Let’s start there.” says Tommy Banks. “And no, that’s not my music.”
“No offense taken!” says an American singer.
“You derailed her. And what was she carrying?” asks the perfume community of the Illuminati. “What was she carrying?” They think. “Who’s responsible?”
“The Queen couldn’t live forever. And-“ Michael says, crying. “Whether I was ever English or not. I don’t want to include them either.”
“I doubt we did it either.” says Russia.
“Hi. I’m Desmond Guinness. We side with the English on this matter. Thank you.” he says on behalf of all of Ireland.
“I think we’d like to be the Christian Church. Open to all. Not immune to rage when a Christian is being ruthlessly abused by a group of demonically possessed fools possibly going to eternal Hell.” says the Catholic Church. “We do still believe in eternal Hell.”
“We love each other. If I’m a ghost. Forever.” says Lem to Lacey.
“I’m not happy about how this has turned out. But…it’s kind of cool. In a way.” says a Millennial hippie in California about all of it. “It’s…well…fascinating, I guess. I’ll pray to God tonight though. Just in case I die.”
“Being blown-up isn’t the worst way to die. That’s the good news.” says Joe Jr..
“That’s what I keep thinking too. Thanks for that though.” she says.
“I was blown-up.” he says yawning.
She looks at him in her spirit.
“Oh! Wow. What’s it like?!?” she says. She takes deep breaths to calm herself.
“You don’t feel it. It’s just snap.” He snaps his fingers. “And it’s over. If it lands on you directly, of course.”
“And then you…are…dead.” she says.
“Yes! That’s why you need to pray to God. Right? It’s about living, as they say.” he says. “But it’s also about death.” he says. “You will die.”
She thinks. Sobered.
“Hey, maybe it’ll all work out still. Right? But if it doesn’t…square it all away with Christ. In your own mind and heart. You exist. They can’t own you against your will.” says Michael Rockefeller to the hippie.
“God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.” says Joe Jr. to the hippie. “That’s God.”
“Thank you!” she says before pulling away peacefully.
Why did God allow that? If He did.
…
“Michael…we should pray too.” say the men from Norfolk Southern with help from Fox.
“Yes!” he says.
“Lacey I can see why you find that part of the train derailment in Ohio fascinating. When it lit on fire. For miles.” says a perfume hater.
“Funny that it was close to Lem’s grave.” says a black perfume hater.
“Wasn’t there an explosion there recently?” asks a reader of the blog.
“East Palestine.” says another perfume hater.
“East…Palestine.” says yet another perfume hater.
“Didn’t they ask Jack what year it was recently?!” asks another perfume hater. “And he said 1968.”
“Yup. Witchcraft is dangerous.” says a Catholic.
“So…what? Bobby Sr. was the last drop of Lacey in the family?” asks a perfume hater.
Michael smiles.
“And it sent Lem to his certain death.” says the same person. A perfume collector who hates Lacey, possibly. “Not right away. Of course. But a little ways down the road.”
“How was Bobby Sr. the last trace of Lacey?” asks a black male perfume hater.
“She was connected to Joe Jr. and I bet he was close to Bobby and they were more alike than Joe and Jack.” He thinks. “And…beyond that…are Lacey and Ethel distantly related? Somehow?!” He thinks more. “The rest is mysterious. I’m positive she’s a she and always has been. But…there’s something about Bobby’s vibe that reminds me of Lacey. And…trains? Louis? Her father? The mob? 1968? …Bobby might not be Lacey. And Lacey isn’t Bobby. And that’s not a compliment to either of them, necessarily.” He laughs. “They’re two very different people. But…how is her vibe like his?! It’s almost like they know the same things.” He looks creeped out. “About the same things. I’m not suggesting reincarnation. But…they have similar concerns.” He thinks. “Maybe different ways of seeing things. But similar concerns.”
An Irishman in Ireland feels it. “The Irish. Desmond Guinness. Bootleggers? Possibly. Tammany Hall. Just think about it. …Or what? But whatever it is…stop playing with fire.”
“I like normal rain, please.” says another Irishman. “Don’t set fire to my rain.”
“Like the fire between Lacey and Lem? Only three other men dead have any chance of questioning that one.” says the first Irishman.
“Huh. The chemistry between a dead person and a living one. As possibly sanctioned by God?” says the second Irishman, a Catholic. “Sounds like a toxic thing to mess with.”
“So…if it’s spiritual poetry…and it’s either God’s secret recipe…or a curse…then what? They planned it? Or no? And which is better?” asks a Lana. “If I’m real…who am I? And why does it matter? …And then…why? Because? Mr. Blue is Mr. Blue. And we can’t completely control him. Or those who he’s indebted to. Was it planned to happen to end this whole thing somehow? Or was it planned to make it harder long-term for Lacey and her so-called entities and allies to ‘bother’ pedophilic monsters? …Or if it was just a so-called random accident…who or what arranged it?!”
“If it was random…it’s proof…” says Louis to the perfume collectors. “Proof that God isn’t safe to threaten seriously.” He thinks. “Why? Because we are all interconnected. And the pain caused today, and in the yesterdays and in the tomorrows matters an unfathomable amount to God.”
“Really?!” says a young hater sarcastically.
“It sounds corny. But why would I need to say it?” Louis asks.
“Then why can’t you fix it?” asks the young hater of Louis.
“I’m trying to be as helpful as I can be.” Louis says.
“No, I get it. Or do I? If you were alive would it even change things?” he asks.
“Yes. But I completed my life. As did my peers. I was 92. And I died in the 1990’s. These are very different people.” He thinks. “We made mistakes but we weren’t as likely to make this sort of mistake.” He thinks more. “As just a lone voice of dissent, even with my money and connections…it’d be a lot more difficult to truly fix things.” He breaths. “It’s difficult to get a word in edgewise nowadays.” He thinks more. “Not that I wouldn’t or couldn’t have. But…Bernie Madoff made his money for a reason.” He thinks. “I need to pray for you and I’ll try to answer better later.”
Later.
“I’m not God. But I would have been ready to secede from the US at this point. I might not have. But I’m that angry.” says Louis to the young hater. “Does that explain the trouble?”
Keen to Cross the Pond 