Athalia Ponsell

“That’s the age of Lacey’s father. That’s how old her genes might be. That woman is around the age of her grandmother. Isn’t that something!?” says Lauren. “If Tom was her father at birth…this is possibly why you can’t fathom her easily.”

A Rose in Spanish Harlem by Nicholas Britell plays.

“I was 88 when I possibly conceived her. But this woman is supposedly 88 too.

And some people age well. I had a serious girlfriend if Lacey is my daughter and she was a stewardess and we’ll not say more. Not now.” says Tom Banks.

“Crap! You screwed-up.” says the woman above in the afterlife. “If she’s your daughter.”

“Biologically? Yes. She’s my daughter regardless. But yes! I did. I messed-up if I could have conceived her or if I couldn’t have had her in Heaven then no I did not. But if I could have created her in Heaven I would have been better off waiting.” says Tom Banks.

When You’re Smiling by Louis Armstrong plays at the request of Eric Harris.

“Lacey. No one cries when you cry. At all.” says Eric Harris laughing. “Human shit in your face.”

Lacey laughs. “It’s a sad song in that way.” says Lacey. “It’s so naive.”

“Fuck!” says a Gen. X man.

“Yeah. It’s a song I could have sung to her. Had she been born in 1918. But she wasn’t.” says Lem. “And…so…she doesn’t have to patronize me and pretend to like it now.”

“I love your love. But it’s not really true.” says Lacey thoughtfully and with great measure.

Snag It by King Oliver And His Dixie Sycophants plays.

“Why?” asks Lem, who didn’t actually love Jack romantically or sexually at all despite the common mythology otherwise. He merely fawned over Jack, patronized him, placated him, and tried to be “a good gay man.”

“Your love might be true. …But…as it is…I’d have thought of myself or someone else in some dire situation like a homeless person. When I heard that song. And it would have irritated me profoundly that the writers didn’t think of them in their suffering. And it would have ruined the whole song for me. …But most popular things are like that for me. So…I’ve learned to ignore them to get by.”

West End Blues by King Oliver And His Orchestra plays.

“There’s a reason I fell in love with Lacey.” says Harold Loeb. “Even though she’s Lem’s. She feels…like us. Even if she’s not reincarnated. And to her I’m just an old man. Not an ancient man. Maybe too old for her. But…see…with her being born in 1983…I had the advantage of time. I could make myself seem fresh and cool again. And I did.” says Harold. “Joe Kennedy Senior did not. And Lem was clobbered. …Louis brought her on a private tour of the James J. Hill House a year or two after he died. He inspired a tour. And…so…she got to know his whole family. And she became deeply entrenched in Saint Paul. She was almost killed in front of the Saint Paul Cathedral. …But…that was his approach. …Joe Jr. just tried to dominate her whole life. Elliott watched and waited and succeeded better than anyone but her last remaining soulmates and Lem and F. Scott Fitzgerald. No. Elliott was a lot smarter than people think.

Regardless. I’d have loved her. Scott would have too. But I would have…most definitely.” says Harold.

“She’s surrounded by loud people.” says Lauren to the Illuminati. “And she’s very quiet and serene and artistic by nature. Like a little angel!” They struggle to hear her. “Also you can’t push her around too personally. She’s no idiot. None of us were. I can’t think why you’d even try.”