Excerpt from Notebook 4: "Lists of Our Lost Friends"

THE LIST of E., LOST IN THE SUMMER OF 1999

 
"The List of Adoration"

1. The man with the golden watch transports large fish tanks in shopping carts. He buys them at [____] Gallery, the one in front of the [Supermarket franchise] on [____] Ave. He does not keep fish in these tanks, but he does not keep anything else in them either, except for his feelings.

2. The young man who jogs around the old military training facility in District 6 is his partner (in crime).

3. There is a small kiosk on the corner of [____] and [____] St. that sells both children's sticker albums and pornography, side-by-side. The lady vendor has a deal with these two men.

4. The eye doctor that A.'s dad has been going to is also an acquaintance of my mother. He was part of this group in the sixties.

5. The rat population living under the aforementioned kiosk did not form naturally. [See: rat king]

6. Did you know about the hospital black market? Certain bodily fluids are at a premium. The one A.'s dad used to go to is in a discreet little place near Yuga park.

7. "The Clan of Adoration" has not been active since the eighties, but you never leave it. Members refer to you as "dormant" when you're not active.

8. The former chairman is now homeless and frequents a specific bench of the same park.

9. Find out for yourself.

In loving memory of our dear E., lost to a job offer in Europe and taken away from us far too soon.

THE LIST of N., LOST IN THE FIRE OF 2006
 
"List of In-the-Know Record Stores in Our City"

1. Fantômas, Arbalos Ave., 252, close to dumpster. Classic rock, newspaper, stuff. *

2. Todos Tus Muertos, Morelli St., 771, ask K. for details. Monster, punk, viewpoint. *

3. The Guy's place, Percy St., he runs a store out of his apartment. Nice collection of rarities. SAFE!

4. ESSENTIAL: In the Name of the Can, the Byrds and the Vampire Rodents, located in you-know-who's basement. **

* Not safe during the night.
** Not safe at any time.

In loving memory of our dear N., lost in the fire of Nantes Market, September 19, 2006.

LIST of X, OUR NEIGHBORHOOD ADDICT, OUR SAVIOR and OUR FRIEND, LOST FAR TOO EARLY IN OUR LIVES

 
"List of Places we do Not Mess With"

1. The Office of a Thousand Identical Faces with the Doorman who Looks Impossibly Old where A.'s Dad Used to Work, but Doesn't Anymore (for Obvious Reasons)

2. The Field of Mars, Located on the Seaside Hotel near Yuga Park, which Is Not a Hotel at All, and Will Not Take No for an Answer

3. The Baby Stroller Abandoned in District 7 Dumpster, which for Good Reason Has Not Been Moved Since the Fateful Day of Feb 16, 1991, Coincidentally the Birth Date of Our Fearless Leader

4. The Hospital, You Know the One I'm Talking About

5. The End of the Road that Leads to the Haunted House, as Retold in T.'s Riveting Tale of Beasts and Children, as Recorded, Verbatim, In a Previous Tome

6. The Hole Twice Cursed

7. The Bottom of the Lake Where We Freed Things That We Will Probably Never Understand

8. The Playground where Everyone Lost

9. Our Dear School, Left Behind Us Forever, for the Better

10. K.'s House for At Least the Next 12 Days, After Which We Should Be Okay Again, but You Should Always Exercise Caution!!!

In loving memory of our dear X, who we never fully understood.

Take these lessons to heart!

[end]

L.B.'s Considerations

I can't offer much insight into who E. or N. are/were, although they appear prominently in other excerpts. I don't have any recollection of them, nor did I know that my brother was acquainted with anyone who perished in the Nantes marketplace fire of 2006, which I assume is what they are alluding to here. (Nantes market was a large marketplace full of unlicensed stores and kiosks, and a firework set off accidentally caused a fire that burned the place down and took the lives of two dozen people.)

I have a sneaking suspicion as to who X was. Back in high school, my brother was acquainted with a guy who got really into drugs and ended up having to be dragged to a rehabilitation center by his parents. He was known for being paranoid and strange, even before the addiction took over, and wrote with arbitrary capitalization, as in X's list. However, I cannot verify this, because this person is literally referred to as "X" in the notebooks; it's not a pseudonym I made up, as is the case with the others.

X's list also appears to confirm that it was T. who narrated "A Memory".