smooth

GRAVEL

20.  I ran a bolt of pure energy up the left side of my spine directly into Katie's torso, allowing it to taper off near the end, so she wouldn't notice. I'd also waited until she was talking to the busboy over there at Bette's Oceanview Diner, so her attention would be focused on camaraderie. You run energy up the right side of your spine when someone's having a fit of road rage; it helps raise their libido to the level of their anger. It also helps to say, "Go to Colorado! Go to Colorado!" Suddenly Katie stood smack in front of me, and took a step back. I looked up from her white T-shirt to her clear, bright eyes, and said, "It's weird. I had a dream about breaking a half-moon of porcelain out of a soup bowl in a café, and next day took a fare to Half Moon Bay in my taxicab." Without hesitation she said, "That is strange." Ed, the gatekeeper there, who'd been listening, said, "How much does that cost?" "A hundred-five dollars!" I said. Katie's eyes opened even wider. "Don't take a taxi!" she said. Five or ten minutes later, she slowed down a little in front of me and said, "Tell me something else." It's fun – It's mutual. "I'm going to see Easy Money tonight at the Shattuck Theater," I said, "It's a Swedish movie," keeping a door wide open. "What's it about?" she asked. "Criminals," I said.