21. Mess
Having to keep Craig alive keeps me camping out at The Palace, which turns out to have its advantages, especially when the morning brings in another rainstorm.
As badly as I itch and ache, focusing on the goal while I wait to satisfy the parasite hunger makes me feel more like myself, in a way.
I’m good at waiting, good at starving, good at keeping my eyes on the prize. It wakes me up in the place where I’m strongest. Wherever things come down to pure endurance, I will win.
When the rain lets up, I start going out to get everything together.
Sensibly, this time. I clean myself up as well as I can at The Palace’s slow, grimy bathroom sinks, using a nearly new hairbrush someone left in the wings.
Soon, I look like something a notch up from a squatter. So basically like what I’
