NARRATIVE of WARD COURIER, Continued
January, 2009
RUSKIN, NY
I wanted to go right upstairs and have at it. Lys wanted to make some tea. "Tea's great," I said, without a ton of cheer.
I sat with her in the high-end kitchen, lost for easy words. This buildup had me wired. When Lys poured the tea, I noticed two different bags in the pot. One was a Bigelow herbal. The other was an Earl Grey caffeinated. High test. I had never heard of such a thing. To me, you did decaf because you wanted to stay mellow. You did caffeine to perk you up. Of course it was a tiny thing, but this seemed like a schizoid combination. It didn't even seem like the flavors would go.
While I was assessing that and waiting for the tea to steep, Lys went upstairs for something. I walked over to the piano and started
