Copyright Mark Gluth 2014 First edition Sator Press Santa Fe, NM & Los Angeles, CA satorpress.com Cover art by J. Paige Heinen Cover & interior design by Ken Baumann Cover & interior font: Adobe Garamond Pro No Other is a piece of music by Grouper. The Idiot Sun is a piece of music by Leviathan. Fake July is a piece of music by Gowns. Reach For The Dead is a piece of music by Boards of Canada. Spem In Alium is a piece of music by Thomas Tallis. The epigraph from Part One is from The Road. The epigraph from Part Two is from Good Morning, Midnight. The epigraph from Part Three is from Pattern Recognition. The epigraph from Part Four is from Meditations.
No Other a novel by Mark Gluth
Sincerest thanks to Barbara and Edward Gluth, Connie and Jim Kelly, David Hatch, Dennis Cooper, Derek McCormack, Diarmuid Hester, Habiba Sial, Holly Wilson, J. Paige Heinen, James Greer, Jeff Jackson, Jesse Hudson, Jonathan Arras, and Ken Baumann. I miss you Dad. I miss you Pearl.
For Erin Kelly
PART ONE: THE IDIOT SUN If you died I would want to die too. Cormac McCarthy
SUMMER Hague was just there, or barely. The packed dirt was damp in the shade of the tires. It soaked through his jeans then underwear. Beyond it this field was baked and flat. It was the sunlight that was everywhere. The cone or whatever he was in was cool considering. This playground was what it was part of. It was this ersatz junkyard attached to the school that was the building that just loomed there. Hague heard a train in the distance. He pictured it. It disappeared when he shook his head. His headache didn t. It didn t matter. The opening over his head was blue. It moved way too slow for him to be able to handle so he dug at the dirt at his knees with this stone. He didn t 12
notice he was holding it until he did. The smooth point dented the ground. The stone was slimy and it slipped from his hand. He pressed it against his forehead after he picked it up. The dirt and crap stuck underneath his fingernails was what he felt. He punched at something, everything. His fist hit the wall of the stack of tires he was in. They were strapped together by bolts. The whole thing rang. It gave way to silence. A cloud gave way to the sun. His knuckle was cut. It d scab if he left it alone. He licked at it. His tongue was numb. The world sounded like his ears ringing. It smelled like ozone and tar. When he pulled himself up the playground was empty. Swings swayed as heat washed over sliding boards, the tan school. Hague stood in the middle of the parking lot. He walked towards some cars. It was just the direction he was walking in. When he leaned forward he spun then vomited. It pooled all acid and bilious on the cracked cement. He wiped his face and nose with his hand. He looked up when he stood up. These kids in the street were on skateboards. Hague s mouth tasted horrible. He d pulled something in his throat. A boy on a bike laughed and shouted. Hague s teeth ached. He looked away. One of the skaters landed 13
a trick all blearily in his periphery. Hague closed his eyes and started walking home. He thought maybe he could make it, or not really. Hague closed his drapes and rested his head on a can of juice. It was frozen from the freezer. He fell asleep. It was nothing. Usually he could do it whenever. When he woke up his room was still dark. He walked around the house. The hall didn t have any windows and he stood in it. He rubbed his hair in the dim. When he gagged it was the taste in his mouth he gagged on. He drank some water. It made the taste run down his throat. He looked for his sister. He thought Tuesday s not home. That means she hasn t come home yet? There wasn t a way she would have left without waking him up had she come home. He repeated that thought in his head until there was no way he believed it. He walked down the hall and waited at a door. It was to his mother s bedroom. The handle resisted in his hand. He said Karen. He said Mom. The air was thick and 14
silent. That meant whatever until he checked the driveway. He poured some dog food into a bowl. He walked outside and set it down. The sky was a screen. It was all faded spray from the sun. He walked inside, flicked the knob on the TV. It was static. He stood in the kitchen and opened the fridge then the cupboard. The stove smelled like it was burning while he made macaroni and cheese. He dumped ketchup on the mound on his plate. He walked around the house. When he got into the static it was because he didn t hear it until he forced himself to. He thought that meant that it was everywhere. It awed him. He got into the buzz he d gotten because his headache had gone away. These strands of light spun until his eyes thus the world were just lit. He counted as the pukey flavor faded. Numbers rolled forward. He missed his mouth, looked down. What he saw was just this blob of macaroni and ketchup on the carpet. He pictured his mom freaking out, the horrible fucking aftermath that was bound to ensue. He pictured himself losing it like he d last lost it. Hague saw himself sobbing as he clawed at Karen s screaming face. He stood there then. He wasn t shuddering, he was shaking. The kitchen was where he grabbed the paper towels and Win- 15
dex. He sprayed, scuffed at the spot with his shoe. He told himself that she wouldn t turn on the light. He told himself that she ll be too drunk to notice. His thoughts about the carpet began to thin out. Hague hated himself because he couldn t handle anything. He hated himself because he wished that he didn t hate himself. His headache came back. It was everything. His bedroom door swung open. It was the world that was spinning. The door, it bounced until it closed. He lied down on his back. The ceiling wasn t invisible but he could pretend. He had all this nausea and pain. He worked on ignoring it. Everything exploded into sleep. He had this dream: his head still killed, Tuesday came into the room, she sat on his bed, he told her about the carpet, she told him that it ll all be ok, Mom will never know, when her long hair disappeared into shadows the shadows disappeared, he could only see her face then, orange hooded and glowing. When she felt his forehead he woke up. When he woke up he heard a sound. It was this other sound that had woken him up. His door opened. It was Tuesday then Henry. She had let the dog in. She told him not to tell mom. She asked him what was up. Henry rested his head on the mattress. Hague told her that he 16
had been throwing up. He told her about his headache. Tuesday touched his forehead. He pet the dog s head. The dog licked at his mouth. Hague said that he was glad that she was home. He said that the house was so empty earlier. She leaned forward, hugged him. The light came on in the hall. It came under the door and showed on the wall. Something in his head stung his nose. Tuesday pressed the dog down. He crawled under the bed. She did this walk as she headed for the door. Hague could hear it in the floorboards. He knew that she knew it would make him smile if he could see it. He knew that s why she did it. Hague just lay there and put his hand down. The dog licked it as he closed his eyes. The voices outside the door didn t make any sense. It was because he couldn t hear them. Tuesday walked down the street. She walked across town. It was warm. The sun showed on her face, on her wind run hair. Tree lawns gave way to parked cars. She walked beneath branches and stepped through their 17
shade. The sky was just hills then clouds then sky. The air picked up as it came off the water. Stairs lead towards this park. The carnival was there and crowded. She watched lights flash. She watched them change. The carriages on the Ferris wheel swayed. It was them moving and nothing else. The world was small and shining. It was how the light showed against everything that wasn t light. Tuesday only saw Sebastian once she saw him. These colors showed on his hair and face and glasses. He looked down. He didn t see her. His eyes lit when he did. His lips overwhelmed her. Something washed over her until it overtook her. Tuesday just kissed the boy. It became night. They took off on this trail that lead towards the mountains that ringed the town on three sides. Tuesday saw off and into the distance. Hills and trees were just shapes then part of the dark. They felt gravel beneath their feet in the night. The trail followed a switchback. Light came from houses. Tuesday and Sebastian could see the water. It was this break in the trees. The town below them stretched towards the harbor. The sky was lit by it and the stars. They lay down then. She picked at the grass. She braided pieces. He tried to light a candle he d pulled from the back pocket of his jeans. 18
He lit it then. He leaned back and rested on his elbows. When she climbed on top of him she closed her eyes. She rested her head on his chest. She smelled his rank pits, he got hard. She bit his neck. They lay there. She opened her eyes. His face was gone in the dark and stuff. She made out shapes. The stars in the distance were just light. She heard the wind but didn t feel it. It was the top of the trees, everything above them. She couldn t feel his hair until she touched it. 19