Outer Reaches of the Palindrome Page: 6
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circumference of the lenses perfectly. He has liverspots on his skin. "Either way, you
might as well kiss your pride goodbye."
"Alright, man, FUCK," says Don, frantic. He's crying. "God, please just help me."
The Vet doesn't so much as acknowledge Don. He just keeps reading, on his back,
his head propped 30 degrees by a pillow, the book held to his face by his broad hands, his
foot tapping. His left foot always taps. Always. That was something Don noticed
immediately when he arrived at the cell, when he tried to communicate with the Vet
countless times, but the Vet ignored him like he wasn't there. His foot never lost the beat.
It tapped while he slept. It tapped when he was awake. When he walked, he would stride
in accordance to the same rhythm.
For the first two weeks, it was more so the Vet's tapping foot that damn near drove
Don to the brink of madness than the silence and the isolation. But after awhile, after
proving itself as something reliable and stable in a world of gambles and blind trades, the
Vet's tapping foot somehow was becoming the only thing keeping Don sane, something
Don could pray to. The Vet finally breaks his silence and puts the book down, swings his
legs over the side of his cot and places his feet flat against the cell floor, the left one
tapping.
"Alright, then," says the Vet, clasping his hands. "Now we're getting somewhere,
Pretty White Girl."
"Don't call me that!" The Vet rises to his feet and lands a punch into Don's chest,
hurling the poor rookie back-first into the wall. Don melts down the wall into his bed and
fights to catch his breath.
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McConnell, Michael Constantine. Outer Reaches of the Palindrome, thesis, December 2003; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4407/m1/9/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .