Elle was kissing the woman whose babysitter, rumour had it, was aka Destroyer. Okay, Elle was making out with this woman against the wall in an alley in Gastown. The woman was draped in fake fur and resented Felix because he was junior counsel for forestry giants. The three of them were outside a bright little art theatre that no longer exists there. They had just seen a film and then a band called S.T.R.E.E.T.S. You know what that stands for. The big-rimmed wheels of a black Escalade rolled down the night alley in the rain. They had to flatten themselves against the bricks to let it pass.
Felix was just watching everything, really, this was not his world but he had no other. Felix did not skateboard much anymore was an ironic thought. It totally sucked. He was as square as the droplet-studded toes of his dress shoes but no, none would deny that Felix knew punk. Felix knew the difference between skate metal and death and Elle, appearances notwithstanding, was devoted enough.
Years after he and Elle parted, Felix would come across her photo on Pitchfork, where she was cited as keyboardist for another beloved but obscure West Coast band. Come to think of it, Felix and Elle went to see that band together once, at the Patricia, before she joined it. Felix still listens to the music that totally ruled between 1999 and 2002, because that is where he left himself, because that was the glint chromium moment he let pass, because back then Pornographer was such a popular word, Turner even won a prize for it.
"A Shower of Yeahs and Whatevers" is a sort-of spin-off from Cat. and "Frivolous Parasol: A Test Case."
