"Man, she was cranky in the day."
"Heh. You said it. Hell, Mom always
called her Miss Fussbudget."
"She was right on that."
Charlie took another sip of his drink
and looked at his old friend. He wanted
to say something but didn't know how
to bring it up. After all, how do you tell
your buddy that you always thought his
sister was a vicious cunt?
"Don't tell me Charlie, you're remembering
all the nasty shit she used to do to people
aren't you?"
"Uh, well..."
"It's ok. Hell, I knew her cruel streak better
then anyone. Shit, when Mom died Lucy kept the will
tied up for years, and she got most of the stuff too."
Charlie looked relieved. "It's just, I dunno man, I
never got over some of the stuff she pulled on me
as a kid. Like the football thing, you know? The dozens
of times she'd pull the thing away from me at the last minute.
I guess it's not her fault if I fell for it that many times but still..."
"Football thing?"
"Yeah, the football thing. You remember, she'd volunteer to
hold the football so I could kick it then she'd pull it
away at the last minute?"
"Oh yeah! I remember now. We all thought she was a bitch
the first time she did it but when you fell for it
twice we all fell out laughing. Man that was funny."
"Twice?"
"Yeah twice."
"No, it had to be dozens of times, I remember that..."
"Two times Charlie. She pulled that shit on you twice. That's it."
Charlie thought for awhile. Dozens? He pulled his memories together.
No, Linus was right it was twice. He now remembered looking up
that second time. Even Shermy was laughing. And yet, it seemed, somehow,
like it had happened hundreds of times, over and over. He looked at Linus.
"I wonder what's wrong with my memory. So much of what I remember
doesn't jive with what you remember."
"Don't sweat it Charlie. Kids are born knowing nothing about the universe.
Even basic stuff like what their hands are. They have to learn that shit
and time is one of the big things. How it goes fast on weekends and slow at school,
that kind of thing. You know, a six year old child is insane by our standards."
"So what happens?"
"Well, I think that a little kid holds several mutually exclusive views
of the universe, each with their own sets of laws. In one set, your
dog can talk, in another, he can't. Eventually, the set the adults push
on you wins out and it locks in. Memories change. An eternal summer
becomes only three months long."
Linus finished his scotch, looked at his oldest friend and
said, "And Lucy only pulled that ball from you twice."
"You know Linus, I seem to have mutually exclusive memories jogging around
inside me. Maybe the ones that were supposed to be overwritten
are still there."
"I'm sure they are in your case. That's what makes you a good writer,
Charlie Brown."
The two men paid for their drinks and left the bar.