The Witching Snakes pt 34

9/11 Happens. Tomiko and Paul are Having Marriage Problems. Teddy Calls Paul and tells him to go to Minneapolis. Paul Sees Agatha for the First Time in Years. Greenie Reveals Something.

Read Part 33

When 9/11 happened, Tomiko was home alone. Paul was in the office. Paul called Tomiko and they had a fight. That wasn't how things were supposed to go. Paul wanted to come home. He wanted to comfort Tomiko because that's how he felt needed. He was the man. He was broken and weeping and maybe horny. His pain came out in jokes, bad jokes that made his wife scream. The next day, he would feel the full impact; spend days hollow and angry.

By the end of the week they would come to the numb acceptance. The world was a world where anyone could fly passenger airplanes into buildings. Paul obsessed over the passengers. Tomiko had been to New York and had even visited the top of the World Trade Center. She imagined being at the top of the observatory looking down upon Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. They fought over whether the observation decks were even open at that time of the day. A picture had been taken from the top of the skyscraper. Tomiko said it was real. Paul knew it was Photoshop. Paul tried to dissuade her. It all got muddled.

Finally they had fought and argued over the world politics. They alienated too many friends. Tomiko wanted a world without war. Paul wanted to personally kill Osama Bin Laden. At least that was how he sounded when he talked. They wished death on several friends. Livejournal was no longer a friendly site.

In early 2002, Paul received a phone call from Teddy. Teddy had called Paul's office directly. At first, Paul wanted to know if Teddy wanted a website for his paranormal investigation. The old man laughed without humor.

"She's got another one," said Teddy. "Come to the cities."