Irish pt. LII
"A website?" says Ramona.
"Yeah. It's called Acid Logic," says Pete.
"Sounds druggie," says Ramona. "I'm not into drugs."
"It's not druggie. Nobody knows where Wil got that name and he's never explained it. But he doesn't do drugs."
"I don't know," says Ramona.
"He's been running it for 25 years. He started back when most home computers still hooked up to the internet with dial up modems."
"Is that even worth it?" says Ramona. "I mean...I don't want to be totally obscure. I need to know I have a couple of readers at least, you know, as a writer."
"Wil says he gets a 1000 hits a day."
Ramona looks thoughtful.
"How about if we meet Wil for coffee. He's really a great guy," says Pete.
"Well yeah, a face to face meeting would be good," says Ramona.
Pete gets out his phone and taps out a text.
"So how do you know this Forbis guy?" says Ramona.
"I was couch surfing, back in the '90's? And I was staying at this place in Long Beach. Guy had a PC. He said you could go on the internet. I didn't really grasp what that meant. But I said what the heck, right? He fires up the PC and then he clicks some keys and it makes all these buzzing beeping noises. Then the screen lights up. There's a box at the top of the screen. Guy says type in something. So I typed in 'Literary websites', don't ask me why. The first thing that came up was Acid Logic."
Pete stops talking. Gets a far away look on his face.
"So then what happened?" says Ramona.
"Dude was asking for chicken recipes," says Pete.
"Chicken recipes?"
"Ways to cook chicken. Hey, it was early days internet. Anything could happen. Dude is out there asking for chicken recipes on a literary website, you go with the flow."
"So did you send him a chicken recipe?"
"Yeah, for some teriyaki chicken BBQ."
Pete's phone buzzes. Pete looks at it.
"Looks like we can meet Forbis in North Park tomorrow evening," says Pete.
"Well I don't know," says Ramona.
"No pressure," says Pete. "You said you were thinking of getting back to writing. We can bring Jimmy and YoYo with us."
Later, YoYo and I are back in our van.
"What do you think of this?" I say.
"Of what?" says YoYo.
"You think Pete Moss is a scammer?"
"If he is what's he have to gain? A scammer never does anything if there isn't something in it for them."
"So what's in it for him?"
"A downtown condo," says YoYo.
"You see Pete Moss as a downtown condo living kind of guy?"
YoYo doesn't say anything.
"You know he's not," I say.
"OK. He's not."
"So what's in it for him?"
"Well if Ramona writes another book and it's a best seller, that's money. If he's right there by her side, some of that money will roll off on him."
"It seem like Pete Moss cares all that much about money to you?" I say.
"Well I just can't figure him out," says YoYo.
"Maybe he's in it cause he loves Ramona?"
"Men don't love women. You guys just use us for your own pleasure then get on down the road."
"So we should definitely go with Pete and Ramona to meet this Forbis dude?"
"Yes," says YoYo, setting her jaw like she's arrived at an important conclusion.
"Did you read her book?" I say.
"Yeah...I did," says YoYo. "That girl had something to say and she knew how to say it."
"So you think she is a one hit wonder or you think she still has something to say and it should get out there?"
"Yeah, yeah. I think she should start writing again."
"And this Forbis guy and his Acid Logic is a place to start on Ramona's comeback tour?"
"...Yes!"