Chimera Read Online Free Page B

you’ve been doing and where you are.”
    “Dream on, Nate. They want total desecration. The public feeds on seeing people fail.”
    “They also feed on comeback stories, and you have the chance to make yourself into one. Stop being an ass and let me tell you what’s going to take place while I still have time.”
    I throw myself down on the chair next to the couch, admitting defeat—at least, temporarily. I try to convince myself to be open-minded about whatever bullshit Nate is about to feed me.
    “So I talked to this guy, Wilt. I don’t remember his last name.”
    “Carter.”
    “What?”
    “Carter. Wilt Carter. That’s the guy at the Greenville Pilot who heads up community arts,” I say, exasperated. Nate talked to the guy for an hour and doesn’t remember his name. What the hell? For such a bright guy, he can be such an idiot.
    “Yeah. Anyway. Wilt wanted to bring a photographer over here to take some shots of the wall. I emailed him the shit I had on my phone but told him it wasn’t done at the point I took them. He had planned to bring someone from the paper, but after seeing the email, he called me back and said he had contacted some guy named Ferry Koops.”
    Hearing that name sends chills up my spine. “Ferry Koops, as in the photographer? That Ferry Koops?” He’s the biggest name to cross photography in the last thirty years. His work is edgy and positively brilliant. I’ve never seen anyone capture their subject the way he does, whether he’s working with stills, people, or landscape, and he doesn’t have an eye for one over the other. The long and short of it is that he’s a prodigy, an artistic genius.
    “Yeah, do you know who that is?” Poor Nate. He’s trying to help but just has no clue. He’s so out of his league, but if he can pull off working with Ferry Koops, I might have to kiss the ugly fucker.
    “Yes, jackass. Finish your story.”
    “I guess Wilt called Ferry and sent Ferry the email I had sent him. Anyway, Ferry wants to do the photography of your work. Today.”
    “Today? When today? Are you kidding? It’s almost six now.”
    “I’m well aware. They will be here with a crew at seven, so you might want to consider getting out of that chair, shower, and shave. You look like ass. Do you ever get dressed anymore?”
    “Fuck you. Christ. The place looks like shit. I don’t have time to clean up and get dressed.”
    “Go shower. I’ll clean up…or at least hide things so it’s not quite so apparent you’ve become a hermit wallowing in self-pity.” He smirks his cocky grin at me. Part of me wants to punch that look off his fucking face, but I don’t have time.
    I race off to shower and shave.
    When I return from my hygiene overhaul in jeans and a white V-neck T-shirt, sans shoes, Nate flabbergasts me with what he’s able to do in a mere thirty minutes. It stuns me even more to see Wilt and several other people sitting around my living room, but no sign of Ferry yet.
    As I approach the group, Wilt stands with his hand extended, inviting me to reciprocate. To my amazement the formality comes back easily, and a smile crosses my face. Plastic people, plastic faces. It’s all a façade, but I’ll play the game today.
    “Hey, Bastian. It’s great to see you again. I can’t wait to see this in person.”
    “Nice to see you, Wilt. How’s the newspaper world been treating you?”
    “It’s good. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to hear from Nate. I had no idea you were working again. I’m thrilled to be the one to see it first and get to spend some time with you. This is going to be huge for the community. If I make the deadline tomorrow, the story will run in the Sunday paper.”
    I look at Nate, slightly bewildered. I should’ve assumed there would be a story if the paper was coming to my house, but it all happened so quickly I didn’t have time to ask for details. I try to shake off the anxiety and remember I’ve known Wilt for years. Talking to