- Milo Garret: It’s about seven o’clock in the evening, mid January, the sun nothing but a cigar cherry as an old man’s weak piss of rain gives an oily shine to tinseltown. This morning, I woke up in a hospital. “So Mr. Garret, how you feelin’? the doc says. “Numb” I say back. He chuckles a bit, tells me you can’t fell numb, ’cause numb means you can’t feel. You can’t feel numb, you can only be numb, he tells me. He goes on, talkin’ some dopey bullshit about my dressing, about itching, about keepin’ it dry. But I wasn’t payin’ attention no more. Funny thing, my brain got locked on those two words: Be numb. Be numb. Be numb. Like some guru mantra, or a goddamn irregular heartbeat. Be numb. Be numb. Be numb. Good advice.
– 100 Bullets Issue 31: “The Counterfifth Detective Part 1”