In the Land of Birdfishes by Rebecca Silver Slayter

say he was a Nazi. I don’t go in for that. I’ve got no problem with Jews. I’ve got no problem with anybody. Except Americans. And the French. You French?”
    “No,” I said.
    “Just as well. We get a lot of French up here. But I figure, I don’t got to like the guy, I just like his music. Right?”
    “I guess so,” I said.
    Jim tossed the can in the back and opened another.
    “You keep drinking at that pace, Jim,” said Annie, “and I’m going to have to toss you out by Carmacks.”
    But he did keep drinking, and Annie kept driving, and I looked out longingly at the scattered houses of Carmacks as we passed by without anyone tossing anyone out of anything.
    Because there was Stephan, there was always Stephan. And because not one day was I ever sure that if I were to leave, he’d still be there when I came back.
    It was around midnight that we passed the Dawson airport.
    “We gotta take Aileen up to the Dome,” said Jim. “Come on, Annie. It’s the first time she’s seen Dawson.”
    “Jim, I’m warning you. I’m tired as hell and I’ve got no patience. We’re not going anywhere but home.”
    “Come on, Aileen. Tell her. The first time you see Dawson you gotta see it from the Dome.”
    “What’s the Dome,” I said.
    “It’s the big hill by Dawson. You can see the rivers and thecity from there. It’s just a view. Nothing special,” Annie said, lighting a new cigarette with the still-burning end of the one before.
    “Annie, you’d tell God and his angels they’re nothing special. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. Woman, you take us up the Dome.”
    “Don’t you call me
Woman
.”
    “Woman, I’ll call you whatever I want if you don’t take us up the Dome. Aileen wants to see the Dome.”
    “I don’t really care,” I said.
    “You think your shit smells real sweet, don’t you,” said Annie. She’d put away a few cans during the last few hours of the drive, and her face had taken on a suspicious look. “Care about precious little from the look of you. Jim wants to show you his town. We gave you a ride all this way, and he wants to show you his hometown. Show some manners.”
    She turned a hard right, and the truck began to edge its way around an enormous hill. She had animal eyes. Glittering animal eyes. She said, “Don’t know that I should really have this rig on this road. Give me another beer, Jim.”
    Jim passed her one and reached across my lap to pat her knee. “You’re my girl,” he said.
    “Shut your mouth, you drunk.”
    Jim shut it in a big smile, and beamed at us both and at the road all the way to the top. We jackknifed into the parking lot, where two other cars were stopped, empty. Jim stumbled a little unsteadily from the truck door and offered me a dirty hand. I clambered out Annie’s door instead.
    We were at the edge of a hill that plunged down into the sprawl of a town at the base, where two rivers met.
    “The brown river’s the Klondike and the clear one’s theYukon. You can see them still separated there, between the dirty half and the clean half,” said Jim.
    “I thought it was a city,” I said.
    “Used to be,” said Jim. “In gold rush days, it was booming. Now I don’t suppose there’s much more than a couple thousand of us left, even in summer.
    “Check it out.” He pointed. “That’s Annie’s place, way up there in the corner, and I’m just down the road a ways. Best bar in town’s The Pit, you can just about see it down there. They’ll still be drinking hard there. We should hit it for a couple more drinks. Annie, I can give you a spin on the dance floor.”
    “Piss off,” said Annie, opening another can.
    “Come on, Annie. Annie’s a beautiful dancer, aren’t you, hon.” Jim grabbed her from behind and put his arms around her. Annie fought him, her face nasty and pinched.
    “I said piss off, you fool.”
    I wondered if I should intervene. Jim had his arms around Annie as lovingly as if she had asked for it. And