#RIPLukePerrry and an excerpt about him from Illuminations on Market Street

Throughout my novel Illuminations on Market Street, of early 1990’s San Francisco, Cab and his best friends meet up, one he dated, but that did not last long.  “But I kept coming around,” confesses the protagonist, Cab, hanging out with his ex and her roommates, chatting, watching Beverly Hills 90210 episodes, and gossiping about temp jobs.”

Over  time, the friends read the I Hate Brenda Newsletter, watching the characters make their way through high school and into their lives.

Even the clients at Cab’s job in a housing program for people with HIV, tune into 90210 on Wednesdays.

“What’s up Pedro?” I asked.  “I’m devastated,” he replied.  “Why, what happened?” “We’re all looking for something in this life,” he remarked.

“You are looking for a plot for your story. Well, I’m looking for my Luke from Beverly Hills 90210.”

“Really?” I asked. “I love that show. We watch every Wednesday. We read the I Hate Brenda Newsletter every month. I never would have pegged you as a 90210 fan.”

“Well, I have been from the very beginning. You get attached to these characters. And I just found out.”

“About what?”

“That Luke left.”

“Yeah, that was last Wednesday.”

“I know but I missed it. I just saw Luke’s last episode.”

 “It was amazing,” I replied.  “In his last scene, he drove down the dirt road on his motorbike, without even waving goodbye, disappearing into the distance. It was over. He was gone.” “Devastating,” I replied.  I was smiling at Pedro. And a strange absence filled the room. 

“Oh Luke, take me with you,” he swooned.

“I’m shattered,” he gushed and walked outside, visibly upset, looking at the cyclists still zooming.  A half hour later, he came back and walked upstairs.  “Night, Cab,” he said.  “Get some sleep buddy.”

It had been a long day already. Between Luke leaving on 90210 and sleep eluding me most of the week, daydreaming followed, my mind slipping here and there, in and out of consciousness, not quite awake, not quite asleep, a panorama of images of this surrealist left coast passing by, people surfing, writing poems, wearing bikinis, following bands, racing from Oregon to Mexico, one end of the coast to the other.”

Thanks for being there for us to dream about Luke. 

I hope you found what you were looking  for on  that long trip up the Pacific Coast Highway.

#RIPLukePerry