The Zero Game/The Fire Baby/The Promise of a Lie/The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud [antikvár]

ONE I don't belong here. I haven't for years. When I first came to Capitol Hill to work for Congressman Nelson Cordell, it was different. But even Mario Andretti eventually gets bored driving two hundred miles an hour every single day. Especially when you're going in a circle. I've been going in circles for eight years. Time to finally leave the loop. 'We shouldn't be here,' I insist as I stand at the urinal. 'What are you talking about?' Harris asks, unzipping his fly at the next urinal. 'C'mon, Matthew, no one cares about the sign out front.' He thinks I'm worried about the sign on the door that says MEMBERS ONLY—as in Members of Congress as in them as in not us—but after all this time here, I'm well aware that even the most formal Members won't stop two staffers from taking a whiz. 'I'm talking about the Capitol itself,' I say. 'We don't belong any more. I mean, last week I celebrated eight years here. What do I have to show for it? I'm thirty-two years old—it's just not fun any more.' 'Fun? You think this is about fun, Matthew? What would the Lorax say if he heard that?' he asks, motioning with his chin to the Dr Seuss Lorax pin on the lapel of my navy blue suit. As usual, he knows just where the pressure points are. When I started doing environmental work for Congressman Cordell, my five-year-old nephew gave me the pin to let me know how proud he was. 'I am the Lorax—I speak for the trees,' he kept saying, reciting from the Dr Seuss book I used to read to him. When I look at the tiny orange