By 5:30 on a very abnormal Tuesday evening, Jonathan Smith was the most hungry he had ever been ever in his life. This is what Africa must feel like. Jonathan is a normal guy. He gets his haircut every five weeks the same way every time. He wakes up every morning at 7:35, give or take a minute because he likes to be up one hour before he has to get out the door for work, and by waking up at that time on the weekend, it keeps his body in tune. He follows the same routine every single morning, with the only variable being what he decides to eat and drink for breakfast. That he keeps a surprise. It makes the morning more interesting that way. This Tuesday was different however. For some reason his alarm either didn’t go off or he somehow slept through it. It not going off isn’t entirely out of the norm, after his glass of wine (or two, shhh) Jonathan sometimes forgets to set it, therefore, the minute or two of variation in his waking up, but today he didn’t wake. Little did Jonathan know at the time, but this would set off his entire day.
It was exactly 8:24 when Jonathan finally realized that he had not woken at the correct time. When he looked at his clock, he assumed that it was a dream, there is no way that he slept that late, he hadn’t slept that late since his college days he figured. But after a glance at his watch and a pinch to his arm, he realized it was all too true. Jonathan had never been late to work ever. Okay, maybe once when he was 17 or so, but those were his wild days. Jonathan had eleven minutes to make his ass out of the front door of his house. Actually, eighteen, he always gives himself a seven minute buffer just incase there is traffic or some unforeseeable slowdown on his way to work. After a quick moment to try and figure out which parts of his morning routine were not as necessary as others, Jonathan began getting ready as fast as he ever had. The problem is that all parts of his morning routine are very necessary for the well being of his day, but being how today had already started off on the wrong foot, it was most likely going to continue that way throughout, so he cut some things out. Two of those not so necessary things were breakfast, and making his lunch.
When he walked/ran through the front doors of his building, the sound of his stomach growling interrupted his thoughts about what he was going to say to his boss when he asked why he was late. Why hadn’t he just brought something in the car for breakfast? It was too late now, he would just have an early lunch, it would be alright. He sat at his desk and got to work immediately. Everybody acted normal when he arrived, maybe nobody had noticed. Then there was a knock.
“Hey Jonathan, how are you doing today?”
“Sir, I’m very good, thank you for asking, before you start, I just want to say that I am very sorry and that I know this isn’t like me, and Ted I promise it will never happen again”
After the look Ted gave him, Jonathan knew he had jumped the gun a little. “Jonathan, I don’t know how much coffee you drank this morning, but you’re going to need to settle down a bit. I was just coming to say that your memo that you sent out yesterday was very well written, I think people really got the message. Now what are you so damn upset about anyways?”
“Oh um, nevermind sir, Ted, it’s been a weird morning for me I guess, I’m sorry. Thank you very much though, I just really think it would be helpful for everybody to start labeling there food in the refrigerator. I understand that sometimes”
“Johnny, I’m saying it was a good memo, I read it, I know why you sent it and why you thought it was a good idea, it says it all in the memo. You always have very thorough memos John. I just stopped by to say good morning is all. Now get back to work alright and take a chill pill today, you look like you are going to have a heart attack this morning.”
“Oh, okay, thanks again Ted. I’m just trying to make this office the best it can be, ha. I’ll work on finding some of those chill pills.” Jonathan felt quite proud of his little joke, but Ted looked confused. “I mean, I’m not going to take any pills, ha, uh, I’ve never done anything like that every before so I sure won’t start now right?” Ted just shook his head a little bit and left. Jonathan always wondered why Ted always shook his head before he left. Jonathan knew that he was awkward sometimes, but he didn’t think it was too bad.
It just so turned out that today Jonathan was going to be swamped. This happens often enough, and that is why Jonathan chooses to pack a lunch everyday. After dealing with some of his first clients of the day, the small uncomfortable emptiness in his stomach had gotten larger. Also, the lion that seemed to have made a home in there was getting louder as the day progressed. He needed something, so it was time for a trip to the vending machine.
Unfortunate with this blog I had to make a chose. Keep writing it and finish a story from it, or quit on it for now and finish some other blogs. I chose to make some notes on the route I was going with it and maybe come back to it some other time if I still think it is worth it. So, maybe we will see more from Jonathan Smith some other time, right now I like him, so it is a definite probability.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Third level dialogue
"Wow John today really is a great day to go for a three mile walk, nice work." John knew the tone all to well, he never really could please Kate sometimes. "Kate I know, I'm sorry I should have checked the weather." She wouldn't even look at him, "no, no, no, I really love being soaking wet and freezing cold, c'mon babe, you know that."
"Here take my coat."
"Ya, that will make it much better, another layer of cold wet clothes, thank you so much for the offer John, but why don't you just keep it for yourself." John felt bad, he thought he had planned the perfect day, and it looked beautiful out when the first took off, but the further they got away from civilization, the darker the clouds got. When Kate asked if they should turn around, John was determined that God wouldn't ruin his perfect day, that the clouds would pass. They didn't, however. Now he was stuck with a pissed off Kate and still another cold wet half mile at least before they would reach their car. After a few minutes of silence from Kate, he thought she might have given up trying to make him feel bad. But he was wrong. "You know what John? I think we should plan our long walks in the country around this kind of weather more often. What a perfect day."
"Here take my coat."
"Ya, that will make it much better, another layer of cold wet clothes, thank you so much for the offer John, but why don't you just keep it for yourself." John felt bad, he thought he had planned the perfect day, and it looked beautiful out when the first took off, but the further they got away from civilization, the darker the clouds got. When Kate asked if they should turn around, John was determined that God wouldn't ruin his perfect day, that the clouds would pass. They didn't, however. Now he was stuck with a pissed off Kate and still another cold wet half mile at least before they would reach their car. After a few minutes of silence from Kate, he thought she might have given up trying to make him feel bad. But he was wrong. "You know what John? I think we should plan our long walks in the country around this kind of weather more often. What a perfect day."
Bear at the door
“Hey sweetheart, nice ass.” The statement was mostly shocking to them both. After the initial shock, however, Jane immediately turned to me, eyebrows raised as if she was wondering why I hadn’t already done something. All I wanted was to get my ass kicked in pool by my wonderful girlfriend of two years, but with the knot tightening in my stomach; it appeared that tonight was going to have a lot more in store. My first reaction was to look around as if to see if a teacher or somebody of authority would be found in this dinky little bar to hear this guy and take care of him for me. Remembering that I am an adult and there aren’t authority figures always around to take care of confrontations for me, I stammered a little and addressed the tall well built gentleman. “Excuse me sir, that’s my girlfriend you are talking to.” I didn’t think the statement came out nearly as bold and defiant as I thought it would, and after the guy turned to his buddies and laughed, I knew for sure it hadn’t. “What’s she doing with a dude like you, that fine ass should be with a man that knows what to do with it,” followed by more laughter from him and his friends. All I wanted to do now was leave, and I was willing to accept the ridicule while I walked out the door. I didn’t have to go back to that bar again, it wasn’t very nice anyways. We could find a new bar no problem. But the look in Jane’s eyes wasn’t one of “let’s find a new bar”, more like “you had better do something”. Now I was uncomfortable and getting angry for being put in the situation both by this guy and Jane wanting me to do something about it when clearly this guy and his two buddies could easily kick my ass. “Hey man, why don’t you just mind your business and go find some whore to hook up with and leave me and my girlfriend alone.” And that was clearly enough to commence a battle with the guy. At one point I thought to myself, I thought these things were supposed to end after high school, but apparently not for everyone. With the very few fighting skills I possess, most of them, actually all of them learned from television, movies, and video games, I didn’t last very long in the fight. Two weeks later, with the shadow of a black eye still, I got engaged. I knew that if I would get into a fist fight for Jane, she was for sure the one. Plus, it made her absolutely adore me, even though I got my ass kicked.
Journey
Before he knew it his life was turned upside down…literally. The big storm on the coast of Australia had lifted the garbage can he was digging through while looking for the leftover cheesy fries he could smell and tossed it and him into the vast ocean. Even though his nest, wife, and little pinkies (they still hadn’t gotten there fur) weren’t too far from the beach, he wasn’t very familiar with the ocean. He recognized its smell, but it tasted horrible. Even worse than the yellow water that he sometimes came across in the white bowls. He managed to make his way to the top of the garbage can and squeaked and squeaked for help, but it was in vain. He tried swimming back to home, but he didn’t make it very far before getting too tired to continue any further, so he was forced to go back to what appeared to be his new home. Inside the garbage can wasn’t horrible, it had all the amenities of back home, but it lacked the most important thing, his family. Now he was accompanied by new companions that continually bumped against new home. They were strange creatures that lived inside the horrible tasting water. They looked silly with strange big eyes on either side of there head and strange looking wings along there body. Worst of all, they didn’t understand him. The first time he noticed them following his home, he asked what they were, but got nothing back. With all of his food gone, he was starting to get desperate. He was starving and couldn’t concentrate on anything but his stomach. Screw it; he had to do something so he leapt into the water once again, this time with no intention of turning back. After swimming for an eternity, his home was no longer visible, but he was driven with an insurmountable urge to eat, so he continued forth. About to give up, he noticed something protruding out of the water! Maybe it was a new home! With food! The object was getting closer and closer, almost too quickly, but the thought of food blinded him. When he reached the object, instead of being greeted with a tasty meal like he had hoped, he was greeted with a large dark opening of which he was swirled into. He made it onto something solid and there were tiny little creatures squirming all around him. He was frightened, and his lungs were full of water. The tongue he made it onto slowly lifted, dumping him deep into the digestive system of a whale.
I wanted to try something different with Journey and I failed miserably, but I didn't want to just trash it because I spent time on it. I tried writing from a rat's perspective, but it was difficult to do and probably a waste of time because I know my audience isn't children and it is hard to relate to a rat, but here it is, it was worth the experiment I think. Also, I know the ending sucked, but I knew the story was lame, so I kind of just pooped out.
I wanted to try something different with Journey and I failed miserably, but I didn't want to just trash it because I spent time on it. I tried writing from a rat's perspective, but it was difficult to do and probably a waste of time because I know my audience isn't children and it is hard to relate to a rat, but here it is, it was worth the experiment I think. Also, I know the ending sucked, but I knew the story was lame, so I kind of just pooped out.
Friday, September 25, 2009
More like birth of a story in three hours or less
I didn't really know how to approach this so I just dove right in and ended up typing away for over three hours, which is too long because I have to get ready for work, so some of the last things I tried wrapping up kind of quickly. I was surprised, however, how quickly and easily most of this rolled right out of my brain. In Word it is just over three pages single spaced. So here we go:
Dialogue between Drew and Aaron
D: How’s your car coming?
A: It’s alright, come here, hold this for me.
D: Why is this necessary?
A: I don’t know, (with a shrug of his shoulders) I found a guy that was selling it for cheap and I could use it.
D: Ha, this is a helluva lot of work for something that you “could use”, besides your car is fucking fast already, why do you need it to be faster?
A: Are you kidding? That fucking Prelude almost took me last week, you were there.
D: Ya key word, almost.
A: I should be easily stomping imports, I want start doing this shit for real.
D: What do you mean for real? We go to Midway every week.
A: No I mean I wanna start doing this for money.
D: Haha you have lost your mind. Are you kidding me? That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard you say all night. Dude neither one of our driving records can even handle a speeding ticket let alone racing and shit. We are pushing our luck as it is and now you want to start doing this more and for money?
A: You don’t have to come.
D: So you are serious. Dude we should talk this through a little bit.
A: No, like I said, I’m doing it. I’ve thought it through, this is the next step for me, I gotta do something. I hate installing leather seats and things and not making shit. I went to that expensive ass school to teach me all these things and the best job I can find is installing sunroofs for a dick boss getting paid $12 an hour. It’s bullshit and I’m fed up with it, I gotta make a move, aren’t you tired of sitting around here not doing shit with your life?
D: Dude last time I checked I was working my way through college. You went to a car school to follow your passion. I’m half through with my education, I still don’t even know what I want to be, and you already have yours and are in a job. Things take time, you gotta learn to walk before you can run bro. I think street racing is a bad idea, neither one of us needs to get deeper into that lifestyle. Going to Midway is fun and fucking around with other cars and racing here and there is ok, but when you talk about doing it for money, that changes the game up.
A: I’m tired of wasting my time. I want to get my school paid off, my mustang paid off and I want to start making some real money. I need to move out of my mom’s house man. I knew coming into it that the automotive industry takes time, but I didn’t think it would take this long, I just need to do something now, to get me moving along faster. If I could get some money saved up I could start my own shop. You and me man.
D: All I’m saying is that doing it illegally isn’t going to make it easier, it might be quicker, but you gotta look long term. What are you gonna do when you blow your motor? Or crash? What about get caught? What are you going to do about those things?
A: Dude, I’ve seen it man, I’m smarter than that, I know of ways I can do this legitimately. I’ve thought it through. You know those old warehouses off of Orrin? Back there is perfect, nobody is ever back there at night, I figured we could find people around Midway and take ‘em back there. So are you gonna be down or what?
D: Dude c’mon. First, you know I got your back no matter what, but you gotta listen to me. This isn’t the way to do it.
A: Just come with me tonight.
D: Alright, but if it starts to get sketchy we dip.
A: For sure, no problem, you let me know and we are outa there.
Setting:
Drew always found it odd walking into Aaron’s mom’s dimly lit garage. Looking around the unfinished walls was Patty’s stuff all over, lawn chairs, baseball/softball mitts, bicycles, weed eater, women’s golf clubs and the rest of her stuff, but the garage floor itself was Aaron’s domain. Whenever he had a project Patty’s SUV was the first to go outside to make space. Tonight Aaron’s smoke gray mustang sat diagonally across the floor, hood up spilling bright florescent light from underneath. His overcompensatingly big red 60 gallon air compressor sat in the corner occasionally deafening them when the motor kicks in to keep pressure built up. Between that, Aaron’s Snap-On impact wrench’s constant whirring, and some sort of random mix of hip-hop, rock, and country music, it was a matter of time before Patty rolled out of bed to tell us it was enough for the night. Then they would have to turn down the music and switch to his hand tools. Tonight there was another oddity, Aaron’s project must involve some sort of burning of plastic because after it hit Drew’s nostrils, that’s all he could smell even when he went inside to grab a them a couple beers.
Aaron’s Character:
1. Aaron is a smaller guy, five foot ten or so, 135 lbs soaking wet, which he always hated. He would complain to his buddy Drew about how he can never gain any weight which always pissed Drew off because he, like most normal people, had exactly the opposite problem. Aaron is always well kept, never ever leaving the house unless he hair was properly gelled, his clothes were clean and wrinkle free, his white undershirt’s collar always showing just a little bit under his shirt, but it always had to be even, and shoes that either matched some aspect of his shirt, belt or hat. Aaron was always self conscious about his looks so he would always be extra meticulous when getting ready; he had to look perfect, which usually paid off because he had no problem with the ladies.
2. Aaron has always kept to himself. He doesn’t have a problem making friends, but he usually keeps his distance. Even his best friend who he has hung out with forever, Drew, can’t crack into him. There have only been very few occasions, most of them involving lots of beer, where Aaron has opened up to Drew a little and show his true self. Aaron used to be very close to his father. When Aaron finished up at his car school, when he moved back it was his father’s place that he moved into, and it was almost like a bachelor’s pad. They were very close up until his father remarried. This has taken its toll on Aaron commitment to relationships. Although he has no problem finding amazing chicks, they usually don’t last very long. The one relationship that Drew thought was going to actually work out, after she asked him to move in, he broke up with her and bought a car. In essence showing were his true love lies.
3. Aaron is always looking for the next best thing. He moved to Wyoming to go to a very good and expensive car school hoping to pursue his passion in the automotive industry, but after moving back, he carries nothing but dead end jobs doing things like repairing interiors, or installing sunroofs with managers that always seem to be very mean and demanding. He also has held a part time job since high school in an automotive parts store, mostly to get discounts on parts and tools for his garage. His passion and pleasure however lay with his various vehicles.
4. Aaron’s biggest fears come in the form of people’s judgments. Aaron doesn’t want to end up a screw-up like his sister; he wants to be somebody. He is constantly aware of people’s eyes, always trying to see if they are judging some aspect of his appearance.
5. What Aaron wants most is to be satisfied. He desires most to be satisfied with his looks, his car, his friendships, his job, and his relationships.
Before the conversation:
Alright, the collar is good, my hair is good, shoes are cleaned, that should be everything. Damn, I forgot to clean out my car. It’s alright, Aaron glances at the clock on the microwave, I still have five minutes. He grabs his keys out of the bowl on the counter and starts out the door.
“By honey, good luck with your date!”
“Thanks mom, don’t wait up, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Aaron throws open the door to his mustang and quickly grabs the two Mountain Dew bottles and receipt from Target off the floor of his back seat and throws them away. A quick brush off of the dust on the dash board, and, perfect, he is off.
After the date, Aaron drove back home, alone. Amanda was really nice, and seemed really into him, but he saw her looking at his hair and Aaron didn’t take her joke very well about being almost the same size. Also, even though she said she didn’t care, Aaron thought he saw her snicker a little bit when he told her he is living in the basement of his mom’s house. That’s alright, I couldn’t have her Chevy Cobalt ever parked in front of my house anyways he thought as he rolled down the window and turned up the radio.
After the conversation:
His quick shift into third still made the tires chirp. Aaron had found someone to race, the wager: one thousand dollars, most of Aaron’s savings account. The Dodge Neon SRT-4 that he was racing shouldn’t be a problem for his Mach One, even stock, but it was keeping up. Drew was at the start line still, rooting for his buddy when one of the Neon guys’ crew came up to him and said, “Hand over the money.” As soon as he had finished his sentence Aaron was pulling away from the Neon and was for sure about to win. “Ha, I think you are confused buddy.” The two other guys he was with took a step towards him. “No, I don’t care if your buddy wins or loses, you are going to hand over the money.” Drew was starting to sweat a little, he unfortunately forgot his posse of douschebags at home and was not looking forward to what was going to happen next. “Bro just take it easy man, how about win or lose, we just take off and forget about this whole thing? It was a good race.” Finally Drew could hear the roar of Aaron’s exhaust getting closer. Drew couldn’t think of what to do, the main guy was practically breathing down his throat and he could see one of the other guys was carrying something so he kneed the guy right in the groin and took off running as fast as he could toward Aaron. Aaron’s car screeched down to a mostly slow roll and with the three guys right behind him and the Neon pulling up, all Drew had time to do was try jumping in the rolled down window.
Later, after a long chase through the Cities, Aaron finally lost the Neon crew. When they got back to his house, Aaron woke his mom to take a look at Drew. He was hurting pretty bad, and was having a hard time breathing. Patty thought that maybe he had broken a rib or two. Turns out Drew’s first attempt at jumping into a moving car wasn’t so graceful after all. They got him wrapped up and put a beer in his hand, he would be alright. After the adrenaline started wearing off, Drew looked over at Aaron, “Dude, you can do whatever you want, but next time, I’m not down to follow.” They both laughed a little and Aaron apologized. “Maybe I’ll try picking up another job or something.”
Dialogue between Drew and Aaron
D: How’s your car coming?
A: It’s alright, come here, hold this for me.
D: Why is this necessary?
A: I don’t know, (with a shrug of his shoulders) I found a guy that was selling it for cheap and I could use it.
D: Ha, this is a helluva lot of work for something that you “could use”, besides your car is fucking fast already, why do you need it to be faster?
A: Are you kidding? That fucking Prelude almost took me last week, you were there.
D: Ya key word, almost.
A: I should be easily stomping imports, I want start doing this shit for real.
D: What do you mean for real? We go to Midway every week.
A: No I mean I wanna start doing this for money.
D: Haha you have lost your mind. Are you kidding me? That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard you say all night. Dude neither one of our driving records can even handle a speeding ticket let alone racing and shit. We are pushing our luck as it is and now you want to start doing this more and for money?
A: You don’t have to come.
D: So you are serious. Dude we should talk this through a little bit.
A: No, like I said, I’m doing it. I’ve thought it through, this is the next step for me, I gotta do something. I hate installing leather seats and things and not making shit. I went to that expensive ass school to teach me all these things and the best job I can find is installing sunroofs for a dick boss getting paid $12 an hour. It’s bullshit and I’m fed up with it, I gotta make a move, aren’t you tired of sitting around here not doing shit with your life?
D: Dude last time I checked I was working my way through college. You went to a car school to follow your passion. I’m half through with my education, I still don’t even know what I want to be, and you already have yours and are in a job. Things take time, you gotta learn to walk before you can run bro. I think street racing is a bad idea, neither one of us needs to get deeper into that lifestyle. Going to Midway is fun and fucking around with other cars and racing here and there is ok, but when you talk about doing it for money, that changes the game up.
A: I’m tired of wasting my time. I want to get my school paid off, my mustang paid off and I want to start making some real money. I need to move out of my mom’s house man. I knew coming into it that the automotive industry takes time, but I didn’t think it would take this long, I just need to do something now, to get me moving along faster. If I could get some money saved up I could start my own shop. You and me man.
D: All I’m saying is that doing it illegally isn’t going to make it easier, it might be quicker, but you gotta look long term. What are you gonna do when you blow your motor? Or crash? What about get caught? What are you going to do about those things?
A: Dude, I’ve seen it man, I’m smarter than that, I know of ways I can do this legitimately. I’ve thought it through. You know those old warehouses off of Orrin? Back there is perfect, nobody is ever back there at night, I figured we could find people around Midway and take ‘em back there. So are you gonna be down or what?
D: Dude c’mon. First, you know I got your back no matter what, but you gotta listen to me. This isn’t the way to do it.
A: Just come with me tonight.
D: Alright, but if it starts to get sketchy we dip.
A: For sure, no problem, you let me know and we are outa there.
Setting:
Drew always found it odd walking into Aaron’s mom’s dimly lit garage. Looking around the unfinished walls was Patty’s stuff all over, lawn chairs, baseball/softball mitts, bicycles, weed eater, women’s golf clubs and the rest of her stuff, but the garage floor itself was Aaron’s domain. Whenever he had a project Patty’s SUV was the first to go outside to make space. Tonight Aaron’s smoke gray mustang sat diagonally across the floor, hood up spilling bright florescent light from underneath. His overcompensatingly big red 60 gallon air compressor sat in the corner occasionally deafening them when the motor kicks in to keep pressure built up. Between that, Aaron’s Snap-On impact wrench’s constant whirring, and some sort of random mix of hip-hop, rock, and country music, it was a matter of time before Patty rolled out of bed to tell us it was enough for the night. Then they would have to turn down the music and switch to his hand tools. Tonight there was another oddity, Aaron’s project must involve some sort of burning of plastic because after it hit Drew’s nostrils, that’s all he could smell even when he went inside to grab a them a couple beers.
Aaron’s Character:
1. Aaron is a smaller guy, five foot ten or so, 135 lbs soaking wet, which he always hated. He would complain to his buddy Drew about how he can never gain any weight which always pissed Drew off because he, like most normal people, had exactly the opposite problem. Aaron is always well kept, never ever leaving the house unless he hair was properly gelled, his clothes were clean and wrinkle free, his white undershirt’s collar always showing just a little bit under his shirt, but it always had to be even, and shoes that either matched some aspect of his shirt, belt or hat. Aaron was always self conscious about his looks so he would always be extra meticulous when getting ready; he had to look perfect, which usually paid off because he had no problem with the ladies.
2. Aaron has always kept to himself. He doesn’t have a problem making friends, but he usually keeps his distance. Even his best friend who he has hung out with forever, Drew, can’t crack into him. There have only been very few occasions, most of them involving lots of beer, where Aaron has opened up to Drew a little and show his true self. Aaron used to be very close to his father. When Aaron finished up at his car school, when he moved back it was his father’s place that he moved into, and it was almost like a bachelor’s pad. They were very close up until his father remarried. This has taken its toll on Aaron commitment to relationships. Although he has no problem finding amazing chicks, they usually don’t last very long. The one relationship that Drew thought was going to actually work out, after she asked him to move in, he broke up with her and bought a car. In essence showing were his true love lies.
3. Aaron is always looking for the next best thing. He moved to Wyoming to go to a very good and expensive car school hoping to pursue his passion in the automotive industry, but after moving back, he carries nothing but dead end jobs doing things like repairing interiors, or installing sunroofs with managers that always seem to be very mean and demanding. He also has held a part time job since high school in an automotive parts store, mostly to get discounts on parts and tools for his garage. His passion and pleasure however lay with his various vehicles.
4. Aaron’s biggest fears come in the form of people’s judgments. Aaron doesn’t want to end up a screw-up like his sister; he wants to be somebody. He is constantly aware of people’s eyes, always trying to see if they are judging some aspect of his appearance.
5. What Aaron wants most is to be satisfied. He desires most to be satisfied with his looks, his car, his friendships, his job, and his relationships.
Before the conversation:
Alright, the collar is good, my hair is good, shoes are cleaned, that should be everything. Damn, I forgot to clean out my car. It’s alright, Aaron glances at the clock on the microwave, I still have five minutes. He grabs his keys out of the bowl on the counter and starts out the door.
“By honey, good luck with your date!”
“Thanks mom, don’t wait up, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Aaron throws open the door to his mustang and quickly grabs the two Mountain Dew bottles and receipt from Target off the floor of his back seat and throws them away. A quick brush off of the dust on the dash board, and, perfect, he is off.
After the date, Aaron drove back home, alone. Amanda was really nice, and seemed really into him, but he saw her looking at his hair and Aaron didn’t take her joke very well about being almost the same size. Also, even though she said she didn’t care, Aaron thought he saw her snicker a little bit when he told her he is living in the basement of his mom’s house. That’s alright, I couldn’t have her Chevy Cobalt ever parked in front of my house anyways he thought as he rolled down the window and turned up the radio.
After the conversation:
His quick shift into third still made the tires chirp. Aaron had found someone to race, the wager: one thousand dollars, most of Aaron’s savings account. The Dodge Neon SRT-4 that he was racing shouldn’t be a problem for his Mach One, even stock, but it was keeping up. Drew was at the start line still, rooting for his buddy when one of the Neon guys’ crew came up to him and said, “Hand over the money.” As soon as he had finished his sentence Aaron was pulling away from the Neon and was for sure about to win. “Ha, I think you are confused buddy.” The two other guys he was with took a step towards him. “No, I don’t care if your buddy wins or loses, you are going to hand over the money.” Drew was starting to sweat a little, he unfortunately forgot his posse of douschebags at home and was not looking forward to what was going to happen next. “Bro just take it easy man, how about win or lose, we just take off and forget about this whole thing? It was a good race.” Finally Drew could hear the roar of Aaron’s exhaust getting closer. Drew couldn’t think of what to do, the main guy was practically breathing down his throat and he could see one of the other guys was carrying something so he kneed the guy right in the groin and took off running as fast as he could toward Aaron. Aaron’s car screeched down to a mostly slow roll and with the three guys right behind him and the Neon pulling up, all Drew had time to do was try jumping in the rolled down window.
Later, after a long chase through the Cities, Aaron finally lost the Neon crew. When they got back to his house, Aaron woke his mom to take a look at Drew. He was hurting pretty bad, and was having a hard time breathing. Patty thought that maybe he had broken a rib or two. Turns out Drew’s first attempt at jumping into a moving car wasn’t so graceful after all. They got him wrapped up and put a beer in his hand, he would be alright. After the adrenaline started wearing off, Drew looked over at Aaron, “Dude, you can do whatever you want, but next time, I’m not down to follow.” They both laughed a little and Aaron apologized. “Maybe I’ll try picking up another job or something.”
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A day in the life
"And would you like a soup or salad tonight?" Drew had on the best smile he could muster. He was busy, he had four other tables and they all needed shit too and this guy liked to the sound of his own voice. "A super salad? That sounds great!"
When he walked back in the kitchen, Katie was bitching, "Can you believe that asshole drank like five sodas, made me get him two refills of popovers," her hand went to her hip, "which I didn't charge him for, and still only left me fifteen percent?" At least she didn't have mister you better laugh at all my jokes because I'm wearing cowboy boots even though I'm not going to tip you worth a shit anyways. While Drew was getting cream and sugar for the guy's coffee, Ryan came rushing behind him with a tray of drinks and a big smile, "Coming on your backside!" Whether it was that big contagious smile, the thought of drinks after the shift, or that beautiful visual Ryan provided him, Drew couldn't help but cheer up a little.
When he walked back in the kitchen, Katie was bitching, "Can you believe that asshole drank like five sodas, made me get him two refills of popovers," her hand went to her hip, "which I didn't charge him for, and still only left me fifteen percent?" At least she didn't have mister you better laugh at all my jokes because I'm wearing cowboy boots even though I'm not going to tip you worth a shit anyways. While Drew was getting cream and sugar for the guy's coffee, Ryan came rushing behind him with a tray of drinks and a big smile, "Coming on your backside!" Whether it was that big contagious smile, the thought of drinks after the shift, or that beautiful visual Ryan provided him, Drew couldn't help but cheer up a little.
iceberg
Drew knew after right away that his dad was in one of those moods. A manager for over thirty years, sometimes he had a hard time separating family from employee. He knew what was coming when his dad opened up the pantry door. "Drew I told you yesterday to take out this damn garbage! What is it doing still in here?" Drew was now given a choice; he could give in, say sorry and try moving on with the night or; he could take it upon himself to try reminding his dad that he is not one of his stupid employees. In a very sarcastic tone Drew chose the latter, "I'm so sorry sir I will get on that right away, you're not going to write me up are you?" And from that comment, Drew began his losing battle.
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