I gotta tell ya that I was amazed that mom and dad saw that in you,” He shook his head, “cause I sure as shit didn’t. But anyway, then dad says something that I guess that I always knew. He said that you had always been different, that you had always been smaller and that you looked at things differently than the rest of us but that he and mom had come to think of that as a good thing. ” Jimmy grinned and lifted his arm and draped it over my shoulder.
“He also said that you needed us more than anybody else in the family ever did and that we should be there for you, that that’s what a family should be all about.”
Then dad gets all quiet and reasonable like he does and he says, “No, Connor, you can’t.” Then, in a near perfect imitation of my dad, he says, “Boys, your mother and I have known for a couple of years that Robbie might be gay.” Well now Connor instantly gets it and he’s outta there at like the speed of light or something but the interesting thing is that the other half of the Dynamic Duo didn’t leave. Chase watched Connor storm out but then he sat down and listened to dad.”
читать дальшеJimmy sighed and slid down further on the chair. He stared straight ahead and his voice was quiet. “He did last night, him and Chase.” He shook his head slowly. “I dunno where the fuck Connor comes from, like some other fucking planet or something. Anyway mom and dad and I were watching the football game in the TV room and Connor and his shadow came in and went all dramatic. Connor went into his big, “Dad I gotta tell you some serious shit,” mode and then he just told em.” Jimmy opened his hands and gestured and then he smiled. “Now this you shoulda been there for. Dad is just staring at him and mom is watching dad. So dad gets up, goes over to the closet and gets those two old baseball bats and a golf club and he hands the bats to Connor and Chase.” Jimmy looked at me and laughed. “Don’t look so worried, you’re not dead. So then he says to the Dynamic Duo, “Okay, I was afraid of this but Robbie should be asleep by now so it’s a perfect time.” Jimmy laughed and shook his head. “So dufus Connor is standing there staring at this bat and he’s like all, “What?” and dad says, “We’re gonna go up there, the three of us and beat the crap outta him. He’s asleep now so he can’t call the cops and as soon as we get a couple of hits in it won’t matter.” Well dad’s voice is all seriously nutty and Connor and Chase’s mouths are about hitting the fucking floor. Connor is such a dweeb! I mean like how many times has dad done this to him and he still doesn’t see it coming. So Connor is all, “You can’t do that! We’ll fucking kill him if we do that!” and dad is like, “Well we gotta do something and I say beating the crap outta him is the best way!” and Connor is like,
He glanced at me quickly before turning back to the road. “Robbie, it’s just that you surprised me. And I was all geared up to beat the shit outta Connor and Chase and then you kinda threw me, well shocked me actually.” He sighed. “And…I didn’t want it to be true, ya know?” He glanced quickly at me. “I don’t think you’re some kinda freak, Robbie. It’s just that it’s not the way that you normally think about your bro, ya know?” Our conversation was interrupted when we got to the hospital and I held onto Jimmy all the way to the doctor’s office. We told the receptionist that we were there and then sat down to wait. There was something that I had been worrying about more and more and I figured that Jimmy would know the answer. I turned in my seat and looked at him. “Do ya think Connor is gonna tell mom and dad about me? Would he do that?” Jimmy looked at me all concerned. “You didn’t hear it last night?”Oh fuck! I knew that my voice would sound scared because I was. “Hear what?”
He opened the front door and held out his arm. “Just put your hand on my arm. It’ll be easier for you to keep your balance than if I put my arm around you.” I looked up into his eyes and didn’t see anything there that shouldn’t be there but I was wondering what had happened. But you know how when you’re unsure about something and you figure it should be one way but it’s not goin along with that and you get all nervous. Well, that’s how I was riding to the hospital with Jimmy but he didn’t seem to be anything like he had been the day before. Finally it just got to me and I figured, “What the fuck” if he was gonna eventually go back to bein pissed at me I’d just as soon know it now. “Jimmy, I’m sorry that I surprised you with that shit yesterday. It’s just that I didn’t want you to be defending me to Connor and Chase when I knew that I wasn’t what you wanted me to be.”
I got it and began going down the stairs in slow motion while my eyes were plastered to the opposite wall and my feet were doing the seeing. It wasn’t that bad, I could do this. I made it into the kitchen and had two bowls of Cheerios and an apple. I woulda fried an egg but I got worried about something going wrong with the frying pan or something and I knew that I might not be able to stop things cause of my dizziness. When I was sitting there eating I thought about the three guys that did that to me, thought about what kind of meals they were eating. I really didn’t give a shit about the main guy because he really was evil. But I had been thinking that maybe the other two weren’t all that cool with everything that happened, that maybe they were just going along because they’d have been embarrassed in front of that guy if they didn’t. At the time it was happening somehow my brain was still registering that one of the other guys was biting his lip and looking, at least for a moment, like he wanted to be someplace else. I wondered if that was Connor’s friend Jeff. I watched television in the family room for a couple of hours and then went back upstairs one stair at a time. It was a lot easier than going down. I took a long hot shower but it turned out to be a little harder than I thought and I had to keep grabbing onto stuff but it was totally worth it and I felt a lot better. I put on a pair of khaki’s because I was gonna see the doctor and somehow it seemed like I should be a little better dressed for that then I would normally be. Actually I was a hell of a lot more worried about riding to the hospital with Jimmy than I was about anything that I might run into with the doctor. I mean what if he yelled at me all the way to the hospital about what a sick fuck I was and how I was a total embarrassment to him and the rest of the family. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a bunch of shit about them that I wasn’t too happy about but I just wasn’t dealing to well with this whole outcast thing. The other thing was that, since it happened, I was feeling all panicky, like I really should be staying in my room with my door locked and maybe even be under the bed. I mean I understood that it was over but I just didn’t really feel like I was safe. I’m not big like my brothers. I can’t just punch somebody who gives me a hard time. I always figured that I could rely on my them to bail me out but now it pretty much seemed like they were gonna be on the other side. I heard Jimmy’s car pulling into the driveway and started for the door. I wasn’t sure that he’d even be willing to wait for me and I didn’t want to give him any reason to just take off without me. I guess that’s stupid. The door opened when I was halfway to it and Jimmy was silhouetted in the doorway. I stopped and he just stood there for a second and then he walked over to me. As soon as he spoke I knew it was gonna be okay because it was his soft voice. “You okay, Robbie? Gonna be able to make it?” If it was Connor or Chase I might figure this for a setup but not with Jimmy. It was still so hard for me to believe that Jimmy had been cruel to that other kid. I woulda bet anything that he would never do that.
I really wanted to look at my butt. I shoved my hand down the back of my pajamas and gently touched my asshole with the tip of my finger. It was still feeling a little swollen and I wanted to look at it but I knew that even with my mom’s small hand mirror I’d have to either bend over and look at the mirror between my legs or stare into it while it picked up my reflection in the vanity mirror. Either one of those things would make me lose my balance so I figured I’d have to live with not knowing. Anyway later the doctor was probably gonna look at it and he’d tell me if there was a problem. I sighed. I couldn’t believe that I knew that a doctor was gonna be looking at my asshole and that it didn’t bother me, well not much anyway. I went out into the hallway and inched my way over to the top of the stairs. I lied to my dad about the stairs, not completely because in fact I didn’t know that I would have a problem, just suspected it. I knew that I couldn’t look down and the closer I got to the stairs the more nervous I got because I had like this vision of myself going head first down the stairs. Finally I plastered myself against the wall of the hallway and crept very slowly sideways towards the stairway, feeling with my right hand for the handrail.
When I heard the last door slam I made my way carefully to the bathroom and almost passed out from relief when I finally peed. The trip from bedroom to toilet was only a little shaky and as long as I kept my eyes focused on the far wall I was okay. The big thing was not making any sudden head movements. It was kinda like walking on eggs plus I couldn’t look down. Weird. I looked at myself in the vanity mirror. Lot’s of bruises still but the swelling was pretty much gone. I touched the yellow and brown spot on the side of my face and then stared into my eyes. I leaned forward and looked deep into them.
“You’re gonna survive. No really, you’re gonna survive. I wouldn’t lie to ya.”
One touch on the face of a city. Boy/black plastic chair with some time to spare
Black plastic, touching black plastic
Someone's coming round in the evening
One touch on the face of a city. Boy/black plastic chair with some time to spare
Black plastic, touching black plastic
One touch on the face of a city. Boy/black plastic chair with some time to... Drawing on face of a girl who is sleeping Black plastic chair, reaching out, making one touch
3- довольствоваться низким положением быть скромным в поведении не искать видного или важного места в миру но за явной незначительностью позволить своему разуму воспарить над мирской властью и славой
4- быть равнодушным ко всему вести себя как собака или свинья которые едят что попадается пользоваться вещами что встречаются по пути не выбирая воздерживаться от любых усилий приобрести что-то или избежать чего-то принимать с равнодушием все через что проходишь богатство или бедность хвалу или презрение отказаться различать благодетель и порок похвальное и стыдное доброе и злое не огорчаться и не расстраиваться по поводу сделанного и никогда не радоваться и не гордиться достигнутым
5- относиться с совершенной невозмутимостью и непредубежденностью к противоборствующим мнениям и различным проявлениям деятельности людей ПОНИМАТЬ ЧТО ТАКОВА УЖ СУЩНОСТЬ ВЕЩЕЙ оставаться всегда спокойным
6- говорят...шестую стадию нельзя описать словами она соотносится с пониманием ПУСТОТЫ
It was at this point that I finally ended the conversation and said again nice to see them play or something and left as fast as anyone could leave a crowded street. Maybe it’s not such a good idea to talk to people you admire. Perhaps I should have just gone home.
me: Thanks for that. I really enjoyed seeing you guys play. Ok time to bike home now. him: oh thanks me: I’m also the girl that posted all of the comments on your myspace page begging you to come play Chicago. Wait…why am I still talking? Get yourself home girl You’re starting to sound like some freakishly obsessive stalker or something! him: oh really? What’s your name? me: Kirstie Why did I just go and tell him my name? him: Kristy? me: no. Kirstie Why am I correcting him? yeah whatever. Please don’t remember me ever. him: Kirstie? me: yes. like Kirstie Alley from Cheers OMG I’m standing here talking to Chris about my least favorite person in the whole world. Can someone please rescue me from what is the worst agony going on right now inside me? him: I like her. me: Really? I don’t. Now it sounds like I’m being opinionated and argumentative. I just know it. him: I liked Cheers. me: Yeah but after that she became fat and did bad sitcoms Oh for the love of God here. Am I still talking about Kirstie Alley???