September 19, 2016“You ever wondered about the bums on the street? Their lifeless walk, dirty shoes scraping, clothes waxy and hard. The men have those damn beards and the women look like used up whores. Ever wonder about them?”
“What about them?”
“I mean, where they came from. If they have kids that gave up on them. Did they give up on their kids first, did they lose it all because of drugs, is it mental illness, being stubborn, or just bad luck?”
“I never thought about it, I guess.”
“It’s fucked up, you know? All these do-gooders out there trying to go over seas and save assholes from an imaginary hell. Waste of money. Waste of time. Kills me to see young people going on these trips or missions or whatever they call them.”
“It provides purpose for them, maybe.”
“I’m talking about people, not fantasies or imaginary friends.”
“Okay.”
“That bum over there…see him? Not the one with the dreadlocks, the guy with the red baseball hat.”
“What about him?”
“Think his wife maybe left him for his cousin or best friend or something?”
“What’s got into you? Who gives a good goddamn?”
“I’m just curious. He’s old enough to have been in Nam. That man maybe fought for our freedom. And the assholes in cargo shorts, who are on their way to Africa to help people find the flying cunt monster, won’t even tell him what time it is.”
“Life is fucked up.”
“That. That shit that just came out of your mouth–that’s the fucking problem right there. People just say, ‘fuck it, let someone else handle it.”
“Look, my hotdog is getting cold, okay.”
“Fuck your hotdog.”
“Hey, shut up, shut up. Did you notice that black Mercedes over there?”
“What about it?”
“They’ve been there a while now–the couple inside.”
“Yeah?”
“They keep talking and just staring at us.”
“So what?”
“Well, what do you think they’re saying?”
“Turn up the heater, Dear. I am freezing.”
“Really? I’m starting to sweat in here.”
“I don’t know how they do it. Those two over there, especially.”
“Who cares?”
“Do you ever…?”
“What?”
“You ever wonder?”
∞
