Friday, July 10, 2009

RICHIE - CHAPTER TWELVE (Twitter Novel / Keitai Shosetsu)



the next morning it snows for
the first time this year and its
weird cuz

everyones obviously kind of

excited but acting like they
dont care about something as
gay as the first snowfall

but it definitely brings up all

those little kid feelings of like
snowmen and days off and
christmas morning

and everyones rushing to get

outside much more than
usual and i run into richie
and im like -hey its
snowing-

and hes all blasé-blasé like
-hm oh really- and then i go

-i was looking for you last
night where were you-

and he gives me this weird

face -i was in my room what
do you mean- and i tell him
-i came down cuz

-i wanted to talk to you about

something- and he laughs in
a strange way -well idk what
to tell you dee dee

-i was in my room all night-

and i go -well when i came
down- and he blows up
-jesus what am i yr boyfriend

-maybe i was taking a shit

what the hell- and i go
-whatever man dont have a

fucking conniption- and he
scoffs

-dont worry about me dee

dee- i stare at the floor -i
wont- then he sighs -so what
was this

-huge important thing you

just had to tell me about last
night- and im like -nothing
dont worry about it-

richie changes tacks on me
-aw cmon dee dee dont be

that way tell me all about it-
and frejean passes us in the
hall

-whats the matter faggots

outta lube- and laughs to
himself richie waves him off
without even looking -fly
away shitbird-

frejean makes cocksucking

sounds and richie just gives
him the finger -cmon dee dee
im listening- and im like
-forget it

-lets just go to school- and

richie shrugs and we leave
the dorm and start walking
over and a bunch of guys

are already out there having a

snowball fight and theyre
whooping and shouting and
running

and honestly it looks super

fun and i stop and look for a
minute and then richies all
-dee dee are you coming-

and for a second i almost say

-no im gonna get in on this-
but i look over at him and hes
all impatient

i look back again and i shrug

and just follow him over to
the school and we pass the
wall by the cafeteria where
the graffiti was

and nulles and cuddy are out

there watching the physical
plant guys finish the
sandblasting before the snow
gets too bad

and we walk by and richie

gives them a jaunty wave and
nulles just stares at us with
his weird mouth all tight but

cuddys got that same little

smile and strange excited
look about the eyes that he
got with richie when the
graffiti first went up

and they just stand there and

watch us until we go in the
school again just like last
time the lines of our

lives running back and forth

over each other crossing and
recrossing again and again
and again and again


11 comments:

Tracey said...

That's awesome Jason! Once more I'm looking forever onwards to see how the story unfolds next.

I particularly love the last four lines - absolutely beautiful!

Jason Gusmann said...

thanks so much tracey, and i gotta say im really enjoying yr blog as well!

Anonymous said...

I like the way you continue the theme of the lines of our lives, like Guinea pigs in a cage within a cage, and the way it contrasts with the innocence of first snow.

Um, can I like be presumptuous here and periodically forward you some emails as I get them from my uni, emails for different journals calling for submissions of fiction and poetry? I'm an MFA student (poetry) @ASU and I think you kick my butt as well as those around me, truly, and more people should read you.

Cheers.

Jason Gusmann said...

percy p., that's not presumptuous at all, just incredibly supportive, as usual. my e-mail is ppclukcluk@hotmail.com - forward away!

Mariana Soffer said...

Excelent text, well very well written

With kids there is always a lot of interruption, so you end up finishing less than
half the things you started, mostly cause you lost interest, not cause you can go back
and finish it.

Another thing you experience with kids is that desires and activities get all entangled,
you dont know if you went to see the movie because its a kids movie, or you took the kid
as an excuse to see that movie.

It seems that lives running and crossing each other again and again is like a vain attempt to stay alive eternally, or maybe an attempt to feel alive now.

Jason Gusmann said...

mariana - yr comments are always so intelligent and so fascinating in terms of where these subjects take you. i enjoy yr comments nearly as much as yr excellent blog! thank you, always

Paul said...

It's all happening.

Maxine said...

This is still blowing me away...but rather than leave my adorations here, I better get back to writing that blog-post about it! Should be ready by tomorrow night.

Jason Gusmann said...

love you guys

Sack Posset said...

This is why blogs are such wonderful things, because I can read this, which is unlike anything I've read before.

Jason Gusmann said...

thank you, sp - yr shit is also unlike anything i've ever read, so right back atcha milady!