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[i]☼ ○ ▬
I’m just an ordinary student who felt the need to rise up
and stand against the corruption in our school. I march into a classroom and
verbally go off on a teacher in particular who was known for degrading
students. I shout and repeat phrases like, “You’re a joke!” and “You’re beyond
idiocracy!”
The teacher leaves the room in a shameful fit. The faculty
arrives on the scene after hearing all the commotion. One of the guys I know
personally and beg that he give me just one more minute to talk to the class,
“Hey. Just give me one minute. Please. Just one minute.” He allows it. So I
turn to the classroom and begin my speech...
“Don’t be a mental retard!”
The students laugh and cheer.
“But...you know what I mean. I’m not talking about being
retarded. I’m talking about the mind!”
▬ ○ ☼
Waking up just before 1 p.m.
Strawberry Toaster Pastries. Orange Juice. Zinc (50 mg).
Out running some errands. Stopping at the shop on 17th
street to fix my brake light. Then to Plato’s Closet to sell back some unwanted
clothes. I happen to run into Leisa, almost literally, inside the store. We
chat for quite a while out front about the problems she’s facing with college
in Maryland and trying to infiltrate communities. She traded two massages for
two psych readings and both of them foretold the opposite fortune.
Lesia: “Well what do you think, Robert? You’re
wise………looking.”
[Ha-ha-ha]
Me: “Wise...looking. Well, I don’t think you should get
caught up in what others are telling you. The answers are inside you...not out
there. The universe can help guide you...or other people can help illuminate
what’s already inside you.”
Back home.
Skype chat with Aysena.
Egg Bagel with Mayonnaise and Tomato. Goldfish.
I get called into China Wok for a few hours.
Oranges.
In Kelley and Anthony’s room, Kelley, Leisa, and Erin
Gilroy. They’re talking like birds and I’m the bird watcher.
Lentils, Carrots, Mushrooms, Bok Choy, Onions, and Rice with
Garlic Bread.
Leslie strolls in and we attempt to make homemade ice cream
using coconut cream and blueberries. It’s proving difficult, as the consistency
isn’t coming out the way we planned.
Everyone’s corralled downstairs in the dining room chatting
up storms.
I ask Leisa, “Did you just add more makeup?”
Leisa: “No. Why do I look made-up?”
[Ha-ha]
...
I had commissioned Leslie to make one of her infamous fabric
bracelets for my stepsister before I left at Christmas but we didn’t get the
chance to meet up until it was too late. She hands it over to me. It’s incredible
the things she can create from scraps. It wasn’t meant for me but I try it on;
the size doesn’t fit on my wrist. I comment about how small it is and she
snatches it away from me with an animated reaction.
Leslie: “I’ll wear it!”
Me: “You’re so funny. As soon as there’s even a hint of
disappointment you’re like, Oh my gosh. That’s fine. Give it back!”
...
Darren resigns to his room with an exit line, “I have undead
souls to kill.”
...
At some point Leisa leaves. Every now and then I pop my head
in Kelley’s bedroom and talk with her and Erin who’s faithfully sipping on a
bottle of white wine.
Kelley: “She stays on her old flings and then gathers new
ones. It’s not just sex. She likes the attention.”
Erin: “No I like to have sex.”
Me: “Of course you do but it’s not always about the sex.
It’s about the self-esteem.”
Erin: “I just wanna get married and have some kids.”
Kelley: “So you’re looking for the perfect man. You’re on
the manhunt. She’s looking for the baby daddy is what she’s doing.”
Erin: “No I’m not looking for a baby daddy. I just want
someone to travel and love me and we can do stuff together.”
...
In the kitchen, Leslie and I are still working on the ice
cream. She asks something about kosher salt.
Me: “Wait. What? It isn’t kosher salt.”
Leslie: “I don’t know. I’m just running my mouth.”
I playfully retort, “Maybe you should learn to stop running
your mouth and think about what comes out of it.”
She adds, “Or what goes into it.”
Me: “Well you can think about what goes into it later.”
[Ha-ha]
Leslie: “That sounds like innuendo...for sure!”
...
Upstairs in my room I show Leslie some photos from the last
four days I spent in North Carolina. Anthony pops in with an apparent
excitement from running into a few old friends tonight. One of them happens to
work for the military rec center and mentioned they were in need of basketball
coaches for their basketball league for boys under 10-years old. He seems real
stoked about the whole opportunity because it might actually be a legitimate
job.
I pick on him, “Well how would you approach that? You never
coached a team before.”
Anthony: “What’re you talking about?”
Me: “What’s the first thing you’re gonna have them do? First
day of practice.”
Anthony: “Trust: the falling back exercise. So they’ll catch
each other. Then show em’ Space Jam after that. Take a break. Then after
that go to CiCi’s. Then some free-throws...”
[Ha-ha-ha]
Me: “What’re you gonna name the team?”
Anthony: “Anthony and the Jordans.”
[Ha-ha]
...
We convince Erin to wait it out before she tries driving
home because we’re not confident in her substance control. Eventually she
sobers up and dips out.
...
Leslie lingers for a little bit longer as we discuss how
incredible it would be for a 30-year old (or older) blind person, after being
blind all his life, to suddenly be given the ability of sight. For some reason
it grips me strong.
Me: “Oh my gosh. That’s gotta be the scariest thing ever. I
mean can you imagine that? Everything this person perceived over the years now
comes to life! That’s so crazy. I wonder if his imagination would match up.”
Sipping on a beer.
Sleep 4 a.m.
[i] Image by me.
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