artwork by Mark Rogers
I was in the lounge of a movie theater, waiting for the next show to begin. Sitting next to me was a middle-aged man with a designer shoulder bag that had little pockets on the outside made of clear plastic. In one of them was a box of Tic Tacs. He took out a New York Times Book Review and began rubbing it with his finger. He kept rubbing the same spot. Since we were in the Village, I thought he might be an artist and that the rubbing was his way of altering a photographic image. But after a few minutes, it was clear that it was some kind of obsessive behavior.
A young couple with a lot of modern fat around their middles began talking.
“I wonder when the movie will start.”
“What?”
“I wonder when the movie will start.”
“What?”
“I said, I wonder when the movie will start.”
“Oh. You know, I can’t understand why they sent that check to that old address after all these years.”
“What?”
“I can’t understand why they sent that check to that old address after all these years.”
“Yeah.”
“I just can’t understand it.”
“Maybe it’s an antique check.”
“What?”
“Maybe it’s an old antique check.”
“Ohh.”
“That movie should have started ten minutes ago.”
“What?”
“That movie should have started ten minutes ago.”
“What?”
It went on and on as the guy next to me rubbed his newspaper and a guy dressed in western clothes whistled a country tune a little too well.
from the memoir, Breakfast Special: Wanderings in Hoboken
/
MARK ROGERS is a writer and artist whose literary heroes include Charles Bukowski, Willy Vlautin, and Charles Portis. Rogers lives in Baja California, Mexico with his Sinaloa-born wife, Sofia. His award-winning travel journalism has brought him to 56 countries. His crime novels have been published in the U.S. and UK. Uppercut, his memoir of moving to Mexico, is published by Cowboy Jamboree Press. NeoText publishes his Tijuana Novels series and Gray Hunter series. His short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines, including Mystery Tribune, BULL, and Chiron Review (upcoming). You can reach him at markrogers627@gmail.com
Comments