Dog Star Solstice

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Avatar for Caroline17
2 years ago

He caught me coming home from the office. I got out of the subway and was just a few blocks from my place when from across the street he called, "Joe. Hey, Joe." I turned. He was a stocky guy, a bear in a brown suit, dark untidy hair. One stout hand gripped a polystyrene cup. He lumbered toward me calling, "Joe?"

"No, not Joe. I shook my head emphatically to make him understand.

But he kept at it. "Joe. Joe?" Gnashing my teeth, I walked on, thinking, poor bastard. He kept calling but stayed on the other side of the street. "Joe," he said. "Joe."

I turned around and laid it on him loud and clear, "I'm sorry, I'm not who you think I am. My name isn't Joe." I continued on my way.

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The scent of perennials greeted me as a I passed the florist's on bedford. But the heavy voice sobered me up: "Joe, hey Joe." I realized then that he was cuckoo. The brown suit had foiled me. Subtly, I picked up my pace. Sweat fingered my collar. Still he dogged me from across the street. I ducked into the fruit market, hid behind a basket stand of dried apricots and walnuts, pine nuts and almonds. Peering out at the row houses across the street, I didn't see him. I stepped into the street again, paused to make like I was perusing the menu at the corner deli. One more block now.

Barely had I gone three steps and there it was again. "Joe?" I spun around and glared at him. He stared forlornly back. No sign of the styrofoam now. I took off down the street, tossed a snarl over my shoulder, "look, I'm not Joe, leamme alone!"

I was on my block. I could see the steps in front of my apartment building. If he doesn't stop, I'll have to keep going or he'll know where I live. I'll walk. I'll walk all night. I'll walk all the way to the precinct if I have to. See how he likes it.

"Hey Joe," he pealed, and then I heard a stomach-turning crunch, and heard him cry out, and once again I turned to him. He was on the ground. I could see the blood on his forehead from across the street. He blinked and squirmed like a baby seal, but he didn't get up.

Stoop sitters went to help him. They dabbed at his forehead with their handkerchiefs while I hung back in the crowd. His eyes found me. He whimpered and began to cry. "Joe," he pleaded. "Please...." I couldn't take my eyes off him.

The good folks looked at me.

"You know him?" Someone said.

"No, he's mixed up..." I said "... "...guess he tripped and...."

"Hey, keep the pressure on his head, man," another said. A miserable inch of blood ran down his forehead, pooled in his eye. He blinked. Still he implored, "Joe....."

"You're all right," the folks cooed. "Help is on the way."

The sound of sirens signalled it was time for me to leave. He couldn't follow me now. I broke away and sneaked up to my cold-water flat. My feet plodded up the stairs, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe. Two small holes burned into my back.

Later, I woke up in the middle of the night annoyed and sweating. It was early fall; by now it should be cool enough to sleep through the night. But the heat clung on. Air conditioners wheezed day and night. My little fan gasped for mercy, spinning as fact as it could. I opened the window and lay back down in the dark listening to the sounds of the night. I strained my ears, heard nothing but the neurotic melodies of cats. I drifted into sleep. In my dream, I walked a hospital's green hallways, roaming from room to room. The nurses came at me but I waved them away saying, "I'm looking for my brother." I walked away from them, down the long corridor and I said, "I'm not Joe, I'm not Joe." I woke up. Heat hummed in my ears.

The next day at the office I sat behind a newspaper at my desk and watched the guys shuffling between the cubicles, talking by the water cooler. I said suddenly, "who wants lunch?" We went for burgers.

At the diner, I watched them jabber over their food while my appetite coasted away. Freddy spit in my drink guffawing at a joke that Andy made. I pushed my glass away from me but didn't say anything. The heat encircled us all, leaving stains on our white shirts.

I didn't go home after work. Instead I took a long subway ride and then a long walk. Sat on a park bench, fed the ducks from a left over deli sandwich. I watched people coming and going and thought of a girl I used to see. Before I knew it, I found myself on the street where she lived. I sat across from her building and looked up at her window. There was a light on. I watched for movement inside, but it never came.

So I went back to my bench and watched the street bums with their shopping carts and beatific smiles. I was sitting in plain view, but they didn't see me.

Back at home I sat still and listened. The little fan was on but the heat just swirled around and around the tiny box.

I called the precinct. "Is there a guy there called Joe?"

The woman who answered sounded like she was on another planet. "What the hell are you talking about?"

It was dark outside now. I pictured her slapping away a fly, loosening her blouse collar to let some coolness in. "You looking for an officer or something?"

I cleared my throat. "Never mind." I said and hung up. Was that a crime? I might have to move.

Outside my open window the temperature dropped so suddenly I could almost hear the pocket of heat bursting open. The coolness drifted in, uninvited but welcome.

Later, when the air was damp, the iron smell of the coming rain twisted through the shrinking space. The next day I would commute to work, stare at strangers on the subway.

I sank into my septic green sleep.

Author's Note :

A seal falls in the city. Does anyone hear?

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2 years ago

Comments

ito mejo di ko gets...bakit siya tinatawag na joe at bakit parang may comparison silang dalawa kasi siya naman yung little girl sa window yung tinitingnan niya diba..

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2 years ago

Naguluhan nga din ako sa part na yan mare haha kaya ginawa ko pinagpatuloy ko nalang.

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2 years ago

hahahaha excited na naman ako for later hahaaha abangers here

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2 years ago

Sino ba yang Joe na yan sis?

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2 years ago