August 5, 2004
Fun for the whole family"It hurts me when you give me the silent treatment!" she sobbed. She had been going at him since 17th South. Evidently he had applied for something related to school, but was turned down because he didn't have a high school diploma. "Why do you have to do that? Why? Look at me!" and she grabbed his jaw. Early on I had heard him whisper that he didn't think the bus was the right place to talk. "Well you won't talk about this at home either, so why not here?" She wasn't sobbing then, just irritated. He obviously gave her the silent treatment quite a lot, since he was so good at it. That did not stop her, however. "It hurts me to see you fail! It hurts! Why do you do that? Why can't we just get off at the next stop and cross the street and go right back? Answer me! I don't want to worry about the future!"
By the time they got off, that stop was long past, but she had gotten more and more upset, continually sobbing with a beet red face. All the while I stared out the window, just pretended to be asleep. After getting off, she continued in on him, and he moved father away from her and she moved closer.
"The things you hear on UTA," the guy across from me said. Indeed.
(Signifying nothing: journal)
It is nice having material to pull from when cousin Oliver isn't around to make the plot move.
In Seattle, I used to ride the bus to work at 5 a.m. It was, well, interesting. But the best thing I ever saw was a couple, I'm pretty sure they were on drugs, and she kept hopping into his lap and then jumping up. Being overly affectionate, shall we say. It was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteIt actually makes me miss riding the bus. Lots of material for fiction, I tell you. Well, I don't have to tell you. Obviously you know.
This is one of my favorites. Definitely a greatest hit.
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