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Playing the Game, Part TwoMay 16 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Copyright 2005 David MacDonald
Part One: http://www.epinions.com/content_4354777220 Part Two: http://www.epinions.com/content_4354842756 Part Three: http://www.epinions.com/content_4354908292 I hate splitting the story into parts! --------------- She placed the two glasses on the table, and returned to her original position on the sofa. Eric began drinking his soda. “So.... why do you call her Benny?” “Because she hated being called Bonnie.” “But wouldn’t Benny sound even worse... well, for a girl, anyway?” “That’s what she wanted.” She fell on her back, and let her eyes wander fuzzily across the ceiling. “She thought Bonnie was some childish girly name. So one time me and her goofed around and replaced the vowel in her name with all the others. I guess the letter ‘e’ stuck.” Eric scratched a place on his upper arm, for no particular reason. “She’s the one with the short dark hair,” she said, pointing to a photo protruding from the corner of the mirror on the wall. The photo was of four people, all women. Benny was the second from the left, wearing a plain grey tank-top, and a bandana. The other three women included Valerie, and they were on the surface completely opposite to Benny. They all had hair of varying styles and similar lengths, all much longer than hers. Yet the entire group seemed to be having fun. The group was in the foreground, ahead of a lot of other random activity at what appeared to be a bar. “We took that at Myron’s. Who knew it was going to close down for good?,” she lamented. “I suppose everyone goes to the Velvet now, anyway.” he said. “Yea... well, not everyone, as you can see... at least not tonight!” Eric continued sampling from his glass, and was aware of Valerie’s glass remaining on the table’s center. Tiny golden bubbles drifted up to the surface, as if they were eager for someone to consume them. “..... so.....” he wavered, “.... what were you guys planning to do?” Valerie gave out a nervous giggle. “you know... just hang out. Maybe watch a movie, get high, or something like that.” She continued with her peculiar giggle. Eric nodded his head in agreement. “Sounds like a good Saturday night.” Valerie shifted her body lazily over the sofa. “But now I suppose I’ve got nothing else to do.” The air in the room was too oppressively awkward. Neither of them were used to this. Her brown eyes centered on the glass atop the table. “I suppose that pop is getting a bit lukewarm now......” she mused. “Did you want it?” Eric had nearly finished his own glass. “Uh..... are you sure?” “I really don’t need it. I usually use Coke to mix it with alcohol, anyway.” He placed the empty glass on the table, and picked up the other glass. “Well... thanks.....” The connection wasn’t particularly fluid between the two. They had used small talk to fill in the gaps. They had not expected to be faced with the sudden cavern of time dug up by Benny’s unplanned absence, and the two were helpless to it. “I.... like this living room,” he said, grasping for words. “It’s..... comfortable.” “Hmm? Yea..... I suppose the walls are what do that......” The walls were dark, with stained and polished wood, like the wall of an old-fashioned cabin. “But, really, it’s just a trick of light... or lack of light. If this were the daytime and the sun was shining on the wall, you’d notice the walls are fake. Just tacky wallpaper. It’s a white painted wall underneath that!” She gave out a momentary chuckle. “Thanks for ruining the magic,” he smirked. “It was Benny’s idea,” she said. “She liked it. Well.....,” sighing, “I guess I do too. It’s a good feeling, sitting in the dark.....” Eric was well on his way through his second glass of Coke. Valerie continued with her somber words. “I don’t feel as if everyone’s looking at me. I can just be who I want to be.... at least, I feel as if I can.....” She paused, yet again. She knew this conversation wasn’t exactly flowing like water. She needed something which could distract the two from the oppressive awkwardness. “Hey....”, she said. “Up for some board games?” Eric chuckled abruptly. “I don’t know.... I don’t think I’ve played any board games in years!” “Well, then here’s your chance,” she said, going down to the floor to stick her arms underneath the couch. She pulled out a number of boxes, sweeping the dust off with her hand. Removing the materials from the box, she was aware of the vaguely damp coolness of the game board surface, created from months of storage. * They sat down on the carpet, one facing the other. They were about to play the board game Cranium, although Valerie needed to teach Eric how to play. He never played this, or too many other, board games before. It was awkward for her to put into words something she’s instinctively played many times. She never told anyone how the game was played. She was the one being told. Or she just knew, instinctively, and followed along. It disconcerted her to have to explain. Her explanations were fragmented at best. All she did was sputter, and laugh sadly at her own verbal failures. “I’m not explaining this too well, am I?” she asked, trying to coat her embarrassment with amusement. “I’ll probably figure it out as we go along.....?” he believed. “It’s okay.” But it wasn’t instantaneous. One of the activities within the game involved making a form out of plasticine in which the other player has to guess. Eric attempted to create something. “What is that?” she laughed. She laughed too much that she forgot about actually trying to guess what he was supposed to be molding. “Well.. it was supposed to be a horse.” “A horse? It just looks like a blob with a few bumps over it!” “But.... you... can’t make anything with this stuff!” he whined mockingly. “Well, you could if you tried!” “Okay, let’s see how you do!” he joked. “Well, I can’t do anything yet until I actually hit on the right space where I can actually use this stuff...” “Oh, just trying to get out of it, are you?” “Sure........” she smirked. The game brought out the conversation within them. They had no choice but to speak, to keep the game going. It was the sort of game where they had to do more than roll a dice and move something around the board. There was a lot more necessary interaction. They had to answer questions, they had to do imitations, they had to play charades. The game made them loosen up. “...... well, look, I guess I’m going to have to use the play-doh this time!” she laughs. She was supposed to make a snake. Eric was supposed to guess correctly before the sand in the tiny hourglass crumbled to its bottom. She stretched the plasticine, rolling it until it became a worm-like string a few inches long. “A snake...”, Eric said. “Of course,” she scoffed. “Of course it was easy for you to do that!” he joked. She winked. The game continued at a varying pace. “I remember ... many years back when my cousins used to live up the street from me,” Valerie said. “We’d sit around all night and play stupid board games. I think we even played the Ouija board sometimes. Just try to picture, Eric, three preteen girls playing with a Ouija board -- it would freak us out to play it, even though it was stupid because of course the Ouija thing didn’t really move by itself.” “My only board game experience that I can remember is playing Trouble. Much easier than this game!” Eric said, recalling some of the more exacting trivia questions. “I miss those days.” Valerie lamented. “You’re the first one to actually play a game with me in a very long time!” “Besides Benny, I assume.” “Nah... doesn’t go for board games.” * The time was near 11 p.m. By this point, their concentrations were no longer fully attached to the game. “... so where do you work?” she asked. “I work... at St. James Place, as a dishwasher, actually.” he said. “It’s a crappy job sometimes. You see this burn.....?” He points to a rash on his forearm. “I got this burn just last night! I grabbed the pan, not knowing it was hot. None of the cooks even bothered to tell me it was hot!” “Sounds like a tough job.” “Yea, it’s so goddamn busy there. I’m the only dishwasher, and on the weekends it’s the worst. Friday nights, I’m pumping out those plates and glasses and bowls and forks and.... everything.” Valerie smiled. “I can picture it all now. Straining your back; getting all wet from the water spraying all over ya. Pretty messy job.” “That it is.” “Well...” she leans back, with her two palms pressuring the threads of the carpet, “.... I never had to do a dishwashing job. I.... I managed to escape that.” “So what are you doing now?” “Ah... working at a gift shop.” “Not a whole lot better, is it? But at least you don’t get burnt!” “Well, it’s one of those gift shops that sell lots of jewelry, a lot of hemp products, too.” Eric was impressed. “Hemp? Maybe I should visit your store in case I run out back at my place!” They both laugh. “Well, I don’t think you’ll get too much out of a handbag made out of hemp, except for a possibly ruined handbag.” “Damn!” he joked. “So... going out with anyone? Surely you don’t sit at home every Saturday night and get high!” she laughs. “Well....” he began. He probably revealed far too much about his activities. “Of course I don’t stay home every weekend, now.” “Oh, so you’ve got a girl, then?” she smiled. “No. Not really.” “Ah well. Relationships aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, anyway.” But Eric confronted a thought telling him perhaps he could have had a girlfriend if he tried; if he had tried to subvert his slacker persona. “I suppose... relationships are too much work to begin with,” he said, trying to save himself from guilt. “Yea... you lose yourself when you’re embroiled in some tawdry affair,” she said. “You always have to worry about the other person, and their dislikes, likes, whatever. And whether or not the way you act is tolerable to the other person. It sucks....” “Based on gritty experience, right?” he smirked. “Well.... per -- perhaps.” Valerie gave an elusive smile. “But haven’t we all had this experience?” “Well, yea, I suppose so....” But he was trying to recall his past experiences. Other than the fact his life with women was extraordinarily minor, he couldn’t recall anything specific. He knew the names of the girls, and what they looked like, naturally. He could have told Valerie who he was with at any given time, but that was it. He couldn’t even recall if he had to subvert his personality for them; he doesn’t recall a time where he acted much differently than he does now. Maybe that’s why he was still single. Valerie, on the other hand, had a face containing a lot of secrets. She sat there, observing him, believing him to be far less complicated than herself. “You don’t have too many worries,” she said. “I can tell by the way you sit there. You seem so ... heedless of what’s going on.” “Hmm?” “Heedless was probably a bad word,” she said. “But.... you look so incredibly relaxed about yourself.” He did believe he was relaxed about himself at one time. One time, a few moments ago, when they were still playing the silly board game. But now he figured his soul was as jittery as his body was out on the sidewalk. “Me, relaxed? I’m twitchy all the time, can’t you tell?” he laughed. “Oh, that’s nothing. It doesn’t count. Those are just habits people have. Those are just habits you have. And you accept them. That’s good.” “I don’t know. I think I just... don’t expect a whole lot.” “You see, there you go again. I bet you’d be just happy to kick back with a bottle of beer and watch some mindless prime-time television. If there’s someone with ya, all the better, but it’s okay if there isn’t......” He began thinking, wistfully, of having someone with him during those frequent Saturday-nights in front of the TV. But then he realized that someone probably wouldn’t be all that interested in hearing him talk about what he did all those other Saturday nights, which was absorb the plots of previous episodes of the shows they had just watched. His eyes were lured to Valerie’s gaping yawn. Maybe he could have watched that instead, if there was another Saturday night like this. “You should have drank that Coke,” he observed. “The caffeine would have kept you awake.” “Yea, probably...” she moaned. “I’m not used to the stuff by itself, I guess. I thought I’d be bold enough to drink it straight, but I’m not.” “Aw, you wimp,” he joked. Eric looked into Valerie’s tired eyes. “I probably should take off in a few,” he said. He should. But he didn’t really want to. He’d rather sit on this rug all night, in this darkened room with the fake varnish of the wallpaper giving it a gloss of atmosphere. He’d rather just relax, with her, instead of relaxing, with only himself. It was a different kind of calm feeling, completely devoid of the sort of intoxication he was used to. It was... unusual. “You can leave if you want to,” Valerie replied wearily. “But I wouldn’t push you to it.” Her voice dismissively pushed out the words, but the words themselves were mere shadows of what she wanted to say. She was nowhere near as relaxed in her own mind as she believed Eric to be. She would have been even more jittery if she drank that Coke. Her lingering thoughts and emotions would have broken free, and she would have made a bigger mess of things. ----- Part Three: http://www.epinions.com/content_4354908292  |
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