Blackout – August 2006 / #33
July 21, 2008“You better find it because I’m going to stop paying rent if you don’t.”
“Relax.”
“We got no water, no electricity, so why should I pay?”
“Everyone on the block is going through the same thing. It’s bad all over.”
“I’m just saying.”
“We got to keep things going, you know.”
“Keep what going?”
“The supermarket is closed. The bodega is sold out. We got to keep things going or else.”
“What’s that got to do with me?”
“Everything.”
“Naw, man. That’s got nothing to do with me. I’ve got a kid to support. That’s all I’ve got to worry about.”
“This fucking city is trying to get rid of us. That’s what this is about.”
“The city doesn’t give a shit about you.”
“Exactly, a week and a half and nothing. ConEd doesn’t give shit about us.”
“All I know is that I’m not paying rent.”
“You just falling into the trap, man. That’s what the rich people want. They want us to fall apart so that they can come in here and tear everything down, man. You can’t let that happen.”
“I don’t give shit. It’s a hundred fucking degrees and we’ve got no power and you want me to make some kind of political statement by paying this fucking landlord my hard earn money. For what? Maybe you’re the one falling into a trap.”
“This is my life. If you don’t pay rent then I don’t get paid.”
“Now we’re being honest.”
“I think I found it.”
“Now we’re laying out the cards.”
“It’s behind this wall. I’m gonna have to move the stove and tear down the wall.”
“You don’t give a shit about us, about surviving, about fighting off the rich people.”
“Stand back!”
“Go ahead rip into my wall, man and dig that dead mouse out. That’s what you’re getting paid to do.”
“Stand back.”
“Selfish son-of-a-bitch. It’s all about you but what about me. You can go fuck yourself with that commie talk.”
“Fucking wall is made out of kryptonite.”
“No water, no electricity, this building’s infested with mice. That’s what you want me to pay for, man. Go fuck yourself with that shit. Government ain’t after us. You think anybody wants to live in fucking Astoria. Shit man, I would forget about us. There’s nothing here but black air and that fucking “N” train. Every fucking minute of the day, man.”
“There it is.”
“My daughter’s living in this shit-hole and I can’t even give her a decent life because I’ve got to pay seven hundred and eighty-five dollars a month for this shit apartment.”
“It’s a tiny little thing. Fucking dwarf mouse.”
“Where the fuck are you going?”
“Got your mouse.”
“What about the fucking hole?”
“Got to wait.”
“What the fuck you mean?”
“No water.”
“So?”
“No water, no plaster.”
“Are you playing me?”
“No man, nothing personal. Got to wait that’s all.”
“I ain’t fucking paying rent.”
“You should watch that language. Where’s your kid anyway?”
“None of your fucking business. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Heard they got a cooler of beer at the bodega.”
“Fucking hole. World-class view of this rotting building.”
“The bodega owner has a guy driving over to Sunnyside and picking up bags of ice every two hours.”
“Fuck you.”
“They selling a dollar a can.”
“Get me some cardboard or something, man.”
“Alright, man.”
“Pick me up some of those cans, too.”
“Sure, man.”
i like this one- good ear for dialogue, you.
I agree.
As you may know if you’ve clicked over from your blogroll recently (thanks for the addition, btw; now reciprocated), I’ve recently been involved in a writing circle called Idiosyncratica.
I’d like to invite you to join, if you’d be at all interested.
Hey Mike,
Count me in for Aug. 1.
Gessy
Excellent! I’ll let everyone else know. It has to go to at least an “I don’t care”
among existing members, and then you’re in. A formality, in other words.
And I thought #34 was excellent, by the way.
[...] I invited her to join earlier in the week, and following our more-or-less agreed-upon procedure, please register your approval or disdain Assuming we all like her, she’s onboard for the drabble. [...]
Well, you’re definitely in… We’ll all be waiting anxiously