Sunday, August 15, 2004

the story of john

chloreene lived on a small country road lined with pine trees. Around the age of 24, she gave birth to a baby. she named him john. chloreene, being a single mother, and being that she lived in a rural place where the attitude did not bend in her direction, developed a some protection and defense.
two years after the birth of john, she met ms. nettlebow, a young woman in her similar situation. as good fortune had it, chloreene's great uncle had died and left her a house. the great uncle was inclinded toward another level of reality and expressed this through the design of the house. the house was uneven, with 16 different levels. at the front of the house, the great uncle built a parlor store front. soon after meeting, ms. nettlebow moved in with cloreene and john and brought her own son tix.
once chloreene and ms. nettlebow settled into their new home, a community center was built down the road. since it was walking distance from the house, chloreene decided to open a deli in the store front to serve the newly populated area.
when john was five years old an exhibit came to the community center called "the rise of modernism in europe adn the united states". the day it opened john ran as fast as he could on his little legs to the big white building. chloreene and ms. nettlebow dressed identicaly in blue navy suits with lacy frills pushing tix in a stroller. john bought a postcard of his favorite piece, "three women" by fernand leger.
chloreene and ms. nettlebow lied to everyone when they came into the deli. chloreene said ms. nettlebow was the nanny.
when john was 14 he ran away with lori, his best friend. they went to a gay pron theatre. lori wasn't sure they would let her in because she was a girl.
later that week, john went to the catholic church. he figured he could find a homo there. he spotted a priest wearing pink converse. the priest stood in front of the fountain and john came to the priest and asked bluntly, "are you a fag?"
the roman collar said, "no my son. are you a catholic?"
"i went to catholic school for twelve years."
"well there is only one thing for you to do. i will get you a false identity and you must run away."
chloreene was watching the television she saw a picture of missing john on the tv. on tvs all over the country traled a 44 over the picture and filled it in with pencil.
john went to the bathhouse. eventually he got a job working in a viewing room with another boy. they worked in a bathtub. first they put in a little water, then the kept it hard for john to keep balanced.
eventually john went back to live with cloreene. he started working in the deli. cloreene ordered thin polyesterd polka dot work shirts with accompaning hats shaped like a triangle.
chloreene had become increasingly worried about the townsfolk gossiping about her relationship with ms. nettlebow. chloreene's face had aged with wrinkles and brown spots. she told everyone that ms. nettlebow was her maid.
it was hard to say what happened to chloreene in the time between john left and the time he returned.
as for john, he made sandwiches.

No comments: