Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by Joshua Allen
site. They claimed that this was their address, but unless the
the parking garage, Reggie doubted they were here. Were they
their life?
particular.
Reggie put his hand in his pocket. He had one five dollar
bill, one of those that had been crumpled and washed so many
He walked back to the El and took the first train that came
by. Fired. "Always quit before they can fire you," was Reggie's
new motto. He'd cursed himself for giving them the satisfaction
of watching him squirm when they called him into the office,
watching his face turn pale when they gave him the news,
up and down the train aisle was young, toothless and wearing a
full-leg cast with his pants tucked into it. Reggie closed his
eyes and hoped lack of eye contact would discourage the young
man.
leaning close to him. The guy held a smudged, plastic cup in his
hand, dirty from pocket change. "Can I have thum of your drink?"
thenths?"
with his eyes that he didn't need them since there was a sucker
next car despite the warning signs on the door: "Only for
Emergency Use."
He could hear him, through the cars. "Thirty thenths,
* * *
stamps. He told the case worker about the rent he'd paid and the
money his parents had sent him. She suggested he join the army,
the form of a debit card the pamphlet informed him was called a
EBT card. His real name was printed on it. "Peavis R. Stone"
read the card, quite proud of its honesty. The name was his
grandfather's. He had never gone by his real name and only saw
was certain that this name was somehow to blame for his
idea out when he found out he couldn't buy dog food on his EBT
grocery story asked him if the filet mignon was for his kids.
they came. He was always called on a Monday for them, never any
waited until a tall woman came out, saw him, raised her eyebrows
and retreated back to her private office. She emerged again with
Stone."
the information. The scrap showed the current time. "Well, maybe
head. "You talked to me, and I'm certain that I got it right."
Strike one!
"I can come back in a little..."
watch, "We'll just go ahead and if the other person shows, I'll
the name "Lloyd" at the top of the resume she was looking
through.
She shot him a look, then put aside the resume and pulled
out his.
Strike two!
She was looking him directly in the eye, a gaze he was able
he broke the gaze and shifted his eyes down. He looked away
breasts. He made a circle to the wall behind her and the artwork
there, before coming back to her eyes, which were locked on his
face.
no problem."
on the back porch eating popcorn in jogging pants and two days
the ads he had always ignored before. They all claimed the same
thing, that he could work at home and make $500-$2000 per month.
The lady on the line told him of the excellent opportunity that
Internet. He had both, gifts from his parents to aid his job
search. She told him that he could start right away, as soon as
you out of desperation because I need money, what the fuck makes
with?"
Reggie whipped the phone across the room. It hit the wall,
thenths pleath."
radio all day, calling into every contest they had, trying to
win some cash and prizes that could keep him going for awhile
longer. He always reached a busy line and figured they all were
rigged.
figured, since most jobs paid biweekly and staggered the first
check, that if didn't find employment within the next week, week
perform an eviction.
the landlord serves you notice, which gives you thirty days to
two to three weeks or more to come and evict you. In that time,
have plenty of time to find something else. This was the make or
his belongings and head to back to live with his parents. This
shame. Taking money from them was one thing, but living with
Reggie realized that the month had started and his EBT card
especially coffee, for the massive job hunt he would soon begin.
shave, even put on some regular pants. That done, he glanced out
the back window, saw the back yard empty of any landlord types
and slipped out into the alley, toward the small corner grocery
back open space between the main building and a small garage.
The space was always filled with boxes and usually sported an
plastic end table on which sat an ash tray that was usually
filled with half-smoked joints. As he approached the fence to
see the area cleaned out. Maybe they had been inspected or
walked along the side of the building, which sagged on top and
bulged at the side and saw a few Hispanic kids hanging out in
"Hey dude," one of the kids stuck his chin out at Reggie as
Dick."
nice. The kids looked at each other and laughed, sharing some
inside joke.
dick."
The leader put his skateboard down and zipped away. The
Reggie shrugged his shoulders and reached out for the door
my country," and the younger of the other two would always say,
store and saw, instead of shelves filled with ramen noodles and
timorous.
She shook her head and pointed a finger at her chest, "de
Chile."
She let out a sigh and smiled, nodding her head profusely.
"Si, si."
He left. Reggie took the bus north a dozen blocks to the
larger grocery store. He was relieved to see the store was still
appeared to be changing the street signs. He got off the bus and
watched them taking the sign down that read "32nd Ave" and
picker began to bolt the new sign onto the stop light crossbar.
to turn in his favor. The man in the orange vest was close
enough to him that Reggie could smell the ammonia tang of his
sweat.
the city."
on the bus with him was the only option. As the bus cruised down
the street, he saw more Public Works crews changing signs. The
were shifting the city north one mile. He got off the bus at
He had to stop every half block to rest his arms and hands. As
wonder if the building was even there. All the signs had been
changed since he'd left not more than an hour ago. Perhaps he'd
simply lost his sanity and this really was 42nd Ave. He could
see the house, with its green door, as he rounded the corner of
and the next to the back of the house, then go up three flights
reach his apartment door. He set down the groceries at the base
of the stairs and took them up two at a time, letting them flop
to retrieve two more bags. Five trips later, all the groceries
up and looked out the window. The spires of the Sear's Tower
blinked red and green. The city glowed. The neighbor's house
seemed off. The floodlight had always been there, but yesterday
the back yard was a concrete slab, and now it was grass. The
vacant lot that had stood beyond them was no longer vacant.
road suddenly shoot up and twist into the night sky. It had
Reggie peeled off his clothes and slid under the covers,
were gone. Now his window gave him a direct view of the side of
houses south of him, but there were now a lot full of semi
trucks to the east. He went to the front and saw a gas station
where the church had been. Further up the block, he saw the
rates, the Wal Mart conflict, the current war in Iraq. Not a
word about the migration of the city. Reggie shut off his TV and
went out on the porch. The spotty blue summer sky had changed to
painter would pick out the streaks of darker gray mixed in the
with the lighter blue grays and hints of black, dabs of blue and
purple, a little red here and there hiding in the mixture. All
Reggie saw as a solid gray. He felt like the city was draped in
Sears Tower, the John Hancock, and the others were a distance
there they were, like a buffalo herd that had wandered away. He
toward the lake. The river had been made to flow away from Lake
Michigan since the 50s. Chicago was leaving him. Chicago was
A bus pulled to a stop behind him. The door swung open, the
driver addressed him, "Not much out here sir, its probably best
to head home."
All the seats were open, so Reggie took one near the back,
where the bus was always warmest. The bus cruised through
identical, alien neighborhoods. The bus picked up only one other
passenger. The young man saw him and made a b-line to the seat
next to his.
Reggie reached into his pocket and pulled out four pennies.
He held them out to the young man, who turned his head in
disgust.
"Thath what they'll thay when you athk them. Ith all I
have, I thwear."
"I'm broke man, I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent."
The man stood up, leaning close to his face. "RENT? I've
been on the thtreet three yearth and you complain about rent?"
"Where do I go?"
The young man limped with up to the back exit, then turned
The young man got off, leaving the bus to him again.
"Last stop sir, all passengers must exit." The voice was
not the man driving, but the piped-in, recorded voice, one
different from the usual. The voice belonged to Kelly or
"We thank you for choosing CTA, Lloyd. Have a nice day."
Reggie went to the rear exit doors and flung them open. The
voice began to recycle its message. As soon as his foot hit the
behind him and sat down on his couch. He turned the TV on. He
television off.
went down. He looked out his bedroom window. He could still see
the city, the distant red and green blink of the Sear's Tower
was just visible because the city was now on the side of a hill.
him, at a snail's pace. The tide would swell higher, rearing up.
city would crash down, coming to rest where it always had been,
The week was up. There was no way to pay rent. The only
place he could go was back home, to live with his parents, and
his things.
Then, with motions that were by now built into his fingers,
THE END