Work in Progress - Emily and Beast at Don and Ally's Party
January 1
1 a.m.
“Can I have some of your chips?” Beast asks.
Any of the questions or things I might have said go out of my head. But I gather enough wit to ask, “What are you doing here?”
“You invited me, remember?”
I tell him I don’t have any recollection of doing that, but ask if he’s having any fun at Don and Ally’s party and if he’s talked to anyone besides me.
“Convenient stores have the best junk food,” he says. And he tells me Don buys his chili from a gas station a couple of blocks from our neighborhood. “Not even Ally knows.” And then he says, “Walk your chips over and try the dip.”
“Did Don tell you his secret?” But then I try the chili-cheese combo on my potato chip.
“Everyone must think Don has been slaving over the stove all day to make this.” I don’t know how Beast knows about Don, but then he says stuff about other people too. He talks about Juniper Johnson and the gossip going around.
Patti creeps into my thoughts and says I’m not experiencing any of this in a real sense, it’s from a made-up version of what I remember. “You want to be well, don’t you?” She asks. “Believe what I’m telling you and leave this fantasy place.” And I start to consider she’s right. Marianne’s voice, the sounds of cold gossip with Ally and Delucca about what happened to Juniper play in the background like a song from one of Don’s playlists, and I look up at Beast and wish he’d shut up too. But he doesn’t.
“I know who Dillon is,” Beast says. “Real genius in math.”
1 a.m.
“Can I have some of your chips?” Beast asks.
Any of the questions or things I might have said go out of my head. But I gather enough wit to ask, “What are you doing here?”
“You invited me, remember?”
I tell him I don’t have any recollection of doing that, but ask if he’s having any fun at Don and Ally’s party and if he’s talked to anyone besides me.
“Convenient stores have the best junk food,” he says. And he tells me Don buys his chili from a gas station a couple of blocks from our neighborhood. “Not even Ally knows.” And then he says, “Walk your chips over and try the dip.”
“Did Don tell you his secret?” But then I try the chili-cheese combo on my potato chip.
“Everyone must think Don has been slaving over the stove all day to make this.” I don’t know how Beast knows about Don, but then he says stuff about other people too. He talks about Juniper Johnson and the gossip going around.
Patti creeps into my thoughts and says I’m not experiencing any of this in a real sense, it’s from a made-up version of what I remember. “You want to be well, don’t you?” She asks. “Believe what I’m telling you and leave this fantasy place.” And I start to consider she’s right. Marianne’s voice, the sounds of cold gossip with Ally and Delucca about what happened to Juniper play in the background like a song from one of Don’s playlists, and I look up at Beast and wish he’d shut up too. But he doesn’t.
“I know who Dillon is,” Beast says. “Real genius in math.”
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