—Can’t sleep. —What do they want? —Please hold. —How can people not? —More. —Stop complaining. —Feeling threatened. —Upon themselves. —No, since then. —Anyone better? —Sorry I’m late. —Somebody must. —Who? —She couldn’t. —She could have. —She didn’t. —He did. —He heard them. —He was great. —They hated him. —We loved him. —They loved him. —He heard them. —Can’t believe this. —Nothing like this yet. —Can’t be happening. —Had to happen. —They’ve finally gotten. —Can’t go on. —Can’t stand to listen. —Can’t bear to watch. —Has to change. —Message is clear. —What’s the message? —Can’t bear. —They’re insane. —Must condemn. —Has to stop. —Blame the rise. —Feeling threatened. —No one listening. —Accept the differences. —Deliberate strategy. —No strategy. —Did something else happen? —You mean Charlottesville?
—Once again. —Feeling threatened. —Haven’t a clue. —Never will. —This is where I work. —Not anymore. —Threatened. —I never did before. —Can’t stand it. —Not anymore. —Have to for my family. —Still can’t believe it. —Can’t imagine. —Can’t bear. —Can’t look. —Not another word.
From It Occurs to Me That I am America by Susan Minot. Copyright © 2018 by Jonathan Santlofer. Reprinted by permission of Touchstone, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. ---
SUSAN MINOT is the author of the novels Monkeys, which was published in a dozen countries and won the 1987 Prix Femina Étranger in France; Folly; Evening; Rapture; and Thirty Girls . She has written a collection of short stories, Lust & Other Stories , and of poems, Poems 4 A.M. She wrote the screenplay for Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty and coauthored the screenplay of Evening , based on her novel.
—Really worried now. —Like the world has never seen. —Not the way I like it. —Lies. —Getting what they want. —No, thank you. —Hell, yeah. —Must ignore it. —All lies.
*
—Has to change. —Nothing new. —Never before.
—No one listening. —He heard them. —No one heard. —They heard him. —Which them? Which him? —Across the aisle. —This is how I like to cook my meat. —Great again.
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