Simone pushed the vacuum down the hall and into the living room. I had just bought the thing at the Last Call Pawn. She stopped behind the couch where I sat staring at a white blank page.
“You know what you’re going to write yet?”
On the television before me some baboon with a microphone was dishing out dishonor to some parties on a popular news outlet.
“Politics.”
“Why politics?”
“Politics gives me a 50-50 shot. Half the people are gonna read it and think I’m a comrade of the antichrist, and the other half are gonna read it and think I’m a sensible son of a…”
“What do you know about politics anyways?”
Before I could answer, Simone’s friend Katie and her boyfriend Raul blew through the front door.
Raul spoke first.
“Jesus its cold out there. That wind could blast the b***s off a bull elk!”
I wasn’t sure whether to investigate the source of his comment or laugh, so I did neither and unmuted the TV.
Raul laughed like a hyena and helped himself to some leftover pizza in Simone’s fridge.
Katie asked what we had been up to and Simone told her all about her week and how she had a physics exam coming and a haircut lined up, and then she turned the conversation my way.
“…And Tiger over there is writing something about politics.”
Everyone exclaimed.
“OOOOOHHHHH!”
Raul sat beside me on the couch.
“What do you think about politics?”
“I don’t really think about them all that much. I didn’t even vote. I understand their significance, but haven’t given it the time,” I said and pointed at the TV. “That’s why I’m doing research.”
Katie cut in.
“Malarkey. You’re just apathetic. My dad used to tell me that people who didn’t care about politics were normally liberals in disguise. And he HATES liberals.”
I could tell by the way she said it…she hated them, too.
“Exactly the opposite Katie. Like I said, I understand the importance, but between 17 hours worth of classes, studying, showering, shaving, showering and sleeping I don’t have a whole lot of time to dive into the happenings in Washington D.C.”
“You can still vote. It’s our American duty to vote. When I turned 18, I told my mom I didn’t want to vote, and she said only cowards and children didn’t vote.”
“How can I vote for something I know nothing about? How can a judge reach a verdict if he hasn’t heard the case?”
“You can’t write about politics if you don’t pick a side!”
“I’ll see about that.”
“Are you taking a liberal or conservative stance?”
“I’d say liberally conservative.”
They were annoyed.
“RED or BLUE?!”
“I’m gold and blue. I’m a Javelina.”
I grinned at myself.
“A JAVELINA! BLUE and GOLD! RED and BLUE and GOLD! YOU’RE A TECHNICOLOR JAVELINA!”
I shot them half a scowl, and Simone put her hand on my back.
“Don’t listen to them baby.”
Raul jumped up.
“You’re a COWARD! You wont even pick a side!”
I shot out of my seat for fisticuffs.
But before I could lean into my jab, my pawnshop vacuum cleaner entered stage left, smashed into Raul’s head and landed on the floor beside his limp body.
Eyes wide I turned to see Simone pointing her finger at Katie.
“Get this SCUM OUT OF HERE! NO ONE speaks to me or mine that way!”
Katie nodded and said ok, and looked like she wanted to cry or scream or pass out or maybe all three at once. Raul didn’t stay comatose long, but had trouble finding his feet so I helped Katie get him out the door before his senses all came back to him.
I locked the door behind them and turned back to Simone who was still standing in the same place.
I closed the distance, but didn’t know what to say so I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her for eternity.
She pulled away.
“I’m going to bed Tiger.”
Without saying anything I watched her walk away and close the bedroom door behind her.
I sat down to confront the blank page, and I heard the bedroom door open behind me.
“You write whatever the hell you want to! Then get in here!”
I closed the computer and took off down the hall.
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