Supermarket - Bobby Hall Page 0,50
How could you ruin my relationship with her? She thinks I had sex with Rachel!”
Rachel, who had heard her name in the conversation, peered over. As did Mia.
“Why the fuck would she think that?” Frank said.
“It’s not important,” I said. “All that matters is that you go over there and make it right!” I said, beginning to raise my voice.
“What are you talking about, Flynn? Why are you yelling?” Mia asked me. This was the first time Mia had spoken to me since she slammed my door.
“You know what, Flynn?” Frank said. “You’re such a pussy, man. You brought this on yourself. It’s not my fault you can’t keep a woman . . . no wonder Lola left you!”
“What did you say?!” I yelled. By then, everyone in the area was staring at me.
“You work in a supermarket, man! You’re a nobody and you always will be. You’re a NOBODY, BRO!” Frank said, then kept repeating it.
“YOU MIGHT THINK I’M A NOBODY, BUT YOU DON’T EVEN FUCKING EXIST!”
The entire store went quiet.
My head began to feel heavy. My vision blurred. I couldn’t breathe. I started to see double. I stared at Frank. The outlines of his body began to radiate out. He started to flicker. He disappeared. Then reappeared. Frank tried to speak.
“You pussy. You’re never going to finish that—”
His voice trailed off and cut out altogether.
In that instant it hit me! Everything came back to me! Frank wasn’t real.
And I don’t mean he “wasn’t real” in that he had no substance as a human being, I mean he wasn’t a human being, he was a made-up delusion. A false character I had created in a desperate attempt to realize my novel. The mind was a powerful thing. Terrifyingly powerful. Powerful enough to convince you that a character of your own invention was real. I was forcing myself to finish this book by any means necessary. I had allowed my imagination to fully take over for a greater cause.
It all made sense now.
“Flynn, what are you talking about?” asked Mia.
“This guy has issues,” said Kurtis.
“FUCK YOU, KURTIS!” I screamed.
“I exist! What the fuck are you talking about, Flynn?” said Frank, with an uneasiness in his voice.
“Well, Frank,” I said with a cocky attitude. “I hate to break it to you, but I created you to help me finish my book. You’re a tool. You’re something I utilized for the sake of creativity and nothing more,” I finished in a loud voice, smiling.
“What about all the girls I fucked?” Frank said desperately.
“That never happened!” I retorted. “I fed into the delusion so much I forgot what I had done. I first gained knowledge of what you really were after I walked in on Cara topless,” I explained, pointing to Cara.
“Hey!” she said, flushing red and looking around with embarrassment.
“You said you fucked her and that she had a cupcake tattoo under her left breast,” I told him. “Right above her rib cage. But she didn’t! And I knew then . . . that you were fake. I could see right through you . . . I could see you for what you really were. Or what you weren’t. You were just something I made up to help finish my novel about a guy who works in a supermarket.”
Frank looked around, desperate, struck with panic.
“None of what you’re saying makes sense! I’m real, Flynn!” he said.
“Then tell me your last name!” I said. “What’s your last name? Huh?”
Frank stared down at the floor, then up at me, about to answer . . . and paused.
“You can’t tell me your last name, BECAUSE I HAVEN’T WRITTEN IT DOWN YET!”
“I’m real!” Frank yelled. “I’m so real!”
“Then tell me your last name, Frank!” I demanded.
Once more, Frank went to reply, paused, looked at the ground . . . then back at me, puzzled.
“I’m the king of this place! I’ve slayed so many of the college bitches who have come out of here,” he said in a panic.
“That’s not true, Frank. I’ve disproven that!”
“What about Rachel?” Frank asked. “I know I’ve bent the truth with other girls, okay? I admit it. But I’ve been fucking Rachel’s brains out for, like, a month!” he said, desperate to prove himself.
“I hate to break it to you,” I said, “but the only way you technically could have had sex with Rachel is if I had sex with Rachel! And I most certainly have never . . . ever . . . had sex with Rachel!”
“How can you say that?”