Lamb is lying in the backseat of his car. He is sweating. He wishes he had a fan and looks out the window at a fenced-in area across the parking lot. There is one pigeon following another pigeon along the top of the fence in a sexual stalk. Lamb thinks, “We are all animals” and feels affirmed. Lamb takes off all his clothes and looks out the backseat window. He looks at the time on his phone. It’s is noon and Lamb feels late for something but cannot understand why. He climbs into the front seat and turns on the ignition. The air conditioning blasts and Lamb rolls up the windows. One of the windows won’t roll up. Lamb tries to scream but his voice is gone. He drives to a gas station to wash and use the bathroom. He wants to piss but doesn’t want to touch his own penis. He examines each sink in the bathroom and uses the cleanest looking one to wash his hair and face. He goes into the handicapped stall and puts on clean pairs of underwear, shorts, and a t-shirt. Then he takes off the t-shirt and puts on a collared shirt. He takes a drink of water from the sink and hopes no one comes into the bathroom and sees him doing what he’s doing. Lamb wants to call someone. He feels happy he no longer has a job. He thinks, “I could leave everything in my life here behind and drive across the country.” He stares at himself in the bathroom mirror. He slaps his cheeks a few times. Lamb calls Mieka but doesn’t leave a voicemail. He punches his fist into his palm and thinks about crying, then thinks about having sex. He walks back into the handicapped stall and tries to masturbate but fails to develop an erection. He thinks, “I am unable to conceive any desire in tune with my own true nature.” Lamb begins to weep. He punches the wall. He holds his hand. He wipes his tears in the collar of his shirt. He imagines of all the different things he could be doing right now at this point in his life. He thinks, “I would get drunk if I didn’t live in my car.” He wonders what he should do. He walks out of the bathroom and slowly, careful not to let anyone see him leave.




Previous                             Next