lives

maybe i was leaning on the balcony looking down on a group of people in a shopping mall atrium. or maybe it was the boundary of a skating rink. it could have become a brick wall. a barrier. i listened to the story.

"so frank's father had 1.5 million dollars and he vomited. then he ate all of the money and left."
i considered how this would have gone down, and asked some questions to show that i was paying attention
"i suppose he could then afford to pay the plastic surgeon to remove the money from his body. it would only be interesting to convince her."
"this was an act of desperation, but how did he swallow that much paper?"
"the only he could have pulled that off is if they were casino chips."
"but still."

at the reenactment, i was in a place that was a casino only in name. it went on being a casino because everyone believed it was." it was several tables, and lights from above. half of the room was not visible. or i didn't look at it. there were no poker chips. frank's dad, who did not resemble the man i have met before, and who did not show signs of having swallowed $1.5 million in poker chips, said to his wife,

"let's leave."
"what about the others?" she asked with concern.
"that's easy, I just tell them that i'm leaving. watch"
#1: passed out
#2: passed out
#3: passed out

i then realized that everybody in the room was completely drunk. but no alcohol was being served. there were no glasses. perhaps everybody was sleepy. but people don't dress up to go to casinos with no gambling to sit at tables and take naps. where there really tables?

#4: "hey, we're leaving." -- "OK"

as we walked out, she said, "it really was that simple."

i had become frank's father.