Asleep - R. Chandler Brown (book club recommendations .txt) 📗

Asleep
A Short Story in Dialogue
By R. Chandler Brown

“Can you sleep?”
“No.”
“Do you want to talk?”
“Not really.”
“Your brother is nice.”
“Sometimes.”
“I’m glad he visited.”
“It’s good to see him.”
“He’s very funny.”
“Sometimes.”
“You don’t think he’s funny?”
“Not as much as I used to.”
“Do you love your brother?”
“Sure. Some things.”
“Why didn’t the rest of his family come?”
“They’re getting a divorce.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“But he said his wife was sick.”
“His wife is overweight and angry and addicted to anti-depressants.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s married to my brother.”
“Is your brother a bad person?”
“No. Not really. He’s just normal. He’s like most guys back in the States. He doesn’t try.”
“Try to what?”
“I mean he doesn’t try to make his family and his marriage work right. He only thinks about himself.”
“He’s rich.”
“He’s not rich.”
“But he talked about all those things he has in America. A Mercedes, a plasma tv, those huge speakers where you can hear the things flying around you, a swimming pool, they all have their own computers, faster internet.”
“Uh huh.”
“And he said the stores are better in America. Huge malls and huge markets where you can buy anything you want and cheap prices and lots of sales and discounts.”
“It’s not that great.”
“It sounds great.”
“It’s just stuff, Natasha.”
“But it’s nice stuff.”
“What’s nice about it?”
“It’s nice. Nice clothes, nice cars.”
“Do you want a new car?”
“I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it until he came. I think he didn’t like our car.”
“You think we need a Mercedes in Ukraine?”
“No. But we might want to think about getting a better car.”
“We don’t need a better car.”
“I know, but…I don’t want your brother to think we’re not happy here.”
“We are happy.”
“I know, but I don’t want him to think we’re not.”
“You think my brother is happier than we are?”
“He seemed very happy. He’s very loud.”
“That’s nothing.”
“He’s very confident.”
“He’s not confident. He’s afraid. He’s terrified. That’s why he’s so loud.”
“What is he afraid of?”
“Life. That’s why he’s here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just told you. His wife and kids are leaving him. He doesn’t know what to do.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say anything to him about it.”
“I won’t.”
“He came here to get away for a while.”
“What is he going to do?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“Does he want to get a divorce too?”
“I don’t know. But he doesn’t want to leave his kids.”
“And his wife?”
“I think it’s over between them. He’s angry. She wants half of his money.”
“Is it a lot?”
“It’s not a little.”
“That’s sad.”
“Yeah.”
“John… Are we poor?”
“No we’re not poor.”
“I don’t want people to think we’re poor.”
“My brother doesn’t think we’re poor.”
“Maybe we should get a bigger television.”
“Bigger?”
“They’re much cheaper now. Then we could invite our friends over and watch movies.”
“I think it’s more fun to have dinner and play games and talk. We can go to a movie theater any time we want. We don’t need a big tv.”
“But the children would like it too.”
“The kids would rather play outside.”
“That’s true.”
“There’s nothing interesting on those public channels.”
“Maybe we should get satellite. Then the children would have lots of shows to watch. Some from America too.”
“Let them run around the forest.”
“Or the parks.”
“They’re happier that way and they get tired at night and go to sleep easier.”
“Okay.”
“It’s impossible to put them to sleep after a night of watching movies and eating sweets.”
“I’m sorry I never noticed how small the tv was before. I hope it doesn’t embarrass you.”
“It doesn’t.”
“I guess I never had time to notice because you always want to make love every night.”
“That’s your fault.”
“My fault? Would you rather watch television?”
“No. It was a joke.”
“I know.”
“The tv is the last thing I would ever think about while we’re making love.”
“Good.”
“I love being with you.”
“Do you want to now?”
“Yes. But no. Not with my brother here.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
“Because?”
“Because.”
“We did it on that beach and you weren’t scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“In that restaurant bathroom.”
“I’m not worried.”
“On the airplane.”
“I don’t care what my brother thinks. I just don’t want to do it while he’s here.”
“In the car during the traffic jam.”
“Stop it.”
“At your parents’ house.”
“Okay. Enough.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“…Do you like my cooking?”
“I love your cooking.”
“But don’t you miss American food?”
“What is American food?”
“I don’t know. McDonald’s?”
“McDonald’s is not American food. It’s fast food.”
“But it’s American.”
“It’s not real food.”
“There’s a McDonald’s in the city. We can go there on Sundays.”
“I don’t want to go there. It’s terrible food.”
“But I like their ice cream. And their chicken sandwiches.”
“Me too. But it’s not real food. It’s not American food. American food is big steaks and grilled burgers and barbequed chicken and beans and chili and mashed potatoes and vegetables. It’s not fast food. That’s something else.”
“Do you like Ukrainian food?”
“You know I love it.”
“I can cook more steaks for you. And you can teach me to make burgers.”
“I like borsch.”
“You really like it?”
“I like your borsch. With the meat in it.”
“Really?”
“It’s my favorite. It’s fresh.”
“It is fresh.”
“Everything here is fresh. The bread, the vegetables, the meat. It’s all fresh. I like it better. It even tastes better.”
“But you don’t want something different?”
“No.”
“Do you think your brother liked my cooking?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t think he liked the desert.”
“He likes very sweet deserts.”
“But it was sweet.”
“Very very sweet deserts. Where every other ingredient is sugar.”
“But that would be too sweet.”
“That’s what he likes.”
“And unhealthy.”
“That’s what he eats.”
“Did he say he liked my cooking?”
“Yes. He said it was great.”
“He did?”
“Yes.”
“I wish I spoke English better.”
“I love your English.”
“But my accent is not good.”
“I love your accent.”
“But I don’t talk like an American.”
“I don’t want you to talk like an American.”
“But I sound funny.”
“You sound beautiful. Exotic.”
“But I don’t want to sound like a foreigner. I don’t want to sound stupid.”
“You don’t sound stupid. You’re highly intelligent. Your education was better than mine.”
“But I don’t sound smart when I speak English. I forget so many words.”
“How many words of Russian or Ukrainian do you think Americans know?”
“Maybe a hundred?”
“Zero.”
“Zero?”
“Maybe one.”
“Really? That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“But they don’t need to speak Ukrainian or Russian in America. They speak other languages.”
“No, they don’t.”
“French, Spanish.”
“Most people don’t know any French or Spanish.”
“Really?”
“Unless they’re from Mexico or Canada or Africa.”
“But you studied a lot of languages.”
“I studied them in high school. We had to. But I forgot everything. We never used them.”
“I want our children to study English.”
“They speak Ukrainian, Russian, and German. That’s enough for now.”
“But English is important.”
“They can study English later. They don’t need it now.”
“But if we travel to America they should know it.”
“There are hundreds of other places to visit.”
“Why don’t you want to go back to America?”
“I do.”
“But our vacations are always in Europe or Africa or Egypt or Russia.”
“It’s more interesting.”
“You don’t miss your home?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
“Because?”
“Because…this is my home. You are my home.”

Publication Date: 02-22-2010

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