Читать книгу War/Peace - Matthew Vandenberg - Страница 26

'There are five of you now,' the big brother says. I lean back, and press the volume button a few times just so I can raise the volume of his voice, just so he can yell at me, at us. 'This is a group task. You may remove the earphones and put me on speaker.'

I do as I'm told. The others inch closer to the desk between two lounges, the desk which marks the center of the main living room, a desk with the same gravitational pull a circular drain in a bathtub seemingly has. I place an empty Bacardi bottle on this desk, and watch as the world around me spins, as the bottle goes limp and topples over.

'They say that Dante once said that hell is proximity without intimacy,' big brother says. 'But did Dante really say this? Who knows? But it's a good saying. That is why, for the first challenge, you will all be required to get to know one another, to really get to know one another. You should know one another better than most people know Dante, you should know one another as though you are all from one large family, but perhaps on a more intimate scale. The game you will now play is one I am sure you all know, perhaps some more than others. It is commonly referred to as “Spin the Bottle”.'

'What are you looking at?' I ask.

'You,' Shaun says. 'You're the only person here I don't wanna kiss. Just trying to decide how to spin that thing so it don't end up pointing to you.'

'Ha ha. Touche.'

'Silence,' big brother says. 'This will be no ordinary game of “Spin the Bottle”. It will also be a game of “Truth or Dare”. You will spin the bottle and then you will have a choice: to kiss the person the bottle ends up pointing to, or to reveal a truth about yourself by answering a question posed by the person you have declined to kiss. However, should you choose to kiss the person then the next time it is your turn you will need to choose between revealing a truth about yourself or doing something a little more intimate than kissing. And so on. Are these rules clear?'

'Hold on,' Shelly says. 'How intimate?'

'Yeah?' Jerri asks.

'Simply more intimate than your last action,' big brother says. 'You can always simply choose to reveal a truth about yourself each time.'

'I . . . never lie,' Shelly says. 'I can't lie.'

'Then this will be fun, won't it?' Chloe says, grinning. 'Ever entered a confessional where the entire population of America might just be on the other side of the glass?'

'The game will begin as soon as someone spins the bottle and end as soon as you all agree you know one another fairly well: whether this be on an affective or cognitive level. Shaun, Jackson, Chloe, Shelly, and Jerri, are you ready?'

'Let's do this then,' Chloe says, picking up my Bacardi bottle.

'I'm in,' I say.

'Go,' Shaun presses.

'Ok,' Shelly says.

Jerri smiles.

Chloe places the bottle on the table. She glances at Shelly, Jerri, and then I, a smile stretching from one side of her face to the other, as pretty as a beautiful red g-string. She holds the bottle, four fingers on one side and one thumb on the other, and then flicks her wrist. The bottle spins. It's dizzy, intoxicated, free, giddy, so very happy. It spins and spins like a seal twirling in midair. Finally it slows. We watch as it moves in slow motion, almost like the ball on a roulette table before it comes to a stop. The body of the bottle appears to come to rest before the neck, but soon, very soon, the outstretched neck is pointing like cupid's arrow at Shelly.

'Oh my God,' Shelly says.

'Shelly, I'd really like to kiss you, if that's ok,' Chloe says. 'Just quick, a nip on the lips. We don't want too much intimacy to begin with.'

'Um . . .' Shelly mutters. She smiles and her cheeks turn the pale red color of her lips. 'Sure. Yeah. You're a girl so . . . this is just silly but . . . ok.'

Chloe offers a hand to Shelly.

'Cool,' Shaun says. 'As long as I've known her she has never . . .'

Shelly takes the hand in hers and pulls Chloe towards her. Shelly inhales and moves her head closer to Chloe's. First their noses touch, and then Shelly tilts her head back just a little so that her two lips are wrapped tightly around Chloe's upper lip like a mitten around a cold hand. She moves her lips back and forth a few times as though they are the arms of someone caught in a rift out at sea, as though they are two tectonic plates rubbing against another which is at rest, and Chloe is indeed motionless.

'Shelly,' Chloe says, breaking away. 'That was nice but you realize that you'll have to top that next time don't you.'

'Um . . . that was your turn though. So you'll have to top it. I haven't had my turn yet. And I thought it was quick.'

'You held my lip in yours for a good five seconds,' Chloe says. 'Don't you think so guys?'

'Five more and I would have . . .'

'Shaun,' I say. 'Dude. No. Don't.'

'Sorry,' Shaun says. 'Yeah, I'd say five. At least.'

'Well: it's your go Shell,' I say.

Shelly exhales. She runs a hand through her hair and then places this hand on the bottle. With two fingers and a palm turns the thing as though turning a key in an ignition. It spins like the wheel of a motorbike, round and round, round and round, and I watch the neck as the bottle slows, I watch this neck which looks so shiny, so slim, like a spoke on a bicycle wheel, but moves in such a hypnotic way like Shelly's neck, like her hair, her pupils as they dart from one person to another, her lashes as they curl and and unfurl like clockwork.

'Jackson,' Shaun says.

'It's pointing at you,' Chloe adds.

'Oh,' I say, glancing down at the bottle. 'Well. So what will it be Shelly?'

'I . . . think I'll go with truth,' Shelly says. 'It's not that I don't like you. It's just . . .'

'Hey,' I say. 'No probs. I've got something I wanna ask you.'

'Yeah?'

'That's right. I've got a question,' I say. 'Ok: we've all had feelings for someone we know we shouldn't have feelings for. When was the last time you had feelings for someone you know you shouldn't have feelings for? And who was the person?'

'Um . . .'

'No wait. Let me re-phrase that a little. Sometimes you feel something that's just silly, you feel silly and a little giddy. And later you think about the feeling and realize that it was a meaningless feeling, and that you were not thinking clearly at the time. When was the last time you felt this way?'

'Oh, that's easy,' Shelly says. 'Yeah. I was at Westfield the other day, actually it was at Tuggerah, in the north, before I moved down here, so it must have been a few weeks ago. And you know how those people in the center strip try to sell you things, like cream to remove wrinkles, exercise equipment, the stuff gullible people purchase?'

'Yeah,' I say. 'They always talk with an accent.'

'Yeah,' Shelly affirms. 'They're practically selling themselves, not the product. Hookers on Westfield street.' - Shelly shakes her head – 'But this woman, she was so beautiful, and she asks me over. She said something like: “Could I just ask you a quick question?” and she tilted her head to the right, held up two fingers, close to one another and said: “just a tiny question?” I shrugged. I wasn't in a hurry and so I said “sure.” The first thing I sensed as I wondered over to her was her perfume, so sweet, like her smile. I'm sure I took a few deep breaths then. I hope she didn't notice because it would have appeared strange, a girl so nervous stepping in front of a beautiful woman. I bet guys are nervous though. I bet she sells to guys all the time. And I could smell her breath, it was musky. Coz I was standing pretty close coz she was holding one of my fingers, rubbing a nail of mine with a block and making it shiny. Then I was gazing deep into her shiny eyes: they were sparkling like my nail, and I was as close to her as I could possibly get. I finally told her I wasn't interested in the product and walked away but I could have said this earlier. I'm not sure why I stayed talking to her for so long. It's funny but I think she was so charming, so beautiful, and smelled so nice, if she had asked me to lay down next to her I would have said yes. So that was a real strange feeling I had. Totally bizarre. Totally abnormal.'

'It's not abnormal,' Shaun says.

'Perfectly natural,' I say, shrugging.

'Of course it's natural . . . if you're a guy,' Shelly says. 'But it was just silly.'

'It's natural for girls as well,' Chloe says. 'You're still trying to figure out your sexuality.'

'Hey. I know I'm straight,' Shelly asserts.

'Yeah,' Jerri says. 'A girl can like the smell of another girl without being gay.'

'Do you like the smell of Shelly?' I ask.

'Of course,' Jerri says.

'Even when she's not wearing perfume?' Shaun presses.

'Let's get on with the game,' Shelly says. 'I'm pretty sure I've told my story. Jackson. You're next.'

I shrug: 'Cool.'

******

References

1 Crack A Bottle – Eminem and 50 Cent

2 All You Wanted – Michelle Branch

3 Wild At Heart – Birds of Tokyo

4 *Griffiths, R. R., & Grob, C. S. (2010). Hallucinogens as Medicine. Scientific American, 303(6), 76-79. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

*In the epic battle of north v south it's really a case of promiscuity and extroversion v hallucinogens and introversion . . . We all seek pleasure, just in different ways (through spirituality or through sex). Which is the best way, dear reader?