Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Chosen - Part 11c - by Nova

I stared at him. I didn't see a person. I saw a Demon disguised as a person. A piece of shit is what I saw. Even his blood seemed darker than a normal persons would be. I stared at him a bit more until he muttered "You motherfucker." I stepped closer and drove SWORD into his thigh. He screamed and he kept screaming for a couple of minutes. He was also saying vile things. Shouting them at us. I looked at Sharon and Roy. They didn't seem bothered. If anything they looked angry. I said "He is a demon." Both of them agreed and Roy yelled "Stick him again!" Tim was bleeding heavily and had quit yelling. Now he was pleading with me to "Fix his leg. Call 911. Do something!"

"Tim." I said "Shut up."

He didn't like it but he managed.

"Thank you. How much did the suit your wearing cost you?"

"About 3K."

"And the tie?"

"Ummm..," He looked down at it like there was a price tag still attached. "Two hundred." He added "It was on sale."

I had noticed earlier his watch. It was gold and shiny. "How about the watch?"

He didn't want to answer this one. He looked away from me. Probably hoping that would make me disappear. It didn't work.

"Tim. Answer me."

He swallowed hard,moaned, and whispered "6K"

"Was it on sale?"

I heard Sharon snicker and Tim shook his head "No"

"The shoes?"

"I don't know!" He wasn't yelling. He was wailing like a child.

"So basically Tim your telling us you spent over ten thousand dollars on your clothes?"

He shook his head and told me "No. Thats equals nine thousand two hundred dollars which is less than that."

"How much money did you make in your best year Sharon?"

She thought for a moment, then said "Twenty two thousand." She said it proudly.

"How much did you live off of last year Roy?" I hadn't bothered to turn around and look at them, I just kept staring at the Demon.

Roy laughed and said "Twelve thousand two hundred dollars and fifty three cents."

"Yeah. Yeah. I see where your going with this. Look I'm sorry your poor. Life sucks. It does right now for me." He winced and continued "We can work this out. Just get me to a hospital."

"How much did you make last year Tim?" I said it quietly.

If he didn't want to talk about how much the watch cost he sure didn't want to answer this one.

"Tim"

He wouldn't look at me. I raised the angle of SWORD and stepped closer. He screamed "Three hundred and fifty fucking thousand! And that ain't shit compared to what the big dogs pull in. I'm worth it! I make money! I make big money off of stupid fucking sheeple like you! Yeah! You people! Too fucking dumb to know how to figure out what a percentage rate is. Too stupid to know anything other..." Here he slipped into a falsetto "What's my monthly payment? You're the idiot class! You deserve to be poor!"

He stopped, tried to grin at me, and said "That was the pain talking. I mean I understand what it's like to grow up poor. Why..."

"Shut up Tim."

I looked into the camera and said "This is what infests America. Ticks. Parasites. Demons. Whatever you want to call them just realize their is only one cure for them." I paused, "Death. Death by burning."

Then I told Rick "Kill the camera. I'll tell you when to start filming again."

"What! What the fuck! Oh Jesus. You people can't be serious!"

"Shut up Demon."

HIS coldness was upon me. I asked Sharon "There is a deck outside isn't there?" I knew there was one. There was always one on a house like this.

"Sure is. Want me to show you?"

"No. Wooden posts holding it up?"

Sharon knew where I was going with this. "Yeah. Yeah. It'll work."

"What door?"

She pointed at the French doors at the end of the room.

"Drag him out and tie him to the best post. Sharon. Take the cuffs and lock him to the post." I held my arms back so they would understand. "Like this."

Roy had come up to stare at the Demon. He told me "I got it Chosen. We're going to light this Demon up."

The Demon was wailing again. I ignored it.

9 comments:

  1. 10k for a suit? He clearly overpaid.

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  2. No, that was the total for the watch, suit, tie...

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  3. 3K suit, merino wool and custom tailoring you can get there right quick... off the rack and on sale for around 1K, so 3K easy.

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  4. Plus he was probably lying about what it really cost him.

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  5. The nicest suits are long-fiber cashmere from high-plains cold-weather goat belly fur. Demand only Scottish-made cloth, custom-made during your vacation in Italy. It's amazing how fast a tailor who is only working on your suits can turn out a half-dozen of them for $30K.

    I've heard that wearing one is like wearing a soft cloud.

    Of course, the smart money guys who were making $300K in 1997-2003 were putting half of their after-tax money into gold coins and dry-farming farmland, while "existing" in a 300 square foot Manhattan dump (illegal sublet) that cost $3000 a month. Let's say that a person could squeek by on $8K/mo ($96K/yr, net) and that they get to take-home 50% (5 layers of tax is brutal), leaving them a $50K investment nut every year. When gold was around $300/oz, that's 160/oz per year in the safe. Of course, "climbers" like Tim are mortgaged to the eyeballs and have expenses that are about 105% of take-home, and hope that the next raise/bonus will save them. Like them man said, he's just a working stiff compared to the guys who make $3M/yr+20x bonuses for offshoring and right-sizing.

    A minor demon, at best, but you work with what you can get.

    Cheers.

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  6. A minor demon, at best, but you work with what you can get.

    lol...yep. especially when you are just getting started.

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  7. Fascinating reader comments on Naked Capitalism recounting their family economic situations -- Yves asked if her readers felt the recession was over.

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/09/is-your-economy-out-of-recession.html#comments

    Seems like a complete disconnect wrt mainstream media coverage vs. middle class reality...

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  8. Anon, Thanks. I read through half of them and stopped. Even if the economy recovered to 2005 levels tomorrow it would still be to late or never happen for some of those people.

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  9. Once again your insight is carrying the story. Well done.
    One must wonder how, and in some cases if, all of those lost jobs that are not or can't be coming back will affect the future. An unbalanced equation I am sure.
    Regardless of the next 2 elections the damage done cannot be repaired soon enough to make any reasonable difference.

    Jim in MO.

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