Going Home

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Giradi, Emílio Gonçalves. Going Home. pp. 13-16

Revista yawp – Edição 3/2008

Revista dos alunos de Graduação da Área de Estudos Literários e Lingüística em Inglês – FFLHC/USP www.fflch.usp.br/dlm/yawp

Going Home

13

Emilio Gonçalves Giradi

“Hey, Bill. Are you going to watch the football game tonight?”

“I’m not sure. Is ‘Fireburn’playing?”

“No, he’s still in the medical department”.

“Well, I won’t watch it then; we gonna lose anyway”.

Roger ‘Fireburn’ was the Redskins’ superstar. He had scored twenty touchdowns that season and nothing seemed to stop him. He could run a hundred yards in 10.0 secs and his measures – 7 feet tall and weighing 220 lbs- made him look like a furious bull in a bullfight arena. Everytime he received a pass the crowd would go crazy and the cheerleaders would show up their asses; until the bullfighter Franklyn Moore, Broncos’s quarterback, crossed his heart with a doomed spear, sending him straight to the surgery table. Roger ‘Fireburn’had to undergo a knee surgery and might never be the same again; neither the Redskins. And that explains Bill’s disappointment.

“If you like to join us, we’ll get together at the Rose’s; you know, drink some beer and have some fun. ‘Big Toe’ said you should go.”

“Maybe some other time, Joe. The day was hardwork and I just wanna go home. Say hello to ‘Big Toe’ for me. Tell him to stay away from sixteen-year old girls.”

Bill’s daughter was almost fifteen and he knew what those guys had in mind;

however, Ann was still his little angel and she would never date a pervert like ‘Big Toe’.

No, she would grow up to become a beautiful woman, just like her mother used to be;

then she would meet a real man, with a real job; or at least someone who wasn’t a sanitation worker like her father.

“O.K. guys, see you tomorrow.”

( voices talking) “See you Billy. I hope your wife isn’t still mad at you.” That was Hernandez.

“Yeah, yeah, me too.”

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“McMillan, the boss wants to speak to you.” 14

“Where is he?”

“He’s in his office upstairs.”

Bill already knew what he should wait. After being unemployed for seven months he had finally found a job as a garbage man. Of course, that wasn’t the kind of job he had dreamed for himself, neither his wife, and that’s why she was mad at him.

Moreover, he sensed his job seemed to be on the line again”. He knocked at the office door twice.

“Come on in, McMillan. How are things going?”

“Not bad. Everything is fine.”

“And how are you daughter and wife?”

“ Fine , I suppose.”

“ I’ve heard Ann is very sick.”

“It is nothing. You know how kids are these days; they get sick all the time.”

“All right, McMillan, I’ll be straight with you. As you must know situation is pretty messed up and I’ve been working my ass to keep this company running. Now, I won’t be able to pay you this month’s salary, so if I were you, I’d start looking for another job very soon.”

“Where you suggest I start looking?”

“I don’t know, maybe the ads.”

“I see.”

“Come on McMillan, cut this bullshit. I’m tired of being patient with you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“And don’t forget to close the door behind you.”

Bill left the office and headed for the parking lot. Who the fuck did he think think he was? He knew nothing about the responsibilities of having a family; and what did he mean by ‘I’ve been working my ass to keep this company running’. He didn’t have to spend the whole day outdoors, in the boiling heat, collecting other people’s garbage and smelling like sewer rats. The only thing he cared about was golf, and he could shove that golf club up his ass. Actually, he wasn’t really concerned with Mr.

Green. He had other thing to worry about at the moment; more important things. For instance, how Jane would react when he told her he’s been fired. She would probably

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blame him for their unsuccessful marriage, and all the arguments they had in the past 15 would come back to surface once more.

He got into his car and drove off. It was a big car for a big man; he had lost some weight over the last few months though. Besides, he didn’t need to go on a diet or take any ‘slimming pills’ as his wife did. Bill thought of stopping by the Rose’s; just to say hello to the boys. He then made a turn to the right and ten minutes later he was back home. He opened the front door and stepped in; it was hotter inside than outside.

Everything was quiet; perhaps Ann had gotten worse and Jane had to take her to the hospital. He went up the stairs and checked Ann’s bedroom. Fortunately she hadn’t gotten worse. She was already in bed , her blond hair covering part of her face. He stood at the doorway looking at her; she made him forget the rough day he had had and his conversation with his boss. He went downstairs and found his wife in the living room. She was lying on the couch watching the news. He sat beside her and the next minute went by without a word being exchanged. They were showing a new species discovered in New Zealand and its importance to the local fauna. A feminine voice broke out in the air.

“How was your day?”

“Pretty much the same. Collecting the city stinky garbage.”

“When are you going to get paid for that?”

“How am I suppose to know? We had to sell our ‘cristal ball’, remember?”

“ What I know is that we can’t go on living on what I earn in the restaurant.

The rent is three months late and the tenant will have us evicted if we don’t pay it.”

“I had a conversation with Mr. Green before I left work.”

“What did that young bastard say?”

“He said I’d better start looking for another job.”

“And what did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“What you mean nothing? You should have told him you have a wife that works the whole day serving tables in a dirty restaurant and a sick daughter, and you need that damn job.”

“I don’t think that would have made any difference.”

“That’s it! You never made any difference.I Should have listened to my father when he said I had no future marrying to you.”

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“You father was a drunkard who beat up you and your mother every night.” 16

“At least we never starved.” Jane left the living room with tears in her eyes.

Bill remained silent for a few seconds staring at the TV screen. Thousands of thoughts revolved around his head; none seemed to last though. A forty-year old gunman had entered an office and shot down three of his former coworkers; one of them used to be his boss. He had taken the easiest path. Maybe he got sick of his boss, always on his back, and the guys nagging at him, and his wife complaining about his job, and his children starving; that was a cruel world. Perhaps he just wanted the world to suffer too; so they could have an idea of what he was going through.Why couldn’t he do the same thing? Bill stood up and went into the kitchen; he was dying for a cold beer. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle; as the cold liquid went down his throat the gunman appeared among his thoughts and the deaths became more and more realistic, more and more frightening, and why not, more and more inviting. He went upstairs and had a long shower; the gunman followed him.

After he was finished he lay his warm body on the bed. There was only darkness around. A very low noise could still be heard. It was Jane; she was still crying.The gunman was also there; like a shadow moving around the bed. Bill closed his eyes in an attempt not to see him, but the shadow only got clearer and clearer. He then turned over and tried to think about his little Ann. Yes, he still had his little daughter, and as long as they were together he could stand anything. He wouldn’t allow the gunman to take her away; he would protect her from everyone, even himself.

In the morning Bill got up very early; the gumman was gone. As he got dressed his wife, half asleep, asked him:

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to look for a new job.”

“Don’t forget to take out the garbage.”

“I won’t.”

Bill left that morning without knowing if he would find a job or not. The only thing he knew for sure was that that gunman would never come back.”