Claire Brick Conversation Fragments

01

B: You seem quite stressed the past two days.

C: You think? Ah, I’m always like this.

He simply shook his head. “No.”

Claire sighed. “It’s the father… I was just talking to him about … the baby, and the future.”

B: I take it he won’t take responsibility?

She shook her head. “Just the opposite.”

He simply looked at her for a long while, then took a small card out of his pocket and placed it on the table. It had his name and number. “In case you ever want help,” he said with that intense look again, “with something.” She wasn’t entirely sure if there was some sort of subtext she was missing here, and this exchange seemed to reinforce a vague intuition that this machinist was a dangerous man. But she took the card.

02

The man in the polyester jacket walked away without looking back. She was relieved he was gone, but she was still tense.

B: That him?

C: I’m sorry?

B: The father.

C: How could you tell. Some speck of dust on his shoe, or something like that, right?

He shook his head. “You watch too many movies.”

C: How then?

he paused. “I’m just good at reading people, and you’re not particularly hard to read.”

03

B: Dad in the picture?

C: Never was.

B: Sorry.

C: It’s nothing.

She slouched and tucked her hair behind her ear. There were no more questions. They both resumed their meal, and for a few moments, the sounds of their eating filled the silence between them.

B: I didn’t know her at all. Mrs. Flannery.

. . .

B: Never heard of her before yesterday.

For some reason, he slightly tightened his exceedingly loose tie. It was still loose.

B: Sometimes I… just like to go to funerals.

C: Like, of strangers?

B: Probably nuts, I know.

C: Everybody is nuts, once you get to know them. Some people just don’t talk about it.

B: You sound like a shrink.

C: I took a class once.

. . .

C: Dropped out though.

04

B: That Mr. never in the picture?

It took Claire a second to make the connection.

C: Yeah, more or less. … … I don’t really know him.

B: Do you want to know him?

… She shook her head.

B: I’ll keep that in mind.

She couldn’t decide if that was comforting or not.

05

C: Why do you always come here?

as usual, he took a sip from his coffee before answering, and then spoke more frankly than she expected.

B: I’m an insomniac. And I like being around other humans now and then, even if I don’t want to talk to them.

C: There aren’t a lot of us in Vermilion.

B: Mhm.

B: What about you? Why do you work here?

Claire shrugged. It’s a job. A job in this part of town, hiring humans who aren’t good at anything.

She half expected a polite contradiction to her self deprecating comment, but he just nodded.

B: But why don’t you live somewhere humans are supposed to live? Someone your age should be in the city center studying art or getting an engineering degree or something.

He thought a moment and when she didn’t reply, he continued.

You’re intelligent. Pretty. But…

C: But I’m a waitress in a ghetto diner?

B: Nothing wrong with waiting tables. Nothing at all. The thing is, you seem to be doing alright, but… you wouldn’t be in Vermilion without a reason. Probably not a happy reason.

C: I take it you’re here for an unhappy reason?

B: I spent a lot of time here when I was younger. And I guess, my reasons for being other places slowly went away. People end up here when they’ve sort of… settled to the bottom. I’m just surprised to see that happen to someone so young.

06

B: I just love how you make those waffles.

C: You know they come from a big machine, right?

B: I figured.

C: I really don’t do anything here. I write down what you say, go in the back, press a couple buttons, that’s it.

07

After a few moments, she returned with not one, but two heaping plates of chicken and waffles. She set one in front of him, then sat across from him and began eating a chicken leg immediately. He seemed to observe this behavior with great interest.

B: I don’t think it’s stupid.

She looked up with interest, too busy chewing to say anything. He shook his head.

B: Sooner or later, I think we’re all gonna appreciate the pig’s predicament.

08

C: You have kids?

He nodded. One.

C: Is it worth it?

He sighed. I’d say it’s worth a lot more than you will have to give.

09

C: What was this place like, before the incident?

B: I came here right after it happened, so I couldn’t really tell you. I can tell you everything looked very posh but everyone was leaving.