Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

Author:Jason Mott [Mott, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

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The next thing i know, I’m sitting on the floor of my hotel room wearing a complimentary leopard-print bathrobe and taking swigs from a large bottle of whiskey. I can’t even remember when I bought it. That heart monitor sound is still there, at the edges of my reality.

. . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .

Casablanca is playing on the television. There’s Bogart, looking forlorn and gutted. And there’s Bergman, looking beautiful and unattainable. But the longer I stare at the screen—and the more whiskey I take in—the less it looks like Bogart and Bergman. The more I realize it’s actually my Kelly and me.

We’re at the runway scene at the end of the movie. The plane is waiting. The Germans are on the way. A dialogue balloon appears next to my head: “Had to go.”

“Sorry.” Kelly replies in a dialogue balloon of her own.

“Not your fault.”

“Now what?”

“I go home tomorrow.”

“Need a ride to the airport?”

I look from the television to my phone and realize the whole conversation is just a string of text messages.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” Renny says, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. He’s standing by me, holding up my wet and slightly vomit-stained shirt. “Not sure that’ll ever come out,” he said. “You’re going to be wearing San Francisco for the rest of your life.”

Then Renny looks down at me and, just from his expression, I know I’m a sad sight. He sighs. “Damn writers,” Renny says. Then: “Okay. Let’s go.”

Renny squats down and places an arm beneath my shoulders and helps me up to my feet. He’s as gentle as a hospital orderly. God only knows how many other sad-sack writers he’s had to help up over the years.

“What’s going on?” I ask, my words slurring.

“Just come with me, State College.”

“Okay,” I say. “But just so you know: I never put out on the first date.”

“Bullshit,” Renny says.

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