Clean like Static

[jack_babalon]

Una donna osserva un Rito Iniziatico (A woman observes an Initiation Rite) ©2002, Alessandro Bavari

That he's watching static is not enough reason to change the channel. It certainly is'nt sufficent cause to turn off the set or attempt anything as radical as abandoning his post for bed. He does'nt even notice that the couch reeks of cat piss & stale beer anymore. He fishes for another juicy butt out of the ashtray on the arm next to him. He finds one with a few good hits left and lights it up. He savors the drag, and the taste is so sweet, he allows himself the luxury of closing his eyes and letting the light from the TV play shadow theater against his eyelids. The truth is he likes the static because the static makes him feel clean. The way tin foil feels clean fresh from the roll, or the way a drop of blood looks innocent on the porcelain sink. The way pebbles taste dangerous between the teeth, that kind of clean. He hears something dripping behind him and looks down to see himself suddenly ankle deep in water. He looks over and theres a little kitten tabby on the cushion next to him. It's hacking and choking and making too much noise for just that one little throat, he reaches over to offer a reassuring pet across the head and is met with a swift slash at his hand.
'Fuck you then!' Mutters Adam and the kitten goes back to coughing, much more violently now, almost a human cough until finally it vomits up something between the two of them. He looks down and sees a bright pink fluid with little drowned insects in them. He looks closer and can see that their Flies and that their still alive, minature fluttering wings and twitching legs pulling themselves free. The cat keeps puking between the cushions. The flies are buzzing all around him now, their buzzing deafening. They swarm across his face, crawling down his t-shirt, making their way up his limbs leaving traces of the pink fluid in their wake, a few are trying to explore the tunnels of his ears. He starts furiously swatting at himself, trying to brush them off, but he just ends up spreading the pink fluid across his skin and it's beginning to itch. The kitten keeps coughing up the flies, all over his lap now, and thats when he grabs it by the back of the neck and plunges it face first into the water at his ankles. The cat fights, carving up his forearm while the flies start burrowing up his nostrils. He keeps the cat emerged and winces his eyes tight, snorting out the insects he holds it there a long time. Until the cat stops moving and the flies are now all gone. He holds his arm up to the light, watching the blood slide down the length of his wrist and drip into the flood.
He hears coughing again and wakes up. He looks around confused, the floor is dry and there's no drowned tabby at his feet. He's almost disappointed.
"You coming back to bed...?" she asks, and with a vague horror he realizes that he can't remember her name. A bar, some bullshit story, get her home and fumble off the clothes. Hot Banal Sex. Over and out quicker than he'd like to admit. She stumbles to the bathroom and spends too long in there. She starts coughing uncontrolably. That's when he decided to get up and watch TV. He nods at her, and reaches for another cigarette butt, fingers trawling through ashes finding nothing. He gives up and gets up off the couch. He looks at whats-her-name, so pale she almost glows in the dark. His erection wakes at the sight of her legs, the celluite under the pantyline and the bruises along the coast of her thighs. He follows her back into his room, he pauses at the TV, contemplates turning it off but settles for hitting mute. He feels better knowing it will be out here for him if he should need it. A night light beacon in a life growing dark.


Nuove Progenie: ritratto di ragazza davanti allo specchio
(New Progenies: Portrait of a girl who looks at herself in a mirror)
©2002 Alessandro Bavari

For more on Alessandro Bavari's photography check out:
http://www.alessandrobavari.com