2008 Woodie Awards
Natalie Lind Writes it all Down For Posterity #18
By: Anna Chastain
Issue date: 3/24/06 Section: Features
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Jean-Baptiste stops me in the hall to tell me he's feeling a lot better about almost everything now that Milosevic is interred, and then he squints at me searching for a blank look. “You all lose track of global politics don't you.” I hear it's not really a question but while I'm good with letting things slide I make an exception for this. By the time Len walks by Jean-Baptiste and I are talking up Carla Del Ponte's hair. When Len disappears into the triple Jean-Baptiste remarks, “I know Kesia can do better than that. That kid has this weird conversation thing: like he's always asking why he doesn't ever see me in the lounge.”
I say: “Really.”
“Like he'd want me in the lounge commandeering the TV, that kind of thing: I bet it's a control device that it smells like ketchup. I should plug one of those lavender scent things into the wall. Then it'd be tolerable and I could sort of take over. You have one I could use?”
“No.”
He shrugs. He makes an exploratory move into the lounge and then retreats back into the hall: “Damn. I don't even know how they manage that.” I move for my door so he says, “Say hi to Kesia for me.”
I say hi to Kesia for him but she doesn't pick up on it. She's telling me about Len's strong-points which start out as him getting a car next year and build to him aspiring to med school. He's sitting there eating one of her chocolate bars and either he's good with how long-term this sounds or he hasn't registered it that well. Kesia's ten minutes into it when Bernadette sits up in her bed and says, “I told you I'm taking a nap.”
“Life has kind of dulled-out on her,” Kesia says, “and she's pissed.”
“Kesia has a boyfriend now,” Bernadette says to me as if the boyfriend isn't sitting three feet from her, chewing. “We're going to agree Len's done well for himself. And I told her she'd get over Jeff. She was stuck on Jeff for a while,” Bernadette says in Len's direction.
I say: “Really.”
“Like he'd want me in the lounge commandeering the TV, that kind of thing: I bet it's a control device that it smells like ketchup. I should plug one of those lavender scent things into the wall. Then it'd be tolerable and I could sort of take over. You have one I could use?”
“No.”
He shrugs. He makes an exploratory move into the lounge and then retreats back into the hall: “Damn. I don't even know how they manage that.” I move for my door so he says, “Say hi to Kesia for me.”
I say hi to Kesia for him but she doesn't pick up on it. She's telling me about Len's strong-points which start out as him getting a car next year and build to him aspiring to med school. He's sitting there eating one of her chocolate bars and either he's good with how long-term this sounds or he hasn't registered it that well. Kesia's ten minutes into it when Bernadette sits up in her bed and says, “I told you I'm taking a nap.”
“Life has kind of dulled-out on her,” Kesia says, “and she's pissed.”
“Kesia has a boyfriend now,” Bernadette says to me as if the boyfriend isn't sitting three feet from her, chewing. “We're going to agree Len's done well for himself. And I told her she'd get over Jeff. She was stuck on Jeff for a while,” Bernadette says in Len's direction.
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