A Voyeuristic Snippet

When: 9:15 p.m. PT, Tuesday

Place:  On my sofa while Hubster plays online version of Call of Duty, Modern Warfare.

[a conversation is taking place…]

Older guy with southern accent:  I’m 25, but I don’t game all the time. I go to work, I have a job. I pay bills and stuff.

Young guy:  I’m 13. I go to school. I go home. I do my homework, I play games for a little when when my dad goes to work. Then I go on the computer, and then I go to sleep.

[Pause] 

13yo:  Were you ever bullied?

25yo:  One guy tried once, but he ended up on his back.

13yo:  Did you ever bully someone else?

3rd guy appears; age somewhere between the two: He already told you no…God. (exasperated)

The 3rd guy keeps chiming in, but first two guys aren’t really interested in what he has to say. The 13 year old boy keeps trying to ask questions and get the attention of the southern 25 year old man.

13yo:   How many friends did you have when you were a kid?

25yo:  You need to be careful with who your real friends are. 

Background noise; explosions.

13yo:  Everybody in the whole school knows…are you guys listening?

25yo:  Yeah

13yo: Everybody in the whole school knows me, right? But only one guy in the whole school is my friend.

3rd guy: Why is he telling us this?

25yo: Throughout my life, I have about 4 or 5 really good friends.

13yo:  Do you guys even know my name?

3rd guy: Do you guys want to know a joke?

[Silence; background noise; explosions]

13yo: I want to tell a joke. You guys need to listen very carefully.  I need all you guys to hear me clearly. Can you hear me? 

Both: yeah 

13yo:  Three girls go to the hardware store. One asks for a rubber toilet. One asks for a wooden toilet. Wait, I have to hide so I can tell the joke. [pause] OK.

[Lots of background noise; big explosions; shooting sounds. Faint sounds of young boy talking, but it’s impossible to make out the words.]

13yo:  Did you guys get it?

[Pause; silence]

25yo: Yeah.

13yo:  Do you know any mama jokes?

25yo: Yeah, but I don’t think I should tell jokes like that to a kid.