Kim: “Now, Marlon, let’s not jump to conclusions here.”
Marlon: “How can I not jump? I come home from a hard day’s work of looking sexy as hell on the streets of New Orleans and I find this!”
Kim: “It’s not what you think.”
Marlon: “Well, I think you’ve been to Hobby Lobby again, buying all this cheap plastic crap for projects that you are never going to do. We’ve talked about this. You should never shop at Hobby Lobby because the owners are against women’s rights and they won a Supreme Court lawsuit so their employee insurance doesn’t cover female contraception but it does cover male enhancement products.”
Kim: “Oh, that’s what you’re thinking. Okay, well, yes, that’s what I did. I went craft shopping. I certainly didn’t slip away to Mardi Gras and bare my breasts just so drunken men could hurl strands of beads my way and I could snatch them up in a fever of validation. Nope, didn’t do that at all.”
Marlon: “Well, I really wish you would listen to me. No more trips to Hobby Lobby, please. Now, I’m going to go watch the news coverage of the Mardi Gras parades.”
Kim: “Uh oh.”
Marlon: “That’s an odd response. Do you not like me watching the parades? I do it every year.”
Kim: “No, it’s not that, it’s… um… there’s a problem with the TV.”
Marlon: “A problem? The TV was fine when I left this morning.”
Kim: “Well, something happened today that shouldn’t have, and now the TV isn’t working. Say, why don’t you run grab you a beer in the kitchen and I’ll see if I can fix the problem.”
Marlon: “Fine.”
Sounds of Marlon marching one way.
Sounds of Kim running in another.
Sounds of something slamming into the floor in the living room.
Marlon, rushing into said room, holding a beer that was already half empty, as he was a hot man in a hot city and hydration was important: “Why the hell is the TV all busted on the floor?”
Kim: “That’s the problem that I was talking about.”
Marlon: “Did you just do that? Because I didn’t see the TV on the floor when I got home two minutes ago.
Kim: “Well, you’re tired after your long day. It’s understandable that you might not notice things.”
Marlon: “I certainly noticed you on that balcony on Bourbon Street.”
Kim: “What do you mean by…”
Marlon: “I’m the one who threw the third strand of beads.”
Kim, eyes widening: “I remember catching that third strand. Actually, I didn’t catch it with my hands. It snagged on my left nipple, which is no surprise since that one has always been the perkier of the twins.”
Marlon: “Yeah, that little development certainly gave new meaning to the concept of hula-hooping.”
Kim: “But wait. That snagging happened right as a group of drag queens was passing by in the parade.”
Marlon: “And my stage name is Mildred Pierced.”
Brief pause as things were processed. Except for the TV. The TV was no longer processing anything.
Kim: “It seems that we might have a few things to talk about.”
Marlon: “Agreed. It’s long overdue, as is every discussion in a Tennessee Williams play. Would you like me to fetch you a beer from the fridge?”
Kim: “I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”
Categories: Past Imperfect
Bonnywood Manor 
On form my friend … you have provoked those unseemly snorts and the attendant fixed lemon faces from my French neighbours. Life is good and I thank you!
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Just doing my part to keep the lemons occupied…
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🍋🍋🍋🍋for which I am truly grateful …. idle lemons don’t hear thinking about 🍋🍋🍋🍋
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Now that went in a direction I wasn’t expecting 🙂
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And so it goes at Bonnywood…. 😉
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It’s what I love about your little corner of the world.
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Now this piece has some very fancy footwork, and a lot of beads.
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Just a little Cajun two-step…
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Always enjoy these – great writing Brian. 🙂
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Thanks, Terry! Anything to keep you smiling…
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“as is every discussion in a Tennessee Williams play.” Amen. Drama, drama, drama, drama, redemption, confusion and the lies of life laid bare. Curtain falls. Henry James, meet Broadway. Not unlike the Elmore Leonard. Dialogue with weirdos, more dialogue with weirdos, one page showdown with the person you didn’t suspect had a gun, what’s for dinner, mamma? I love them all, the patchwork quilt of the “madness of art.”
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Well, there’s something to be said about having a home-cooked meal, prepared just the way you remember it. But sometimes you gotta get out of the house and try that new Thai place down the road…
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BWAHAHAHHHA!!! Mildred PIERCED??? Oh my gawd. Guffaw, horselaugh, belly roarer (it’s not what you might think)…and it’s too HOT here to do this. Going away now to sip something icy and try to remove the mental image of Marlon Brando in drag. I may soil myself….bwahahahahhah….
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It pleases me immensely when your belly roars, even if it’s not what I think… 😉
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Meanwhile the pearls are like – “Excuse me both, but may we be excused for the night? We’re tired, bruised, and we just want to go back in the jewellery box.”
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“We’ve got windburn from being thrown through the air!”
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Yes, Mildred Pierced qualifies as a genius moment. Perfect!
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Why, thank you kindly. (P.S. This is probably politically incorrect, but one of my fave drag names was one I ran across years ago in Tulsa: Deniesel Dyke. It just killed me at the time, with the play on words, but I was young and impressionable and it’s entirely possible that it won’t resonate with other folks…)
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Now I am thinking back to many, many rumors that I had read about Marlon over the years. That revelation would not be unusual or surprising. I love your explanation of Tennessee Williams. Priceless!
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I clearly wasn’t there, at least not that I recall, but I’m thinking it was more than just rumors… 😉
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Neither was I & I believe you are correct, sir!
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