LatinosUSA

he wouldn’t let go

of that book

nobody knew what it

was

because nobody could

pry it off his hands to

have a look

Eh, whatever

it was just a book

Other crazed men

held on to

dangerous objects like

knives and screwdrivers

and shards of glass wrapped

in a cloth and a padlock

in a sock ever ready to become

a flail when swung right

But he just

held on to that book with gray

hard covers

and like some evangelist

went through the apartment

buildings from

door to door

knocking

and asking the residents if

they’ve seen her

‘Who the hell was he talking

about?’ they’d

ask

and this question made him

leave

and go to the next door

One time

some kid opened up

and probably thought he

was talking about his mother, for

he answered, “She’s at work.”

And without another word

the crazy fool

just barged in, passing by

the kid

and went straight into

the living room where

he seated himself on the

sofa and opened the

book

ready to talk to the

kid about her

Only,

the kid ran out and

asked for help

Cops were called and they took

him to the station

someone there

figured that

the guy simply couldn’t

tell reality apart from

fiction

“He’s talking about

a character in that

book he’s holding,” they said. “Thinks

she’s a real person.”

“Yet another nut case. And what the

hell’s the

story about? What’s it titled? Who

wrote it?”

Not without great effort

and a sound beating, they

managed

to take the book away

and have a look at it

It wasn’t even a book. Only the

cover was. He ripped it

and glued it to

a thick notebook that

was fully written by hand

“What the hell you call

this?” said one

of the cops.

“A manuscript,” said another.

“A what?”

“Our felon’s a writer. I’m sure you

know what a writer is.

Now, d’ you know what

a pleonasm is?”

“Not the time for playin’ smartass,

smartass. Just say what

you mean already.”

“A prime example of pleonasm

is labeling a writer

as crazy.”

“Huh?”

“C’mon, just get on with the

procedures. We gotta get

this guy into a mental

institution.

He’s a writer, in case you still

don’t get it.”

“Oh…”

They were 50% right

Should’ve added

the word ‘unpublished’ before

the word ‘writer’ and

then the statement would’ve been

complete and

100% true