Random Review
Someone is Going to Have to Pay for This
Disclaimer: The author's intent is to select a literary magazine at random from a neighborhood bookstore and take from it a short story, also randomly. He will then sit in one of those comfortable chairs, read the story and make notes. With that done he will return the magazine to the shelf and take his leave. He will have already paid for something at the café, so no one should think the less of him.
Perhaps it may strike a certain few readers as conspicuous that the first two random reviews come from two of the most well known literary magazines in the world. Please do not doubt my randomness. I cannot help that I’ve seen them first. It’s possible that decisions have been made by savvy booksellers to place these better known magazines in clearer view to the consumer. Little can be done about this. I’ve considered looking initially to the back of the rack for my choice, but the spirit of randomness would be regrettably lost. May it console those concerned to know probability suggests that if July’s selection doesn’t appear more random, than the following month’s certainly will. Until then, Someone is Going to Have to Pay for This by Benjamin Percy will have to make do.
This story is centered on the arising of an unexpected friendship between two coworkers, David and Stephen. At first the main character David is uneasy about sharing his job with anyone, partly due to the fact that he knows it doesn’t take much to drive around and flush hydrants. Stephen comes straight from a military stint in Iraq and received the job as a favor from David’s boss to Stephen’s old man. This, added to David’s own introverted habits and self-consciousness about his unusually large birthmark on the side of his face, makes him wary about partnering up with anybody.
But Stephen’s directness and blunt way of speaking immediately win David over. From then on, the story consists mainly of the time the two spend together driving around, talking and occasionally working. Percy uses enough on-the-job detail to make the characters’ work feel authentic. When David speaks about water coming out of the hydrant as first “brown, then yellow, then white, then clear” I could distinctly visualize the flushing process without needing anything else. David also throws in an interesting did-you-know, telling Stephen that the color of the hydrant—red, yellow, green—indicates pressure, green being the highest. I think I might use that one of these days.
Percy’s somber tone is kept consistent throughout the story. Details such as a “three-legged deer leaping awkwardly across the road” and the barking of “tethered Dobermans” add to the story’s harsh realism. The dialogue is also appropriately fitting to this tone. Stephen’s short and disenchanted words do well to communicate his mindset after just arriving from Iraq. Not to mention his own apathy when speaking about killing an Arab who turned out to be innocent.
As the story goes on, the bond between David and Stephen continues to develop, though rather unusually. In the beginning it becomes clear that David doesn’t have many friends, and does little with his time other than sit at home with a beer and watch TV. When he finally gets the motivation to pursue a relationship with Stephen outside of work, he drives to his house but does no more than stare in through the window as Stephen and his girlfriend argue a few feet away. David’s awkwardness is once more implied by some of his unnatural interactions with Stephen, in one instance repeating an anecdote that Stephen had actually related earlier. Percy also stresses “a want” filling David in regards to their relationship and describes it early on as a “couple settling into marriage.”
Some of these details seem to be intended to reference not just a friendship growing between the two, but a sexual desire on the part of David. To me, this development works against the main intrigue of the story, the friendship between these two men. Just by the way he lives, it’s clear that David needs Stephen as a friend more than anything else. It’s also not necessary to the story, as I was more than compelled by just seeing whether a lasting friendship would in fact develop. A sexual undertone only adds more confusion to the storyline, and in this case doesn’t contribute anything to it.
Now, here is where I would generally stop in order to allow the interested reader a chance to peruse the story’s ending for his or herself. But the conclusion is where I come to my main grievance, of which I plan to explain. A few sections earlier, when the two go on a hunting expedition, they have a chance to spend some time together in a more personal way. At the end of the section, Percy explains that David “has never been happier,” as their bond seems secure. And then, less than half a page later, Stephen is off for another job and their friendship is over. So literally the story went on just long enough to somehow make life even more miserable for David. It was as though the story’s single purpose was to accentuate the main character’s depressing existence. This left me asking myself what was the purpose for reading it. If it was to be made to feel as unfulfilled as David, with nothing to hold on to but a bag of dirt (which turned out to be the actual case for him), then I suppose it succeeded. But I read for something a little more than that.
Brian Ellis
Brian Ellis cannot currently impress you with a list of accomplishments. He is a writer of fiction who has been sending his works out to magazines and inappreciative agents. He is also a reviewer who intends not to take out any bitterness on the works at hand, to the best of his ability. Brian takes solace in the fact that even if he could impress you, he wouldn't want to.
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