Noah Cicero - Best Behavior

We took the L back Williamsburg. Hu Chin lived two blocks from Bedford. There were hipsters everywhere. Hu Chin lived in a different apartment than before. It was a nice size and clean. John Walters and his girlfriend lived in it. I had never met his girlfriend. The news was she was Korean, small, and had a positive attitude. John Walters and his girlfriend who was named Katie were on a camping trip in Vermont.

Hu Chin showed me his computer. It was MAC laptop. Half the screen was gone. It was all fuzz. I said, “Hu, your screen is broke.” He said, “I know, but I can still Gmail chat.”

Took a shower. It was one of the best showers of my life. I used Hu Chin's organic body wash and tooth paste. Felt very clean.

Put fresh clothes on. Hu Chin showed me his bedroom. It was messy. There were 2500 copies of Jason Bassini's new book. Hu Chin had published it. The boxes full of Jason's book were stacked higher than me. We looked at the boxes. Hu Chin said it would take ten years to sell 2500 poetry books. Told he had nothing else to do. He admitted that was true.

We sat at the kitchen table checking our emails. Then we left. It was night. The streets of Williamsburg were full of hipsters. We went to go see Andrew and his roommate Tod. Tod was a doctor of computer science who changed life goals and wanted to be a writer.

Ended up on Bedford at Mexican Place. Full of hipsters. Everyone seemed happy, it was summer. People were drinking. Andrew was now working for a major publishing company in a small office. He complained about it. It did sound lame. But it was obvious that he would move up in the future and his current lameness would end. Tod was interning at The New Yorker and getting an MFA from NYU. Andrew had his MFA from Columbia.

Andrew talked about restaurants. Hu Chin and Andrew fought over the remnants of the nachos. I drank water, they drank beer.

We went to a bar down the street. More hipsters. A lot of people. Friday night on Bedford. We walked to the back of the bar. It was an open patio. People were smoking and drinking. Andrew was talking to a group of people. He didn't introduce Hu Chin and I. Tod talked to us. Hu Chin and I sat on a small wooden thing. We were very close. There were no else to sit. We didn't get beers. An attractive Asian man came in, with a perfectly shaved face and nicely combed hair. Hu and I looked at him, Hu said, “That guy is the best person in this bar.” I said, “Look how he listens, look how he laughs right at the perfect time.” Hu chin said, “He is really good at being a person.” Then we named the guy Kevin. Then we pretended we were Kevin and talked to each other listening intently, looking at each other's eyes, responding with witty yet informative things. It was funny. Andrew came over to us and told us we needed to sit in certain spots so everyone could sit facing each other. We sat down. There was a girl who worked on Broadway next to me. Everything she said was really loud. All Hu Chin and I wanted to do was pretend we were Kevin.

We all left. On the sidewalk Hu Chin and I pretended we were Kevin more. We went to Andrew and Tod' apartment. Andrew gave me a copy of his magazine he created. It was a really nice magazine. It was large and the printing looked good. Some of the poetry in it was even good. Tod showed us an article he wrote concerning computers, it had graphs.

There were women there but Hu and I didn't talk to them. Hu had gotten a girlfriend who went to NYU. She was at home in Pittsburgh. I just didn't care.

Hu Chin and I went back to his apartment. We sat at his kitchen table. Talked about Jason Bassini. Jason Bassini had just made a video for Youtube. He looked gray and sickly. He could barely talk. Bassini looked like he might die. We imagine Bassini in first person:

I am going to the bathroom.

I am walking down the hall of a small Seattle apartment.

I need pay my rent. My rent must be paid.

Crushed underneath the rent.

I am going to brush my teeth.

I am looking at my toothbrush on the counter.

I am holding my toothbrush.

I put toothpaste on the toothbrush.

I am lifting the toothbrush to my mouth.

I am now cleaning my teeth.

I am Jason Bassini.

I work as a person that sells clothes on the sidewalks of Seattle.

Hu Chin and I talk about Jason Bassini pushing his grocery cart full of clothes down the streets of Seattle, probably all sweating and pissed off. One of the wheels of the cart hits a crack; it falls over, the clothes spill. Jason Bassini all sweaty, cursing his Catholic God, picking up the clothes that fell out and putting them back in the cart. Jason sitting beside his clothes reading a Lydia Davis novel, most of the time just staring into space. He wipes sweat off his forehead.

Next morning, woke up, early. Sat and read Trout Fishing in America . Noticed they had a patio. Went on patio. Sat on patio. Noticed there were plants. Looked at the plants. There were a lot of herbs, no tomatoes or peppers. Giant nautical star hanging. Went back inside. Went back to sleep. Woke again to Hu Chin walking around.

Hu Chin and I go to Manhattan on L. I leave Hu Chin. Hu Chin goes to NYU library. I get on Q, head to Coney Island. Sit on Q and read Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliot. The book is okay, everything is okay. Subway emerges from underneath the earth. Stop reading and look around at Brooklyn. The neighborhoods look like they were built 100 years ago. A group of black people get on the subway, three sets of couples. They all seem happy. Everyone is happy. Get to Coney Island. Walk down the street. There are thousands of people, mostly Latinos. Walk to beach first. There was the ocean. It was large and blue. The wind hit me hard. Loved the wind. There was no wind in the city. Feeling the wind was good. Large boardwalk selling lots of food and beer. Didn't go to Nathan's, the line was too long. Went to another place with no line, ordered a steak sandwich with sweet not hot peppers and no onions. They put onions on it anyway. Walked up boardwalk, sat on bench next a Latino man. He was speaking Spanish to somebody on his cell phone. His six year old son kept yelling at him, “Can I take my shoes off.” His father wasn't listening. His father kept talking on his cell phone. The child said again, “Daddy, let me take off my shoes. I want to run in the sand with no shoes.” His father kept talking on cell phone. The kid yelled, “Daddy, let me take off my shoes!” The dad said without looking up at the boy, “Yeah, whatever.” The boy took his shoes and socks. The boy was very happy.

Two gay men in very short shorts were playing volleyball together. They weren't exactly playing. They seemed to be practicing serving just in case a game got started.

Walked down the boardwalk, saw dancing. There were people dancing to very bad techno music. There was a cute Asian dancing wearing a Coney Island dance shirt. I wanted to touch her ass.

Walked back down to the bathrooms. Park rangers were standing together. Arab men were sitting down together sweating looking bored. Old Latinos sat on lawn chairs trying to sell goods. I took a shit in the bathroom. Walked to the fenced-in area where the merchants were. They were selling cheap shit. I didn't have enough money to buy any of it. Bought an empanada. It was a meat empanada not a cheese empanada.

Got back on subway. Arrived in Manhattan. Sat in Think Coffee for an hour. Drank an iced coffee. Everyone had a MAC. There were MACs everywhere. Glowing apples abound. Started to fear the MACs would come alive and attack in unison. There was a girl who did not have a MAC. She hated herself. Tegan and Sara and Beirut played on the radio.

Went to Washington Square Park. Wrote text message to Hu. Hu Chin comes out. We go to dinner at Klong. Lin was going to be there. Lin and I had made up. We wrote emails. The emails said nice things. We became friends again. She was dating a French man.