The Story of So-and-So

June 22, 2004

She asked for the true story of so and so. Behind-the-scenes secrets. What really happened? Not the one about the ex. That one has been told and retold ad infinitum. I even wrote a fucking book around that one. No, she wanted to hear about some other so-and-so. The thing is, I hadn't told anyone the whole truth of this particular story ever. There are some stories that I tell so often they've calcified into concise nuggets that I can toss out like peanuts. "I used to know this girl—" But the story she wanted to hear was still raw and unexamined. Too complicated to deconstruct. Too intricate to frame in a way that made any sense. I suppose if you were the type who likes collecting shells on the seashore, you could search for a few of the clues that are floating in the surf, rinse them off, and come up with the gist. A beginning and a middle at least. But she didn’t want the gist—she wanted the missing pieces. And for whatever reason, when she asked, I spilled them. But it just came out as a jumbled mess. Poorly written lines as read by an inexperienced actor. I need more rehearsal time on this one.