Fred Sasaki

Chicago, Illinois 1982

Characters

Fred-John: Mischief-eyed Eurasian in navy corduroys and Izod Lacoste; he is 5 years old. Florence: Dishwater blonde in a prim dress; she is 6.

Scene

All the action takes place in a two-boy bedroom, after Fred-John and Florence's kindergarten class. The room is shared by Fred-John and his 21-year-old brother Mirek. A hand-painted Pink Floyd woodshop cutout and 1971 Mustang model car are on a windowsill that looks into a back-building alley. Above Mirek's bed is a photograph of Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple. Above Fred-John's bed is a framed photograph of Christopher Reeve as Superman. Florence and Fred-John are beside Fred-John's bed. She is on her knees, taking out and folding his long-sleeve T-shirts, from a drawer under the bed. He is talking excitedly about their first French teacher.

Fred-John: And she said if I said one more word she'd tie me to the chair and I said `You won't tie me to the chair' but I wanted her to tie me to the chair with rope and I like those stickers she puts on your hand that are like stamps and she has to lick them before she puts them on and they smell.

Florence: Your shirts are so messy. Don't you know how to fold?

Fred-John: I don't know. They just go in there. Hey, you know I decided something.

Florence: You see, you have to lay them flat and pat them.

Fred-John: You're not listening. Listen. I decided that since you and Cara are always asking me, you know, that you want me to show you, to see my penis and I always say next time and then I don't and I'll show you again when Cara is here but since I decided that I'd show you I want you to see. Look, do you want to see?

Florence: Oh, that's OK. We can wait till next time. We have to finish folding all these messy clothes.

Fred-John: Oh. No. No, I mean I want to show you. (He unlatches his Lee Jeans magnetic belt buckle and undoes his corduroys and pulls down his Underoos. She looks, opens her mouth, and puts her fists in her eyes.)

Florence: No, stop. Put it away.

Fred-John: Wait. Hold on. It looks funny now. It's not like this. It's not always like this. It looks normal. It looks funny now. Just wait and it will be normal again. It gets big but it stops. Just wait a minute. Wait, just wait. I want you to see.

Florence: No, I don't want to see. I don't want to see.

Fred-John: OK, but just touch it. Just touch it a little bit. Come on. Just touch it once. It's OK. Don't you want to touch it?

Florence: No. Stop it. I can't. My mother told me never to get involved with sex.

(2007-02-06)

Also by Fred Sasaki

The Agony & The Ecstasy
What's the definition of poetry? As much pelvic thrusting as possible?
(2006-11-14)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
Hillbilly music is playing loudly and roughed regulars sit back and watch the gentry mingle and dance. Several Tim McGraw look-alikes flirt with tomboys in Cubs jerseys. A glass-eyed bouncer is constipated by the door. Our threesome is in the back corner trying to play pool. No one is winning.
(2006-06-21)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
"I'm on the roof of my apartment building and I can see two people having sex. It's like they're right there."
(2006-06-13)

The Parade of Summer
Decapitated heads of tulips lay splayed over decorative beds along Michigan Avenue as spring turns. The summer wind brings in a thrush of color in the teaming multitude of strangers on the Magnificent Mile. Immense in scope, the classification of the species that take the promenade is far beyond the means of a mere article. Such an endeavor demands a Jacques-Cousteau-like depth and a heavy prescription of Xanax. This being my only caveat, I give you a tasting blanket of the more peculiar anamules on parade, from bulbous suburbanites and tourists to the lean and harrowed hags of the avenue
(2006-05-23)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
(2006-04-11)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
(2006-03-28)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
(2006-02-28)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
(2006-02-14)

Love and Sex: Waxing Poetic
(2006-02-07)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
(2005-12-13)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
(2005-10-25)

The Agony and the Ecstasy
(2005-10-04)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment