Latest installment of The Java Knot. An online graphic novella in the making.
“Nabbed this dude while sketching last week on the Metra beneath the streets of Milan. Would hold the phone to his ear, then after a few seconds, look at it and dial or text something, then back to the ear again, whoops, only to pull it away and tap the keyboard briefly before returning it momentarily to his ear only to……. Crossed and uncrossed his legs. Bent ‘em under him. Pulled ‘em out as you see them, then, one out the other tucked behind, and then….. he was practically dancing.
Not sure if he kept getting a call center robot or was getting put on hold, or, or…or, fuck if I know.
And he did seem a tad flustered, {pissed, flummoxed, enraged, confounded} I mean, look at his features. Eyes scrunched up, furrowed brow. Looked like the blood was rushing to his face and shiny head but that could just be a sun burn. Truth be told, I was getting irritated trying to capture a moving target and perhaps, perhaps, I was doing that transferring thing my young, ”woke” therapist keeps warning me about. Clearly somebody was irritated. I was pretty certain he was audibly grumbling under that mask. You could see the muscles in his temple squeezing. Veins were most evident. And his jaw was gnashing about, making the powder blue folds on his mask flex like an accordion.
Somebody said “Gawd Dammit!!!”
Me.
It was me. Just shot out of me. Fortunately the mask I was wearing muffled it some. Plus it was a bit noisy on the subway car. Small talk, the constant PA messages and other ambient noises probably covered my English curse in the car packed with Italian speaking commuters. He never looked up, but the person to my left reading a book did slightly tilt their head in my direction.
Nice. Take no note of the vexed cat across the aisle working up a sweat and spewing jibberish into his mask. But I let go something like a verbal sneeze and I get the treatment.
That was it. I could just make out an utterance from my scarlet faced friend and it wasn’t Italian.
And then, I heard it ! “…jeón ce PaA!!!!”
And then, I heard it! “….???? ?? ???!!!!”
Fountain pen and Pitt Artist Pens on Clairefontaine Rhodia Dot Grid notebook.