He scoffed. “That never would have stopped you before. I can’t believe you’re a teacher. Like, with actual students. You have students, right?”
“That is what makes me a teacher.”
“Do the students call you Mr. Rochman? That must be a trip.”
“No, I tell them to call me Leo.”
He laughed. “It’s still a trip to think of you in a classroom like that. You know, a classroom is really like a big cubicle. A cubicle that you’re in, not just with yourself, but with a bunch of other people, too. Have you ever realized that? That might be an interesting thing to write an article about. How we start kids so young, brainwashing them to work in corporate America. How we make them think that life’s highest achievement is getting into some corner office, but really, they’re all just cubicles. And what is a cubicle, really? It’s a prison. Sure, it’s a prison that you can come and go from, but it’s still a prison nonetheless.”
He kept talking. He was probably really stoned right now, and though I’d always love him, I hated him. As I walked down the sidewalk to the bar I was meeting Jack at, I felt a gripping pain in my chest, maybe like I was about to have a heart attack. This wasn’t actually the case, I knew this, but it was somewhat amusing to think that I’d just drop dead right here, in the middle of the street, talking to my brother about how fucking wonderful his life was and how awful mine had become.
“In fact,” he was saying, “it might be worse than a prison, because at least in prison you know that you don’t have your freedom. With a cubicle, there’s this false idea that you’re actually free, even though you’re not. Even though it’s like this permanent condition.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not going to be permanent. It’s just what I’m doing right now. And would you like to know what else I’m doing right now? I’m fucking one of my students, you know.”
It sounded like there was a bit of static on the line. He coughed. “Whaaaat?”
“Uh, yeah. So that’s been going pretty well.” Whether or not this whole thing with Tessa actually ended up happening, I didn’t care; I needed something to tell Aaron, something that might make it sound like my life hadn’t turned out totally pathetic.
“You scoundrel!” he said, laughing. “Good for you, man. I bet she’s hot.”
“She is.”
“How long has that been going on for? Was that your whole plan, anyway? Why you got the teaching job in the first place?”
“No, it wasn’t my plan, but that’s just the way things worked out.”
“Hmm. Maybe I should get a teaching job.”
“I’d say go for it, but seeing as you barely graduated high school, you might have a hard time.”
“I know, I’m just playin’. There’s no way I could sit in a classroom like that, no matter how hot the girls were. Just not my scene. Props to you for being able to do it. At least you’re getting something good out of it.”
I arrived at the bar, but I didn’t want to go in while I was still on the phone. And I had to get off of the phone with
Aaron immediately; it was that or I go walk out in the middle of traffic.
“Hey, look, I gotta run,” I said.
“Oh, is your girl over?”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks for calling, though. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Peace out, brother!”
I slid the phone back into my pocket and took a deep breath before I went into the bar. Here I was, going into the same bar I always went to when I met up with Jack. It was his favorite place, and though we could have gone somewhere else, he was a creature of habit. He liked it here at the Corkscrew, which was less popular with the students, which was good. I usually didn’t want to see students outside of work. The students, for the most part, seemed to enjoy the Haymarket, which served wine, I think, and copious amounts of coffee.
Jack was already there at the bar when I arrived.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said.
“No need to apologize. How are you doing? How’d your day go?”
When the bartender came over, I got a pint of Lagunitas and took a long sip before I responded.
“I had a rather interesting encounter today,” I said.
Jack took a sip of his beer. He’d order two Anchor Steams and drink exactly one and a half bottles. It never changed. “Oh yeah? What sort of encounter? I finally got that little red squirrel to eat some sunflower seeds out of my hand.”