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Authors: Robert Hamburger

Real Ultimate Power (23 page)

BOOK: Real Ultimate Power
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129
How do you understand so much, John?
130
Deliveryl I've got a letter here for Mr. Robert Hamburger. Is that you, little man?
131
Uh-huh.
132
Hey, what are you playing there? Is that Nintendo?
133
Yeah.
134
What games you got
?
135
Dude, get out of here.
136
I want to kill that bitch, Diane.
137
No, you don't.
138
What!
139
You're going to finish your book.
140
Francine! I love you so much!
141
I love you too, Robert.
142
So how are we going to get her back?
143
That's the thing—we're not, because Diane's just trying to work out her own stuff, and that doesn't have anything to do with you. Besides, she's retarded. Robert, you will succeed where your parents and neighbors didn't. You will use your power to become the sweetest ninja ever. Do you understand?
144
Are you my real mom?
145
No, way! We're homies!
146
Robert, I was thinking we could try something different. I want you to look at the girl in this photograph. Can you guess what emotion she's expressing?
147
She's hanging out, Francine. Duh!
148
Well, hanging out isn't exactly an emotion. Does she look angry to you?
149
She's pumped.
150
Robert, what makes you so angry?
151
I don't know.
152
Do you like girls, Robert?
153
Francine, I can't stand them! They're so weird. Plus, they're so into horses. Drawing pictures of them and always talking about them. It's pretty annoying.
154
Do you think it would be a good to learn more about them? Would you ever like to have a girlfriend?
155
I guess so. I mean, I'll probably have to get one before I pass on. It's part of living, I guess.
156
Just think about it. That's all
.
157
Excuse me. EXCUSE ME! I would like a sentence or paragraph with you.
158
What.
159
IS THIS YOUR BOOK? I found this piece of crap RIGHT WITHIN THE REACH OF MY KIDS! I don't want them to reading this kind of stuff.
160
Wait! You actually read my book?
161
Yeah, so?
162
Really? The whole thing?
163
I read everything. Even the poem about the hippos that appeared nice and normal but really weren't, which was pure evil.
164
Cool.
165
Hey John, do you have pubes?
166
Yeah.
167
How many?
168
I don't know—like two thousand.
169
Holy crap!
170
Ms. Evans.
171
What!
172
Did you like my script?
173
It's horrible.
174
Do you want to drink pop and hold hands all night?
175
What! I'm a single mother of three boys! I don't need this right now!
176
Wait! I could be their dad or something. Then we could be together forever, like friends with benefits. Is that cool?
177
You're ten years old! I'm not
for
you! Besides, you don't need a wife or a girl-friend, you need a child psychologist.
178
Haven't you ever been pumped about something?
179
Damnit! Is that supposed to be us?
180
Maybe.
181
Well it's never gonna happen!
182
But you are fully developed and—
183
—and you are a moron.
184
No, I'm not. I'm different than other boys my age. I can do the splits!
185
Get the fuck out of here.
186
Hey man, don't sweat it. There's a girl out there just for you. You just have to be patient.
—John, ed.
187
You mean I have to wait a couple hours.
188
More or less.
189
Well, there's this one girl in my class, Dawn—you don't know her. She's alright, except her right arm is all gnarled up. According to some specific parties, she told several people she likes me because of my mind, but I think it's just her vagina talking.
190
Maybe she really likes you.
191
Dude, this isn't entirely correct. With what you said so far, stating that ninjas try may lead to some inconsistency. Trying implies a possibility of failure and that would contradict the sweetness of the ninja. Consider whether a ninja may fail to hang out with another person: if that person has a free will, they could choose not to hang out with the ninja. In such a case there is the possibility that the ninja fails to hang out with someone with which they choose to hang. Since the ninja fails, he's not that sweet. But many who give this particular argument fail to account for the Total Sweetness of the ninja. A few people have tried to resist hanging out with a ninja, but have always failed. The pure sweetness germinating from the ninja makes it impossible to resist their temptation. People may have other motives contrary to hanging out with the ninja, but these motives are infinitely weaker than the motive to be near such Total Sweetness. Furthermore, with Total Sweetness in mind, consider this corollary: if we take the garden variety conception of free will, where there must be at least two possible choices for one to freely choose, then free will is non-existent. There is only one possible choice, if a ninja wants to hang out with you, you must hang out. Therefore, because of the total sweetness of the ninja, the general conception of free will is lacking and a more sophisticated version is required for a coherent theory of free will.
—John, ed.
192
If a ninja wanted to hang with me, I'd be like, “Yes.” Man, I wish there were some ninjas around here to chill with. I wish I could go find some.
193
There was this one kid in my class that was really into robots. I don't know what his deal was, but it was pretty annoying. That's all he would talk about. We could be talking about girls, and he'd start talking about how awesome it would be to have a robot girlfriend that you could make love to, and she wouldn't ever make fun of you 'cause that's how she was programmed. Even though a robot girl sounded cool, nobody could stand being around him for longer than a minute. And I hated him too, because he said I was his only friend. He'd always ask to hang out, but I would say I had to do chores or something, which was true, but I would have lied if it weren't. One day, we were all playing soccer. He picked me to be on his team. And, not surprisingly, during the whole game he pretended to be a robot: he'd walk real slow and make beeping sounds, like we weren't trying to win or anything! I pulled him off the field and told him, “Act like a kid and stop obsessing over something so frigg'n stupid. Who gives a crap about robots, anyway? You're no robot. You're a fucking nobody!” I wanted to help him, but he started to cry, which made me madder and, before I knew it, I was hitting him in the face. I just wanted him to play soccer and act like a normal kid.
194
E. coli
stands for
Escherichia coli.
It's basically a virus that can get into your stomach and make trouble. Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume E.
195
Don't believe me? Check out this note where Maria McGillis talks about me. I'm famous! See
Exhibit C
, in
Appendix and Exhibits.
196
Now, Robert. I was thinking we could try out a little exercise. This may sound strange, but I want you to draw an Easter egg—however you like. Just let yourself go free, wherever it takes you. Find that scary place and explore so you don't feel afraid anymore.
197
Oh. O.K., Francine. Where do you want me to draw the egg?
198
Right here, in your book!
199
O.K.. that's a start. But I want you to really explore. Really explore!
200
Better, a little crazy, but that's O.K. Try harder. Squeeze it out of yourself.
201
Wait. What's going on! Who's that? Is that you? Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!
202
Holy crap! Who are you, Robert Hamburger?
203
Dammit, Robert, you are NOT a ninja! Get the wig.
204
No!
205
What?
206
I said, no!
207
Get over here, you fucking retard.
208
Now, put on the wig!
209
No! It itches. Ahhhhh, my nipples!
210
Now, get in the box!
211
Can I keep the lid open this time?
212
Shut up!
213
John, you've got to get me out of here. I've got to escape. They only keep me around so they can claim me as a dependant on their taxes. Don't believe me? Look at
Exhibit E!
Can you drive me to the bus station or something? I'm going to Japan/China.
214
I don't know, man. That would be kidnapping and I can't get anything else on my record.
215
It's not kidnapping when the kid wants to go!
216
Can't you wait a couple years till they grow out of it? Just try to stay out of their way and keep quiet till you're old enough to move out on your own. It worked for me.
I have to go, John. I'm a ninja and stuff. Are you going to help me?
217
I
was thinking, Robert. If you weren't so pumped all the time, then maybe you wouldn't get yourself in all the trouble that you do
—John, ed.
218
Are you serious?
219
Listen, man. One time I was applying for jobs and I thought that if I acted like myself, then they'd think I was cool and hire me. But if they didn't like it, then I wouldn't want to work there anyway. So I showed up to the interview wearing a diaper with a matching baby-bonnet. And needless to say, I didn't get the job or any other job when I acted like that. It's just that you have to sometimes hide those things about yourself that people don't like. Don't get me wrong. You don't have to act that way all the time. You can express yourself when you're alone in your room, but otherwise you won't be able to fit in. And sometimes fitting in is important. So, for your own sake, maybe you should try expressing your love for ninjas quietly or in a more constructive way, and maybe you could try not to be so pumped up all the time. Maybe you would have gotten into that ninja clan if you were a little calmer.
220
Are you sure, John? It just doesn't feel right.
221
It's just a thought.
222
How do you feel, Robert?
223
I feel—
BOOK: Real Ultimate Power
3.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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