Mall Land

by Jonathan Hurley

  “I don’t want there to be a problem anymore. I just want… look at these little kids. They will never eat a meal of real food in their lives. They’ll just get fat and sick because they’re going to eat this their whole lives.”

  “Sir, please leave.”

  “But I haven’t… ”

  “Just leave now please!” Michael looked at the frustrated waitress. He put a few dollars on the table as he was escorted out. “Maybe you should go to the supermarket,” said the manager feeling good about what he thought was his small victory.

  On his way out of the restaurant, Michael heard someone utter a phrase that he’d been hearing people say about him since he was a kid. It was the only insult that was thrown at him that seemed to actually cut through his armor of indifference and superiority. It hurt him when his mother angrily said it to him if he criticized her. It even felt bad when he would hear it if he was antagonizing his least favorite security officer. Deep down, Michael knew that it hurt because it was true. He walked outside ignoring the first few comments he heard. “Asshole”, “bum” and “crazy” did little more than bolster his feeling of superiority. “Self righteous “ was another story.

  Michael looked at the beautiful cliffs and figured that people in the town didn’t see them anymore. He wanted to see them even if he was the only one. He wasn’t angry about his time at Fuddy’s. He was proud that he behaved differently than his first instinct. He got into his stolen family luxury vehicle on the way to the supermarket feeling good about what he thought was his small victory.

  Michael thought it wasn’t a bad idea to go to the supermarket. It wasn’t hard for him to find it, as it was the same chain that was in North Atrophy. When Michael walked in, he was overcome with the memory of going shopping with his brother and mother. Not much had changed in the supermarket from then to now. He of course was different. He wondered why his mother never seemed to care that her kids didn’t eat real food. For the first time since he started his strange journey, he realized that he cared very much about what his mother did when he was a child after his father was in the ground. He started to wonder if his obsession with what others were eating wasn’t really about something else. He didn’t dwell on the idea long however.

  Instead, he perused the aisles seeing all of the food of people’s favorite restaurants prepackaged and ready to give the full restaurant experience at home. Fuddy’s full menu was there. Michael’s budget was limited and his time was limited.

  “Can I help you find something?” Michael turned to see a pleasant looking man in his early twenties wearing the store uniform.

  “I’m not sure that you can. I’m looking for some actual food. I’m looking for some food that’s not served at a “Fuddy’s” or a “Happy for the weekends” restaurant. Is there anything that people grew on a farm that isn’t in a box?” Another store employee came into the aisle.

  “We do have some stuff like that in the back for people that know to ask for it. If you want to come to the back employee area, we can show you.”

  Michael suddenly thought that these two might be security officers. They seemed too old to have these jobs that teenagers usually had. He was ready for a display of violence to get away. He still had his gun even though it was out of ammunition. Maybe he was ready to kill any potential threat. Maybe he just wanted it to be over with. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Either way, he followed them to the back of the store.

  They went to a back area where employees had their lunch break. Michael was happy to see that it was vacant. The two men were picking up on his nervousness as tension was filling the room.

  “Hey, just relax. My name is Jerry… this is my friend Max. We’re not… I just. I saw you at Fuddy’s and I wanted to talk to you.

  “So, I’m guessing that there’s no real food back here,” said Michael.

  “No, not really.”

  “I should let you guys know that I’m a very hungry man and I get real angry when I’m hungry. So if you feel like fucking with someone, you really picked the wrong guy.” “No. Like I said, I saw you at Fuddy’s and I heard what you said about the food. You won’t find anything like what you want around here but we know where you can get it,” said Max.

  “Well you’ve pretty much let me down one hundred percent of the time when it comes to food so far.”

  “We’re not from here originally. We’re from… ”

  “Are you guys security officers? If you are, let’s just get this over with and stop dragging it out.”

  “Listen, we don’t know what you’re running from but if you want to learn about a place where people don’t live like this then we can tell you. We’re trying to get back there ourselves. If you’re not interested, then we’re sorry for bothering you. You can go back to shopping.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  I’ve turned a new leaf. I’m no longer complaining about my situation. I’m no longer just waiting it out until the end. If he catches me he’ll kill me. He will not catch me. I’m going to live for all those who never had a chance to see the world for what it really is. I’m going to live for my mother who couldn’t tell me things that she herself did not know. Little did she know… little did I know, little did anyone in my world know about what life could be like. I’m not my work uniform or the prime time television that I watch. I’m not my credit card Debt or my cell phone plan. I’m not what my mother fed me for lunch. None of those things define me or anyone else. None of it will be who I’m going to be. I’m going to need to do something almost impossible. I need to forgive everyone. I need to forgive the world for being what it is. I need to forgive the people of the past who let it get out of their hands. I need to forgive my mother. She couldn’t protect me from the Debt or the real scourge of all of us… the insatiable hunger, the more and more. No matter how much, it was never enough. It is never enough. You can’t buy enough to fill the hole. One day, maybe with a life times worth of being a good person, I can forgive myself for my horrors. Maybe I can even forgive the man trying to put me down for the benefit of the masses. Maybe, but probably not. Exit 53 is coming up. Exit 53 will take me there. It will be me alone going from this world. I wish I could have taken Darline or her uncle. No one said life was fair.

  Chapter 9

  “Darline, I’m so happy you picked up. I need to tell you something that will change your life.”

  “Who says I want to change my life. You’re the one who’s got that problem.”

  Michael was standing outside of the supermarket just to the side of the main entrance. People weren’t paying him much attention as they went in and out of the store.

  “I can’t tell you where I am but it’s very far from where you are and very far from where I started. I just met two young men,”

  “I’m very happy for you sweetie. I hope you can all build a nice life together” Darline interrupted.

  “Don’t try to throw me off track here.”

  “It seems that only you could do that at this point,” said Darline.

  “I’ve found what you and your uncle were looking for. The two guys are Max and Jerry. They’re friends from a small town far up in the cliffs that have been shut off from the rest of the country, maybe even the world. They didn’t know if people back in the day had established it like that on purpose to avoid the world or what but the town is entirely self sufficient. There are less than two hundred people. There is no television, no phones, no Fuddy’s, no sale on the weekend, no cars, no scented toilet paper, no computer games and no voice projected out of speakers telling you how to live and what to buy. Do you know why… because there’s no fucking Mall. They didn’t put one there.”

  “Who didn’t put one there Michael?” Asked Darline with the tone of a teacher.

  “The… the people who ruined this planet and left the embers for us buried under a fucking Mall.”

  “But you haven’t been to this place right? You’ve just heard about it from these two guys. Where did you meet them? How does this town ge
nerate it’s own electricity? What do they do with sewage? No one in the town travels outside, ever? What happens when someone gets hurt or sick? And of course, why did they leave this paradise?” Asked Darline with the tone of a mother.

  “Those questions are making me tired,” said Michael. He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him. He though he heard Muzak playing in the background but no one seemed to be paying him any mind.

  “I think that’s an important thing sweetie,” said Darline.

  “What is?”

  “That this is all making you tired.”

  “Look, the two guys Max and Jerry just made a mistake. They didn’t know what they had. How could they? Imagine growing up in a small town like that and not having your soul crushed by television and parmesan-almond crusted chicken pieces with assorted dipping sauces. Can you imagine being young and uncorrupted like that? They wanted to get out and see what the world really was.”

  “We both can understand that, she said. Who doesn’t want to escape?”

  “Plenty of people from what I’ve seen. But I don’t care about them. Max and Jerry had only heard warnings of the outside world from their small town. They only heard about places like Malls or places where food was magically ready all the time. To them it sounded like a dream world. They felt that they got dealt a bad hand in life.”

  “I see why you connected with these people,” she said.

  As he was talking to her, Michael felt alive in a way that was reminiscent of childhood. Though Darline wasn’t letting him have the moment without being a little skeptical. He couldn’t place what it was standing outside of a supermarket chain, which was just like any other in a town like any other. Michael could not have put a name to it at the time, but it was hope. He wanted to pass it along to someone, if only to not be alone with it.

  Darline’s logical assertions of doubt were not helping him in any flights of fancy.

  “Max and Jerry left a few years ago. They hitchhiked when they got to a main road. Can you imagine what it must have been like for a couple of kids sheltered from gadgets and crowds when they first went to the Mall? He put it like this: The bright lights blinded our ability to see. Does that sound like a couple of idiot twenty year old kids who spent their childhoods at the Mall?”

  “I guess not. How did these kids have money to get around? Why haven’t they gone back? Maybe they like it in the world that you hate so much. Did you ever think of that?” “Man, you and these questions. You’ve got it wrong about their intentions. At first they were enamored with the world. They moved from town to town very far from home. All they wanted was to be as far away as possible.”

  “We can both relate to that,” said Darline.

  “You know what they found out there on the road.”

  “I certainly do,” she said with the maturity and authority that comes only from a lifetime of experience.

  “They did what any of us would do they eventually got jobs at the Mall, they got credit cards and most damming of all they came down with the Debt. The spent and spent and soon enough were caught in the same trap as we all are.”

  “They became ensnared little critters in a trap”, she said. “Just like you used to be… . just like I am now right?”

  “This is not an indictment on you or me,” Michael said clearly frustrated. “I’m telling you all of this because I’ve found what you and I have both looking for. You’re right I haven’t been there yet. I have not seen it myself first hand… but why would your reaction to this only be to shoot it down? Don’t you even want to consider it? Don’t you want to believe in something?”

  “I’m sorry for interjecting sweetie. I want you to finish telling me about them,” she said with the tone of a patient mother.

  “Fine, there is a reason for telling you this by the way. These two guys spent and spent and got into the same dead end situation that everyone I know got into including myself, including you. They were far from home, addicted to trivial things and sick to their stomachs’. They were sick with the world.”

  “So why didn’t they go back to their town. Why not just leave this all behind and make their way back home? Why stay here in the Debt and suffer?”

  “They have realized the error of their ways. Just like me, just like you. They knew what they had.”

  “Is that like you? Do you know what you had? I’m not accusing, I’m just asking. Do you know what you left?” Asked Darline

  “I know exactly what I left!” yelled Michael making the entering customers begin to notice the person talking intensely to the side of the supermarket.

  It was then that Michael started to notice for certain the muzak being pumped out into the outside world from the supermarket speakers.

  “Look I don’t want to lose it here. I’m trying to offer you a way out. Max and Jerry have the same plan to go to that town as I do. They don’t want to drag the world with them. They know that the Debt will follow them anywhere. When they get free, they’re going home. I know exactly what I left and I’m going home too.”

  “I hope that you get there,” said Darline sincerely.

  “I want you to come with me. We can live like people were meant to. Your uncle didn’t have to die in vain. You don’t have to live in vain. I can lead you to what you were looking for. All you have to do is get on a plane and leave what you have behind.” “Michael, sweetie… this is going to be hard you to accept but I’m not looking for anything. I’m not looking for what you are. You’re alone out there sweetie and you need to wake up.”

  Michael paused for a moment and considered what he wanted to say to her. “Well I don’t know everything about life but I know that when something you want is put in front of you, there are two types of people… some of them jump at it and some go on trudging through the days. You are not who I thought you were or who you pretended to be. You are a coward.”

  “I’m to old for this sweetie,” said Darline resolutely.

  Michael hung up the phone and stared blankly into the parking lot.

  “Hey pal, when Max and I left we were convinced that there was nothing better than living without a plan. We’ve got a plan now and I think it’s much better. You just can’t stay out there aimless forever,” said Jerry.

  “Will they accept me? Won’t they look at me as an infiltrator from the outside world?” Asked Michael, still thinking about Darline.

  “All you have to do is find my father and tell him that you know me and Max.”

  “Where am I going to find your father? Is your mother there as well?”

  “No it’s got to be my father. My mother abandoned us a long time ago.”

  “I don’t want to pry any more than I have but do you think that might have been some inspiration for you taking off?” Asked Michael.

  “Well pal, that’s a long thing to get into, isn’t it. I don’t know what you’re running from but it seems you’re in a big hurry to get away. How about this… I don’t need to know all of your inner details and you don’t need to know all of mine. Maybe one day we can talk about it in great length of some nice home cooked food.”

  “That would make me so happy,” said Michael looking at the loudspeaker as it pumped out muzak.

  “One day soon pal,” said Jerry.

  Michael felt blessed to have run into these people. He felt more of a connection to these two guys who he’d known for an hour than years of working beside someone and having only casual conversations. He felt more engaged and alive in ten minutes of their company than his entire relationship with Sarah. He wasn’t making polite conversation with Jerry. He really would cherish the simple pleasure of good company and good food. He really would cherish a friend.

  “You can find my dad at his work if you get there in the day. He’s the caretaker at the Cemetery.”

  Michael continued to stare silently out into the parking lot for a moment. He was taken aback and for some reason filled with a sense of worry.

  “Hey, are you guys hatching
a devious plot?” Asked Max joining the other two.

  “I’m just telling him about dad and what he should tell him about us. I’m not sure that he’s going to understand,” said Jerry.

  “Wait a minute, you guys are brothers? I thought you were just friends.”

  “We’re brother’s… Jerry is a couple of years older than I am. I thought we said that to you… weird. Well I guess that it doesn’t matter either way but we’re going to have to get back to work soon. Hopefully we can run into each other back home,” said Max.

  “I would like nothing else. Maybe I can buy you guys a drink after work.”

  “Sure, just come to the employee parking in the back at 6PM. We’ll be in my car, it’s an old blue Corsica sedan,” said Jerry.

  “That’s crazy. That’s my exact car. Or at least it used to be before I left,” said Michael. “We’re dying to hear your story brother,” said Max.

  “I’m dying to tell it. It’s been so long. I’ve just come so far. Well, we’ll talk about it later.”

  “This is a crazy day. First you get here looking for real food and then a celebrity comes to our store,” said Jerry.

  “What do you mean a celebrity?”

  “It’s just some guy who everyone thinks they recognize form TV. You can see him over there in his car. He’s the guy who’s looking right at us in black.”

  Michael knew the outcome before it started. There would be no meeting up after work. There would be no drink and there would be no homecoming at all for Jerry or Max. The bullet ended Jerry by piercing through his right eye. He was down immediately. Max had no time to grieve as he was screaming in agony when he was shot above his right kneecap. Michael ducked behind the body of Jerry as round after round broke store windows and killed screaming customers. There was no reasoning. There was no mercy. The cars that were frantically leaving the scene had caused an accident and had for just a brief moment obstructed the man in black from his prey. Michael quickly gathered up Max and ran shoulder to shoulder with him into the store.