Workshopping

Getting things ready for the Aubert Workshop at Loyalist. Picking the pieces for workshopping isn’t nearly as demanding picking what to wear 🙂 If only there was a way to teleport clothing – travel would be so much more enjoyable. I can load up 240 hours of music in my iPod but need a trunk for 2 pairs of jean & 4 tee’s shirts. Driving to Belleville does make transporting things somewhat easier – no worry about being charged for an extra suitcase.

I’ll get dropped off on campus Sunday night and picked up on Friday. I’ll be stranded on campus so I also take along suppers for three nights. Class dinner the last night. There’s a Tim Ho’s till 11 am for breakfast & a Subway for lunch till 2:30 p.m. and after that vending machines 😦 With no car I’m stuck – which I don’t mind at all – fewer distractions – this year I’ll have my air mac to access wireless in residence for some diversion.

Past years I’ve taken movies to watch in the evenings, this year I’m going to resist that temptation and to get more writing done. I have my August Plasticine and October Damned features to get ready for and want to have some new pieces for both. Plus two other novel ideas that have been bubbling in my mind – the coal miner one that I’ve been researching for the past few years.

The other is a Shakespeare mash-up I conceived when I had my theatre company. Romeo and Hamlet – ghosts, star-crossed lovers, costume balls, sword play and oh my.

I’ve put together a one-sheet flyer, similar to the one I had for Bloody Words – my elaborate business card. It’ll be one of my ‘Killer’ poems. I’ll get another small run of Brown Betty done to sell. That and copies of the workshop excerpt should be all the paper I’ll have to take thanks to the Kindle. I have enough to read on that to hold me a month.

Here’s the excerpt from The Lazarus Kiss (my Nano novel) I’m taking to Loyalist for workshopping – it falls at approx. page 233 – Andy is an anatomically correct, life-like automaton elf which Harris is testing as a part of his job – as a comic book geek he sees it as an action figure not at a sex toy. Rest assured what you don’t understand has been made clear by now. (2022 note: Lazrus Kiss has been serialized at TOpoet.ca since this workshop).

There was a gentle knock at Harris’s door. The peek screen revealed a chador clad woman. He knew there were a couple of Muslim families on the floor above his. 

“Can I help you?” he opened the door a few inches. Had the curse hit one of them in the foyer when they passed. 

“I apologize for disturbing you.” The woman’s voice became a whisper as she collapsed into his apartment.

“My God. Are you alright?” He’d never seen anyone faint before. He shut the door. “I’ll … get you a glass of water.” He started towards the kitchen. “Or should I call for help. Security will know what to do.” He reached for his phone.

“Don’t bother asshole.”

A sharp blow to his shoulder sent Harris tumbling over his couch. One arm whacked his coffee table as he landed.

“What the fuck?” He looked up at the cloaked figure standing over him.

The figure lifted the hem and placed one booted foot under Harris’s chin, not quite on his throat. The woman quickly pulled off the veiled hood of the chador.

“Listen you fat fuck I’m not here to play games with you.” The face was covered by a tight black ski mask the mouth bulged out awkwardly. Only the eyes showed and they were outlined in a mottled black and green.

The voice was female.

“Becky?” Harris couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to do this.

“Shut the fuck up.” The woman pulled off the rest of the chador. She wore a dark blue jumpsuit. From a pocket she pulled a length of thin rope.

“Sit up.” She took her foot off his chest.

He reached to rub where she had been grinding into his collar bone.

“Don’t bother. You aren’t pretty enough to worry.” she gabbed his hands and began to tie them behind his back. “Your pictures in the paper make you look a lot handsomer than you are.”

“Miss …”

“Oh don’t you Miss me.”

The face leaned into his. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.” As she spoke the voice changed, deepened before it became distorted. “I’m all man. You got that fat ass Harris.” He looped the rope around Harris left wrist and pulled that arm behind Harris’s back.

Harris lurched forward, stood up and knocked the guy off balance. The man was no bigger than Andy. Before he could move he felt a searing shock on his right thigh. He fell back to the couch dazed.

“Hurts doesn’t it.” He reached under his mask and extracted the speaker of the voice distorter. “Amazing what science can do.”

The man waved a cellphone in Harris face. “Looks like a cell but hurts like hell.” He touched Harris lightly on the shoulder. 

The jolt wasn’t as strong as the first one.

“Don’t worry this is non-lethal unless you have a pacemaker but packs enough to punch to keep you pacified. People drop like flies. I sneak up behind them. A little touch and down they go.”

“You’re the Stalker?”

“Clever man.” he grabbed Harris by the chin and give his head a sharp twist. “Now what did the bitch Detective tell you about me?”

“Nothing.”

“Lets dial this up just a bit.” he tapped a key and shocked Harris again.

This time the shock singed his tee-shirt.

“Nothing.” He rubbed his shoulder where had been shocked. “She played that recording of you. That’s all and told me to be careful.”

“Ooo to be afraid of little me. Let’s get this out of the way.” He yanked Harris’s tee shirt off, pulled the rope from under him and this time tied his hands behind his back.

“Ow.”

“Did she tell you anything about the case. About me.”

“No. Just that the guy I … who I stopped at the park … wasn’t you.”

“True. He didn’t have one of these, did he?”

He took a battery pack out of his back pocket. 

“On its own it just jolts.” He plugged the battery pack into the taser. “With a power boost it will do more. Even kill. You have been the nearest connection to me the police have.” 

“Connection?” He pulled at the ropes. “You took the risk to get those pictures of me. Great way to stay out of the way of the police.”

“Pictures of you and your famous movie star friends. You a Nobody, getting noticed.”

“Right, I am a nobody. I didn’t ask to ….”

“I know. No one asks. Like those poor assholes on their way home from work, from school. So innocent and bam I get. They’ll never forget me. Even if they never know I am.”

“Play time.” Harris called to Andy.

“This’ll be fun.” Andy replied.

“What the fuck!” the man was stunned. “Who is that?” He looked around the apartment and noticed Andy for the first time. “Get over here.”

Andy remained silent.

Harris racked his brain for what order to give next. If only Andy could walk but then what? If only Andy could make phone calls he could get a message to Rick.

“I said get over here. You little friend seems scared or something. You want me to hurt you?”

“Yeah I’d like that?” Andy giggled.

The man walked over to Andy and smacked him.

“Is that the best you can do. I can take it a lot harder than that.”

“What the fuck.” he punched Andy in the stomach. 

“You like to play rough do you.”

Those had to be the pre-programmed phrases for s and m play he’d seen listed in the manual.

“Fuck it’s a goddamn doll.” The man gave Andy a dismissive shove.  

The shove unbalanced Andy and the elf topped forward knocking the man over and landing on top of him

  Harris stood while tugging at the rope around his wrists. 

The man struggled under Andy. Turning over but not able to get Andy off him.

“Harder Andy.” Andy’s face was at the man’s chin. His hands began to open and close to pinch the man under him. 

“You like that don’t you.” Andy said.

“Time to bite.” Harris’s wrists were getting looser. “Squeeze me.”

The dolls mouth opened and closed on the man’s chin. The man twisted his head away. His mask was pulled off. ‘Squeeze me’ brought Andy’s arms closer together. The man’s face was covered with camouflage make up. 

“Let’s jack.” This command jerked Andy’s forearms up and down rapidly about an inch.

“Optimus Prime.” Harris said. Those were the words he’d programmed for Andy to get an erection.

“Fuck me.” The man struggled trying to push the doll off him. Andy’s hips began to thrust.

With a grunt the man heaved Andy off him, and rammed the doll against the wall. He held the doll with one hand and tasered it it repeated with the other till Andy’s arms stopped moving. His fingers continued to twitch.

While he was occupied Harris dashed to the door. He had it partially opened before the guy grabbed him. Harris hit at his face with his elbow. Connected with a punch to the face. The man’s head was slippery with the camouflage paint.

The guy swung him back into the room and on to his stomach, shocking him on the back each time he tried to get up. Harris could smell his flesh burning.

He grabbed Harris by the hair. 

“You like to play it rough. Well, I’m no wind up doll.” 

Out of breath Harris sagged to the floor.

“That’s more like it. Get up.”

He pulled Harris to his feet. 

“Let’s get out a breath of fresh air.” He pushed him the balcony. “That’s a fair drop I’d say.”

Harris nodded. If he appeared dazed by the taser he might lull the guy into a careless move.

The guy kicked the lounge to the balcony wall. 

“Up you go.”

Harris stood on the chaise. He glanced over the edge. 

His apartment door flew open. It was Detective Alverez and Agent Devros followed by apartment security.

“Hold it right there.” The man barked. “Or he’ll go over.”

“That’s what you think.” Harris leaned against the retaining wall and the chaise slid, knocking the man over. Harris clambered over him and into the living room.

“You’ll never get me.” The man shouted.

Harris turned around and the man on the balcony railing. Harris lurched forward and caught him by the calf as the man launched himself into the air. 

They fell back. Harris hit his head. He lay still while his heart slowed and he caught his breath. An officer helped him to lie on the couch. 

“Where is he?” He shook his head to clear it.

“Sir, it’s all under control. Please keep still.” A medic shone a light into his eyes. “You’ll be fine. Let me help you sit up. You’ve got several nasty electrical burns on your back.” 1477