On Friday, July 17, Seth came to the conclusion that the only way to become any kind of filmmaker in his little town was to open his own business.
He thought he’d run the idea by Keri when they met next. And on the following Monday they hit the town.
Keri decided they should go out for a nice dinner and to a movie afterward, because she figured Seth deserved at least that much. They went to a lovely Italian restaurant beside the movie theatre.
After they were seated, Seth noticed a heaviness, a kind of distance between them. Seth felt uncomfortable and really didn’t like this feeling. Maybe it’s nothing, he thought, he decided to ignore it. Halfway through the meal, the feeling grew extraordinarily strong—so strong it was as though he just got punched in the stomach.
He put his fork down and gently pushed his plate aside. He slid his chair out and took deep breaths to avoid vomiting.
Keri didn’t know what was happening, and she became concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Seth tried to collect himself enough to speak. “That’s what I want to know.”
Keri put her fork down. “Are you in pain? What’s wrong?”
“You know, I’ve been feeling like this on and off for the past month!”
“Really? Why the hell haven’t you said anything?”
“Would you have cared?”
Keri thought for a moment. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Seth sighed heavily. “For the past month you’ve been ignoring me, and I’ve basically been nonexistent!”
Keri became insulted. “Bullshit! We’ve talked!”
“Yeah, right. When we talked you were either in a bad mood to begin with or would eventually snap my head off. You’ve been distant and cold. What’s going on?”
A worry suddenly fell over her, and she didn’t know what to say. So she decided to say the first thing that popped into her head, as usual. “Well, I, I don’t know, Seth. I guess the stress of becoming a woman and a college student is really getting to me.”
Seth stared at her without any expression, and she swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, babe.”
Seth stared at her for another few moments but finally sighed. He couldn’t help but think something was astray. By this point, everything Keri told him sounded phoney.
“Are you sure?”
Keri crossed her heart. “Cross my heart!”
Seth grabbed his plate, and they continued to eat.
Suddenly Keri’s oma’s voice popped into her head, echoing, “Piss him off.” She shook her head like an Etch- A-Sketch to try to get rid of the voice. To her amazement it worked, but only momentarily.
Her oma’s voice returned, this time filling her head even ten times louder. She quickly reached for her water and took a long sip. “So, Seth?” Keri pushed her plate to the side and leaned back in her chair. “Have you thought any more about your future?”
“I have. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately,”
“And your conclusion?”
Seth braced himself for impact. “My conclusion is I need to go into business for myself.”
Keri stared at him, unimpressed. She didn’t make a sound. Keri didn’t even seem to be breathing.
“Your not blinking really creeps me out, Keri.”
“You’re going to go into business for yourself?”
Seth swallowed hard. “Uh, yeah,”
“And what will you be doing?” The tone of her voice was like nothing Seth had heard before. It was deep and thundering. He suddenly felt an odd stirring of sadness, and he was stunned.
He didn’t know what to do. He needed a moment to himself. “Filmmaking, of course.”
Keri shook her head in disappointment. “Filmmaking? I didn’t realize there was such a huge demand for filmmaking in this little shit hole town of ours!” Keri waited for Seth to answer.
“Well, there’s not really a demand for a business like that here. But then again, there’s nothing like that here to begin with, either.”
“All right, Seth, all right. Name someone, anyone from this godforsaken town of ours who is well known or famous!”
Seth smiled and leaned back. Without hesitation he blurted, “Scott Stevens!”
Keri was shocked. She didn’t expect Seth to come up with an answer that fast. It was as though Seth was expecting the question—either that or he really knew his celebrities.
“Who the hell is Scott Stevens?”
“The defenseman for the New Jersey Devils. You know, the hockey team?”
“Well, as impressive as that is—and believe me, I’m impressed—that just doesn’t count.”
“What the hell do you mean it doesn’t count? You said someone famous or well known, and I gave you a prime example! You didn’t specify what profession!”
“No, you’re right, I didn’t. That’s because it was implied, moron!”
Seth was filled with anger and anxiety. “Fine, fine! You want me to name someone in the industry, okay. Kristin Booth!”
Keri thought for a moment. “Okay, Kristin Booth, fine. Now name two of her films, smart ass!”
Seth leaned forward and folded his arms on the table, thinking. “All right, in 2007 she acted in the film This Beautiful City. She played a character named Pretty. And in 2003, she played a character named Sam in the film Foolproof opposite Ryan Reynolds.”
Keri sat there feeling embarrassed and somewhat foolish. She really didn’t think Seth would be that quick on the trigger. She took a few moments to gather herself.
“Well, as impressive as that is Seth, again, that has nothing to do with you. Just because a hockey player and one unknown actress made it out of this shit hole town of ours doesn’t mean you will.”
Seth shook his head in disappointment. “Well aren’t you supportive!”
“No, Seth. Why should I support you and your stupid fantasy?”
He leaned back, his mouth ajar, momentarily lost for words. “Fantasy, you think I’m living in a fantasy world?”
“You must be. To actually think you, of all people, are going to become a filmmaker? Get serious!”
Seth took a moment. “And you want to work with children? That’s goddamned hilarious!”
Keri became offended. “What’s so hilarious about it? At least it’s realistic!”
Seth chuckled. “Well, if you’re having a hard time with me living in my fantasy, you’re going to have to be institutionalized because of the children.”
“What in hell does that mean?”
Seth remained quiet.
“Children are supposed to be fun and creative, and they’re supposed to have fantasies. You, you’re an adult, you’re supposed to be a level-headed man with both feet on the ground!”
“I’m a person with a dream! That’s something healthy and normal!”
Keri shook her head. “I’m so out of here. I can’t talk to you when you’re acting like an unrealistic asshole!”
“What! You’re leaving? Really? What about the night we were supposed to have?”
“What night, Seth? You blew it!”
Like a child herself, Keri stomped off and exited the restaurant.
Seth was filled with an anger he’d never felt before. His face became blood red and his hands became rock-hard fists as he began to boil over. He realized he was in public and couldn’t tend to his anger here and now as he would have liked, and he somehow forced himself to cool down.
*
For the next week, Seth tried getting a hold of Keri. Every time he’d call, there was either no answer or one of Keri’s parents would say, “She’s not home.” So Seth decided to give up for a while and focus on starting his business.
*
After the second week of ignoring Seth, Carol decided to have another heart to heart with her daughter. “What the hell went on the other week with Seth? What could he have possibly done to piss you off so much?”
Keri looked at her mother. “It’s nothing he did, it’s about something he wants to do.”
“And what might that be?”
“He wants to start a business, Mom.”
Carol’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head in disbelief. “A business, really? Doing what?”
“What do you think? Filmmaking, Mom, filmmaking!”
Carol chuckled. “Right, sorry, I should’ve guessed. What an epic fail.”
“Things aren’t going well, and I still can’t bring myself to leave him.” She shook her head with disappointment and the enmity within herself. “I look at him with such disgust and hatred, yet the words just won’t come out.”
Carol smiled one of her infamous devious smiled. “Don’t worry, Keri. I’ve got you covered.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve already taken the liberty to set you up with another guy.”
“You what? You set me up! Why?”
“Use your head, Keri. Cody can be your incentive to leave Seth.”
Keri shook her head again. “I really can’t believe you did that without my permission. God! What if I don’t like him?”
“You’ll like him. Believe me, you’ll like him. And with any luck you’ll love him.”
“You already know I’ll like him? Someone I’ve never even met, and you know I’ll like him? How do you know this?”
“Because I like him. He has a driver’s license and owns his own car, but most importantly he’s career-oriented. Cody is studying to be a psychotherapist.”
Keri smirked. “And where did you meet my Mr. Right?”
“Well,” Carol blushed. “It’s like this, see, I’ve never actually met him personally.”
“What! You’ve never met him, but you set me up with him?”
“Keri, please, calm down! He’s my boss’s nephew, all right?”
“That makes me feel so much better, Mother.”
“Lose the sarcasm, you ungrateful little bitch! Just be thankful you have a mother who cares. And remember—if you do anything to piss Cody off, I could lose my job. If that happens you’d better get down on your knees and pray to the merciful Christ that plastic surgery can restore you back to your former self. Because I will beat you unrecognizable.”
There was a moment of silence.
“So why am I going out with him if I’m such a high risk?”
“I’ll tell you why. Because he’s a bright, level-headed young man with both feet on the ground. He has realistic goals and impressive achievements. That’s a hell of a lot more than I can say about Seth.”
Carol grabbed Keri’s cell phone and waved it back and forth in her face. “It’s all settled then. All you have to do is call him to confirm the date.”
Just then the phone rang, and Carol looked at the caller ID. “Christ, it’s Seth again!” Carol answered the phone. “Well, Seth, tell me. How is it over there in the wonderful world of make-believe?”
“What in the hell does that mean, Carol?”
“Starting your own filmmaking business, eh? Well, tell me, Mr. Spielberg, where are you going to get the money to start your multibillion dollar company?”
Keri ripped the phone out of her mother’s hand. “Enough. Go!” Keri placed the phone to her ear. “What do you want, Seth?”
“I would like to talk. It’s been over a week.”
“I have nothing to say to you!”
“I have plenty to say to you! Like, why is your mother acting like a bitch?”
“She’s not acting like a bitch. She just hates shiftless daydreamers!”
“I’m not a shiftless daydreamer! I’m so sick of hearing you guys knock me down!”
“Then you’d better wake the hell up, Seth. I mean, trying to open a multibillion-dollar film studio. Come on—get real!”
Seth became really annoyed. “Where the hell are you guys getting multibillion from?”
Keri quickly tried to think of an answer. She hoped Seth didn’t remember too much about what all was said that night they were at the restaurant, because she was going to attempt to turn the tables on him. “That’s what you said.”
Seth sighed. “I never said anything close to that! As a matter of fact, that part of the conversation never even manifested! If I recall correctly—and I do—you stormed out of the restaurant.”
Keri didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to be on the phone anymore and knew the jig was up. Seth had an excellent memory, and no matter what she tried to say to convince Seth otherwise, it wouldn’t work. Keri tried to think of how she could end this conversation. The only thing she could think of was to hang up, and that’s exactly what she did.
After a few seconds of continued talking, Seth realized he was hearing the soft echo of his voice on the other end of the line. He stopped talking and waited, and the phone started to beep.
He knew Keri hung up on him. Suddenly the anger he felt back at the restaurant returned. His face grew blood red, and he leaped off his bed. Rage overtook him.
Seth violently punched his pillow. After a few minutes he started to hyperventilate and took a few deep breaths to calm down.
About five minutes later Seth decided to try calling Keri again. He reached for his phone and pressed redial. The phone rang—someone picked it up and immediately hung up. This continued for another five tries, and with each and every failed attempt, Seth slipped even deeper into anger. He decided to wait a few moments before trying again.
Finally, after another three minutes, Seth redialled. The phone rang a few times, and on the forth ring, an angry Keri picked up.
“What the hell do you want, you asshole?”
“I’ll tell you what I want! I want—”
Keri hung up again.
Seth screamed a deep, blood-curdling scream and threw his phone hard against the wall, where it shattered. Seth got to his feet and started throwing his books, CDs and movies all over his room. He was so enraged he completely demolished his bookshelf with his bare hands.
Suddenly he became light-headed and weak. Seth quickly became cold, clammy and turned white as a ghost. His heart felt as though it could burst out of his chest. He found it extremely hard to breathe—he clutched his chest and desperately gasped for air.
Seth hit the floor with a thud.
*
Two days later Seth woke to the sounds of blips and beeps. He was in a private room at the hospital. It took him a couple of moments to realize where he was.
A nurse stood in the doorway. “Hello, Mr. Zimmer. How are you feeling today?”
Seth thought for a moment. “Good Lord, did I have a heart attack?”
The nurse smiled and entered the room. “No, thank goodness. You’re just suffering from a condition called atrial fibrillation.”
“What’s that?”
“Atrial refers to the top two chambers of the heart known as the atria, where the irregularity in atrial fibrillation occurs. It falls under a large category of illness called arrhythmias, which are electrical disturbances of the heart. The cause of this varies from person to person, but by the looks of it, we believe yours was caused by high blood pressure, which is often caused by high amounts of stress.”
Seth took a moment to absorb the information. “And what if the stress isn’t eliminated?”
“If your stress isn’t eliminated, your heart could cease or you could suffer a serious stroke, which is the most common effect of atrial fibrillation.”
The nurse checked a few machines. “You seem to be progressing nicely. You just have high blood pressure.”
She got quiet for a moment and turned to Seth. Just then her beeper goes off.
“Well, they’re playing my song,” she said
“I’ll be back to see you later, Seth.” The nurse gracefully turned and left the room.
*
Later that evening Keri had her first date with Cody. Deep down she felt guilty and full of regret. She hated her mother for forcing her to go on a date with another man while still in a relationship, forcing her by threatening to kick her out of the house. She hated every moment of this date. All through dinner, emotions bubbled deep down inside her. And finally, like a volcano, Keri erupted. She started crying uncontrollably and felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t know what to do, as she’d never experienced anything like this before. She leaped up out of her chair and ran to the bathroom, where she proceeded to vomit for 15 minutes straight.
At that moment, for some strange reason, all Keri wanted was to be with Seth. She proceeded to vomit when the realization fell over her that her mother was going to be extremely pissed off at her for botching the date.
After 15 minutes there was a knock on the bathroom door. “Keri, are you in there?”
“Yes, I’ll be out in a moment!” Keri slowly picked herself up off the floor and made her way back to the table with Cody.
Keri sat down and didn’t say a word—she didn’t even look at him.
“You had me worried. Are you all right?”
Keri slowly raised her head and looked across the table. “No, not particularly. Cody, would you mind taking me home?”
Cody stared across the table. She could tell he was disappointed, but he sucked it up. “Sure.”
Keri knew when she got home that she was in for a world of hurt, and she was right.
“Goddamn it, Keri! You stupid bitch! Why the hell did you break the plan?”
“Because, Mother, believe it or not, I still have shreds of humanity and dignity left! Not like you and Oma, who have no regard for human life!”
Carol became overpowered with anger. She raised her right hand and came down hard on Keri’s face. Keri hit the ground and remained motionless for a moment.
Carol stood over Keri and finally realized what she had done. “Oh God, Keri, I’m—”
“Stuff it, Mother!” Keri, a little disoriented slowly got to her feet and stomped to her room, slamming the door. After 20 minutes of staring at her phone, she finally picked it up and dialled.
“Hello?” a raspy older gentleman said.
Keri sniffed deeply. “Mr. Zimmer, is Seth there?”
“Oh, Keri, you have a hell of a lot of nerve calling here!”
“What do you mean?”
“Seth isn’t home.”
“Do you know when he will be?”
“He’ll be home whenever the hospital releases him.”
Keri became overwhelmed and tried to suck back her tears. “What! He’s in the hospital? How come?”
“Excuse me? ‘How come?’ You ought to know; you’re the one who put him there!”
Keri placed her phone on her desk and reached for a pillow and screamed into it. She threw the pillow back on her bed and placed the phone back to her ear.
“Listen, Keri, I really don’t think it’d be a good idea for you to call here again or see Seth. At least for a while.”
Keri was about to reply, but Mr. Zimmer hung up. Keri fell stomach-down on her bed, planting her face deep into a pillow and giving it hell.
After a while Keri tried to collect herself. She left her room and entered the living room. She took a seat and sighed heavily. “Well, Mother, I hope you’re happy.”
Keri became emotional. “I hope you’re satisfied!”
“What are you talking about, Keri?”
“It’s Seth!” Tears streamed down her face.
“What about him?”
“He’s in the hospital!”
Carol stared at Keri for a moment, and then a smile formed. She began to laugh.
“What the hell’s so funny?”
“Oh, come on, Keri. Use your head! You’re smarter than that!”
Keri’s tears quickly dissipated and her sadness turned into offence. “Smarter than what? What is that supposed to mean?”
Carol sighed deeply, quite annoyed. “You should know just as well as I do that Seth isn’t in the hospital. This is all just some sort of elaborate hoax he came up with in a pathetic attempt to get you to talk to him again!”
Keri sat there mortified and disgusted by her mother. “You know, do you? You know for a fact that Seth is 100 percent not in the hospital?”
Carol shut the TV off. “And you’re 100 percent certain he’s in the hospital?”
“Yes I do!”
The tension in the room grew thick.
“Okay … if you know he’s in the hospital, then you should know what he’s allegedly suffering from. What is it?”
Keri was so caught up in the moment and disturbed by the news of Seth’s hospitalization, she just realized she didn’t have time to ask. She blushed. “I don’t know.”
Carol smiled deviously. “Uh-huh. Just as I thought.” Carol took a moment. “Keri, who told you this fairytale of ridiculousness?”
Keri wiped her eyes. “Seth’s father.” Keri became overwhelmed again and ran back to her bedroom.
Carol sat there quietly, thinking deeply for a moment. She dialled the phone. “Mr. Zimmer? Hello. This is Carol Welder, Keri’s mother. What’s this ridiculous story about Seth being in the hospital?”
“Ridiculous story? Lady, you have huge balls calling here and accusing me of lying! Especially about something as serious as my son’s hospitalization!”
Carol quickly fell silent and blushed from embarrassment. She swallowed hard. “Oh, oh, I’m so sorry.”
“Well you’d better be! Who the hell do you think you are calling and accusing? Especially when you don’t have the facts?”
“May I ask what Seth is suffering from?”
“You may, but it’s none of your goddamned business!”
Carol was about to wind down the conversation, when all of a sudden she had an urge to ask, Tell me, Mr. Zimmer, what does Seth’s hospitalization mean for his band?”
There was a moment of silence.
“His band? What are you talking about, band? Seth doesn’t have a band.”
“Oh, really? I was under the impression that Seth was the lead guitar player in a band named Re-Genesis?”
Mr. Zimmer sighed deeply. “Carol, where in the hell did you ever get that stupid impression?”
Carol placed the phone to her shoulder and chuckled. “Seth told me that himself.”
“Well, I don’t know why he would, especially when it’s not true.”
“That’s all I wanted to know. Thank you, Mr. Zimmer. Have a good night.” Carol hung up and laughed.