This is a 'character piece' for my english class. Basically i just had to create a character and make him/her come alive any way i choose. Enjoy.
Rob, a scrawny man with slovenly hair, wipes the sleep from his eyes in a stupor. He stops to scratch his foot, realizing – yet unconcerned – that his sock has a gaping hole from which his big toe protrudes. “Good morning.”
He is acknowledged sharply by his friend, Don, “What’s so good about it?”
“The sun’s finally out.” Rob yawns and looks at the sun through an overhead skylight. His torpor has gotten the best of him today.
His curt companion replies without missing a beat, “It’s overcast.”
He shrugs off the pessimistic comments and grins a half-smile. “At least it’s not raining again. Get some cereal. You look starved.”
“I will in a minute. I need to get these bills filled out first.” Don motions towards a desk with a thick layer of documents scattered across the woodwork.
“Work, work, work. That’s all you’ve done recently!” Perturbed, he stands with his arms akimbo, scoffing the bills.
“Someone has to put a roof over our heads! How would you like to go back to living in Mom’s basement? Personally, I have more dignity than that.”
Don scribbles his signature on several imposing documents without looking up.
“I liked Mom’s place. She has that cozy lazy boy chair,” He allows the warmness of reminiscence flow from his upper back to his toes – reliving the comfort of the chair, “There’s nothing better than coming home from the office to find an ice cold beer waiting on the coffee table and the TV remote on the armrest. Mom was good to us.”
“Too good,” Don pauses his fervent inscribing, leans back and folds his arms, “we were driving her to her grave.”
“What do you mean?” Rob asks puzzled, “She loved taking care of us.”
“Don’t you get it?” Don sighs, weary of once again having to explain his concern, “She’s 75. She can barely take care of herself, let alone us. We should be the ones taking care of her. Didn’t you notice how her limp has gotten worse since last year?”
Eager to avoid exacerbating the situation, Rob digresses. “Forget about Mom for a minute. She’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go outside. I need some fresh air.”
“Alright,” Don resigns and accepts the substitute to ennui, “let me get my jacket.”
“I already did.” Rob has the jacket slung over his arm.
Don slides his arms into the sleeves. “Thanks. This leather jacket sure was worth it, wasn’t it?”
Rob agrees vehemently. “Definitely! It’s so smooth! And I love the smell. We should make an aftershave out of it. I bet we’d make a million bucks.” They walk out of their apartment to the crowded street, nodding to a homeless man as they pass by. The man replies with a friendly wave.
“It better smell good, for two hundred dollars I expect quality.”
Rob chuckles, “You know you never would have paid for it if I hadn’t convinced you that the ladies love leather.”
Don lets out a brusque sigh, “That was over a year ago, and I’ve yet to get a date.”
Rob thumps Don’s forehead, “Maybe that’s because you’re so cheap. Instead of taking a woman out for a candlelit dinner, you settle for microwave popcorn and a rental movie. That’s classy.”
Stopping in his tracks, he replies, “Well someone has to pay the bills. We can’t go around throwing hundreds of dollars down the drain.”
“Hey, do you see that woman down the street?” He motions eagerly to a business woman about 50 yards away, sipping her coffee slowly, reading the newspaper. “The one over there, with the long legs and tight shirt…”
“It’s a vest.” Don interrupts.
“Whatever. You see her right?”
“Yea.” Don nods dispassionately.
“She looks like the kind of woman who wants a rich man by her side, a strong entrepreneur.” Rob holds his fist up in emphasis, “The trick is, you don’t have to have a lot of money; you just have to make her think that you do.”
Don turns around and stomps away, “That’s great advice coming from you. We both know that the only reason Sherry left was because you were self-absorbed. Remember when you went clubbing on her birthday instead of taking her out? Then you got so locked that Jerry had to take you home. Like any woman wants her boyfriend sprawled in her driveway, cursing blind, especially on her birthday.”
Rob turns Don back around, “Yea I remember. That was a hell of a good time. Remember how fun was?”
“I remember how disgusted I felt afterwards.” He spins back around and continues to trudge down the street.
“Dude, live a little.” Rob hopelessly gesticulates, hoping to reconcile.
Don stops and points at Rob’s chest, “I could if I didn’t have you weighing down on me. You’re worse than a parasite.”
“You’d be lost without me.” Rob slaps Don on the back.
“I highly doubt that.” Don sighs, and then gives an awkward smile, “What do you think? Should we go talk to her?”
“Unbutton a few buttons first. The ladies like to see a little chest hair.” Rob reaches for the collar of Don’s shirt.
Don brushes away Rob’s hand, “You’re absolutely impossible.”
He struts towards the tall woman. She is still sitting at the café, sipping the last remnants of her coffee. He sticks out his chest just before reaching her line of sight, and sits nonchalantly at an adjacent table. He turns – pretending to have not initially seen her – and greets the lady with a handshake and a flash of his smile. Several minutes pass, and he senses apprehension. The woman’s phone rings, and she immediately stands up to leave.
“Where are you going? I haven’t even asked for your number yet!”
She turns on her heal, “To be honest Ron, I wouldn’t give you my number even if you had asked.”
“How do you know my name? I never told you that, and we’ve never met before.”
“I do know you. I used to be roommates with Sherry. She told me all about Rob and Don, and your abnormal mental duality. I’m sorry Ron, but I don’t want to talk to you. You see, I don’t associate with psychopaths.”
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