Page 51 of The Plus Ones
“Wooo!” she claps her hands. “Come on, baby, three more points! Let’s go for three more! We got this!”
“Easy,” I say, winking at her. I erase the board and then pick out an index card. I grin at her, because we have so got this, and we are made for each other, and I am so getting laid tonight. I signal to the manager to start the timer, and I draw a perfect box.
“It’s a box!” she yells out.
I nod and keep drawing.
“It’s a boxing movie.Rocky!”
I shake my head.
“The Fighter.Million Dollar Baby. Raging Bull. Ali. Southpaw.That one with Denzel Washington, shit,The Hurricane! Rocky Two! Rocky Three! Rocky Four!”
I keep shaking my head, and then I finish drawing a head. In the box. And I keep pointing to it.
“Oh, there’s something in the box. It’s a gift.The Gift.It’s a present.Clear and Present Danger!”
I look at her like she’s crazy and shake my head.
“Draw something else! Hurry!”
I start drawing a book.
“It’s a book.The Jungle Book.It’s based on a book. Harry Potter!”
I draw a gun.
“A gun?Top Gun? Is it a James Bond movie?”
“What?”
“Time!”
Roxy slaps her forehead with both hands. “Oh my God!”
“It’sSeven. That’s a head in a box. It’s the climax of the movieSeven.Literally anyone who has seen the movie would know that.”
She stands up and places her fists on her hips because it wouldn’t be enough of a statement to do that while she’s sitting down. “Seven? Seven?Why didn’t you just do seven lines so I could count out seven?”
“Because that would be too easy.”
“It is literally your job to make it easy for me! I’m on your team!”
I am obstinate. We glare at each other. “Head in a box. Brad Pitt holding a gun. Iconic images.”
“What was with the book?”
“It’s the Bible. Seven deadly sins.”
Roxy stares at my neck, and I honestly think she’s trying to decide what kind of sharp object she should use to decapitate me with.
Everyone claps for us, but it’s sad clapping. They feel bad for us. Because they know I’m not getting laid tonight or possibly ever again in my life.
“Mosquito food,” she whispers to me.
“It’s an iconic scene,” I say because I never go down without a fight.
“Seven lines, and we would have been on to the next one.”
