“So, Mr. uhm…Pritchard, is it? Would you mind telling me about your encounter with
Thomas last Sunday?”

  “Well, ya’ ain’t here fer nothin’ else are ya’?”
  
  “I mean, I’m onl-”
  
  “You lucky sir, I mean it. You lucky I been in sumpin’ of a talkin’ mood mood ever sense
I seen what happened to that boy!”

  “Any information you have would be immensely helpful si-”
  
  “Oh I got some information alright! You should prolly take a seat, mister. Where ya’ want
me to start?”

  “Wherever you please, Mr. Pritchard.”
  
  “Well, I should prolly start from Sundee, then, seein’ as that’s when I furst met ‘im. Now,
ya’ see, I don’ usually go out on Sundee’s no more. Them’s church days. Ain’t no fun no more
sense ol’ Georgia passed. Anyhows, last Sundee I got up out this ol’ chair to look in the icebox
and ya’ wanna know what I fount? I ain’t had no more cokes! No sir, not a single one. Now, I
ain’t got a car no more but goddamnit I needed me a coke, so I figgered I’d take me a walk down
to the corner store.
  “So I did jus’ that and put on that there jacket on the ground sense, I figgered, it might be
a little col’ outside. Anyway after I got dressed I started my way up the street. Now, the store
ain’t too damn far here but, when ya’ get ol’ like me, hell, starts ta feel like a damn marathon. I
made it prolly halfway down the street ‘fore I saw ‘im. Boy was sittin’ outside the tag agency, I
think, jus’ fidgetin’ wit’ his hands and murmurin’ to hisself.”

  “About how old did he look to you?”
  
  “Oh, I dunno, ain’t so good at guessin’ that kinda stuff nowadays. Maybe twenty.”
  
  “Mmm.”
  
  “Anywho, I figgered I’d check up on him, so I went up an’ axed if he was doin’ alright,
but he jus’ sorta kept lookin’ down an’ whisperin’. So I jus’ left ‘im be and went on into the
store.”

  “Wait, so you didn’t talk to him any more than that?”
  
  “No I ain’t say that! Maybe if you’d stop innaruptin’ me, ya’ could hear. So I went into
the store an’ fount me a twelve pack a’ coke, but it was too heavy. Had to get one a’ them cute
girl workers ta help me. I tell ya’, them workers are always so nice ta me. Wish I’da had some
cash to tip her, though. Anyways, we get up ta the counter an’ she starts checkin’ me out. Thang
was, though, I had forgot my damn wallet at the house! She says it’ll be eight bucks, so I start
tellin’ her ‘bout how I forgot my cash and all, but she, God bless her soul, says not to worry and
pays for it her damn self! Now, I’m all fired up at this point so I says, “Thank ya’ ma’am, but I
gots ta pay ya’ back! Jus’ wait like twenty minutes, I’mma be back.” And then I ran outta there
back outside.
  “Once I was back out there, I seen that boy again, only he was walkin’ ‘round like some
headless chicken. I go up to ‘im again and I axe what’s wrong, and this time he talks to me! He
says, ‘Have you ever been to space?’ And I says back to him, ‘Do I look like I ever been ta
space?’ Now, his eyes was dartin’ all over the place, but I don’ think he was doin’ no drugs or
nothin’, he jus’ looked kinda scared and lost. So I axed ‘im again, ‘What the hell’s the matter
wit’ ya’, boy?’ After I asked ‘im that, he jus’ looked at me with this sorta wild look in his eyes,
made me nervouser’n hell, and axed me if I ever saw a bananafish ‘fore.

  ‘Now, what tha hell is a ‘nanafish?!’ I says to ‘im.
  
  ‘Oh, come on, ‘ he says, ‘you must have seen one before! They’re everywhere.’
  
  ‘Listen, boy,’ I says, ‘I been here fer’ fitty years, and I ain’t ever seen no damn ‘nanafish!
Seen plenty a’ catfish, though.’

  ‘Might do you well to look today. Seems like a perfect one for ‘em.’
  
  “Now, I had no idear what he was talkin’ ‘bout, so I was gettin’ purty damn fed up by this
point, so I jus’ says, ‘Alright, boy, do ya got eight dollars?’ He got purty flustered for a few
seconds then handed me some wadded up twenty from his coat pocket. I told the boy I’d be right
back, and I went into the store again to give it to that nice young lady.”

  “What happened after that, Mr. Pritchard?”
  
  “Well, I had walked back to try to give ‘im his change and…”
  
  “And then what?”
  
  “Well,” The old man paused, “he had shot hisself in the street.”
@Repth