The Emoticon Generation

by Guy Hasson

  “‘Hey!’” Tony mouthed, “‘Mr. Comic Relief! I’m talking here!’” Matt looked at Tony, jaw half open.

  “Look at the lips, look at the lips,” Tony urged him on. “Now he’s saying ‘Enough,’” Tony synchronized perfectly. Steve turned his back on Pantalone, and continued to talk to his phone partner. “‘Sorry about that,’” Tony said.

  “Now I ask him what happened.

  “‘This guy here looks like one of those ridiculous characters from the Commedia Del’Arte,” Matt quickly looked away from Steve’s lips to Tony, then back again, astonished. The words matched perfectly. “‘Pantalone, I think his name is.’”

  Now Steve turned back to shout at Mr. Comic Relief, who was shouting at him from behind.

  “‘Yes, yes, I can see the damage, we’ll compensate you, stop shouting.’ Now Steve gets really angry,” Tony said over some of Steve’s words. “‘Stop! Shouting! Go back in! Go in!’” Mr. Comic Relief, shamed, left the hospital room.

  “See, now he’s talking to me, he’s canceling the interview. We’re rescheduling.” But this is where the similarity would stop, because if Tony had lived, he would never have seen this beforehand, he would never have tried to guess the color of Steve’s car.

  “Now watch what happens next,” Tony leaned forward.

  Steve turned off the cellphone. He waited a second, then turned around, and bumped into Tony, carrying tote bags.

  Tony pressed on a key, and the image froze. “Steve’s accident was a bit before six p.m. It was into the laundromat at East 65th and 2nd Avenue. At five thirty, Tony’s calendar has her picking up her dress from Couture Brides & Belles, which just happens to be on East 66th and 2nd Avenue. That’s less than a two-minute walk away. She’d try the dress on, see that it was perfect or see that it wasn’t, pack it or return it, talk a bit with the tailor and at around six she’d head back for the car. Last time she was there, she told me about this great place that had cheap parking on 64th and 2nd, which meant that walking back she would have to bump into Steve.”

  Tony pressed the key again, and on the screen Tony and Steve came alive again.

  “‘Oh, what a coincidence!’” Tony mimicked their voices. “‘Why, what are you doing here? I only saw you a few hours ago.’”

  “That wasn’t in synch,” Matt said.

  “I know. Now he’s telling her about the accident. See, she’s asking if he’s all right. I’m fine, I’m fine. Now she’s offering to take him with her car. No, no, he says, I have to wait for the tow truck. Well, I’ll just wait here with you. He says no, she says yes, he says no, she says, ‘That’s your tough luck’,” in perfect synch; she’d always said that. “He finally agrees.”

  Now the two of them just stood there, waiting. Slowly, they began to talk.

  Matt looked at Tony. “What are they saying?”

  “I don’t know,” Tony hissed. “I wasn’t there.”

  “Then how did you know everything he said before?”

  “Because,” Tony looked straight into Matt’s eyes. “Everything there just happened. Exactly the way it’s seen here. Word for word. Except for the part with Tony. I told you. I knew all along. She wasn’t supposed to die. And that thing,” he pointed at the computer, “shows the future.”

  Matt hesitated for a second, then said, “I know.”

  Tony’s breath caught. “What?”

  “Well, about the last part at least. This thing shows the future.”

  Tony felt part of his legs turn numb. “How do you know?” he managed.

  “I kept looking deeper. I found a few more Steve moments.”

  “And ... ?”

  “I’ll show you.” Matt turned his back to Tony and began clicking on his computer.

  Suddenly there was a single bed in the middle of the hospital room. Steve was sitting on it, reading a newspaper.

  “I’ll fast-forward,” Matt said.

  Steve began to flip through the pages at a ridiculous speed. Tony came in, dressed in a bathrobe, her hair covered in a towel. Obviously, she’d just showered. Steve looked up at her.

  “What the hell is that?” Tony said.

  “That’s not it yet,” Matt said. He fast-forwarded again. Steve and Tony began to talk, but also kept their distance. Tony sat on a chair that seemed to be part of their new room. A couple of minutes later, Steve got up from the bed and walked near the camera. “There!” Matt said, and slowed it down to normal speed. Steve got even closer. “There!” And Matt froze the picture.

  “What?”

  “The newspaper, look at the newspaper.” The paper filled half the screen.

  “What about it?”

  “That’s today’s newspaper. Right down to the headlines and all the small print I could make out.” Tony looked at it again. He’d dismissed it because he’d recognized it. “That’s today’s newspaper,” Matt said. “Which we got from Tony’s brain more than three weeks ago.”

  “How can this be?”

  “I ... There can only be one explanation. There’s an infinite number of numbers. If you looked long enough, you’d find any scenario, any newspaper, any possible person here, I’m sure of that. We could just as easily find plays Shakespeare would have written had he lived longer. We just happened to find a possible scenario with today’s –”

  “You don’t think that’s what it is, do you?”

  Matt shrugged. “What other explanation is there? That there’s something inside of us that knows the future? That our ‘destiny’ is ingrained into us from birth? That’s ... absurd.”

  Tony looked at the frozen image. “That’s today’s newspaper. That’s something that would have happened today.”

  Matt looked at him, not following. “What?”

  “Steve and Tony would have met earlier today, at two, at our place for the pre-interview. There’s no doubt about that. They would have met again, four hours later, at six, after he crashed into the laundromat. There’s no doubt about that. So this hasn’t happened yet. But it’s supposed to happen today, that’s what the existence of the newspaper means. Where is this? What is this? When is this?”

  “I ... Well, having seen all this from beginning to end, I can tell you by the electric clock near the bed,” he pointed to it. “This entire thing here happens between 11 p.m. and one a.m.”

  “11 p.m. today?”

  “I guess.”

  “Where is this? Why are they together? Why is she dressed like that?”

  “The towel, if you notice, is from the Sunnyside Motel.”

  “That’s where Steve is staying!”

  Why would she be there, at his place? She couldn’t have had a row with Tony and left. That’s just not possible. Even if she did, she wouldn’t have gone to stay with a complete stranger. What would she be doing there?

  And then something about the times clicked in his head. At 7 p.m. today she’d scheduled a prep for an exclusive interview with former NBA superstar John Binias. The man hadn’t shown his face in public since he quit so suddenly six months ago, and although Tony today couldn’t be sure that he was where he was supposed to be, it was rumored now in the papers that he was somewhere in New York, which meant that he was here, which meant that the interview would have gone on as scheduled. Tony had learned from him that he was supposed to stay at his grandparents’ house for three days and they had agreed to hold the interview there. Their house was an hour’s drive from the city, passing the Sunnyside Motel going both ways.

  In doing a prep, she always made sure it’s no less than two hours, to get the other side at ease with her, but she always made sure, too, that it was no more than three hours, so that whatever the man said to the camera did not sound rehearsed. Which meant that by ten p.m. at the latest, she’d be on her way back home. Passing the Sunnyside Motel anywhere between ten and ten thirty. But even if she saw Steve there, even if she stopped to say hello, she wouldn’t have stayed over.

  The only way she’d stay was if ... if there was no way back. What if
there was a traffic jam to end all traffic jams, what if the FBI, suspecting a terrorist attack or chasing someone, cordoned off part of the city, and there was no way back?

  Then eventually she’d call Tony, saying she’s stuck in this awful traffic jam.

  He’d say, ‘Yes, I heard it on the news, the entire city’s clogged down because of this whatever-it-is.’

  She’ll say, ‘When do you think it’ll be over? I’ve been sitting in the same spot for fifteen minutes.’

  ‘Who knows.’

  And then they’ll talk a bit, but eventually he’ll either ask her or she’ll tell him without him asking where she is exactly. It wouldn’t be possible to have that conversation and not ask.

  So she’ll say, ‘I’m right outside the Sunnyside Motel.’

  And he’ll say something along the lines of ‘Why that’s exactly where Steve and the camera crew are staying. Why sit in the car until the middle of the night when this thing will probably be over? They’re nice people, they’ll probably agree to have you over for the night. You don’t need the aggravation.’

  And she’ll agree. And Steve will volunteer his room.

  And for all this to actually happen, something else must happen today, something that would clog down the city and create a jam outside it at a time that would have put Tony right outside the Sunnyside Motel.

  So they’d spend the night together. And ... What?

  Tony looked at Matt. “This is two-hours-long, you say?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then before I see it, give me the bottom line. What happens here?”

  “First they eat something. I think it was leftovers from what he had. Then she takes a shower. Then they talk and talk. They talk for almost the entire time. It’s boring to watch. Then she sleeps on the bed, and he sleeps on the small couch. And that’s it.”

  Tony stared at the frozen picture. Then, after a minute, he looked at Matt. “They talk and talk?”

  Matt nodded.

  “Does he yell?”

  “Ah ... Yes, actually, there is a bit where he yells.”

  “Show me.”

  Matt sped forward at ten times the normal speed. The entire time, clearly deep into a conversation, the two of them sat about three yards apart (Steve having sat back down on the bed). Finally, as Steve’s gestures seemed to grow bigger, he stood up from the bed, Matt slowed it down to normal speed. Tony looked at his gestures. He was definitely yelling. And the color of his face ... Tony leaned back. “The speech,” he whispered. “Dammit!”

  He kept watching the silent speech as Steve got more and more heated. And then Tony noticed that Matt was looking at him and not at Steve or Tony. It took him a second to understand. He froze the picture and looked at Matt. “You found more, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Show me.”

  “Well, there are two more incidents with Steve that I found.”

  “Show me.”

  “I’m ...” Matt couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “What?”

  But Matt just looked at Tony. “I’m not sure you want to see them.” And the look in Matt’s eyes caused Tony to take a deep breath and lean back, fighting back panic.

  “Why?”

  “One of them has ... It has Tony ...”

  “What? Matt, what?”

  “It shows ... It shows Tony and Steve’s wedding.”

  For a second Tony’s eyes seemed to lose focus, then he said, “Are you sure? Could it be –”

  “It has them saying ‘I do’. That’s very clear. You don’t want to see that, do you?”

  “ ... Maybe later.” Tony thought for a minute, then straightened his back, bracing himself. “What’s in the other one?” Matt hesitated. “It can’t be worse than that. Show me the other one.”

  Wordlessly, Matt turned around, and pressed a couple of keys. The hospital room reappeared on the screen in front of them.

  A small girl entered the room.

  “That’s Tony,” Tony narrated. “When she was six.”

  “No, it isn’t.” Matt froze the picture. “Look at her. I don’t think that’s Tony.”

  Tony bent closer and squinted. Presently he said, “You’re right. The nose is different, and the hair’s straighter than Tony’s at that age, and the color’s slightly different, too. But if you hadn’t told me – How’d you know?”

  “Watch.”

  Matt pressed a key, and the girl sprang into life again. From the other corner of the screen, Tony emerged. She was a few years older than today, nearing her forties. Tony’s heart felt like it just squirted poison into his system.

  Tony was coming at the girl with a big smile and open arms. The girl ran towards Tony and leapt into her arms.

  The girl called something out when she jumped. Both of them had seen that word enough times to read her lips without a doubt. She’d said ‘Mom’.

  “That’s her daughter,” Tony whispered.

  “Yes. Watch.”

  Steve came into the hospital room from the same direction. The girl, held by Tony, reached for him, clearly mouthing, ‘Dad!’

  Matt pressed a key that froze the frame, just as Steve reached for his girl.

  “Oh, my god,” Tony whispered. “Oh, my god. She’s destined to be their kid.”

  Matt shut off the screen and moved his chair in such a way that he was now facing Tony. “Tony,” he said. “Tony,” he touched his knee to reach him. Tony looked at him. “Tony, you have to know that this can’t be. This isn’t true.”

  “Everything so far has been true.”

  “It doesn’t matter. A man ejects millions of sperms into a woman, and each has different genetic material. There is no way – there is no way! – that anything inside the brain can even remotely come close to predicting what a child would look like. There are millions and millions of possibilities. There is no way that what we just saw with the kid is true. There is no way that their wedding is true. There is no way that the meeting at the hotel is true. There is no way that any of this is true. If only for the fact that she’s dead. This thing does not show facts. It does not show the truth. She’s dead, Tony. She is dead!”

  “She was supposed to be with him and not with me.” Tony looked as grief-stricken as he had looked at the funeral. It was as if he’d just lost Tony all over again.

  “No!”

  “It was meant to happen.”

  “No! You have to think of it like this: How can it be ‘meant to happen’ if it didn’t happen? If it can’t happen?”

  Tony looked at him. He had no answer. But it clearly did not change the way he felt.

  “And besides,” Matt said. “Even if she was alive, there’s no way all this could possibly happen. Even if, for the sake of argument, there were ten more coincidences a day, even if they met six more times a day each day until the wedding. Even if she was deadly attracted to him, even if he thought she was the love of his life. You don’t leave your upcoming marriage a few days before the wedding for a ‘maybe’. You don’t leave for a ‘hopefully’. You don’t even leave for ‘The One and Only’. Because you can’t really know if he is ‘The One and Only’, you don’t really know if you can live with him, or if he isn’t still in love with his last girlfriend, or if he’s not crazy, or if the two of you won’t get on each other’s nerves after a month. You don’t know and you don’t leave. Marriage is a decision for life. You don’t go into it lightly, and you don’t back out of it lightly.”

  Tony was slowly coming out of it. “Yes.”

  “Tony wouldn’t leave you a few days before the wedding. Not with Steve and not with anyone.”

  “That’s right. Not this close to the wedding.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Not this close to the wedding,” Tony said again. Maybe if it had happened a few months ago, then she wouldn’t have had a problem. But the two wouldn’t have met then – correction: they hadn’t met then. It was already a fact. For her to leave him so close to the wedding, sh
e’d need a catalyst. And the catalyst would have to be him. He’d have to do something awful that would drive her into Steve’s ready arms. And what could he possibly do? Not only would he not do anything awful, he’d always intended on being on his best behavior. He had declared from the start that he would do anything Tony asked, that he would appear at whatever tailor or hairdresser or whatever-other-wedding-chore that Tony would decide he should go to, and that he would prove to her once and for all that he wouldn’t let the job widow her. And it was so close to the wedding. There were now six days left. And it would be impossible. And tomorrow it’d be five days, and it would be more impossible. And the day after, it would be harder still. And the day after that, and the day before the wedding, the day of the rehearsal wedding would be –

  And suddenly it sank in. The general meeting! It wasn’t at all what he had thought.

  In his mind, he ran through the last month as it would have been had Tony stayed alive, now that he had all the facts. On the evening before the accident, some of the shareholders produced a letter inviting all the shareholders of the company, including Tony and Matt, to the general meeting. On the next morning, if Tony hadn’t died, he would have gone on to the office as usual. He’d have seen the letter, and would certainly have noticed that it fell on the day before the wedding. He’d no doubt think that this was a mistake – they did, after all, know about his wedding.

  But it wouldn’t have worried him. Why should it? Confident that it was a mistake, confident that he could move the meeting whenever he wanted, he would have left off delaying it to the last week before the wedding. In the meantime, he’d have felt pressure from the different venture capital funds, but he would have acted just as cockily as he had these last few weeks. He wouldn’t have noticed the stench of war in the air.

  Three days before the meeting, he’d have given Sylvia the usual task of making sure a quorum was not met. But Sylvia wouldn’t have succeeded. The general meeting would not have been delayed. And Tony would then have realized how serious their intentions are, and he’d also have realized what he hadn’t realized when Sylvia had talked to him a few minutes ago – that the date itself was a snub against him, that they had intended to make it hard on him. And he wouldn’t have a choice but to go, or else he’d lose his job and, worse, lose control of his life’s work at Eternity Plus.