The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Page #4

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Nor can I live in fear,

or restraint

anytime I write a word

on a page.

I can only hope

that in time, the books I write

will have a positive impact.

It is sickening

to see that some congressmen

are using this boy's family

during their time of grief

for political gain.

It's shameful.

Furthermore, um

I'm sorry

Furthermore

- I'm so sorry.

- Are you all right?

Uh, that will be all,

ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you all for coming.

There is some

evidence of scar tissue

on the side of your brain.

I think you're having

partial seizures

It could be from trauma.

Could be the result

of a serious blow to the head.

Has anything like that

ever happened to you?

Last week,

you called me, you claimed to be

seeing things "outside

the realm of reality."

Hallucinations.

Are you still experiencing

these aberrations?

I'm I'm sorry,

I have to go

Sidney there's medication

you can take.

Hey, Hall,

I don't have all day.

Look man,

you don't have to tell me

whatever's in the box

It's fine, it's your right.

I would like a little gratitude.

You want something else, Hall?

The Lewis Chang deal

ain't enough for you?

No, no, that's not

what I'm saying.

I just don't like

being treated like sh*t.

You like Melody Jameson.

I saw you talking to her

in the street.

Yeah dude, she's

my little sister's friend.

What's she like?

What's she interested in?

Is she Is she cool?

Does she read?

Does she read?

Yeah, she's

"Hooked on Phonics."

Dude, I don't

f***ing know, Hall.

Jesus Christ, I'm not

into girls who like

Long walks on the beach

and all that sh*t.

I mean, I could

introduce you to her.

If you're having trouble.

I'm not having trouble.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, right. You really sealed

the deal in the street there.

God knows you're too p*ssy

to ask her out,

I might as well do it for you.

All right,

out of sheer curiosity,

what would you do?

Uh

My sister's birthday

is this coming weekend

I can take her

to the fairgrounds

for ice cream or something

Coax Melody to tag along.

And you can show up

out of the blue and boom.

Next weekend, right?

Yeah.

So?

Think you can grow a dick

and a pair of balls by then?

Not that it'd matter anyway.

She's as prude as they come.

It'd take a crowbar

to get those legs open.

All right, thanks again man.

Oh, sh*t. Um

Here, hide this.

Now. Go.

- Now.

- Yeah. Yeah, okay.

What are you doing here?

Your sister told me

where you were.

The question is,

what are you doing here?

Hanging out with a friend.

Your mother has been

worried about you all day.

She called the goddamn police.

Overreact much?

Get out of the car!

What the f***

do you think you're doing?

I'm just

hanging out with a friend.

You are driving home with me.

Say goodbye to your friend.

Hey, I gotta go, man.

I'll, uh I'll come back

for the car later.

- Come on.

- Yeah, that's cool.

Remember, Hall.

You hold the key.

All right.

You hold the key.

You hold the key.

You can hold this f***ing key.

Get in the car.

Oh.

Okay. All right.

You're a peeping Tom.

You're a stalker.

A peeping tom-stalker.

Sidney, what are you doing?

Are you really going

to depend on Brett Newport?

I'm riding the Limited Express.

One of the crack trains

of the nation.

Hurtling across the prairie

into blue haze and dark air

go 15 all-steel coaches

holding a thousand people.

I read a story he did

in the fifth grade

about his dying grandfather.

And it was raw, but articulate.

It was

Brilliant.

And I thought he plagiarized it.

And what did you do?

I had him stay after class

and I confronted him about it.

I told him, he couldn't possibly

have written that story.

And I wanted to know

where he copied it from.

And you know what he said?

He said, "I'll take that

as a compliment."

And then, he ran out

to catch the bus.

Now, that's the thing

about Sidney.

You become a fan, first.

And then, you spend

the rest of your life

trying to become a friend.

I have a theory

that he's been burning copies

of his books

in libraries and bookstores

across the country.

Why is that funny?

Sidney was a purist.

He never went online

or anything like that.

So, there's a world

where he may actually believe

that he could burn

all his books in existence.

Let me show you something.

He nearly burned down

the west wing of a library

a few weeks ago, in the city.

Someone fitting his description

was then seen in Harrisburg.

On a freight train.

Then West Virginia

And then a similar store fire

in Oklahoma city.

Each time, moving further west.

Does that mean anything to you?

Want some dinner?

It's for you.

No, no, not now.

It's a girl.

A girl?

Someone named Melanie.

Melody?

Uh, give it to me.

Give it to me.

- You know her?

- Yeah, I do.

- Do you go to school with her?

- Yeah.

Hi.

How do I accidentally

meet you tonight

if you don't show up

to the fair?

I thought it was too contrived.

Look, I know

I've been stand-offish

but I'm the one who wrote you

in the first place.

So don't be such a wuss.

Okay, well.

Where should we meet?

Outside your front door.

Aren't I supposed to be

the one giving you the flower?

Normally, yes.

But since I wear the pants

in this relationship,

it's the other way round.

So, how we getting there?

Are we talking your

Your parents' car?

- Shh!

- What?

What? Why am I shh?

Why do you want me to shh?

- Push it.

- Push the car? Um

Why don't we just

start the ignition?

- That's what people do.

- Shh. Just do as you're told.

Oh. Oh, we're stealing it.

We're stealing it.

We're borrowing

with the intent to return.

That's stealing.

That's still stealing.

Hop in.

Hop in?

What do you mean, hop in?

Okay.

It's okay

Don't you think you should

turn on the lights?

Do you like it?

No, this is like the worst

sundae I think I've ever had.

It tastes like tape.

Tape. Yeah.

I used to chew on tape

when I was little.

Ew. Yeah.

Let's just throw the tape

ice cream in the trash.

So, uh

So, tell me

Tell me, um

How do you know

about my short stories

if you don't even

go to my school.

Is that like a thing you do?

Read all the school

newspapers in the county?

I get them from Darcy.

- I keep tabs on ya.

- Hmm.

Aspirations?

Inspirations?

Photography.

I love Annie Leibovitz.

She's like my hero.

Um, I love Bob Dylan.

I love horror movies.

You sure you're girl?

Um, old Atari games

and traveling everywhere.

You?

Uh, that's a tough list

to follow up.

I guess I've really just been

writing, reading, all my life.

I wanna write a novel.

Something that's going

to shake people up.

Well, if you wanna write

a book worthwhile,

you have to see the world.

Have experiences, right?

Yeah.

You should get on that, Sidney.

Be sure to take me with you too.

Okay.

Let's win something.

Hey, can we play?

You ever played this before?

No.

- I'm really competitive.

- Oh, oh!

Okay. All right.

Mine's not going.

Mine's not going.

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