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Readii ng Gr
Gr oup Guide
Guide
to Carljoe Javier's
Geek Tragedies
by Adam David
Note: this guide is included here to help facilitate lively
discussion of Carljoe Javier’s debut fiction collection Geek
Tragedies for your local reading group and/or classroom
presentation. Geek Trag
presentation.Geek Tragedie
edies
s is
is a book that begs deep discussion
to be enjoyed absolutely,
absolutely, and answering these
th ese questions may
provide the key for that
th at promised enjoyment.
4. Considering
Consideri ng the author’s
author’s reputation as a leisurely smarmy
ladies man, can the book’s general tone of geeky social-
ineptitude-bordering-on-charmingly-light-misanthropy
be trusted as an earnest pursuit for whatever buried-yet-
ineff able
able Truth fiction is capable of uncovering under the
tough bedrock of Life through the shovel-sharp clarity of
Art, even if that leisurely smarmy ladies man reputation
exists only in the author’s mind, ie e Kobayashi Maru
of Love ?
2
Everybody Gets Off at Cubao
3
Geek Tragedies
4
Everybody Gets Off at Cubao
BILLY
BILLY LAY DOWN
DOWN on the bed and an d put his glasses
gla sses on the bedside
b edside
table, then felt for his bag with the trade paperbacks that he had
just gotten in it. He brought the blurry book up close to his face
until things became clear. His eyes focused on the page, but he
couldn’t seem to concentrate, thoughts unable to stay on that
comic book but drifting further,
further, still about comic books.
Comic books weren’t bad business. But they weren’t very good
business either. Billy had been trying to keep the stand running
just on comic books but six months into it, it was clear that they
just wouldn’t do. He had started talking to magazine publishing
firms just to add some merchandise on the rack that might attract
more customers.
customers . Having a poster
poste r of the FHM cover babe couldn
co uldn’’t
hurt business, he reasoned with himself, after all his target market
was adolescent boys anyway.
e stall had already been open six months, he thought. Six
months with the stall and eight months in the countrycountr y and he still
wasn’t firmly on his feet, things shaky as he made his way paying
the monthly overhead. It It cost most of what he was making.
Lucky thing that he was living in one of his rich aunt’s houses
and didn’t have to worry about paying rent. e cash he was
spending was still money his mom was wiring him.
His little project of dropping out of school for a while and
starting up a business seemed a good idea as he made the purchases
before heading to the Philippines. His dad had wanted him to
stay in school since
sin ce he only had a year left, but he’d
he’d had the itch to
start up something that he really wanted to do, and after spending
almost all of his life in the States he wanted a taste of his native
land. It seemed like an adventure, like a hero’s search for his true
origin.
He thought he knew what he was doing, and he knew comic
books. So he closed his bank account and used all the money that
he’d
he’d saved up as a working
workin g student at the library,
lib rary, Johnny
Johnny Rocket’
Rock et’s,
s,
Sam Goody, and Toys R Us and the money that his mom had
given him to load up on his merchandise.
5
Geek Tragedies
THERE WERE A few days when Billy closed shop early because
of the slow, lazy business. He’d head to the MRT station, but
since he had closed early he’d have to compete with all the other
commuters rushing home.
6
Everybody Gets Off at Cubao
7
Geek Tragedies
8
Everybody Gets Off at Cubao
thing that he’d ever done in his life, with his being alone and the
inability to change that.
He imagined himself a comic book character driven to the edge.
It was those instances when he wondered if the villains weren’t
right. He thought of Magneto, a character greatly wronged by
humankind and waging his own war against his transgressors. He
wondered if it wasn’t
wasn’t right that instead
ins tead of getting angry
an gry at himself,
himse lf,
instead of smacking himself on the head, he should instead take it
out on other people, lash out at those people that had just shoved
him out of the way.
He saw it all on the page: the MRT
MRT station drawn in bland peach
and fluorescent white so that the blood of his rampage would stand
out; him out on the rails with his arms raised up, lips pulled back
revealing fangs as he let out a righteous wail. His arched back led
down to powerful legs under which were crushed all those people
who had pushed him aside, cut ahead of him, taken advantage of
his passivity, now brought down by his wrath.
en he snapped out of it as he was nudged aside again as new
people started
star ted coming tot o the MRT platform. He couldn’t
couldn’t do that,
couldn’t go mad and let everything out. He tapped his forehead
lightly, bringing himself back, reminding him that he wanted to
be one of the good guys. He pushed his glasses up fixing them so
things were clear. en he’d think of her and decide to wait in the
station until she came around.
9
Geek Tragedies
10
Everybody Gets Off at Cubao
11
Geek Tragedies
12
Or maybe it didn’t mean anything at all, he would tell himself,
then turn off the lamp. And after a few moments turn the lamp
back on and run through the same thoughts again.
13
Geek Tragedies
“Well, it looked like you were having a hard time with it. I
wasn’t sure if you’d trust me or just give me a bad look and think
that I was a thief or something.”
She smiled at him, but he wasn’t sure if it was a Shut up and
just hold that thing you idiot smile,
idiot smile, or an It’s really nice of you and I
never would have taken you as a person who’d try to pull something
over on me smile.
me smile. He wished she had thought bubbles above her
head so he could know.
He wanted to shut up, but imagined the scene on the page, and
knew that if he left it like that he’d hate himself for leaving empty
panels. It would be like a superhero getting into costume just to
grab a Coke.
“Just wanted to help you out. Return the favor. anks about
yesterday, I was kinda ... you know, out of it last night. Didn’t get
the chance to thank you. So ... er ... well, thank you.”
you.”
She smiled. He couldn’t take the silence.
“You know, I feel like we’re friends now since we’ve been
catching the same train together for months.”
months.”
She smiled again, “at’s nice.”
He couldn’t tell if “at’s nice” meant at’s nice now please
stop bugging me are you some kinda psycho or something or
at’s nice I’ve been noticing you, too.
e train swish-hummed into the Santolan station and Billy
went quiet as the door hissed open. He sucked in, trying not to
make it obvious that he was nervous, wondering if his voice was
quivering. e doors slid shut and as the train started moving he
decided to make the jump again. He held the present in one hand
and pushed his glasses up, imagined that nudge on his glasses
equivalent to the swish of a cape fanning out.
“I’m Billy.”
“Hmm, that’s nice. I’m Janice. I had noticed you and made it a
game to try and guess your name. It helped pass the time on the
train.”
So she’d
she’d been thinking
thin king about me, too,
t oo, great Billy thought.
though t. Hold
on, what kind of names did she think of for me. He suddenly
14
Everybody Gets Off at Cubao
15
Geek Tragedies
16
Six-word Stories
129
Carljoe Javier
graduated with a degree in English Studies Major
in Creative Writing from the University of the
Philippines Diliman. He was a fellow of the
Dumaguete National Writer’s Workshop and the
UP National Writer’s Workshop. He is the author
of two other books, the essay collections And the
Earth and e Kobayashi
Geek Shall Inherit the Earth and
Maru of Love .
169
Josel
Jos el Nicolas
Nicolas
believes in feeling the noize, and drawing to it
naked. He draws and writes Windmills , the third
book just released in late 2010, and has a monthly
four-page strip called “Doctor Brick: Balloon +
Scientist Problem Solver” running in the kiddie
magazine K-Zone . He is on Facebook and would
love if you would add him. His email address since
highschool is ajora_metalanger@yahoo.com . He can
also be found at nekid-monkey.deviantart.com.
170
Adam David
is a bookmaker.
171