Wednesday, June 17, 2009

— Fiction —
Text Messages Sent Between Harriet Tubman, a.k.a. Moses, and Leon Wilkes, a Running-Away Slave

HT: where r u?
LW: where r U?
HT: u hav 2 b able 2 keep up no matter what 4 this 2 work.
LW: stubbed my toe. tried to tell u to w8.
HT: smh.
LW: it is severe. :’-(

LW: r we free yet?
HT: not yet.

LW: i think i need 2 go back.
HT: ain’t no going back. rmbr wut i told u?
LW: but i need 2 go back. think i 4got my wallet. :-(
HT: if u try 2 go back, I hav bullet wit ur name on it.
LW: if they catch me will be castr8ed. prefer ur bullet.
HT: dont give up now. thnk about ur freedom.
LW: ur right. when im free 1st thing i want is educ8ion and unencumbered opportunity for meritocratic advancement, free from the yoke of racial prejudice and discrimin8ion.
HT: no.
LW: k. then i settle 4 my unborn kids 2 hav that.
HT: no.
LW: then i take a chzbrgr n french fries.
HT: i know a place.
LW: k.

LW: how much longer til we get 2 the st8ion?
HT: st8ion????
LW: the train st8ion.
HT: we Rn’t going 2 no train st8ion!
LW: but u said we’d take the underground railrd.
HT: ur feet r the train, the ground is the railrd. lol. jk. ;-)
LW: lol. so there IS a train. :-D
HT: no. we r runnin.
LW: but my stubbed toe? plus I left my sneakers.
HT: what size?
LW: 9.
HT: i have xtra pair in my gym bag.
LW: do they have added insole support? I tend 2 overpron8.
HT: yes.
LW: k.

LW: where r we going 2 NEway?
HT: Canada. u will b free there.
LW: is brooklyn on the way 2 canada?
HT: no.
LW: can we stop there NEway?
HT: no.

LW: Harriet, r we free yet?
HT: no. pls stop asking.

Ashley Smart (despite what you may have read on his driver’s license) resides in Pasadena, California, where he secretly leads a double life: during the day, he mingles with aspiring Nobel laureates, masquerading as a post-doctoral scholar; at night he mostly sleeps.