HOW JOHN IS

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

“You know how John is,” he said, chuckling. But he had never met John, never heard John speak or looked in John’s eyes. Every thought he had about John was a product of his imagination, and most of what he imagined was based on his memories of another man from years before, Paul. Paul had been tall and broad, with a deep voice and a way of looking around slowly as he spoke as if he was securing control. Paul had a steely handshake that communicated reserves of power barely submerged. Paul had subscribed to anarchic notions as a young man but come to lean into free-market capitalism as he grew wealthier. Paul had a singular sense of humor, mixing scatological remarks with spiritual bromides. Paul liked conventional spectacles like the circus. He had met Paul once.