The Karma Project

Chapter 8 - Momentum

Zoe

"Can you like, get rid of that thing?" Brandon sits next to me.

I turn and give him an animated hurt look, placing my hand over my heart, "And why would I do that? This is the most romantic gift I've ever received."

"That's sad." He shakes his head, keeping his eyes on me.

I shrug instead of answering, knowing it's true-- it is sad.

"What's behind that door? The door Teddy came out of?" I query, changing the subject quickly to avoid the subject that is my sad romantic life.

It's Brandon's turn to shrug when he answers, "Hell."

We sit there for a moment in a comfortable silence, before Brandon leans over and puts his hand on my thigh. I don't do anything at first but look at it, and I finally meet his eyes with mine, "Quite bold of you to assume I won't cut that fucking hand off and feed it to you."

Brandon beams and puts his hands up defensively, "Jesus, okay."

I stand back up to look around the home theater. There are two rows of black leather reclining chairs in the center of the room facing the screen that takes up the entire size of the wall, to the right there is a large red velvet couch then on the left there is a matching loveseat. I take my time studying the movie posters on the walls that show a mix of genres.

"That's my favorite!" Brandon chimes as I'm reading over a Top Gun poster.

I scoff, "Of course it is. You're incredibly predictable." He doesn't respond when I move over to the next one.

"However, this is a wild card." I raise an eyebrow, now looking at the 1967 poster for The Taming of the Shrew. I look back at all the other posters. "Most of these films I can pin on any one of you. But this one is kind of left field."

"You think so? Why don't you try?" Brandon challenges, now standing next to me.

I cock my head at him and point at another poster, "The Big Lebowski, I'd pin it on Dean. Not just because of his masculine energy, but I think he embraces chaos-- despite him trying to act all stoic and hard." I explained.

Brandon gives me an approving nod, so I move to the next. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I think also belongs to you. It symbolizes individuality and freedom, which is what I see when I look at you."

I get yet another nod of approval accompanied with an expression that tells me he's impressed. "Go on," Brandon encourages.

"Oh Brother Where Art Thou, I'd match to Max. Mostly due to the theme of power and judgment, but also because he strikes me as a George Clooney man." I glance back at Brandon to see if I'm right again.

"Okay, so you're a film buff, but you're guessing based on surface level shit, anyone can do that." Brandon gives a fake yawn, acting as if he's bored.

"Fine, pick a hard one then." I say.

He taps his chin while he thinks and looks around the room, "Who do you think that one belongs to?" He finally asks, pointing at a poster on the opposite wall.

"The Outsiders?" I questioned. "It belongs to all of you. It represents self-sacrifice and honor, and challenges the battles of individual identity versus group identity. For a tight knit brotherhood like the Karma Boys, I'd expect that this is a movie you all charish." I cross my arms.

Brandon gives me a slow clap as I turn around, "Okay, I give it to you. You're good. But you still haven't placed The Taming of the Shrew." He points his thumb at the poster behind him.