up

Rex

by Robert Braid

Rex was late for work again. It's not that he didn't wake up on time. It's just that somewhere between his coffee and his shower he had laid down his glasses and now could not find them. Rex fumbled through the kitchen, then through the bathroom. He then had to grope his way through his bedroom, praying that they weren't somehow on the floor waiting to be stepped on. He finally found them back in the kitchen on the table where he had already looked without seeing them. You see, Rex was quite blind.

But not blind enough. Rex didn't carry a white stick or qualify for disability benefits. With his glasses he managed to see reasonably well. He could make out street signs if he got close enough. He could read the paper without getting his nose grease on it. He could even watch the TV from the sofa and still recognize most of the actors. But he had to have his glasses.

And horrible glasses they were, too. Because of his prescription, he needed extra thick lenses, the kind some people would call Coke-bottle lenses. In order to support the weight of the lenses, the frame had to be sturdy, but unfortunately, they looked it too. When he saw this set of frames in the optical store, they didn't look that bad. But that was with a couple of 2 mm-thick showroom, non-prescription lenses in them. With Rex's lenses, they looked more like an apparatus than glasses.

Of course, Rex had tried contacts. But just sitting talking to the salesgirl about different types of contacts made his eyes water. When the doctor tried to put them in his eyes, he squirmed about and accidentally kneed the doctor in the crotch. The doctor recommended that he stick to glasses. He had also contemplated that new eye surgery, but he figured that if he couldn't even handle a little piece of plastic in his eye, he could never sit still through eye surgery. God forbid he should knee the doctor when he's got a scalpel in his eye. Rex had to face up to the fact that he was destined to wear clunky glasses for the rest of his life.

On the way to work that morning, the subway was packed with other suits and ties, and Rex was crammed up to the wall. Right in front of his face, there was an ad that Rex had never seen before. It didn't look like a new ad. In fact, it looked like it had been up there for quite a while. It read something like, "Get rid of your glasses forever without surgery. New vitamin supplements can enhance your vision. Don't delay, etc." Rex managed to wedge a pen out of his pocket and write the phone number down on his hand.

In his cubicle, Rex wondered why he had never seen the ad before or at least heard about it on TV. He also wondered whether he should call. Why hadn't his optometrist recommended it to him? But curiosity and frustration got the better of him and he called. He would just get a little information first and ask his optometrist what he thought. Before he knew it, Rex had an appointment with the vitamin center that afternoon after work. In fact, the office was right on his way to the subway. How could he have missed the sign? He must have passed right in front of it a thousand times.

Feeling like life was looking up, like he may have found the solution to one of his major problems, Rex decided to go get some coffee and check out the secretary he had had the hots for since he started there. The coffee was burnt and the secretary wasn't in her office, but Rex spend an enjoyable day anyway sending e-mail and playing hearts.

Although he only had to go right down the street, Rex told his boss he had a doctor's appointment and had to leave early. Rex passed one of the sex-shops that line the street where he works, and after a bit of hesitation and fear that someone he knows might see him, he decided to go to the sports shop next door. After looking around for a while, Rex headed to the vitamin center. He was about twenty minutes early and was told to wait. About five minutes later, a man with a lab coat came out, shook his hand, sat him in front of a desk, told him about how wonderful life could be without glasses and sold Rex an expensive three-month supply of vitamin supplements.

Sitting in the subway on his way home, Rex wasn't quite sure what had just transpired. He had only wanted to get some information and wound up with a giant bottle of pills. He read the notice. "Vitamin supplements. This is not a drug." This reassured him a little, but he wondered why he had to pay so much just for some vitamins.

But what the hell. It couldn't hurt and, you never know, it might just work. Maybe he could reduce his prescription size to something that looks less like a magnifying glass. Maybe he could get rid of his glasses all together and start going to the pool again. Rex liked to swim. He used to do about 3000 meters a day, but he hadn't swum at all for a few years now. He couldn't see the wall anymore, much less the other swimmers. After a few embarrassing incidents, one with an old lady and another with a muscly homosexual, Rex stopped going to the pool. Maybe now he could get back in shape.

At home, Rex read the mail, ate his usual pizza, watched the news with a beer and popped one of the pills during a commercial. Three times a day, it said on the notice. At the next commercial Rex reread what it said about not being a drug and hoped for the best.

That night, Rex dreamt of what was probably the secretary swimming like a dolphin through a giant pool. He woke up at the usual time, drank his coffee, took his shower, got dressed, found his glasses, popped a pill and left for work. On the subway, less crowded this morning, Rex squinted at all the ads on the walls. Hair transplants, French lessons, wart removal; but he didn't see his ad for the vitamin supplements this time. It must have been a different car.

The week went on and three times a day Rex took his vitamins. On Friday, he came out of the shower, looked around for his glasses as usual and saw them sitting on his desk across the room. Half-way to the desk and it dawned on him that the vitamin supplements must be working. In the subway, he looked for the ad again but couldn't find it. He read all the other ads, but this time he didn't have to squint.

He spent a boring weekend at his parents doing yard work. He wanted to tell them about his vitamins, but thought it was a little premature. Besides, what the hell business is it of theirs. So he managed to sneak his pills after meals, which was no great feat since his parents didn't seem to pay any attention to him anyway.

The next week, Rex's vision was getting even better. One day he almost headed out the door without his glasses. On the landing, he poked the bridge of his nose with his middle finger out of reflex and discovered that they weren't there. He hesitated for a moment before he returned to get them. It wouldn't hurt just to carry them around if he didn't need them. But what would happen if in the middle of the day he started to need them again? He put them in his coat pocket and thought about getting a carrying case for them.

At the office, Rex went to get his usual coffee and wondered if anyone noticed that he wasn't wearing his glasses. He looked around at the other people but they didn't pay too much attention to him. Standing at the coffee machine swirling the artificial creamer into his cup, the secretary came up behind him and told him that the boss wanted a doctor's notice for when he left the office early last week. Rex turned around and looked at her right in the eye. Maybe she would notice. She didn't say anything about his glasses, but did say she hoped that he was feeling better.

Before he could even think, he blurted out "Much" a little more loudly than he would have liked. In an attempt to cover up his exuberance, or maybe just to change the topic, Rex asked if she wouldn't be interested in going to the zoo that weekend. She would. Funny he should ask, bla, bla, bla. Rendezvous at the main fountain. Saturday at ten o'clock. See you there.

Rex was back in his cubicle glowing to himself and wondering if this meant that he should take the rest of the week off. Although this was impossible, he did come to the conclusion that he probably shouldn't go back to the coffee machine for the rest of the week, lest she should find him and change her mind. He'd have to bring a thermos to work, but that was okay.

Rex arrived at the fountain a little early. He sat on the edge and looked around at all the girls passing by. He saw the secretary coming from 100 yards away. As she got closer, Rex thought that he could actually see through her dress.

They walked around and looked at the bears, the ostriches, the seals, the jaguars. Around noon, they decided to get something to eat. Over their hot-dogs and Sprite, Rex saw for the first time the specks of brown on her skin.

"So, have you always wanted to be a secretary?"

"No. I used to do it as a temp a few years ago while I was in school. I majored in art history. But I couldn't find anything else when I graduated, so I do it sort of permanent now." He also saw the little hairs on her lip and three or four flakes of dandruff in her hair.

"Art history, eh?"

"I studied mostly pre-Columbian art. You know, the Mayas and the Incas. I'm thinking if I can save up enough money I'll go back to do a master's in a year or two. I'd like to study jaguars in Mayan iconography."

"Sounds so interesting." He also saw the little black dots that covered her nose. He had never noticed these things before. But then again, he had never had the opportunity to get up close. As she rambled on about various animals and sculpture, he started to look over her shoulder towards the monkey cages about 200 feet away. There was a blond-haired girl with a little kid. She had bright blue eyes and a tight little skirt. Rex couldn't be sure but he thought that she also had no bra on.

"Hmm. Jaguars. Winged serpents, too? Interesting. Maybe you ought to go back to school. Oh my gosh. Is it already one o'clock? This was great but I have to get going. I told a friend that I'd meet him in the gym. Let's do this again sometime."

Rex escaped from the secretary wondering what he ever saw in her. He headed towards the monkey cages on the way out of the zoo, but the blond-haired girl had gone. So Rex just went home and found his goggles and bathing suit. Although the story about meeting a friend at the gym was a complete fabrication, Rex thought that it might be a good idea to get some exercise. He spent the rest of the afternoon doing a few laps and checking out the girls under the water. The vitamins were working much better than he had hoped.

A few weeks had passed, and Rex kept taking his vitamins. He also got in great shape since he was in the pool about every day. He had even met a few girls since the secretary, but he thought he still must be rather near-sighted. Whenever he went out with them and got to see them up close, they were never really as cute as he had thought. He didn't mind trying though. There were so many girls in this city, and Rex was only starting to notice them.

One night Rex came home, got a beer and started to read the mail. He got through two bills before he realized that he hadn't turned the light on. Normally Rex had to turn on the lights by seven to see anything in his apartment. But it was about eight o'clock and Rex could see quite fine. He must have been really blind before to need the lights that early. He figured he might be able to save a lot on his electric bills. He took his third pill of the day and re-read the notice about not being a drug.

One morning on his way to work, he saw a couple Puerto Rican girls headed to work waiting on the platform. He didn't like to openly stare at girls, but he swore that he could see their underwear. They had on real lacy, pink lingerie. How could they work in underwear that ran up their butt? If it wasn't uncomfortable, it must at least make them horny. How could they concentrate on their job? When the train came, he thought he had better take a different car than theirs. He was afraid that he would end up staring and making a scene. It seemed his vitamins were working much better than he had hoped.

At the office, Rex sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. While drinking some coffee from his thermos, he had the impression that he could see his colleague picking his nose through the cubicle wall. A bit of panic ran through Rex's veins. Rex wanted to go around and sneak a peak at his neighbor to see whether he was really picking his nose, or whether Rex was hallucinating. He reminded himself that he was not taking drugs, just vitamins, and thought to himself that his vision was just getting better. Maybe it was a little better than most people's, but what the hell. He had been half-blind for so long that maybe he deserved to have better than average vision. He should enjoy it while it lasted.

After work, Rex was walking back to the subway and looked carefully at all the women walking in front of him. He could see through everybody's clothes. He came across two attractive, young women. One was blond, the other brunette, and neither of them was wearing any underwear. They walked past the subway stop and Rex decided to follow them for a while just for the view, but soon started to wonder where two women wearing no underwear could be going. He also wondered if the one on the left were a true blond, but he only saw them from the back.

He crossed the street and nearly got run over because he was looking at the two girls and not at the traffic. He wanted to double the girls and then recross the street so that he could get a look at the blond from the front. By the time the light changed for him to cross over again, the girls had made a left turn and were far ahead of him. He followed them down a few more blocks and almost got around in front of them, but they turned into a building with a doorman and Rex didn't have the courage to follow them any further.

He looked around and realized that he was in a section of town he wasn't familiar with. He only worked a few blocks away but never ventured off any further than the subway station. The buildings were rather upscale and the cars parked in the street were all BMW's and the like. He walked around for a few blocks and came to the conclusion that he was lost. But it was a nice evening and he sort of liked looking at how the other half lived.

As he was walking around looking at the nice apartments, he started to make out strange details on the brick walls. He thought that he could see movement and color through the bricks. He stopped and stared at one building and focused on the wall. He started to see forms appearing and then noticed that what he was seeing was actually behind the wall. With a little grin of excitement, he watched people eating their dinner, watching TV, reading, getting dressed, etc. He started to wonder if he couldn't turn his new powers into a genuine asset, rather than just a perverted pass-time. He thought about black-mailing people or robbing them. But poor Rex was raised too much of a Catholic to be able to stray that far onto the other side. Besides, he was quite a coward at heart and although these thoughts gave him a thrill, he knew that they were quite out of the question. He could never put his new power to any use. All he could do was watch.

As he was contemplating various devious acts, he came across one building in which he saw a man beating a woman. He couldn't hear the blows or hear her screaming, but he knew that they weren't playing. The man's fist pounded the woman's face as he gripped her arm. Her face was swollen and blood soaked through her hair. The man twisted her around with her arm unnaturally bent behind her back then started to rip her clothes off. He thought about calling the police, but what would he tell them? "I looked through a brick wall and saw a man raping a women! Please hurry!"? He watched the assault for several minutes and wondered how the woman could still be alive. He thought that he had to do something, but couldn't think of what. There was a doorman at the door, he didn't know their name or apartment number. All he could do was stand there and watch. All the other people in the street were simply passing by, unaware of what was going on behind the wall. Rex's juvenile excitement turned to nausea and he thought that it was time to go home.

He finally found the station, and was soon on a train towards home. The car was almost empty except for a man reading a paper down at the other end. Rex was playing over in his mind the scenes from behind that brick wall. What could he have done? He wasn't Superman. He couldn't break though the wall and help the woman. All he could do was see everything that was going on around him. That didn't make him responsible for helping everybody, did it?

Just then Rex caught the eye of the man at the other end of the car. He was staring right at Rex. Rex instinctively tried to avoid his stare and then looked back. The man seemed to be reading his paper. Had Rex imagined the stare? Did he just happen to see through the paper and see the man's eyes? Rex decided to play it safe and changed cars at the next stop. When he finally got home, Rex looked around for the notice that came with the vitamins. He read it over and over but couldn't find the part about it not being a drug. He decided not to take it anymore and go back to the vitamin center to tell them about what has been happening.

That night he dreamt of the woman being battered, but this time he could hear what was going on. The man's fists landed on her with a crack. She screamed out for help and sobbed. Then see looked up at Rex and stared at him right in the eye, begging him to please do something. Rex woke up in a sweat, his heart pounding, his mind racing for an answer to the question, "What can I do?" He got up and drank some water and laid back down in his bed until the sun came up.

He got out of bed and did his normal routine, minus the vitamin supplement. He drank his coffee, then took his shower. In the shower, he let the hot water run over his head and drip down his back while he stared at his feet. He started to see little things crawling around on his skin. They looked like tiny white spiders, and there were millions of them swarming about all over him. He looked away and told himself that he was just hallucinating, but then he started to feel them. He panicked and looked around for something to do. He turned the water to scorching hot and rubbed his skin with the brush he used to clean the tiles. He scraped and scraped at his skin trying not to look.

Still without looking at his skin, he got out of the shower. He definitely had to get to the vitamin center to tell them what was happening. He got dressed with his eyes closed so as not to see the spiders. He looked around for the bottle of vitamins but couldn't find the notice that went with them, or the receipt. He decided the hell with it and headed out without them. He almost went to the subway, but was afraid of what he'd see. So he decided that, considering the circumstances, he could splurge for the cab fare and hailed a taxi.

He had forgotten the exact address of the vitamin center but knew how to get there from his office, so he gave that address to the cabby. The taxi sped away and Rex almost breathed a sigh of relief knowing he was on his way to getting help. Then Rex noticed the gun the cab driver had stashed underneath the seat. He figured that it was probably normal for a cabby to carry a gun, but couldn't help shivering with fear every time the driver shifted in his seat. He tried to look away. He stared at the floor, but for Rex the floor was no longer there. He saw the road racing below, just inches from his feet. Rex pulled his legs up close to his chest and shouted "Stop the car! Let me out! Please, let me out." The cabby pulled over and Rex got out with his eyes closed. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty. He started to wait for his change but saw how the spiders swarmed over the cab drivers hands. When the driver licked his finger to count out a few bills, Rex told him to keep the change and ran down the street, nearly getting run over by half-invisible cars.

Rex was lost. He turned around and didn't see the buildings in front of him, but rather the row of buildings behind them. Rex could see through everything, but had no control over what he saw and what he didn't. How could he see cars coming? How could he find his way to a hospital? Panic made Rex sick and he started to retch onto the sidewalk and onto people he didn't even see.

Home. Rex had to get home. There was a hospital around the corner from his apartment. He could find his way there once he got home. He just had to get home. Stumbling over people and trash cans, Rex made his way down the street. Sometimes he could see people walking by him, staring at him. Sometimes he saw only their bones. Sometimes he saw a face full of veins. Sometimes he saw nothing at all. As he came near a subway station, he saw the train passing beneath his feet. Then he saw nothing but millions of roaches beneath him. He tried to close his eyes tight, but he could see right through his own lids.

The city swirled around Rex, appeared and then disappeared. He stumbled over another trash can and felt a glass bottle under his back. He rolled over, picked it up by the neck, broke it against the pavement and jabbed it into his eye sockets repeatedly. He could see his hand and the bottle moving in and out of his face. Left eye, right eye, left eye. When he finally saw the darkness, he leaned back gently onto the pavement and felt the warm blood flow out of his eyes.