Unhappy Meal Essay, Research Paper
Unhappy Meal
Aaron lit a Basic brand cigarette as Amir pulled his beat up 1976 snot green Chevy Nova into the crowded parking lot of the McDonalds on Route 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts. He always seemed to do this to himself; lighting cigarettes when he’d just have to snipe them out on the bottom of his tattered army boot. He put his pointer finger to his head and pantomimed shooting himself. Amir glanced at him uneasily, then scanned the lot for an open space.
Aaron drew hard on his cigarette, filling his lungs with as much smoke as possible. He needed to get as much nicotine as time allowed. He shut his eyes, flicked his tongue against his sterling silver lip ring, spinning it in the hole. It hurt a little. “Probably fuckin’ infected,” Aaron chuckled, thinking of the night he pierced it himself, using only a heated up safety pin and a bottle of Smirnov vodka for a pain killer.
Amir pulled into a handicap spot. “You can’t park here,” Aaron said.
“Sure I can,” Amir replied. Aaron studied the face of the Bosnian Immigrant. Amir had fought for two years in the war against the Serbs. His face was remarkably pleasant, although his eyes looked as if they belonged to a forty year old man and not a seventeen year old boy. His tan skin and wide smile seemed out of place when one took in Amir’s mohawk and torn black t-shirt.
“It’s a handicap spot.”
“Exactly,” Amir said with a smirk. “I got you in my car, and you’re a retard.”
“Fuck you,” Aaron said, “I’ll blast you Sylvester Stallone style.”
Amir burst into hysterical laughter. “You watch too much television.”
Aaron shrugged and slowly exhaled through his nose, decorated with a silver hoop ring through his septum (also self-pinned). He caught sight of himself in the rearview mirror. He felt cold.
His eyes were alert, almost piercing. Around those fiery, stabbing eyes were lines of sadness, although he was also only seventeen. His hair was bleached blonde and messy –Johnny Rotten messy. His face was long and thin, a result of many days of not eating, either because he had no money for food or because he simply forgot to eat. He was menacing, with his facial piercings and angry eyes, but there was something about his mouth, a kind of innocent smirk that gave hint of something real within his hard, rough punk rock shell.
Amir got out of the car slowly, stretching out his arms. Aaron caught glimpse of something wild and almost ancient in Amir’s eyes. He got out, too, and tossed his cigarette. Aaron slammed the Nova’s door. “Let’s go get some meat.”
“Cow Burger.” Amir said, gingerly placing his hands in his pockets.
Aaron looked through the window. Sitting at a table was a family of four. That looks like my father, he thought, and tried to forget about the many beatings and harsh words he endured over the last seventeen years. “Amir, it says no dogs allowed. You’ll have to wait here.”
“Eat me,” Amir said and opened the door. Aaron shoved past him playfully, and was hit by the overpowering stench of fried, greasy food sizzling under heat lamps. His mouth watered.
Behind him he heard the click of Amir’s Doc Martin boots, and the jingle of the chain, safety pin, and padlock belt that the Bosnian wore. He felt all the customers’ eyes on them, felt the disdain in their uneasy stares. He sent it back, and shuffled through the line. Amir was silent behind him, unusual behavior for his normally talkative friend.
Aaron ordered a #4 extra value meal, supersized, and pulled a few wrinkled bills out of the pockets of his torn army pants. Chuck Norris Action Pants, he called them. This was all the money he had, change left over from the 30 pack of coors he bought with his last paycheck as a paperboy in Lynn. Aaron hated that job. He would walk down the street and pretend he was some kind of Terminator robot, blowing up houses and cars with bionic missile attachments.
They threw his food on a tray as the pimply faced girl behind the register totalled his order. He paid, and was pleases to discover he still had enough money for another pack of generic cigarettes.
Aaron took his tray and Amir moved up to the register. In the back room, the french fry machine beeped endlessly. “God that sounds like the air raid siren!” Amir said grimly.
Aaron surveyed the dining area for a seat. Behind him, Amir started screaming chaotically, “Mutha Fuck FUCK FUCK!”
Aaron laughed. “Amir, what the hell…” His face, mind, and words all froze as Amir pulled a pistol from his pocket.
“Fuck you bastards!” Amir fired, and Aaron saw in slow motion as the bullet ripped the pimply girls left cheek off her face. She fell gurgling and twitching.
“Just like a movie,” Aaron said aloud, as he watched Amir unload the pistol’s clip into the middle aged manager. Somethin in his mind couldn’t see this as real.
Amir leaped over the counter and pistol whipped the deep frier attendant, and then shoved his victim’s face into the hot grease. Aaron dropped his tray as Amir disappeared behind the packaged burger rack. He could hear screaming followed by more gunshots. Customers crawled to the door, whimpering like maimed animals.
Aaron caught sight of the man who resembled his father, trying to get his family out the door. Aaron pulled out his switchblade, and thinking of Steven Seagal’s dramatic knife fight at the end of Under Siege, rushed towards them.
He didn’t stop stabbing, even when he felt the man’s blood splash into his face.
Amir emerged from the smoking hell he created, covered in gore, his gun in his twitching hand. He pointed and fired, killing the rest of the family of four. As he reloaded, Aaron threw his knife like Woody Harrelson did in Natural Born Killers. Amir fired again, and Aaron felt a bullet rip through his kneecap. He turned and saw Amir level the gun.
“Wait!” Aaron cried as the gun went off.
Behind him he heard