They like the movies. They like the TV. Johnny pretends to like these things so that the girls will like him.
They'd like him any way. He is tall and kind of handsome in his way. He has dark hair and dark eyes. He looks like he's from europe when he dresses for the winter. A girl told him that when he was at school.
They taught him lots of things in school.
He learned a lot.
He learned how to be an artist and how advertising works. The contract he signed had him doing ads for a big company. the ads were pre designed, but they required a personal touch so that CUSTOMERS wouldn't reject them. Most art and literature was generated within the oligarchal cabinet, the most prestigious contracts came from there as well. He hoped they would give him a contract for a mural someday. He'd seen a mural before, just once on the train to his new contract home at the company.
It was a giant solemn face on the side of a building. Underneath, in huge letters, was written:
SELFCONTROL. CONFIDENCE. STABILITY. EMPATHY THROUGH GUILT.
He thought he knew what it meant at first. He had seen those words together at school. His understanding of the people's english was superb. His instructors had told him so. He felt that his good education was a good reason to feel real guilt, which was necessary his instructors had always said. It was necessary to make things work for everyone. It made things better. IF you felt real guilt then you were a good person. Being a good person was the most important thing of all.
He'd like to be the one who made those pictures for everyone to see.
