Graduation Year

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Granting Department

English

Major Professor

John Fleming, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Rita Ciresi, M.F.A.

Committee Member

Jay Hopler, Ph.D.

Keywords

Fiction, Humor, South Florida, Realism, English

Abstract

Rock, Paper, Scissors has developed into a story about Wren, a young man fresh out of the Navy, trying to make a name for himself in the world. Wren finds himself in Tampa, Florida because his oldest pal, Allen, has moved there, even though his younger sister has been diagnosed with leukemia back home. The problem is that Allen somewhere along the way has lost his mind. Wren finds out that Allen has recently been fired from a job as a server in a restaurant called the Bolognese, the same restaurant that Allen promised Wren a job. Wren decides to go ahead and get a job at the Bolo and simply not mention that he knows Allen, even though Allen has sworn to, "kill every last one of those mother fuckers." Wren further finds out that his old friend has developed a drug problem and has delusions of dealing and moving to Cuba. Wren has delusions of his own in his quest to make his mark on the world. Wren decides to be a doctor and drunkenly treks to an emergency room to interview one of the physicians. After meeting a scholarly street preacher he tries his hand at evangelism. Finally, he meets two crooked customers at the Bolo who claim to run a business in pharmaceutical sales. Little does Wren know that the business is crooked and the two conspirators are pedaling black-market pills. Even so, eager Wren buys into the program hook line and sinker and soon finds himself and his sister in harms way. Wren finally discovers that he is embroiled not only an illegal graft, but a mass murdering spree with his long time friend Allen.

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