WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LIVE IN THE USA
Citizen Foxwolf attempts to reason with her meth addicted father about her basic needs.
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LIVE IN THE USA
Panel 1: View from across the street of a castle flanked on each side by normal houses. On the castle there is a banner that says,
“WELCOME TO THE USA
KEEP OUT”
There are security cameras on each side of the castle pointed onto the neighbors’ property. Two American flags flap raised on flagpoles in front of the castle. Parked in the street is a giant lifted extended cab pick up truck with another american flag mounted to the bed. Clouds are rolling in on the horizon.
Panel 2: Top view of the castle. Behind the main walls is a decrepit shack with a tarped roof. The tarp is blowing off exposing a large hole in the roof of the shack. An overgrown path leads from the castle gate to the shack’s crumbling front porch. On the side of the castle below the security cameras, there’s a sign which reads:
“NOTICE:YOU ARE UNDER 24 HOUR AUDIO AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE
AVISO:
SI PUEDES LEER ESTO, REGRESA A TU ASQUEROSO PAIS MARRON
ملاحظة:
إذا كنت تستطيع قراءة هذا،
فارجع إلى بلدك البني المثير للاشمئزاز”
Shadows of clouds can be seen gathering overhead.
Panel 3: A young Foxwolf stands in the light of the kitchen doorway. There is a giant hole in the wall and a bag of trash swarming with flies sitting next to the door. She says,
“Dad?
Who are you talking to?”
A bug-eyed adult wearing a shirt that says “U.S. GOV” is sitting at the kitchen table sweating profusely and mumbling “Oh of course we’ll keep sending the weapons no matter who wins the election.” Startled by Foxwolf’s question, “Dad” pauses his psychotic mumbling and suddenly says, “HUH.” Behind Dad, there is a pile of filthy plates on the kitchen counter next to a window which looks outside to the brick of the castle walls. There is a discolored, water-damaged crack from the ceiling to the top of the window.
Panel 4:
Child Foxwolf steps into the kitchen. The oven is covered in grease stains, there is a cardboard box spilling bullets onto the floor by the doorway, a trash bag full of cans leaks disgusting juices onto the floor, and the wall opposite the hallway hole is cracked to the door frame. There’s an unwound coil of barbed wire winding through the kitchen. In addition to the stack of filthy plates, there is an open bag of noodles spilled on the counter. Foxwolf’s wearing a baggy t-shirt that says “CITIZEN.” Dad continues,
“Oh.
Your brother.”
He points across the kitchen table towards Foxwolf’s “brother.”
Foxwolf looks at her “brother” and says,
“Oh…
Uh, Dad?”
Panel 5:
Foxwolf continues, looking down and holding themselves nervously:
“Do you think I could have healthcare?”
“All the other countries have it, and I think I really need it…”
Panel 6: U.S. GOV Dad looks up from the table in a disgusted, sarcastic manner. He says,
“Oh you think you need healthcare, huh? Well who’s going to pay for that? Why don’t you get off your ass and earn some healthcare by helping me and your brother defend this house for once?”
Panel 7:
Citizen Foxwolf, still trying to plead their case and looking even more uncomfortable, says,
“I thought maybe you could use some of the tax money you took from me…”
Panel 8:
U.S. GOV Dad reacts by standing from his seat at the table and screaming:
“You know we need that money for important things. You want me to just NOT orchestrate coups in Latin America?? DO YOU NOT CARE ABOUT ANYBODY BUT YOURSELF??? Do you even think about this family?? Your brother and I are the only reason you even have a partial roof over your head, and you want more!!”
Panel 9:
Citizen Foxwolf bursts into tears, screaming and pointing across the table:
“Why wont you use the taxes you TAKE from me ON ME!!”
“WHY IS IT ALWAYS ON HIM?????”
Panel 10:
Citizen Foxwolf’s “brother” is spotlit at their seat at the table. They’re revealed to be a pile of guns with a cop hat hung off the barrel of one gun.
Panel 11:
Citizen Foxwolf stands next to the kitchen table weeping into her hands. U.S. GOV Dad ignores their child’s question and slams their hand down onto the table flipping an ashtray along with all its contents into the air. Baring his teeth, he says,
“I see what’s going on here.”
“The CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY stole your MIND through your PHONE. They got you working against me.”
Panel 12:
Citizen Foxwolf, crying even harder now with tears and snot streaming down their face screams,
“Dad, what are you TALKING about??”
U.S. GOV Dad interrupts in a sweaty, unhinged panic:
“SHH!! Shut the hell up!! Do you hear that?!”
Panel 13:
It’s raining outside now. U.S. GOV Dad approaches the kitchen window with a crazed look in his eyes. In an imposing stance, he grasps an end of the barbed wire strewn about the kitchen. Speaking to no one, he says,
The immigrants are coming. They can read my thoughts.”
“They will plant DRUGS on me and destroy this family.”
Foxwolf makes her way back to the door.
Panel 14:
Citizen Foxwolf takes one last tearful glance at their father in the kitchen from the doorway. U.S. GOV Dad is beginning to wrap the window opening in barbed wire as the rain pours outside. The flies continue to swarm the dirty plates. The spilt ashtray remains a mess on the table.
Panel 15:
Citizen Foxwolf, with their hands in their pockets and head hung low, enters their room. The room is small and relatively empty. There’s a bed, a makeshift desk fashioned from an overturned cardboard box, a full trash bag, a basket of laundry, and a cork board covered in various drawings Foxwolf’s hung. The ceiling is dripping into a bucket placed on the floor below. Along with the paper pinned to the cork board, there is a hat hung. A shirt is draped over the bed frame.
Panel 16:
Foxwolf is pulling on the shirt that was draped over the bed and reaching for the hat on the cork board. The outfit seems to be a work uniform with a name tag that says “CITIZEN.” Foxwolf looks defeated, and her eyes are puffy from crying. In the background, the bed is revealed to be a bare, stained mattress and a single wrinkled blanket.
Panel 17:
As Foxwolf puts on the hat, she wearily glances at the drawings pinned to the cork board.
Panel 18:
Foxwolf takes a moment to look at the board before going off to her minimum wage service job. The board has a piece of masking tape at the top with “* * VISION BOARD * *” written in marker upon it. Pinned up on the board are various scraps of crumpled and torn paper. The papers contain drawings of the things Citizen Foxwolf would like to have in their life:
“Bodily Autonomy
Guaranteed PTO
Paid Sick Days
Universal Healthcare
Maternity + Paternity Leave
Protection from Predatory Businesses
Living Wages
People Over Profits
Equitable Infrastructure
Housing 4 All
(Crossed out hammer and sickle with scribbled out text below) LOL JK!! Cuz Dad will hit me…”