The following can also be found in the book Chicago Stories 1996. Click here to learn more, and to download a free electronic copy.

I saw Jason Pettus once. It was a Sunday, and I was waiting for the Fullerton bus and there he was, sitting on a little concrete stoop. He had his Walkman on really loud and if you stood next to him, you could actually hear it. I thought about going over and saying something to him, but he was writing in a notebook and seemed kinda busy.

Yeah, I saw Jason Pettus. I went to this party in Wicker park one summer and got introduced to him there. He started asking me all these questions -- I mean, all these questions -- and it was kinda cool, 'cause I don't usually answer such personal questions to a complete stranger, but he had some sort of... well, there was just something about his questions and the way he listened, I guess. We talked for about three hours and then right as I was leaving he told me he was really attracted to me and wanted to go out again. It kinda creeped me out, to tell you the truth.

I saw Jason Pettus. I saw him speak. It was at some open mic somewhere. We had gone 'cause one of our friends was reading and we thought it'd be fun to go down and have a couple drinks and watch our friend. I remember... I remember the host really liked Jason. And I remember he got a lot of applause at the end. What did he read? I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention.

I met Jason Pettus. In fact, he was one of the first people I met in the city. I had just moved two days previously and Chicago was kind of freaking me out and I didn't have any friends and life was just sort of kicking my ass. I went to this coffeehouse with this book, and Jason was sitting at the table next to me, and he started asking me about the book, and then we got into a big conversation. I told him I had just moved here, and he told me all about how hard it is to move to Chicago and how hard a time he had had adjusting to the city, and I don't know, it just made me feel better. We parted company that night and, you know, I didn't find out until much later that that was Jason Pettus I had been talking to, but I still count it as maybe one of the first things that proved to me that I had made the right decision by moving here.

Jason Pettus temped for me once. It was a four day assignment, data entry. I mean, he was fine, he typed fast and everything, but... oh, I don't know, his heart didn't seem to be in it. And he took an awful lot of smoke breaks. And he was about ten minutes late for work every morning. I mean, he may be some big author or something, but he sure wasn't the best temp I ever had, if you know what I mean.

I slept with Jason Pettus. It was a weird night -- I met him at a party, we had both had too much to drink, blah blah blah. How was it? Well... it was good. I guess. As good as a drunken one-night-stand gets, I suppose. He just started... acting weird after that. He just started acting weird. How? I don't know. Weird. He just started acting... weird. So, I stopped calling him back, and after maybe two, three weeks, I never heard from him again. Do I regret it? No, not really. I mean, I could be seeing Brad Pitt and if he started acting weird, I'd dump him, too. And I mean, come on, we're not talking about Brad Pitt here. ...We're talking about Jason Pettus.

I saw Jason Pettus. It was a Friday night and I had just gotten off work in the Loop and was making my way to State Street. Jason and his friends were walking by, when Jason suddenly stopped and yelled, "You! You there!" and pointed at me. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of that he was drunk and on a lot of speed and was out giving his friends an architectural tour of the Loop and I should join them. It sounded like fun, but frankly, I was tired from work. And besides, I didn't know he was Jason Pettus. I just thought he was some drunk speed freak. And who knows what those guys are going to do next?

Yeah, I saw Jason Pettus. It was on the red line one night, maybe about midnight. He got on at Chicago and rode it all the way to Bryn Mawr. He was listening to his Walkman really loud and scribbling in a notebook. He seemed really sad. I wanted to tap him on the shoulder and ask him what was wrong, but I was a stranger to him and I figured he probably wouldn't want me bothering him.