The Slush-Pile Reader

Daryl wanted to touch Marissa’s boobs. “I am gonna have to let him soon,” she told Miguel. “I have been his girlfriend for 2 months now.”
Miguel told her, “I think that’s gross.”
But Marissa did not care much about what Miguel thought. She stuffed her training bra with socks and she made him lay down on the bed beside her anyway. And he obeyed his older sister because knew she could kick the shit outta him and no one was home to save him.
“Touch my boobs,” she demanded. And when he did, his sister started making low moaning sounds. Miguel did not know why she was doing that, but it made his penis hard, and although his penis had been hard lots of times before, this was infinitely more exciting.
After that, whenever the parents were not home, it would always be time to ‘practice’. It was not long before Marissa was making him touch and lick her real boobies. It felt good to press himself against her body, while she was writhed her own beneath him. It lasted for half a year, but then it was done, his sister never made him touch her again. And Miguel missed touching her terribly. But he never told her that.

Every now and then, Miguel’s father would let him come downstairs to hideout. They would watch wrestling, on the television, without any of the women yapping around them. Sometimes they would play a few games of pool, and sometimes, Miguel’s father would let him have a beer. Or two.
Miguel liked it when his father would go upstairs, to use the washroom, because Miguel could play with the ashtray that sat on the bar and not get caught. It was the image of a man; a Budweiser can for a body. The ashtray was worn as headdress that reminded Miguel of what Julius Caesar would have worn. When you lifted the ashtray off, presumably to clean it out, the can of beer would rise up and a large red penis would pop from out from underneath it. Miguel could lift off the ashtray over and over again and always want to laugh, but sometimes he would wonder why the penis was so red.
Miguel liked it better when his father would go upstairs, to answer the telephone, because he knew his father kept his dirty magazines underneath the sofa. Often he would see them spilling out from the sides. Miguel was twelve and a half years old the first time he took one his father’s magazines. He would hide them under his shirt, inside the waistband of his jogging pants, his jeans, and once his leather pants. He would look at the pictures; by candle-light, late at night, in his bedroom, and he would remember ‘practicing’ with his sister, his fingers touching the glossy images of boobs. He liked the centerfolds best. The larger the boobs, the more of his hand he could use. Carefully; he did not want to rip the pages of the magazine. He did not want to get caught.
And because Miguel could read as well, he soon learned how to pleasure himself too.

Daryl broke-up with Marissa and she had spent the next three months crying and eating and locking herself in her room. “Leave me alone…just leave me alone…” she had moaned through the door, and for the most part, everyone would. She stopped going to school and after a few weeks of phone calls from the secretary, the principal and her history teacher, even they became willing to accept her request. But finally, the parents had enough of Marissa and her ‘attitude’. They enrolled her in fat camp.
Miguel got to stay home, instead of going with them, on the long ride to drop her off. And after an hour of being alone, Miguel ventured downstairs to the magazines. And an hour after that he found his father’s pornographic videos. He set the alarm on his wristwatch. Then he hit rewind and play all day.
Her jerked off twenty-seven times, in just under 11 hours. He could not get off more than 9 times. He wondered what was the wrong with him. Miguel did not know yet that this was an amazing feat, nor did he realize the implications this would have later in his life. But he did know pain the next morning, he doubled over getting out of bed and looking down at his red penis, while he peed, he realized he and the beercan-ashtray man were idiots.

By the time Miguel was sixteen, he had his own modest assortment of pornographic material. His best friend, Fernando, had connections and money. Enough money that he hired Miguel to do drops for him. And Miguel was happily paid with porn and little bits of coke. Fernando’s nickname was Gopher. It should have been Hustler. Fernando was a good friend.
Most drops Miguel made were to women. It didn’t matter most of them were fat and older than him. They liked to share their weed and they were the girls with the biggest tits anyway. And Miguel liked doing things with tits. Grabbing them, shaking them, sucking them, rubbin’ his motherfucking face in them. And maybe it was just because those ladies were holed-up too long getting horny waiting for Daddy to come home and help feed these three damn children; but he didn’t care; he was getting to touch a lot of tit.
Sasha was the first one to let him tittie-fuck her. She was tall and black with a big, fat ass and belly rolls and a mountain of boobs. The first night he made a drop there, she had rubbed his head in her cleavage when she hugged him good-bye. Miguel had an erection for the walk four miles home. The next time he dropped her dope to her, they fucked and this worked well for the both of them for the next six months. One night, about three months in, she made the offer. It excited him. He would never have the nerve to ask for this, although he had been masturbating to the images for 3 years. He ejaculated all over her face and all into her hair, and she screamed; so angry and offended. “I am not a piece of shit, ya know?” she cried. And he had calmed her down because he knew she wasn’t, but he was really confused about why she did not like it. It was certainly not the reaction he got when he entered the porno business himself two years later though, through Fernando’s connections. They asked “Lucky Rodriguez’ to do it and he did and they all likedit. He could pop quick and often. Tittie-fucking became his money shot.

Exit

Sitting in the back of the car, Tommy was sad Barbara would not allow him to get a dog. He had wanted one so bad. For so many years.
The world rolled by fast, as Dave drove down country back roads and the fields of corn sure were boring for Tommy. So he asked, “Why are all of us dressed in white?”
“It’s Sunday; it’s God’s Day. White represents the cleanliness that He wants us to live our lives with.”
“Oh,” said Tommy.
“And white clothes also keep us cool on terrible days such as today,” she continued, and then to her husband, Dave, “If we put the top up, we can put on the air.”
Dave laughed and reached over to pat her leg, but otherwise, ignored her.
“What does the color green mean, Barbara?” Tommy had picked his nose and was looking at a booger.

It was too hot in the church, so some of the boys had brought the long wooden pews outside and set them up along the side of the church. Most churches Tommy had been to were boring, but Tommy had never sat outside for a service, so he was a little excited. They seats were set-up right beside a river and birds were chirping everywhere and Tommy started wishing he had a gun cause then he would shoot a few, so he tugged on Barbara’s hand and asked for one of those.
“I’ll teach you what to hunt, Tommy.” Dave laughed, thinking it was a good idea.
“Right on!” Tommy was exclaiming, as they were taking seats in the back row.
“I am glad I brought my hat today,” Barbara was complaining.
And that is when Tommy noticed everything was different at this church. First off, everyone was black. And they kept popping out of their seats to clap their hands and sing. And the Preacher! He would run around everywhere, up and down and all around the congregation. Tommy could not help it. He did what they did.
“It’s a mighty fine day, today. Oh, yes, it is! Our Lord gave us this day!” The Preacher was yelling. “A nice day for the water to cleanse our souls! Come and take a dip with Jesus. Won’t you come?” He was looking at right at Tommy.
And oh, boy, Tommy was coming! This church was awesome! He couldn’t believe they let you go swimming.
“The smell of that water will never come out of your clothes.” Barbara grabbed Tommy by the back of his collar.

After church, Dave decided they would stop at McDonalds for French fries, but Barbara would not let Tommy use any ketchup on them. “Not in those clothes.”
And Barbara added, “The first thing you do, when we get to the house, is move your butt to your room and get them off.”
Remembering Barbara’s words, Tommy was out the car door fast, when they arrived home. He heard Barbara say to Dave, “Can you believe the nerve of that preacher?”
“I think he’s cool,” Tommy paused to say through window, before running towards the house. He tossed over his shoulder, “I’m a quarter black.”
“You mean a quarterback,” Dave yelled out, correcting him.
And Tommy stopped to turn around for a second. He shook his head. “Nope. My Momma told me so all the time.”
Dave and Barbara sent Tommy back to the State.

Giving Shit

Later on, Edward Julian Watson was sitting in a jail cell and the local police force was ignoring his pleas to use the telephone again. He had tried to use it several times, but when he had picked up the receiver, there was no way in hell he could bring himself to dial his mother’s phone number. Edward Julian Watson should have just called a lawyer.
Because now he was in a honest state of crazy. He jumped up from the bed and went to the bars. “Come on, guys. Let me make a call! You know I haven’t yet!”
And the officers in the lunch room laughed. They had been laughing at him for the past three hours.
“Everybody sucks! You’re all jerks!” Edward Julian Watson.
Jimmy popped his head out the door and yelled, “Shut-up, tough guy, or I’m gonna go arrest me some bikers to throw in there with you!”
Edward Julian Watson sat down, cross-legged on the floor and thought about smashing his head off the floor. It was almost lunchtime. Maybe he would go on a hunger strike. Maybe he was gonna sue the badge right off that stupid nigger cop too…
Nobody offered Edward Julian Watson lunch.
But they finally did let him the chance to make another phone call. An hour and half after he had shut his mouth.
And Edward Julian Watson called for Becki.
“You did this to me. Now you need to get over here and make them let me outta here. Hurry, Becki.”
And Becki replied, “I do not know what to tell you, Edward. I really don’t want to.”
And Edward Julian Watson hissed into the phone. “Quit acting like a mother-fucking princess and get your ass down here now, Becki. This is not funny anymore.”
And Becki knew it was not. But her senses were offended by his hash words. Becki said nothing.
“Becki…are you still there? Becki…Becki….oh, do not have hung-up! Oh, jesus…”
And she could not help but laugh at his anxiety.
“Come on, Becki,” he said, “I have to go home and feed Orange.” He knew it work.
Becki walked six blocks over and Jimmy let Edward Julian Watson out of jail. But she did not stay at the police station and when Edward Julian Watson figured this out, he drove the side roads that took her to her home. But he never found her.
So Edward Julian Watson went to his mother’s and spent the night.

Giving Shit

Edward Julian Watson arrived to pick-up Becki at 10 p.m. He was supposed to be there between 2 and 3 in the afternoon.
At 8 o’clock that evening, Becki had told Ms. Johnson, “Just tell him I went out.”
And Ms Johnson did as requested, always willing to keep her tenants satisfied.
“Sorry, sir, but Becki is out,” she informed Edward Julian Watson.
“If you just let me go up and knock the door to her room, I know she is home,” he wanted to convince.
But Ms. Johnson just shook her head at him. “I’m sorry, sir. There are no visitors in the rooms after 9 p.m.”
“But you see, she is spending the weekend with me. This is how I know she is not out.” Edward Julian Watson was becoming indignant.
“Oh, no, sir. Becki went out with a nice boy tonight. His Daddy is a banker and his shoes and his hair were so shiny. Oh, and so was his smile! He dresses real well too. Appropriate. Not like yourself, sir. Can I ask why you wearing a black man’s shirt?”
“I-” Edward Julian Watson began and then said loudly, “She’s ignoring me! I know she is! She does this!”
“No, sir,” Ms. Johnson assured. “Tonight Becki went out with a nice boy. Clear outta here.” And she closed the front door on Edward Julian Watson’s nose.
Becki had been listening from the top of the stairs, chewing off her pink nail polish and her eyes had been growing damp. She knew Ms. Johnson was telling the story of what she hoped for Becki’s future.
Becki was feeling love for Ms. Johnson.
Even if it was her Mother’s vision too.
And Edward Julian Watson, well, he was making his way back out to his car. He was swearing and he up for a fight. He wasn’t clearing the hell outta anywhere.

It was such a sunny morning and when Ms. Johnson pointed towards the window, Becki could not see out it at first, even though she barely opened the curtain.
But yes, she finally saw him. There was Edward.
“I noticed he was still out there about 3 in the mornin’. Scared me a bit and thought I’d get out the shotgun, ’til I noticed he’s sleeping.”
“He still is.” Becki affirmed and after a pause, “Ms. Johnson, let’s call Jimmy.”
And Jimmy smiled through the telephone. “Why Ms. Johnson, you know I’d do anything for you. Even leave church on a Sunday. Let me talk to the girl.”
Then Jimmy put on his hat and kissed his wife and left. He parked his car a house down from Ms. Johnson’s. He made big displays about sneaking up the driveway and over to the car because he knew Ms. Johnson was watching him. Both women were and they were giggling. Becki covered her mouth with her hand.
Jimmy made monkey faces at Edward Julian Watson, before he knocked on the window and waited for him to wake-up and roll it down.
“May I see your license, sir?” Jimmy asked.
And Edward Julian Watson was already fumbling into the back pocket of his pants, before the words were out and he handed the card over.
“Have you been here sleeping in your car, since last night, sir?”
“Yes, but-“
“Haven’t ya been here long enough now, sir?”
“No.-“
“Yes.”
“No,” Edward Julian Watson was going to explain. “I have driven from-“
“Sir, you cannot stay here any longer.”
“Yes, I have come here to see-“
“It does not matter, sir. Time to clear outta here.” And Jimmy rapped his knuckles on the roof of the car.
“She is ignoring me! I know she is! She does this!” An excitable Edward Julian Watson.
“Sir, can you get out of the car, please?”
And Edward Julian Watson did what he was told. Instead of just agreeing to go.
And slap went the cuffs and Edward Julian Watson thought, … what the fuck- and Jimmy was whispering in his ear, “You got a real nice car here, sir. Too bad Leroy’ll be comin’ to tow it.”
Jimmy was laughing.
And Edward Julian Watson was yelling, “WHAT?!?! WHAT?!?”
And the police officer asked, “Sir, do you want to calm down and get the hell outta here now or not?”
And Edward Julian Watson, he said, “No.”

Punks-Big Mistake

Minnie was 14. She liked wearing bright red lipstick and getting high. Mostly with other people. But that had not been happening too much lately.
There is no Tommy. There is no Krystal. There is no one who wants to know her.
Except Billiy-Boy. Always fucking Billy-Boy.
And Phillip.
And Phillip is so popular. And he is so blonde and blue eyed.
He says he will talk to her in front of others–but he doesn’t; at Minnie’s request.
He really wants to walk her home at night.

It surprises Minnie how much you can get to know when people claim you as invisible. She hears a lot of conversations these days.
“I bought some new lipstick…”
“That Susan Howe makes me so mad…”
“I love Patrick sooo much…”
“I love the colour. It’s great, right?”
“I am gonna punch her in the face, I swear.”
“I just know he is going to ask meee out.”
Melaine, Sandra and Nancy; smoking, in a circle of self-interest.
And she hears Phillip isn’t asking anyone out. No one at school thinks he’s a fag.
“He fingered me once…like a year a go…”
“He’s hot. I’d fuck him…”
“He probably has a girlfriend in Toronto. Or Paris or somewhere…”
“…A fashion model in New York City!”
and
“That’s the best muthafucka out on the field. My boy!” High Five.
It was always good news about Phillip.
He doesn’t deserve it. To be asociated with her.
So, when he says, “Minnie, I promise I love you…”, she just kisses him or grabs his dick–whatever will shut him up the quickest.
Nobody ever says anything bad about Tommy either.

Bridging

Samantha always hated going to church. ‘Thou shall not this’ and ‘Thou shall not that’. She felt it was pointless to be told not to do what she wouldn’t do anyway. And since she turned 13 and officially too old for Sunday school, there was no escaping Reverend Patrick’s rants. His very long, very loud, two-hour rants.
Not that Sunday school had really been any better. Everyone was loud there too. Poor Mrs. Chute’s voice was so high-pitched, when she yelled “Quiet!”, she just blended in with the screaming kids. Samantha felt bad for her, so she hid in a corner pretending to read her Bible; a pocket-sized copy of Huckleberry Finn or The Swiss Family Robinson tucked neatly inside, while the other kids ran dizzy around the room wearing the plump, little woman out. Mrs. Chute also came to teach religion class twice a month at the school. Mostly she would teach songs and read the stories she was never able to during Sundays’ classes.

At home, Samantha read other things. Things she would not bring into a church out of respect. If her parents were home, Samantha would read her school books. One time, she had been in her sister’s room and found a dirty magazine filled with naked pictures of women and stories sent in by the ‘readers’. After reading three of the tales, she deemed them trash. She had put the magazine back where she found it. She would never rat her sister out for anything.
But she had let Krystal know anyway. “I see you have been reading.”
And Krystal had let her know too. “So what, Miss Prissy? I will tell Mom and Dad you sneak out every night to the library. Who’s ass will they be burning then?”

When Samatha was twelve, she asked Tommy, “Don’t ya think it is creepy…? cremation…? burning yourself like that?”
“No, I like fire,” Tommy had replied. “I think I’ll do it when I die.”
And Samantha had been horrified. She said to Tommy, “It reminds me of….Hell.”
“I’m a hellraiser, Sammy. I might as well get used to the burnin’ a bit before I get there.” And Tommy liked the sound of what he said. He filed it away to use again and again. It creeped out the other kids too.
But he drew the pictures for Samantha. Jesus Christ on his cross and burning flames surrounding him.
She told him, “I think Jesus was black.”
But Tommy thought they would make real cool tattoos.

No Sugar Tonight

Sissy threw her cereal around the kitchen from her highchair. Milk and Cheerios hitting the kitchen cabinets, before sliding to the floor.
“I want a cookie, Tommy, I want a cookie,” she wailed over and over again.
But Tommy was late and he did not answer her. Instead, he wheeled the highchair into the living room and flipped on the television; finding a cartoon.
“Let Momma sleep awhile,” he warned his little sister. Momma was still asleep on the couch.
“O-tay, Tommy,” she replied, and Tommy reached over and took the two-dollar bill that was on the coffee table, and he ran out the front door and to school.

The big green doors of the school were pretty big compared to Tommy. He looked up at them and then down to himself reflected in the dark glass.
Maybe I won’t go to school today.
Tommy had thought this before. Sometimes as a daydreams and sometimes as bed dreams and sometimes at times like these.
Tommy hated walking into class late. Everybody staring at him.
Everybody knew mothers were supposed to wake-up.
Everybody knew if you were late to class it was because your mother didn’t.
The kids hated him.
His teacher pitied him.
And Tommy knew it.

Tommy decided he would go to the arcade. He didn’t think to hide from people. Instead he ran to the arcade, and it was probably because he was running that no one noticed him. Tommy was the fastest kid alive. He could even beat a cheetah.
Tommy caught his breath
He looked up and the fat guy behind the counter was staring at him.
“Whadaya doing here, kid?”
And Tommy thought the guy was nuts for asking, but he answered him anyway. “I come to play video games, sir.”
“Yer not supposed to be here,” he sounded angry. “Yer supposed to be at school.”
And Tommy conceded, “Yeah, but it ain’t like this is habit or anything.”
And Joe thought that was a good point, so he didn’t call anyone to tell them about the boy.
Instead, he introduced the kid as ‘my friend, Tommy’ to all the men that came in to play pool that day. And he let him sweep the floors for more quarters. And he fed him Slushies all day long. And because Joe had kids himself, he knew when to shout, “Tommy, school’s out!”
Tommy gave up the racing game he was playing immediately and he was sad, but he hurried towards the front of the arcade.
He felt obliged to say something to Joe. He said, “Thank you, sir. I had a really good time.”
And Joe wanted to smile, but instead he pointed at the boy and said in his meanest, nastiest voice, “I don’t wanna see you back here for at least a month, kid.”
And Joe scared Tommy a little bit, so he turned, yelling, “Yes, sir!” as he ran out the door.

Giving Shit

She could not smell the gin.
She could not taste the gin.
She could feel the gin and the slow burn down to her belly every time she took a swallow.
She looked around the room and noticed her half-read Emily Bronte. She wanted to be like her.
Just like a man.
Maybe, if she were just like a man, maybe then she could forgive herself for wanting to do this. For allowing her heart to be part of this.
And then she threw out the thought completely. Stupid, men are always right; therefore, never in need of forgiveness…
“What is the matter with you?” Her mother asked her twice through dinner and Becki had been Emily Bronte then. Stone-faced, she had stone-walled her mother’s questions and asked others.
“Mother, are those new shoes?”

Edward Julian Watson had let the cold water run hard and fast earlier, so he could make juice, and now much later, he was trying to fix the kitchen faucet. The big drops of wet that had continued to hit the sink, interupted his reading now, but had not bothered him, in the least, on his way out the door for a run. Or when he returned home and watched Conan the Barbarian for the second time that day.
Looking into the living room, he noticed Orange sitting atop his copy of The International Jew.
“You better not be pissing on that, Orange!” He yelled into the next room. “I’m reading that!”
But Orange did not respond to him. Did not even look his way.
And Edward Julian Watson did not know how to fix a faucet.
So he lined the sink with a whole roll of paper towel.
He said, “Take that, bitch!”
And the sink did not respond either.
Edward Julian Watson went back to his reading.

It was a miracle she could still stand on her feet. Working all day long at the bookstore, and then walking all the way to mother’s and then to her home. And with all this drinking…What was she thinking?
She was not thinking about being in Chicago; midnight the next night.
She was thinking: Maybe Mzzz. Johnson would like a drink.
So she grabbed her bottle and went downstairs to the porch.
And they laughed and they drank and she cried.
But she woke-up Friday feeling fine.

And Edward Julian Watson was feeling fine too. Styling and smiling in the hallway mirror, he snapped his fingers, before pointing at himself.
Edward Julian Watson was wearing a yellow and purple-striped golf shirt.
And he and Amy were having breakfast together.
And breakfast turned into lunch.

Not The End

As the tears dripped down her cheeks, she looked up to find Tommy standing over her, with his hands held securely at his sides.
She could see that one fist was more bulged than the other, and before she had time to think of the trouble, he stabbed her in the chest, taking the baby, while she and the pillow fell to the floor.
There was no crying, and no gasping for air, only running out into the cold January air where Tommy slipped on the ice, landing on the same knife he just stabbed her with.
The baby could never withstand the cold, she knew this, when she looked through the window. He was only wearing his diaper and undershirt and the wind was whipping.
She turned on the outdoor light, watching Tommy for the next hour, to make sure he was still breathing.
He had stabbed clean through her left tit. No real damage done.
When the rain started coming, thick with frozen ice, she turned it off and went to bed.
She set her alarm for 4:30 in the morning.
And Tommy was easy to wake-up then, and the baby was blue then.
Inside, she drapped their bedroom blanket over his shoulders and sat down beside him.
“So,how we gonna get rid of it, Tommy?” She pointed to the playpen, where she had put the baby.
Tommy started to cry.
And Tommy started thinking. Where…?

by
jessy & Queenie

Again

I feel lonely. She thought it to herself for the 100th time that day. Even amongst the stuff of others. The stuff she would trip over. The stuff in every freaking corner. Even amongst their mutters and moans, their words, their letters. Alone.
She rationalized. She generalized. Of course, everyone secretly feels this way.
Of course, they do.

Tommy didn’t pay his half of the rent again yesterday.
Of course not. She saw it coming, watching him pretending it was not.
He tried to give her 100 dollars.
“Way to go, Mr. Coporate Confrence-Call.”
She was disgusted with him. With herself. She had seen it coming.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away…
She remembers the chanting voice of her first grade teacher. Mrs. McDonald. She was so old and she would move around the classroom so fast. She would go home and ask her grandparents why they did not.
She believed in that little rhyme.
She knew she was human. She knew she had to eat. And she hated the doctor.

Tommy said to her, “I could turn blue talking to you and you would still not listen.”
And when she looked at him, it only confirmed the obvious.
“Get out of this house.”

Daddy used to bang his fist on the dining room table and boy, it would scare the hell out of her. It was heart-stopping, scary shit.
Do you know how much fucking money the roof over your heads cost?
Do you?
Do you?
Do you?
She learned quickly to never look up. Daddy’s mouth was so large. And his stained teeth were long and menacing. He looked like the wolf that ate Little Red Riding Hood’s granny.
It was just smarter to keep an eye on his fist, so at least you could see when it was coming your way.

For a long time, Tommy sat in the couch, instead of leaving.
“Let’s go for a drive.”
“No.”
“Let’s go for a drive.”
“No.”
“I am going for a drive,” he said.
And he did.
And when Tommy came home, he went upstairs to sleep, while she sat on the couch staring at the blank teleivison screen.
Because there was no cable.

She would pick up the baby when he cried. But he did nothing to elevate her loneliness. This mindless, drooling thing.
She would walk around the house holding him.
When she kicked one of Tommy’s shoes across the kitchen floor, the sudden movement made the baby spit up; some of it landing on her retreating foot.
She took him over to the couch and when she was done changing him; she placed a pillow over his face.
But that is not how she killed the baby.

Giving Shit

Edward Julian Watson loved Sunshine Travel. That was the name he had choosen for his new shop. He loved to say the name out loud. He would say it over and over again to would-be vacationers. And would he say it to himself in the mirror all the time.
There was really no one else to talk to. So it is a very good thing Edward Julian Watson loved his business.

It was evening on Friday and Amy was not caring for much. When she paid for her things at the pharmacy checkout, a little red sign told her the candy bars were on sale. Two for a dollar.
So, she figured she could short the cable bill five dollars that month and she bought herself some right away.
She sat down on the bench, just outside the store. She ate a Snickers bar first.

“That’s a lot of candy bars,” Edward Julian Watson said out loud, as he walked out the pharmacy doors, but more to himself about his own bag of goodies.
Amy thought otherwise.
“Do you want one?” she offered.
And later he asked her, as they fell into her bed, “Do you have AIDS?”
And she laughed and replied, “No, baby, just candy.”

Edward Julian Watson was speaking to Becki by 11 o’clock that night. A common occurrence.
And Edward Julian Watson told Becki he would be going on vacation this coming weekend.
Of course, Becki wanted to know where. She asked him.
“I am going camping.”
And Becki inquired, if it would be with Bob and Edward Julian Watson affirmed the negative.
And he blurted, “With Amy.”
Becki was apparently abrupt, when she changed the subject. “And how is Orange today?”
And Edward Julian Watson watched Orange sitting and glaring at him, from the other end of the couch; edge of arm, for a good thirty seconds.
“I am just joking, Becki,” he said, “You’re coming to Chicago this weekend.”
Becki laughed, when she answered him. “Is that so, Edward?”
“It’s really about time,” he replied.

Suzy.

Suzy walked down the hallways, books and files clutched firmly against her chest. She caught herself clenching her teeth. She hadn’t managed much sleep the previous night. She wondered how Tommy’s exam went. She wondered if he had went through her binder. She wondered if he had looked at chapter 4. She wondered if he had looked at her handwritten notes, especially the ones written below the algebraic formulae table.

“Fuck,” she thought, as she recalled for the thousandth time the intricate heart-crossed figures with Tommy’s and Suzy’s names in it…

~by vinny~

Suzy felt like an idiot…

But Suzy was no idiot. Tommy knew that.
For a fact.
He knew damn well he had passed his test and it was only because of her. He even admitted it right on his test. He answered the essay question with their dialogue.
Suzy was the smartest girl Tommy had ever known.
He had seen the pretty little hearts and his name always written in bold, with her black pen.
And Tommy loved Suzy too.
He sat on his bed and sketched her hearts, then wove flowers of skeletons through the curves. He drew a dagger underneath. He liked his drawing.
He thought it would make a cool tattoo.

And Suzy- no, no. Suzy was no idiot.
She met Jon McDermott, after class, at the abandoned factory down by the tracks. Sun shone through the green glass, and he just stood there up against the wall.
She got on her knees and undid his pants herself.
Jon McDermott’s daddy was a doctor.
Jon McDermott paid 50 bucks a pop.

“You’re really smart,” Tommy said to her, when he found her by her locker the next day. “All I can do is really draw.”
He handed her his drawing and she blushed because of the hearts.
“It’d make a real cool tattoo,” Tommy told her. “You want to hang out for a bit after school?”
And Suzy agreed, but was not even sure if she had said yes or only nodded her head.
Tommy asked her where she would like to meet after class, with a shrug and a ‘Anywhere.’
And feeling like an idiot again; Suzy couldn’t even stop herself, she asked, “How about we meet down at the old factory?”

Look What You’ve Done

Minnie was 14. She liked wearing bright red lipstick and getting high. And man, she wished she had a joint right then. But she had rolled up all the roaches for Tommy earlier.
Minnie could feel her heart starting to race again, she felt like she was going to puke again. She raised her hand to cover her mouth. But it smelled of river water and rotting wet leaves.
She could not stand the smell of the summertime creek stained to her hands.
And Minnie puked again.
And Minnie swallowed it again.
Her eyes burned worse than her throat. She did not let a drop out of anything out.
What if they could use her vomit to figure out she was there? Through DNA or something? That thought would rise up much higher in her throat and it was strong enough to make her swallow.
But not strong enough to make her leave the park.
She knew a joint would give her the courage.
She just walked in circles.
Until she saw him.
He was there. Sitting with his head propped up against the seat of a bench and sleeping; a large bottle of vodka stuck between his legs
“Tommy, you gotta get up.” She bent down to speak loudly in his ear, when she reached him.
And Tommy opened his eyes.
“You gotta go home.” Minnie tugged on his shirt. “Come on.”
And Tommy smiled at her and he pulled her over close to him, so her head was on his chest and he said, “In a minute, Minnie…in a minute.”
And her clothes were so wet and she was so cold, and he was sleepy warmth, so she stayed for a minute.
“I love you, Minnie. I promise.” He muttered; hugging her closer.
“You gotta go back home then, Tommy.”
“I’ll go, if you go,” he said.
So she grabbed the bottle out from between his legs and said, “I am taking this with me” and she brought the half empty bottle up to her mouth and she closed her eyes. Liquid white tore down the back of her throat.
Minnie did not kiss Tommy good-bye. Instead she warned, “You better leave”, and then she turned and walked away.
And Minnie did not look back.
When it started to rain, it did not make her feel clean. She stopped and tried throwing her head back and stretching out her arms, but she knew she did not have the right to.
She knew she could forget every minute of the night.
Even Tommy telling her he loved her. Her mother had warned her a long time ago, to never believe a drunken man saying that shit.
So instead, she just kept on walking home and thinking about the DNA that might collect in pools of water.
She drank the other half of the bottle.
And when Minnie got home, she washed it carefully with warm water and dried it with a dish towel, placing it under the sink with Daddy’s collection of empties.

The Best Part Of My Day

Driving around and it is late and we were drinking cold things that will only keep us awake.
But a cop starts following us anyway.
And five blocks later, he turns turns on his cherries, and Charlie says a swear word and we pull over. The cop drives his car along side us, and windows are rolled down.
And the cop he just stares.
And stares.
And then says, “How old is she? You’re looking a little young to be out.”
I stated my age at the same time Charlie, the asshole, was stating how old I was gonna be.
The cop says, “No shit?” And I let him know I loved him.

Giving Shit

Edward Julian Watson bought a kitten.
And he regretted it badly, while he was walking home from the pet shop, arms full of expensive cat food, scented litter and the orange box containing the orange cat, that Edward Julian Watson had decided to name Orange. He regretted buying the animal because the sounds coming from the box appalled him. The cat sounded like a human. A small one dying and scared. It kept scratching at the box.
Edward Julian Watson could not get the sight of Jessica McClure out of his mind.

Three days went by and Edward Julian Watson still felt lonely.
The kitten did not like his new home.
And neither did Edward Julian Watson.
He seldom ever saw the dumb animal. It spent all its time under furniture.
In whatever room he was not.
He never heard it make a sound.
But apparently his neighbour did. She opened her door, when he was getting into his.
“My god, the scratching and howling….What do you have in there?”
“I’d tell you, if i ever see it,” Edward Julian Watson said, as he went inside.

“I bought a kitten,” he told Becki, holding the telephone in one hand and a pen in the other. Edward Julian Watson was supposed to be working the books for the business.
“I love kittens!” Becki sounded excited in his ear. “Do you love your kitten?”
“I love my kitten, ” Edward Julian Watson lied.
“And someone bought your old TV shop, I see,” she went on.
And he said, “Becki. You would love Chicago.”
And she laughed, but not loud. “Do you miss me, Edward?”
“Kinda,” he said.

Edward Julian Watson climbed into his bed at three in the morning. He was so ready for sleep. He felt so nice and warm under the covers.
And then Edward Julian Watson smelled shit. He sniffed the air twice to make sure.
Yep. Shit.
“I don’t like you, Orange,” Edward Julian Watson said out loud to a cat that did not care.
And then he thought, Oh my god, I am soooo tired.
But now he could not sleep because he smelled shit.
“Fuck.”
He noticed his stick of deodorant, in the red glow from his alarm clock numbers. And the idea quickly formed.
He rubbed the deodorant underneath his nose.
And then Edward Julian Watson went to sleep.

Number Three

When I was young and on my way to school most mornings, I would notice Ms. Johnson and she would notice me. Sitting on her porch, wearing her green housecoat, Ms. Johnson and her cigarette would wave.
And I would always wave back.

When I got to be around 14 and Jimmy and I would be on our way to my house late on weekend nights, whenever we saw Ms. Johnson out on the front porch of her house, Jimmy and I would grin. Ms. Johnson would always give us a smoke or two.
The first time she handed one over to us, she asked us, “Does your Mommas know you smoke?”
And Jimmy replied, “Oh yeah!”
I knew she could see Jimmy’s lie written all over my face, but she let us have the cigarette anyway.

Whenever we sat with Ms. Johnson, Jimmy would tell her that he could play the harmonica. “I can play it real good,” he would boast.
And she would laugh at him and lean down to turn up the little transistor radio, that she kept by her feet, and she would sing and Jimmy and I would keep time, stomping our feet and snapping our fingers and watching her breasts sway in the shadows.

Jimmy brought his harmonica out one night. When he started playing along with the radio, I just about shit my pants. Jimmy was real good. Everything seemed to disappear and I was so caught up in his sound, it could have been an hour, before I noticed Ms. Johnson was not singing.
Sometimes Ms. Johnson drank a little gin, when she sat out on her porch. Late that night, she poured Jimmy and I each a drink and we stayed out there until four in the morning, sipping the drink that drove away all the summer heat.
On the way back to my place, Jimmy said to me, “I think Ms. Johnson wanted to kiss me.”

When I worked Danny’s Diner late two nights a week, I could always count on Ms. Johnson to be up and out on her porch, when I was coming home.
One time I told her I could play guitar. Real good. And she leaned forward and she chuckled in my face and the taste of her gin went up my nose. It tingled. She put her hand on my knee. “Oh, darling, I always know when you lyin’!”
And I turned red and I wanted to hide, so I looked down. At the round tops of her breasts. And I wanted to sink my whole face between them. And I could not help it. My mind just kept seeing things, like my tongue all over those breasts.
And she knew exactly what I was thinking too because she laughed some more at me. “You’re a sweet boy, ain’t ya?”
Then she pinched my cheek and she sent me home. “Honey, time to go on back to your Momma.”

It took me a long time to get good playing guitar. I almost gave up right away. My fingers bled so much. When I was 22, I came back to town for a few weeks. I brought along my guitar. I was in a band. We called ourselves the Helmet Heads. I wanted to go and tell Ms. Johnson.
She clapped her hands, when she saw me coming up her stairs. “Oh, I just knew you were coming to see me, boy! Your Momma said you were gonna be in town for awhile!”
And I played my guitar for Ms. Johnson and she sat in her chair and she smiled at me. And when I was done, she poured me a glass of gin and asked me how I liked living in the city.
“I love it,” I told her. She turned on her transistor radio and we shared stories until late in the night.
And then I asked her, “Ms. Johnson, why do you sit out here all the time? What are you waiting for?”
“Fantastic,” she said, she leaned over to pinch my cheek. “Now you go on home to Momma now, boy.”

Jimmy called a few days ago and says to me that he is moving to Canada. Bought himself some small-town construction business. And I think to myself. Damn. There are already 400 miles between us. I ask him if Sue is happy with it all and he tells me she is, but his daughter wants to kill him. “She says she’s in love.”
“Ms. Johnson passed on about two weeks ago now,” he tells me. He suddenly remembers.
And I am stunned and I do not know what to say. “She had great tits,” I blurt out.
And Jimmy says to me, “Yeah, man. She let me touch one once, you know?”

They Just Slip Away

She thought the baby would come, but it did not.

Matthew was in her car, parked behind the laundromat. He sat sideways, with his feet propped up on the dash. He smoked cigarette after cigarrette. Her 11-month old son was sleeping in the backseat. The front passenger side window was open, but just a crack. It was pissing down rain outside.
He had met her almost six months a go. She was almost five years older than him. And three months pregnant.
And he didn’t care.
He worked the afternoon shift. Drove the forklift, for cans of soup. Brought home his pay check.
And he had cable TV and cigarettes. All the time.
She was easy to get along with.
He had decided love was only an action. And anyone could act.

She thought the baby would come, but it did not.

He drove them out to a country road. It was after two in the morning. It was no longer raining. And it felt so good, to be behind the wheel, driving too fast. He rolled down the windows. He felt the dampness of the June night right down to his bones.
And he could do this, just drive, if he wanted to.
Yeah.
He could just drive.
She would let him too.

She thougth the baby would come, but it did not.
So, they wheeled her into the operation room.

Matthew went back to town. Pulled close to the curb, outside of the bank. At the ATM, he emptied out all but 100 dollars.
Smoking cigarettes the whole way, he took Dustin to Chicago first.
He called her seven days later.
‘Where are you?’ is what she asked.
And he told her.
So, she walked the mile to the bank. She ached every step. She carried her new daughter in her arms.
She put the twenty-five dollars back into the bank account, so he had enough gas money to get home.
She knew he thought love was an action. He had told her so once or twice.
She had told him she thought love was a want.
When he arrived home, they had sex.
Three months later, Matthew quit smoking.
And he took off with Dustin again.
Because he wanted to.

Tommy, 13

Tommy grasped his hair in exasperation as he flipped his notes furiously.
The clock was ticking fast.
“I’m never going to make it in time,” he thought. “Only 4 hours till the exam.”
He took out a stack of notes, crisp sheets of paper filed neatly in a binder. The name “Suzy” was penciled smartly at the top, happy pink drawings of flowers as decoration. The little hearts that accompanied the flowers caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow.
And then he wondered with disgust how the girl has her head in the clouds.
“Chapter 4, chapter 4,” mumbled Tommy. He frantically turned the pages. He froze in horror as he found the right one.
“…the fuck?”
He examined the scribbling, shaking his head slowly, like some imbecile.
And then Tommy fished out an eraser quickly…

~by Vinny~

He scrubbed the pencil lines off of the page. Erased her name.
Tried to erase the picture of her in his mind.
He tried focusing on the fast ticking of the clock; reminding him he had work to do. Tried remembering that he was in a library and he should be reading. Like everyone else. He tried thinking about Suzy. How she would be there in 20 minutes, and how he needed to know something. But everytime he looked down, he saw the imprint of her name left behind on the page.
Read Chapter 5, he thought. And he flipped the pages, until he found it.
But it did not work. He just could not stop thinking of her. And he did nothing else.
Until Suzy’s voice came from behind him.
“Oh, good! You are on Chapter 5!”
He turned around, in his chair, and smile at her.
And she smiled back at him and reached out to tug on his arm. “Come on. We got to get out of here.”
And Tommy could not agree more.
They sat under a tree, at the park across the road.
And Suzy had a little radio. And she turned it on. “Listen, Tommy. The Berlin Wall is coming down.”
“Who cares?” he replied.
“Did you even read Chapter 4?” Her eyes opened wide.
He spent the next 20 minutes doing just that.
And then he had three hours left until the exam…