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he says,
“Nothing’s wrong, Sugar, so quit'yer fussing and git on back inside”
she wipes her split lower lip
picks up her Dr. Pepper and a half-eaten Snickers bar
straightens her short denim skirt
out of principle
then hitches it up high
to climb inside
_____
he sniggers to himself and licks his fingers
he has her exactly where he wants her
_____
she whispers,
“nothing’s nothing”
so low not even her ears
hear the truth of the moment
and the moment slips into the back seat of his tan ’65 Ford
_____
after,
she rolls down the window while he’s popping her
into first
as the radio crackles and pops
some old Hank Williams, Sr.
his bloody thumb smacking hard
against the steering wheel
_____
just up the road
just past the railroad tracks
he’ll cross the line again
and she’ll cross her fingers
this time
there won’t be any trouble
_____
and she fiddles with her buttons
and she shows a slice of thigh
and she speaks her mind
in solitude
when he pulls over to the side
near some tattered fence
or road sign
or even at some filling station
even though he knows for sure his face is plastered
_____
wasn’t always like this
with his fists white hot
and crackling dry
with her strawberry blonde hair as dirty as his language
and his appetites
but there came a day when praying
for a prayer to pave the way just didn’t cut it
and so she falls down
and she falls down
and she stays down
on her knees
until she can’t remember how it felt
to stand up
_____
he says,
“I wasn’t thinking—
wasn’t meaning any harm”
hell...
he loves his baby doll and would never hurt her
if she would just shut up
—just shut the fuck up—
then he could handle it okay
and they’d be happy
and she might never have to brush the dirt off another Snickers
_____
but Jack trickles down his throat
with a jigger full of Coke
and he finds the motel’s bed sheets to his liking
and he pins her on her stomach
and he tells her to shut up
and she’s a whore
and she’s damn stupid
because he said so
and he lets go
and he lets go
and he lets go
and he lets go
but he won't ever let her go
_____
and in the morning
he’s on his knees
with the TV cut on to Jimmy Swaggart
and he’s clutching a sweating bottle
barely even touched
unlike her purpling hips and her broken ribs
_____
and she answers
when he calls her
and she answers with his gun
and she speaks so loudly no one hears him praying
she says,
“Nothing’s wrong, Sugar, so quit'yer fussing”
strokes the strip of metal toward her breast
and counts to ten
_____
and now she’s headed for the border singing Elvis
_____
somewhere shy of old San Dusky
she’ll stop his rusty Ford and start to laugh
as she's tossing out the garbage:
three pristine Snickers wrappers
and a whiskey bottle
completely drained of substance
_____
she’s say,
“Nothing’s wrong, now, Sugar,”
and she pops her into first,
a dust trail kicking up the ghost she left behind her
_____
Copyright © 04/25/2001 by Christy Munson. All rights reserved.
About the Creator
Christy Munson
My words expose what I find real and worth exploring.
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Comments (4)
Good 😊 story is dope I like it congratulations 🎉🎉
Oyaaaaa! Give it back and be done e, yeah!! Drive, Baby, drive. 🩷🩷🩷🩷
Wow. You always write the truth no matter how hard or depressing it is too hear it.
Very well written! Great work