“I haven’t been to bed yet,
actually.” Those seven words say
much more than he needs to know.
Grady looks at my eyes, and his
grin grows real wide. Oh, yeah.
I can see it perfectly now.
Whatever. If he knows, it’s because
he gets high too. “I came
by to pick up an application.”
Funny time of the day for that.
Let me see if I can dig one up.
He goes into the back room.
It takes a few minutes, but he
finally returns, application in hand.
You sure you want to work here?
Mostly what’s open is graveyard.
You’d have to put up with people
like him. He points to the slot addict.
The guy doesn’t even turn around.
Fuck you, he says, feeding
a ten into the money reader.
“It’s not like I really want to
work here, but I need a job
and my choices are limited.”
The monster goes on to tell him all
about Hunter. About living with my
parents, studying for my GED,
and wanting a way to escape.
“I’ll be eighteen in a couple
of weeks. But I can’t do anything