Glass (Crank 2)

for a while. Maybe Mom was only jiving.

[Yeah, right. And I’m a prima ballerina.]

The food comes, served by a stone-

faced waitress. Want anything else?

Let me see. How about a place to go to

when I get off work later? “Not right now.”

The sandwich is greasy and tasty and I eat

it slowly, not to savor the flavors, but to kill

time, three-plus hours until work. At least

it’s warm in here. Safe. Warm. Safe. That reminds

me of a night, spent in Trey’s arms, at his

cousin Brad’s house. Brad! He has that big spare

room. It’s kind of far from work, but hey,

there’s a convenience store in Red Rock, too.

And guess what. Now I’ve got cash

register experience. Brad, who’s cute.

Brad, who’s cool. Brad, who has the best

connection this side of Mexico. [Give him a call.]

Brad Is Home When I Call

I tell him what happened—that my

loving mother kicked me out

and kept my baby—omitting a little

information he doesn’t need to know.

“So…any chance I might be able

to stay with you for a while?”

[Tell him you’ll make it worth

his while.] I tell him exactly that.

He hesitates. Uh, well, I never

really thought about taking in

a renter. He thinks a bit. First