Fallout (Crank 3)

finally showed, I stowed

all trace of ego, begged

her to take me back.

My apology

was sincere.

But then, when

I threw in the

part about my

little brothers

needing my

room, and the

reasons why,

Nikki couldn’t

say no. Even so, ORGIVENESS hasn’t come easy.

THE FIRST FEW NIGHTS

She made me sleep on the couch.

Refused to touch me. Barely

spoke in complete sentences.

I wormed my way back into

her good graces like any guy

with half a brain might—flowers.

Supermarket flowers, true,

but I half filled the house

with them. She came home

from work to find sunflowers

in the kitchen. Lilies, tulips,

carnations, and phlox on end

tables and windowsills. African

violets in the bathroom. Roses

(what else?) in the bedroom.