Fallout (Crank 3)

Can’t believe this place is so crowded.

Must have been a whole herd of mooing

Thanksgiving burgers. We have to wait

outside for almost a half hour.

Dad and Kortni smoke. Regular

cigarettes, thank God. I move upwind,

stand off to one side. Don’t want to

think any more about Mom right now.

So I’ll think about Kyle instead.

I’d rather be spending today with

him, think he probably wishes

the same. Poor guy. Dysfunction

pretty much defines his family

too. His mom died eight years

ago, a DUI fatality. “DUI” meaning

“diving under the influence” into

a fast-running but shallow section

of the Kern River. The coroner

ruled it an accident, but Kyle

believes the act was purposeful.

Sick of Dad’s shit, he called it.

The bitch went and left us alone

with him. Just goes to show

how little she cared about us.

“Us,” meaning him and his sister,

Sadie. Deserted by their mother.

Left with an alcoholic father

and his own string of girlfriends.

Probably why Kyle and I are

so good together. The old