by David LaBounty

 

my age and

she had a

splotchy

face and

an alright

kind of

smile on top

of sagging

jeans and

a faded sweater

and

the car was

something

from the

early nineties

a rag of rust

and metal and

vinyl and she

told me it was

leaking here

and grinding

there and she held

my hand for

just a moment

as I took

the keys

and I thought

nothing of

it as I put

the car up

in the air

and tore

off the wheels

and it was a

thousand bucks

with a leaking

radiator and

oil pan along

with brakes

all the

way around.

 

I wrote an

estimate and

brought it

to the counter

where she leaned

into me as I

went line by

line, a hundred

bucks here and

a couple hundred

bucks there and

the bigger the

dollars the more

she leaned her

chest right

against my

shoulder as

if the touch

of her nipples

through the

blended cotton

would

make her

problems

go away

and I have

to tell you

that the

price never

 

did change.