Hawaiian Shirts In The Electric Chair by Scott Laudati - HTML preview

her parents said

-believe in God

-believe in yourself

-believe in family

-don’t have sex it will

leave you empty

i thought of

these things, and

many other things

as she pulled into

a park, turned off her headlights

and lit a

cigarette

I said, “I

don’t think this is

a good idea”

she took off

her shirt

I said, “I can’t

I’m dirty”

she unhinged her

leopard bra

I said, “jesus,

if I ever have a daughter

there’s no way to stop her,

is there?”

she handed me a

water bottle and

said, Go Clean Off

her parents were asleep

when we got back, but the goddamn

brother-

3 feet shorter than me

100 pounds lighter, but

with a better haircut, said

“I didn’t say you

could come back over”.

he smiled to himself, as if

he had won something

I smiled back, and thought

if that’s what you need

then take it ... I’ve already

helped myself.