Sleep three kids to a bed, switch beds with anyone who works
a different shift. Cut seat belts out of cars because the dinging won’t stop,
drive rods through plugged-up catalytic converters that cost too much to fix.
Borrow chains from backyard swing sets to fling over big tree branches
and hoist motors into the air. Know not only how to pull an entire motor
but how to put another one in. Remove their car batteries during below-zero
weather, take them indoors for the night so the ignition will turn over
in the morning. Go to welding school, make multiple pairs of brass knuckles
just for practice. Drive their cars despite suspended licenses so they won’t
lose their jobs, get kicked out of convenience stores for not wearing shoes,
die from years of breathing polyurethane and gasoline and engine exhaust,
die from drinking, die from old age while they’re still young. Give you their last
can of beer, drop you off somewhere on their way to see their probation officer,
even if it makes them late. Turn off all the lights after supper, except the one
in the hallway, to save on the electric bill. Sit on the couch, watch TV in the dark,
wait for someone to get home from a night shift, wait for a child to go to sleep,
for something to happen that’s probably never going to happen anyway.
