Look it up in French. I’ve always wanted to put my feet up.
How do you say that in French? Negligee?
Negligee like the tweaker with the puka shell necklace. Tailgatin’ every car on the road with his daddy’s old Ford truck. Real old. Only gets to drive it cause daddy can’t walk. Kid can’t leave the gas station out in New Mexico. Buyin’ 7 one-dollar scratch-off tickets. All in a fuss and a striped tank top.
I can tell he’s in the closet. He’s a member of what we call our family. He’s in the closet real deep and desperate. He don’t wanna go home.
Can’t go to the grocery store without a stare or a look.
Now he’s all twitchy inside. If anyone wanted to get through to him now, they’d get a fight. Walks around like he’s got a fly on his neck.
Ever seen a dog who’s been hit too much?

J. Marasa grew up in Galesburg, Illinois. They received their BFA in New Genres in 2013 from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California. They currently reside in Santa Fe, New Mexico.