are we going to the movies or not?
she asked him.
all right, he said, let’s go.
I’m not going to put any pan ties on
so you can finger-fuck me in the
dark, she said.
should we get buttered popcorn?
he asked.
sure, she said.
leave your pan ties on,
he said.
what is it? she asked.
just want to watch the movie,
he answered.
look, she said, I could go out on
the street, there are a hundred men
out there who’d be delighted to have
me.
all right, he said, go ahead out there.
I’ll stay home and read the National
Enquirer.
you son of a bitch, she said, I am
trying to build a meaningful
relationship.
you can’t build it with a hammer,
he said.
are we going to the movies or not?
she asked.
all right, he said, let’s
go...
at the corner of Western and
Franklin he put on the blinker
to make his left turn
and a man in the on-coming lane
speeded up
as if to cut him off.
brakes grabbed. there wasn’t a
crash but there almost was one.
he cursed at the man in the other
car. the man cursed back. the
man had another person in the car with
him. it was his wife.
they were going to the movies
too.
Other works by Charles Bukowski...
