alex-king

Reina sounds awesome,_ Sid says. ____ digging her more and more.___ere you there?_ I ask. __ave you seen one of these movies?___o,_ Scottie says.__cottie,_ Alex says, kicking Sid in the ribs. __eina is a fuckedup ho bag, and you need to stay away from her. I__e already told you that. Do you want to end up like me?___es,_ Scottie says.__ mean the earlier me, when I was yelling at Mom.___o,_ Scottie says.__ell, Reina is going to be a crackhead, and she__ going to get used. She__ a twat. Say it.___wat,_ Scottie says. She gets up and runs across the room, saying, __wat twat twat twat twat.___oly shit,_ Sid says. __his is some messed-up parenting. Isn__ it?__lex shrugs. __aybe. I guess we__l see.___ don__ get it,_ I say. __ don__ know what to do. These things she does, they keep happening.___t will go away,_ Alex says.__ill it? I mean, look at how you kids talk. In front of me, especially. It__ like you don__ respect authority.__he kids stare at the television. I tell them to get out. I__ going to bed.

There__ something different about her. I realize it__ her breasts__hey__e huge. I see that she__ stuffed her bikini top with wet balls of sand.__hat is that?_ I say. __cottie. Your suit.__he shields her eyes with her hand and looks down at her chest. __each boobs,_ she says.__ake that out of there,_ I say. __lex. Why__ you let her do that?__lex is on her stomach, with the straps of her top untied. She lifts her head toward Scottie. __ didn__ know. Take them out, stupid.__id lifts his head. __onestly,_ he says, __ig boobs look kind of fatty.___s Bebe says, boobs suck,_ Alex says, __nd Sid__ full of shit. He loves big boobs.___ho__ Bebe?_ Scottie lets the sand fall out of her top.__haracter from South Park,_ Sid says. __nd I love small boobs, too, Alex. I__ an equal-opportunity employer.

I__ like you to come to Kauai with me,_ I say. __nd Scottie. I think it would be good to get her away from the hospital for a day. We can leave in the morning, find him, and be home tomorrow night. If it takes us a day longer, that__ fine, but we won__ stay more than two nights. That__ our deadline. If we don__ find him, then at least we know we tried.___nd this will make you feel better somehow?___t__ for her,_ I say. __ot for him or me.___hat if he__ a wreck? What if he loses his shit?___hen I__l take care of him._ I imagine Brian Speer wailing on my shoulder. I imagine him and my daughters by Joanie__ bed, her lover and his loud sobs shaming us. __ust so you know, I am angry. I__ not this pure and noble guy. I want to do this for her, but I also want to see who he is. I want to ask him a few things.___ust call him. Tell his office it__ an emergency. They__l have him call you.___ want to tell him in person. I haven__ told anyone over the phone, and I don__ want to start now.___ou told Troy.___roy doesn__ count. I just need to do this. On the phone he can escape. If I see him in person, he__l have nowhere to go.__e both look away when our eyes meet. She hasn__ crossed the border into my room. She never does during her nighttime doorway chats.__ere you guys having trouble?_ Alex asks. __s that why she cheated?___ didn__ think we were having trouble,_ I say. __ mean, it was the same as always.__his was the problem, that our marriage was the same as always. Joanie needed bumps. She needed rough terrain. It__ funny that I can get lost in thoughts about her, but when she was right in front of me, I didn__ think much about her at all.__ wasn__ the best husband,_ I say.Alex looks out the window to avoid my confession. __f we go on this trip, what will we tell Scottie?___he__l think we__e going on a trip of some sort. I want to get her away from here.

You__e already said that,_ Alex says. __hy should I go?___ou__e the only person I have,_ I say. __nd I want us all to be together. It will be good for us.___h, so now I__ back in the picture again.___lex. Something bigger than you is occurring right now. I__ sorry about your unhappy childhood.__he glares at me in that special way of hers and Joanie__ that makes me feel worthless and foul-smelling.__o we__l tell Scottie we__e going on a vacation while Mom is in the hospital?___t__ for a day or two,_ I say. __cottie__ been in the hospital every day for almost a month now. She needs a break. It__ not good for her. I__ like you to be in charge of answering any questions she may have. She looks up to you. She__l hang on whatever you say.____ hoping a leadership role, a specific chore, will make Alex act like an adult and treat Scottie well.__an you do that?__he shrugs.__f you can__ handle things, let me know. I__l help. I__ here for you.__lex laughs. I wonder if there are parents who can say things to their kids like __ love you_ or ____ here for you_ without being laughed at. I have to admit it__ a bit uncomfortable. Affection, in general, is unpleasant to me.__hat if Mom doesn__ make it for two days?___he will,_ I say. ____l tell her what we__e doing.__lex looks uncomfortable with this idea, that what I__l say will make her mother want to live. ____ bringing Sid,_ she says. __f he doesn__ come, then I__ not going.____ about to protest, but I see the look in her eyes and know this is yet another battle that I__ bound to lose. Something about this guy is helping her. And Scottie seems to like him. He can keep her distracted. He can work for me.__kay,_ I say. __eal.

I look in the jewelry box where Joanie found the drugs. She showed me a miniature Ziploc bag filled with a clear, hard rock.__hat is this?_ I said. I never did drugs, so I had no idea. Heroin? Cocaine? Crack? Ice? __hat is this?_ I screamed at Alex, who screamed back, __t__ not like I shoot it!__ plastic ballerina pops up and slowly twirls to a tinkling song whose sound is discordant and deformed. The pink satin liner is dirty, and other than a black pearl necklace, the box holds only rusty paper clips and rubber bands noosed with Alex__ dark hair. I see a note stuck to the mirror and pick up the jewelry box and move the ballerina aside. She twirls against my finger. The note says, I wouldn__ hide them in the same place twice.I let out a short breath through my nose. Good one, Alex. I close the jewelry box and shake my head, missing her tremendously. I wish she never went back to boarding school, and I don__ understand her sudden change of plans. What did they fight about? What could have been so bad?

Do you guys have sunscreen?_ I ask.__o,_ Scottie says. __o we have water?___id you bring any?_ Alex asks.__o,_ I say.Alex pops her head up. __id you bring snacks for us?___e can walk to town.__ow do mothers manage to bring everything a child could need?