It’s
Later than You Think
by
Michelle Brooks
There
is the reflection of a rainbow
in
the Rent to Own window, and puddles
have
formed in the holes dotting the parking
lot,
the water streaked with rainbows made
of
gasoline, and I try to remember what I need
for
tomorrow’s work party as I roam the Dollar
General.
I grab a bag of pretzels and think,
This
is my dinner and all the while, other lives
play
out around me. A teenager tells her friend,
I
can’t believe Halloween is tomorrow, and I don’t
know
what I’m going to be. I wasn’t anything last
year.
A man asks his wife, Do you think the rain
has
stopped? She doesn’t look at him, only
says,
I sure fucking hope so. It’s depressing.
After
loading my basket with paper plates
adorned
with skulls and witches, I get in line,
looking
down while the young couple in front of me
buys
a pregnancy test and a bag of Cheetos,
the
woman counting out change from a tiny
purse
embossed with stars. The cashier, a middle-aged
woman
with Bitch tattooed on her neck asks me
if
I found what I needed. I nod and say yes, thinking
does
anyone? The cashier leans close, warns me
that
a man has been following me around the aisles
and
asks if I want security to walk me out. I thank her,
saying
I’ll make a run for it, as I gather up my bags.
The
rain has started again. I glance back, relieved
no
one is following me, noticing the sign festooned
over
the door, Spooky Savings Inside, as if I wouldn’t know.
Michelle
Brooks
has published a collection of poetry, Make
Yourself Small,
(Backwaters Press), and a novella, Dead
Girl, Live Boy,
(Storylandia Press). She says she spent
a summer in Gary with a now ex- boyfriend. She says she loves Gary,
even as the boyfriend did not fare as well. A
native Texan, she has spent much of her adult life in Detroit.