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. 2 .
A D I O S , N I R VA N A
Another wave hits me. And another. All those damn grapes.
And, god knows, more burrito and tots.
Till I’m squeezed dry.
Pulped out.
Empty.
I watch snowflakes cover my mess. It’s like we’re making a
Mexican casserole together, the night and me. Night lays down
the flour tortilla, I add the vegetable sauce.
When I look around, Kyle and Javon are standing there, too.
Kyle says, “If you break your neck, dude, I will never for-
give you.”
Javon says, “Already lost one of you. Get your ass down, or
I’ll drag it down.”
It hurts. They are my oldest friends, my thicks.
And thickness is forever.
But somewhere in that snowy world below, Telemachus
waits.
I loosen my grip on the light pole.
“Hey!” they shout. “HEY!”
My frozen fingers slip. Their panicky hands lunge for me.
But I’m too far gone.
I’m falling . . . falling. There’s ecstasy and freedom here.
Somehow I flip onto my back, wing my arms, Jesus-like, and
wait for my quilty azalea bed to cradle me. And my Mexican
casserole to warm me.
I fall, fall, fall into the snowy night.
Thinking of my brother.
Thinking of Telemachus.
. 3 .