The U.S. of After Chapter 11

Ralph

These two are nothing like the two men in town.

I still don’t care for them, though.  She’s just a little rich girl in trouble and he’s a dork who’s trying not to die.

White people.

Those two white guys back in Norman were an accident.  I won’t make the same mistake twice.  I still don’t like these two.  The girl is kind of pretty.  Amy, that’s her name.  The guy is all talking talking talking.  Wish he’d shut up.

I lie about my life.  I don’t want them to know anything.  I tell them some story about college and East Texas and some old man who took a liking to me and helped me get a scholarship to OU.  Yeah, so college was really Rose State, and that was one semester, and that dream is gone with the rest of the world.

We drive along for a while and I don’t let on about how much fuel I really have, but I can let them get out to search for water while I claim to be the “get-away driver”.  I’ll ditch them at the first sign of trouble.

That girl is looking at me like she’s interested, but it’s just because I’m exotic and dark skinned and different.  Not like her rich white boyfriends.  I’ll bet she’s trouble.  She’s just bored.  I tease them about being an “item” when she starts looking my way.

I really didn’t mean what happened in Norman.  They just pushed me, is all.  I’ll try not to let these two push me.  It’d be a shame to let an accident happen with them.

I can’t let myself get close.

I can’t.

A guy can only trust himself these days, and sometimes I don’t even do that, either.