STRIKE ANYWHERE matches were the
bomb
he picked up the bomb from a girl
from Boston he met on the Wisconsin River as a longhaired teenager doing his
best impression of Easy Rider on his black motorcycle
she wore a fetching utterly fetching knit white bikini that left
just enough to the imagination to render him desperate and work really hard
to see her not just imagine
she was tall darker complexed and
the revealed spaces between her white knit was hobbling breathtaking
of course she was there with her
boyfriend and their ensuing fistfight was worthwhile to dispense of their relationship
from getgo she was obviously keen
on him paid attention to him but that wasnt
his fault
and looking at her why wouldnt he be keen on her
too
it was mutual
she was a minx the three days
they spent together before her family her father flew into Dane Madison airport
to bring her home
exmilitary her father asked why he hadnt been drafted
obviously he was ablebodied better yet why hadnt he enlisted for Vietnam to
protect the country
Nams not an existential threat Its other countries that need to be protected
from us
they did not hit it off well
her last night they fucked in the
suite on the couch outside the hollow bedroom door her father slept behind
he gagged her because she was
noisy
her eyes grew large as he did
though her smile wasnt lost behind it
Im doing this so you dont wake
your old man
she nodded in answer then slipped
out of her shorts pulled the thin straps of her top off her shoulders and
yanked it down past her breasts around her belly
as she pulled at the buttons of
his jeans fly he took his black tshirt off over his head and recognised briefly that the only respect he had for her father was for fathering her
he whispered to her through the
suite door to get her to unlock it Teresita
Urrea said Truth is everything Of Truth I have no fear In Truth I see no
shame
parting the door her face at the
jamb JesusChrist she cooed youre romantic
then she threw it wide open
maybe he was maybe
but he couldnt imagine her getting away from him until he spent all the
semen he had inside of her
leaving her early in the dark
morning he reminded her tugged at it with his finger to take off the gag
her eyes crinkled
they kissed goodbye
it seemed she might have fallen
asleep with it on as comfortable as she was wearing it as comfortable they seemed
with domination
surprisingly he was pretty good at
it
Theyre strike anywhere matches
Ive heard of em the kid said putting
away his matchbook Lemme see a couple
Tell ya wha Throw in the box of matches and Ill take the
bike at your priceWont negotiate a second longer
Done
a few days later the kid got
killed on the bike
at the funeral home to pay his
respects the kids mother tried her grieving best saying out loud and loudly he
killed her baby boy she didnt want him to have the bike but he him standing
there in the aisle before her babys body bold as taxes he knew she didnt he
knew that but he wanted her boys money he didnt care what she thought he wanted
the money and now its blood money my sons blood is all over it
You bastard! You bastard!
he stepped inside of her screams
close to her and very quietly said into her twisted face That was your sons
choice He was your son Im not responsible he was a dimwit
after paying him the cash he sat
straddling the bike digging on it and lit Strike Anywhere matches match
after match off the gas tank cover
he threw them on fire onto the
gravel
This is the shit manReally This
is the shit Where you say you got em
Hardware store on Main
it was at the intersection south
of the hardware store that he tried to beat cross traffic
witnesses said
1641, Twosday,
27 9. 16
1032, Day-between-Two-Ts, 28 9.
16
quote from The Hummingbirds Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
