time stood still like the gas clerk gun to his eyebrows it happens every other month he knows he won t die now he lets a sigh out bored with the exchange grabs a bag puts the change and the ones and the fives down the gunman is pale frail but a man in size clerk starts to analyze and sees he s not a man inside a jittery demeanor small waist hands and thighs lost puppy look shows you who he s been abandoned by oily and grimy city morgue life lighting steady flicker hypnotizing fluorescents and neon writing he s biting his cheek and trying to hide his weakness all the while worried that a sheriff might peek in he grips the pistol tight butterfly tummy normally another shy bummy cluttered mind dummy tonight he s in control chest swole from the rush as a woman pulls up and takes her toes from the clutch slams the door and heads towards the entrance frozen by her senses from the moment that she heads in tension in the air and seek to put up her defenses gunner turns panic spools out and places death s vengeance the bullet hit her face her face hit the window her last earthly vision was her rusty green pinto a silent puddle formed serene as she slept the clerk and gunner met eyes fell to their knees then they wept like the door slammed shut it s the last time he ll ever leave his bedroom the last time his dad ll use his back to break a red broom the last time he ll ever feel a fist or belt buckle daddy calls it tough love as he rubs on his swelled knuckles he needs to leave and make it to his aunt jeanine s cause fuck his mom she found another man to plant a family tree he s always kinda felt like why did she abandon me and leave me stranded with this sadistic angry entangled fiend it s just a thirteen hour drive but with his bad luck he ll get pinned for grand theft if he steals his dad s truck and pops ll press the charges just to leave him ass up and save a little money cause its pricey at the gas pump he grabs a gun and dad s truck he ll just ditch it cause he needs some quick scratch to afford a bus ticket he plans a robbery with windows down and his skin cold and charges past a lady in a rusty green pinto the clock struck midnight a man and wife mid fight arguing about their bills and how to raise their kid right he s working on his masters he s an artist works his hardest with 2 dead end jobs that pay for their apartment she teaches second grade they re less than paid all stress and strain their little boys a pest and pain with an impressive brain highschool sweethearts relationship s a test today rocky road in front of them their future s just a guess away they re at his gas station secondary place of work she says he needs to concentrate quit being a complacent jerk he feels degraded he tells with her a hateful smirk she needs to check her attitude the fact she s so abrasive hurts she storms out with her crocodile bawling cries he knows she ll be back in 10 minutes to apologize her tears dry as she feels the cold wind blow and opens up the door to her rusty green pinto 