Page 115 - What They Did to the Kid

What They Did to the Kid 103

“You guys like reject everything, don’t you?” Rip was up around
Cloud 9. “You never want to accept life the way it is.” He groped
himself.
“Hey! I only said I don’t like mosquitoes.” I turned to Mike for
help.
Rip shrugged. “Sooner or later every conversation turns like to
sex, so...”
“Rip, don’t,” Mike said. “You’re boring.”
“Sometimes Rip’s the town philosopher,” Kenny said.
“Big hairy deal,” Rip said.
“The village idiot,” Kenny said.
“Don’t start the bit,” Mike said. “ You never understand. I’m not
sure anymore I understand.”
“You understand it?” Rip asked me.
“I can’t follow pronouns.” I played stupid to stay innocent.
“About how you’re going to live without it,” Kenny said.
“Deacon sure can’t say how he’s going to live without it, can you,
stud?” Rip poked Mike.
“Uh,” I said.
“Pick it up, fella,” Rip said to me. “You ain’t slow. Tell me how
you’re like gonna live without it.”
“I don’t know, well, really, if I can tell you so you’ll understand
exactly the theological position we’re in.”
Mike moaned and threw his head down on the table. He made
me mad, knocking his forehead on the wood while I tried to unravel
my real relation to the Church and all the souls in the Church who
would call me their spiritual Father. Rip chugged the last of a beer
during the most intricate part of my explanation. He tossed the
bottle over my head into the pines. Wet drops sprayed down my
bare back. I stopped. Rip and Kenny and Mike were all shaking
their heads.
“See,” Rip said. “You rejected my question. I asked you about
women, man. You need, like, such a big bush ha ha ha to beat
around?”
“Have you ever wanted to get married?” Kenny asked.
Mike rolled his eyes.

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