Tricks Read Online Free PDF

crying like he's dying.
    "Better go!" I dash toward the door, and as I leave, I can
    *
    hear Gram's quiet, Tsk-tsk.
    Then she whispers, Too bad
    Iris can't be more like her daughter
    67
    I Don't Think
    She meant me to hear it.
    But I did, and I flush, blood warm with pleasure.
    *
    That was probably the nicest
    thing anyone has ever said about me, if not to me directly.
    *
    I start toward the small bedroom
    that used to belong to Iris when she was in high school. I hate
    *
    going in there, because I know
    it's where she got preggers with me. Same bed, even. No,
    *
    I'm not guessing. One night, after a beer or two too many,
    Iris felt the warped need to share
    *
    the whole story--how Private First
    Class Kenneth Cordell sneaked in through the window, not once,
    *
    but enough times to make damn
    sure and knock up one Iris Ann
    Belcher. Thanks so much, Daddy.
    68
    A Poem by Cody Bennett Not Damn Sure
    Where my real daddy ran
    to, if he settled down in some
    Podunk town or if he fell flat off the face of the earth.
    No clue who he is or why Mom
    slept with him seventeen
    years ago, give or take.
    Maybe it was rape.
    No lie.
    Mom is pretty much a prude. A nice prude, and all things considered, a really great mom.
    No complaints about her or how we
    live. Yeah, I've got a stepdad, but he's pretty
    damn good to us.
    No reason to turn all emo over not
    knowing my real--scratch
    that--I mean biological
    father. Why would I want to?
    No worries.
    69
    Cody After Wichita
    Vegas is a strange, strange city.
    I mean, everything in Wichita is ebony and ivory. Everyone knows
    where everyone else stands on things like immigration (electrify the wall) or global warming (greenhouse... huh?).
    *
    But in Vegas, no one knows
    one damn thing about their next-
    door neighbor, even. We moved
    here almost two years ago, and the only reason I know anyone on the block is because of school.
    *
    Even there, unless you really
    push hard, you don't make
    friends, and if you do, they're
    liable to move away before long.
    They say Vegas is a transient
    city. Whole lot of truth in that.
    *
    People come. People go. Not like Wichita, where people
    mostly stay. Guess I miss
    some things about Kansas.
    But worrying over it won't help
    anyone. Especially not me.
    70
    I Go with the Flow
    Don't make waves, don't
    buck the current. I clean my
    room, play nice with my little
    brother. Maintain a solid 3.0
    GPA. Might even go on to college. Meanwhile, I work
    *
    part time at GameStop to pay for gas and insurance. My hair is trimmed, my clothes are neat, and I never wear all black, except to funerals. You probably
    wouldn't notice me walking
    *
    down the street, unless you
    happen to be attracted to
    "average." It's not such a bad
    thing to be. When you fly
    well below the radar, you get
    away with a hell of a lot.
    71
    Of Course
    My mom would forgive me
    just about anything. Always
    trying to make up for the absent
    father thing. Not sure why.
    My stepfather, Jack, is really
    pretty cool. To her. To me.
    *
    He's an aircraft mechanic, working a civil service job at Nellis AFB. Mom met him at Boeing in Wichita. She was a receptionist there. It wasn't
    exactly love at first sight, at least
    &
    not for her. She called him
    "persistent." He called himself
    "bit by the love bug." Okay, that's corny, but hey, that's Jack.
    I've gotten used to corny. Typical
    Jack joke: A rope orders a drink,
    *
    but the bartender says, "We don't
    serve ropes here." he rope goes
    outside, ties himself up, unravels
    one end, goes back inside. Bartender
    says, "Hey, aren't you that rope?"
    Rope shakes his head. "Frayed knot."
    72
    Get It?
    You know, "frayed knot,"
    meaning "'fraid not." Corny as hell, like I said. But also kind of funny. Anyway, it's easy
    enough to put up with corny when
    it's from-the-heart honest.
    *
    Jack is honest as a mare-sniffing
    stud, which is why he gets along with Mom. She can't stand when
    people lie. Can't blame her, so I try
    not to do much out-and-out