xiv.

on christmas day albert weaved in and out of motor vehicles at 90 mph on the kennedy expressway. it felt nice balling the jack. he got a thumbs-up from a guy whom he had cut off. his adrenaline raced and his palms were sweaty. ween blasted through his ipod, through the stereo and into his ears, into his mind.

albert's brother once told him that he could have been a race car driver. . .

Xiii.

Three bottles of rum were on the table--one empty. The newlyweds sat beneath a starry sky, far from chicago, and took in the caribbean with abandonment.