These Gifts. by Michael Dwayne Smith

Was busted out in South Bend once. No car, no job,

warrants issued for my sorry ass. Was slunk down

at a bar with a suitcase and a laundry bag tucked

under my stool in the Evil Czech Brewery, spending

what little I had on cheap lager when, in a case of

mistaken identity, this old guy starts slapping me

on the back and buying rounds. He was one jovial

sonofabitch. I played along. “Mitch” I think I was

for a while, soaking up two porters, a stout, and some

unforgivable fruit beer he insisted on. Next thing,

the bartender started pouring free rye shots, laughing

with us but keeps giving me the ol’ malevolent eye.

I excused myself to piss, sensing the jig was up, then

slipped out the front door, and there it was, curbside,

waiting for me… a bent-to-shit, white-paint-flaking

1988 F-250, on monster rubber and chrome wheels.

With the windows rolled down! I opened the driver

side door, slid the bags passenger side, hotwired,

and hauled ass for Louisiana. Kept changing out plates

until I got there. Dumped it down in Central City

once I hit town, then caught the new Loyola Avenue

streetcar. From there, I asked around, found Delilah’s

apartment, rapped on her door damn near midnight.

She let me in, mad drunk, but kept a mean buck knife

trained on me. “You can stay overnight,” she said,

“so we can ride rodeo one last time, but if you’re still

here when I wake up, I’m gonna start with your hair

and cut off every hanging part of you.” Roughstock

to say the least. Got my faults, but I’m a grateful man.

Won’t ever catch me with little faith. I tease and rally

my way through life on a simple prayer: Bless these

thy gifts, O Lord, for I am always ready to receive.

Michael Dwayne Smith lives near a Mojave Desert ghost town with his family and rescued animals. His most recent book isRoadside Epiphanies (Cholla Needles Press, 2017). Nominated multiple times for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, his work haunts many literary houses--including The Cortland Review, New World Writing, Star 82 Review, Blue Fifth Review, Skidrow Penthouse, Word Riot, Rat's Ass Review, Gravel, San Pedro River Review--and has been widely anthologized. When not writing or teaching, he edits Mojave River Press & Review.